This is our 6th interview in our series of interviews with Trademate Sports customers. Thanks to Jørn for sharing his sports trading journey with us. His interview has been translated into English. His original answers in Norwegian can be found further down.

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE IN SPORTS TRADING?

My experience with sports trading is that if one has the time and patience, it is a guaranteed source of income over time. The variance is higher, the higher your odds range is. I’ve bet with more than 10 bookies now and have been limited on the most of them. I have not made a great deal of money compared to the time spent, but that is mainly because my starting bankroll is too low.

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEWBIES IN SPORTS TRADING?

I would recommend beginners to save up some money before starting with sports trading. When first getting started, one should have a decent starting bankroll. Somewhere between $1000-$2000 would be a good place to start.

I’ve made the most money on football, so I would recommend mainly sticking to football. Part of the reason behind this is that I have knowledge about which trades that are worth playing and which are not. The majority of good trades can be found in the so-called “low liquidity markets”. E.g. lower divisions in Norway.

A lot of people recommend staying away from playing on these leagues because you get limited faster. I try to stay under the radar as long as possible, but I rarely decline a good trade even in the lower divisions. Start by putting in a couple of accumulators, so that the bookies will profile you as a losing player. After that, just place trades anywhere there is value, that’s my advice. There are so many bookies out there that it will take time to get limited on all of them.

Keep your odds range between 1.60 - 4.50. To play 4.50 in odds, you should have an edge of 7%. Volume = long-term profits. So place as many trades as you possibly can. When there are many games on try to distribute your bankroll across as many trades as possible. Play edges as low as 1.5% to increase the volume during weekdays. Dedicate a couple of hours on the weekends when the majority of games are on and try to play through your entire bankroll on the different bookies.

ARE YOU BETTING THE SOFT OR THE SHARP BOOKS?

I have only played on softs so far. Still not limited on a lot of bookies.

WHAT’S YOUR BANKROLL?

My bankroll is about 45k NOK, as I have cashed out quite a bit. Making withdrawals costs in the form of fees. And it takes some time to get the withdrawals from some of the bookies.

HOW MANY TRADES DO YOU REGISTER ON AVERAGE IN A WEEK?

I place around 100 trades per week during the season.

WHAT’S YOUR AVERAGE TURNOVER IN ONE WEEK, A MONTH?

Slightly below 100k NOK per month.

HOW MANY HOURS ARE YOU SPENDING ON SPORTS TRADING IN ONE WEEK?

Not sure, but it usually takes a couple of hours. I usually have the Trademate feed up, while I’m doing other things on my laptop.

WHAT’S YOUR FUND GROWTH PERCENTAGE?

The fund growth goes up and down as I keep making withdrawals and deposits on different bookies, so it is not really representative for how much money I’ve made. My avg. ROI per bet is at 3.1% and I’ve played for almost a million NOK across 6750 trades. Including the bonuses, that adds up to a nice profit. I make more money on sports trading than having the money in the bank, so for me it is an easy choice. I do spend quite a bit of time on it, but then again I do think it is fun!

DID YOU HAVE BAD RUNS? (WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST LOSS?)

I’ve had bad-runs of 8-10k NOK (about $800-$1200). Nothing went the right way for a longer period of time. Then I had to reduce my stakes. When the trend turns around, I’ve made back what I lost quite fast by increasing my risk by increasing the stake size per trade. It swings both ways.

After a good downswing there will always be an upswing and vice versa. You could keep your stakes flat or do as I and speculate a bit when the wind in the sails turn. My highest stake on a game was 2750 NOK ($350) on New York Yankees to win against Texas Rangers some time ago.

The edge was more than 30%, 8 minutes before the game started. The odds dropped before the game started, but the Texas Rangers got an early lead. 6-0. The Yankees managed to pull it back to 6-5, but that was it. I would recommend staying away from large bets on low odds.

I have burned myself multiple times doing so. Just stay away from 1.29 - 1.49 in odds. The value here is marginal and one has to place high stakes to get a good return. It is rarely worth it. To get in a 1.70 in odds is almost as easy/difficult to get inn as a 1.40 in odds.

WHY ARE YOU USING TRADEMATE SPORTS?

I use Trademate Sports, because it is fun and to make money.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT USING TRADEMATE SPORTS?

What I like the most about Trademate Sports is the fact that it works. One can make a living from this with a high enough bankroll and turnover. It can be difficult to achieve on the soft bookies though. To make a living one would need a yearly turnover of 30 million NOK and an avg. ROI per bet of 2-3%, plus avoiding high fees.

INTERVIEW IN NORWEGIAN

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE IN SPORTS TRADING?

1. Min erfaring med Sports Trading er at dersom man har tiden og tålmodigheten, så er det en garantert inntektskilde på sikt.

Variansen er høyere jo høyere oddsrange man spiller på. Jeg har spilt på over 10 bookies nå, og blitt limitert hos de fleste. Jeg har ikke tjent gode penger på dette i forhold til tiden jeg har lagt ned, men det er fordi bankrollen min er for lav.

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEWBIES IN SPORTS TRADING?

2. Jeg vil anbefale nybegynnere å spare penger før man starter med sportstrading. Når man først skal sette i gang, så burde man ha en brukbar start-bankroll. Et sted mellom 10-15 000,- er fint å starte med. Jeg tjener mest på fotball, så jeg vil anbefale å holde seg mest til det. Noen av grunnene til det er fordi jeg har kjennskap til hvilke trades som er verdt å spille, og hva som ikke er så lurt. De fleste gode trades finnes på såkalte «low equity markets». Divisjoner langt nede som norsk breddefotball f. eks. Mange anbefaler at man holder seg unna å spille for mye på bredde, da dette gjør at man fortere blir limitert. Jeg prøver å holde meg under radaren så lenge det går, men takker sjeldent nei til en god trade på breddefotball. Start med å legg inn et par akkumulatorer, så bettingselskapene anser deg som en tapsspiller. Deretter kjør på med alt mulig hvor det finnes verdi, er mitt tips. Det er såpass mange bettingselskaper der ute at det tar tid å bli limitert hos alle. Hold oddsrangen til mellom 1,60 og 4,50. For å spille 4,50-oddsere bør man ha en edge på rundt 7%. Volum = long term profit. Sett så mange trades som mulig. Fordel din bankroll på så mange spill som mulig. Spill på helt ned til 1,5% edge for å få opp volumet i hverdager. Sett av et par timer i helgene hvor det er mest aktivitet, og prøv å få tømt saldoen på kontoene dine.

ARE YOU BETTING THE SOFT OR THE SHARP BOOKS?

3. Jeg har kun spilt på soft bookies så langt. Gjenstår å bli limitert hos flere selskaper enda.

WHAT’S YOUR BANKROLL?

4. Min bankroll er på rundt 45 000,-, da jeg har cashet ut en del. Man taper mye på uttak og avgifter. Og det tar tid å få uttakene gjennom hos noen bookies.

HOW MANY TRADES DO YOU REGISTER ON AVERAGE IN A WEEK?

5. Jeg setter rundt 100 trades i uka når det er sesong.

WHAT’S YOUR AVERAGE TURNOVER IN ONE WEEK, A MONTH?

6. I underkant av 100 000,- per måned

HOW MANY HOURS ARE YOU SPENDING ON SPORTS TRADING IN ONE WEEK?

7. Vet ikke, men det blir fort noen timer. Jeg har som regel trademate-feeden oppe, mens jeg gjør andre ting

WHAT’S YOUR FUND GROWTH PERCENTAGE?

8. Fund growthen går opp og ned ettersom jeg setter inn mer penger på ulike kontoer, så den er ikke representativ for hva jeg har tjent. Min ROI er på 3.1% og jeg har snart spilt for én million over 6750 trades. Med bonuser hos bookies, så blir det jo en liten sum i profit. Jeg tjener mer på sportstrading enn å ha pengene i banken, så for meg er det et lett valg. Jeg bruker jo en del tid på dette, men så er det jo morsomt og da!

DID YOU HAVE BAD RUNS? (WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST LOSS?)

9. Jeg har hatt badrun-streaks på 8K-10K. Ingenting gikk inn på en lengre periode. Da måtte jeg gå ned på innsatsen. Da tendensen starter å snu, så redder jeg inn det tapte ganske kjapt ved å øke risikoen ved å høyne innsatsen per trade. Flyten går begge veier. Etter en god downswing kommer det alltid en upswing og motsatt. Du må gjerne holde innsatsen flat, eller gjør som meg og spekuler litt i når viden i seilet snur. Høyeste innsats var 2750,- på New York Yankees to win mot Texas Rangers for litt siden. Her var edgen på over 30% 8 minutter før kampstart. Oddsen droppet oppskriftsmessig før start, men Texas Rangers fikk en tidlig ledelse; hele 6-0. Yankees klarte å hente inn til 6-5, men det ble med det. Jeg vil anbefale å styre unna store bets på lav odds. Her har jeg brent meg flere ganger. 1,29-1,49-oddsere er bare å styre unna. Marginal verdi her, og man må gå tungt inn for å få noe særlig avkastning. Det er sjeldent verdt det. Å få inn en 1,70-oddser er nesten like vanskelig/lett som en 1,40-oddser.

WHY ARE YOU USING TRADEMATE SPORTS?

10. Jeg bruker trademate sports fordi det er gøy og for å tjene penger.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT USING TRADEMATE SPORTS?

11. Det jeg liker best med trademate sports er det faktum at det funker. Man kan leve av dette om man har høy nok bankroll og turnover. Det kan være vanskelig å oppnå med soft bookies. For å leve av dette må man ha en turnover på 30 000 000 årlig og ROI på 2-3% og unngå høye fees.

By Jørn

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