Betfair Official Blog

Pud the businessman!

Sorry for the lack of updates (writes Yorkshire Pud) but I have been uber busy over the past few days. I have actually written a piece about a typical poker table but I'm hoping to get that posted on another blog as a guest appearance but I'm waiting to hear back - as soon as I get to know anything I will point you in its direction!

As my readers know I lost my job on April 1st and so far I've found it difficult to find replacement work. There are plenty of jobs out there but as soon as they find out you were sacked for gross misconduct then they simply don't want to know. I can't blame them to be honest, if I were an employer and a potential employee told me he/she were sacked for spendinhg too much time on the internet, amongst other things, then I'd probably not take them on either.

So with that in mind I did something that I have never done in my 11 year working life. I went to sign on the dole! I went to the job centre on Thursday and had my interview with a woman who was our stereotypical council worker. She was very nice but she enjoyed her job far too much for a normal person and was far too happy and jolly to say she deals with some real dregs of society! We went through why I lost my job etc. and she then informed me that I probably wouldn't be entitled to a penny for another 6 months as it was my fault I am out of work! WTF!

If I'd never worked a day in my life I could get any benefit I wanted but because I ended up getting the sack I can't get a single thing! To top this off I have to go back every other week to show them that I am actively seeking work, I have a little diary I have to keep to prove I'm not just sat on my hands all day! I'm not bothered about getting money from the state, in fact I don't think state benefits should be given unless there are special circumstances, all I really wanted was my National Insurance to be kept up to date. On the way home I had a brainwave!

I am going to be self-employed. I have a few projects in the pipeline which should see me through once they materialise and if things take off as I hope they will then it could be quite profitable. It means that I will only be answerable to yours truly, can work as many or as few hours as I like and can say I have my own business! Oh and I can play poker whenever I feel like it!

Obviously there are downsides like paying 25 per cent tax on all earnings and a boatload of paperwork to fill in and keep up to date but I'm looking forward to it. It also means I can live and work anywhere in this or another country which would be brilliant but also a long way off just yet. I've still some research to do but I'm hoping it'll all be sorted out in a few weeks. Fingers crossed this is the start of something big!

I'm dog-sitting with Mrs P at her mum's right now so all my hand histories and statistics are on my laptop at home so I can't give a detailed update on my playing but I can tell you that I have moved up to NL20 after more than doubling my bankroll at the tables. I'll give a detailed update when I get back home after the weekend.

That's all for now, as always thanks for reading and best of luck at the tables!

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