Internet trolls and how I deal with them

I’ve mentioned before that there are very few blogs like this one. So when one does come along, I’m excited to read another’s experience in doing what I am, but I also wait for that time where they go through the inevitable losing run. I like to look at how they deal with it and sadly the most common way is to stop blogging. There was one I felt would actually make it past “the Dip” and that was the Big Pairs blog (no use linking to it as it is now closed down). He was seeing if he could transition from his job to a full time trader (stocks, forex, sports). He started in October 2014 and was doing very well and it was not only the results, but how he went about his business that made me feel as thought he would be one of the rare ones to stick around past their first year.

Sadly that all came to an end last week with this post.

The End

Soon after I started my blog back in October 2014 I began receiving comments from an individual called ‘James’. His comments became increasingly abusive and aggressive and eventually I had to block him from posting. Sure enough, a week or two later, he reappeared as ‘Anonymous’ and did exactly the same thing. I blocked all anonymous posts and then recently, presumably after his summer holiday, he reappeared as ‘Jonesy’. Last night James/Anonymous/Jonesy posted a comment full of defamatory remarks, false accusations and general abuse, none of which are remotely founded. I’ve chosen not to publish it, or respond.

In the whole time I’ve been blogging here and posting on Twitter I have probably been very lucky to have only experienced this one internet troll. In fact I’ve made some good friends, received advice from a couple of intelligent, very helpful betting professionals and enjoyed a huge amount of support from people in a similar position to me. Unfortunately the internet allows keyboard warriors like this to make their comments without retribution. It wouldn’t happen in the real world, but online there are sadly thousands of people with these tendencies.

As a result of this abuse, which is getting gradually worse, I have decided to end the blog here. I could just block all comments, but if someone is willing to take the time to create three separate identities to continue with these personal attacks, then who knows what they are capable of. I will continue with my journey and share progress with the guys I’ve got to know well in private. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read the blog, offer advice and share their experiences.

Good luck with your betting and trading.
BP

Internet trolls have been around since day 1 of the net. In essence I am a sportsbook internet troll. Whenever they post something that is easy to mock, I mock away. That’s probably beginner level trolling. But once an individual puts themselves out there, they open themselves up to a whole new level of trolling that would never be seen or condoned in normal society.

To put it mildly, I’ve had to deal with my fair share of trolls over the years. Like anything new, I had to learn to deal with it and at the start my method was to try and make them understand how dumb they were. Trolls feed off replies, it is their lifeblood. Knowing that they have made any type of impact gets them all sorts of aroused. In the beginning it was not pleasant and I would take a lot of it to heart. A good troll could have me feeling bad for an entire week. But I quickly learnt that any messages from these trolls was actually simply them mirroring their own issues at me. These poor lost trolls were living such sad lives that they needed to feel any connection they could and would do what used to get them attention as a child. They would simply act out. I went from hating these morons to actually feeling sorry for them. If you ever look at a trolls twitter history, you can quickly see all the negativity they spew out. If these sort of people did agree with me, I would be doing something wrong.

Now when I get an email or twitter troll. I simply do nothing, after the first sentence I know if it’s a troll and stop reading, socking the message in my troll folder. I take a second and feel sorry for the troll and move on with my life. If it is a twitter troll, I use the magic block button to save myself and the poor trollster from having to interact ever again. Sometimes I still fail and am lured into a conversation, but I am getting better at it.

I forget where I read this, but it was about a world famous guy who went to his fathers death bed and the last words his father said to him were:

“My son, I am very disappointed in you,” he said. “I never hear anything wrong said about you. You have proven yourself incapable of generating envy.”

Add the internet to gambling to profit to an opinionated guy (me) and you get envy. My dad will have a heap of things to be disappointed about me, but generating envy is not one of them.

So now because of a simple troll, we miss out on the knowledge from someone who clearly knew how to make a profit from trading and could have all made us better at what we love to do. Anybody thinking of starting a blog, you have a few things to deal with. Bookies not letting you bet, losing runs, and once you get popular you have the trolls. The smart thing to do is not blog at all, and BP has clearly done the smart thing here. Why add extra stress into an already stressful job. Me, well I’m not so bright.