Joe Beevers is one of the most important cogs of a poker machine that you today see earning billions of dollars around the world.
As a member of the Hendon Mob, Beevers was one of the characters that pushed poker into the mainstream during his appearances on Late Night Poker; a show that allowed the viewer to see the players cards for the first time, following the highly successful introduction of the hole-cam.
Beevers has over $2.5m in live tournament earnings, including victory in the 2007 Poker Million shown live on Sky Sports. He is also the founding member of the Betting Emporium; a sports betting site that specializes in Football, Horse Racing and the NFL.
Can you remember your first betting experience?
My late father was a massive racing fan and starting taking me at an early age. I remember going to Epsom for the Moet and Chandon, six or seven years in a row before I was a teenager; but I guess the first time was when we used to go to Bournemouth for our holidays, and I would spend all day in the arcades trying to find an edge. I guess I was about seven or eight.
Why do you think you found your way into gambling?
I guess it’s a case of, ‘like father like son’. I’d say it’s in the DNA, although my sister rarely came racing with us.
What was your first bet that you made?
I remember in Bournemouth in one of the arcades they had a roulette type thing where the ball was a tennis ball. There were different colored sections of different sizes that paid out different amounts. White paid 10p for a 2p bet, but the wall section between white and red (the color before and the biggest section) was a bit broken and therefore lower, and I noticed that as a result white was coming up more than a third of the time. It took me four hours but I emptied the thing and had two sand buckets full of 2p’s to cash in.
What types of gambling interested you from an early age and how old were you?
I used to love going to the point-to-point races at places like Enfield. One of my uncles is (was) an amateur jump jockey and would often ride in these races. He was a great tipster for me and knew who was trying and who wasn’t, so we could often show a profit even betting to the massive over round books there.
When did your gambling change from a bit of fun to something serious?
In my late teens I started playing a lot of blackjack and doing rather well. We would go racing as often as three or four times a week, (sometimes twice a day) and fill the bookies satchels with all the money we won from the casinos. If you mean when did I start taking it seriously – and that means when did we start making it pay – I guess that would have been when I started winning at poker when I was at university. It was through poker that I made many friends and met people far smarter than me.
What was your most significant bet in the early days?
The most significant one I can remember from years ago was in 1987. I have a large framed picture of Reference Point up in my attic. I backed it at 7/1 for the Derby after it won the Futurity with a North London bookmaker called Heronglade (they only charged 5% tax at the time instead of the standard 9% or 10%). The Sporting Life headline the day after the Derby was, ‘Heronglade Go Bust’
I kept the signed (by Steve Cauthen and Henry Cecil) picture to remind me of the mistake I made, and it was on my office wall for over 10 years. It was a fortune to me at the time.
What is your most significant bet in your entire life?
For a long time, as a poker player, and living as poker players do, I had little in way of commitments and little expenses. This was true even in the early days of The Hendon Mob. Getting married, having children, taking out a mortgage and things like life cover all seem strange to some one like me. I guess those commitments are a significant bet but I like my action and want to press 😉
Recount the times when you have been the most fearful when waiting for a result?
The owner of Heronglade told me on the phone that I would get paid and not to worry. I’m still waiting and at the time I was quite anxious I guess.
Do you have any funny gambling bad beat stories?
I remember when I was eight or nine walking up to the legend Barny Curly at Lingfield and asking him quietly if he had any tips, as I wanted to buy my mum a nice birthday present. He gave me the name of a horse and it was 4/6 favorite. It couldn’t lose though could it, not if Mr C had tipped it to a kid to buy presents for his mum. I just about emptied my pockets on it and it finished seventh in an eight horse race.
Talk a bit about your bankroll management tips and techniques both when you started out and now.
I used to just have the money in my pocket and that was for living, poker, gambling and everything else. I now approach things very differently. I guess the best thing about bankroll management is that it takes away emotional feelings, or softens them at least when you back a loser. It helps to avoid tilt, which is very dangerous. I have a completely separate bankroll for sport betting, even separate to poker. An average bet for me is about only 1-2% of that bankroll.
What is your favorite type of sports bets?
The ones where I follow the best judges.
Any types of bets you never make and why?
Markets where the chance element is less or non-existent. I know that probably doesn’t make sense but why would you want to bet on the ‘Next Presenter of Countdown’ for instance? Unless you knew someone who had been offered the job, or someone who wouldn’t take it if offered. It’s a bit like betting on what is inside a box? Someone else ‘might’ know what’s in it but you certainly don’t. Consider the Damon Runyon quote and think about the earful of cider. Rumors send people skint.
Talk to us About The Betting Emporium
There are a number of reasons for setting up www.bettingemporium.com. It helps us focus, which is important as it helps us treat our own betting more like a business; but it’s also fun, we love sport and we love trying to beat the bookies and if at some point we start to make a little money from running it even better.
I find people generally wary of tipping sites. I mean if you can win then why share is the most common question. Both Neil Channing and myself (and others who we may introduce soon) have decent reputations and people like to follow us. The difference is that we give the Betting Emporium a face, a personality, whereas most other sites I have looked at have nice catchy names, and even bigger claims, but you don’t really know whom you are dealing with.
What do you think of betting systems?
It’s not really a system as such but one thing that I know for sure is that I have met many people in poker and gambling who are far cleverer and shrewder than me. It is better to be a good judge of judges than simply a good judge yourself. I am lucky to count many of these people as friends and it is much easier to make money in sports betting with this approach rather than trying to study everything yourself.
Joe Beevers can be found providing sports betting tips at www.bettingemporium.com.
