Originally Posted by
mr.ed
Happy New Year, Mr. Peepers! I hope you enjoy the book. Very good questions...let me try to address them.
1. I don't have any regrets choosing this as a career. I'm living better than I would be had I stayed in the insurance industry. And it's not like I have other skills that I'm neglecting the could really make a difference in this world, such as performing open heart surgeries or researching cures for cancer. If I had these abilities perhaps I would be more inclined to do some soul-searching and determine if betting on sports was really my best career path. But my skill set is rather limited, so it's not something I struggle with. Bottom line is I'm earning decent money, providing for my family, and I still enjoy what I do.
2. How did I break it to family/friends? Fantasy Sports and Holzhauer's Jeopardy run has made gambling a little more mainstream and respectable, and I wrote a bit about this in the book. Basically family OK with it, friends think it's really cool, and everybody else is kind of suspicious of me. I don't tell many people. My neighbors have no idea what I do, and if people ask I pretty much tell them I'm an investor without going into details.
3. Nobody I know really wants to get into it. But if they do ask me I tell them it was much easier when I started and more difficult today. It's not for most people....I'm an introvert by nature so it's the perfect lifestyle for me.
4. If I wasn't betting I would still watch a lot of golf and some NFL football, but that's about it. But since I generally have some type of action down on most football games I watch a lot more. For example, I have the two early college games on in the background now (New Years Day) and I can't imagine watching them if I had no action. I also watch 7 hours of Red Zone every Sunday which i wouldn't do if I didn't have so many plays on the games.
5. For bankroll, I certainly wouldn't give up the day job and I would do both until you have a proven track record of success. When I started gambling I didn't leave the day job until I had a year's salary in the bank.
Thanks for the questions!