At 38, this former male nurse who worked for ten years in the field of public health, met the worlds of sports betting 13 years ago at the suggestion of a Portuguese friend. First of all an entrepreneur, ‘Full Trader’ has always searched the internet for new opportunities to generate income and investments. He started poker, where he was doing well, but it was as a sports trader where he met his real place in business.
During his time as a male nurse, he also attended two years at the Faculty of Computer Science and realized that he could apply the concepts he knew about statistics and data analysis on the sports sector. It was from there that it found itself as a sports trade.
Santos, who is always looking for news and knowledge, is also a Master Coach; that is, has the highest degree in Coaching. From all this accumulated experience in his life, with various backgrounds and studies, created Full Trader.
Go Apostas: First of all, let’s talk a little bit about yourself, your background and how sports betting came into your life?
Ricardo Santos: I started in the sports trade 13 years ago. Today I am 38 years old, but my first training was with nursing. I still did two years of computer science and stopped. In nursing I worked for ten years in the public health sector. But first and foremost, I've always been an entrepreneur, meaning I've always looked for new ways to generate income, especially through the internet. I started playing poker and was doing well. I met sports trade through a Portuguese friend of mine, from a poker group. And there was a situation where I needed to develop a healthcare application, I needed Data Science concepts. I needed to create models, where I was going to tell the city what was most likely to be hospitalized for hypertensive, diabetic, pregnant women… So, I started my data engineering study saga, still working in poker and the sports trade. This study in Data Science gave me tools I could put on my sports trade, and then things got off the ground. I started working in other areas and left the city hall.
Do you consider sports trade as a profession?
I don't think trade is a profession, exactly. I use it as a form of investment. I don't live from the sports trade, and it's not because I don't have an income. In July, for example, I had an income of almost R$ 50 thousand (US$ 12,000). I had months of US$ 4,800, US$ 1,900, US$ 1,200… So, it is a source of investment. Today, I have multiple sources of income that allow me to take the money I earn elsewhere and invest part of it here in the sports trade. So, for me, it's a source of investment, not a job or a profession exactly. Some see it as a profession and it’s OK.
What channels do you use to publicize your work as a trader? Where can the public find you?
YouTube and Instagram. I'm more on Youtube because it's the easiest way to show what you do. I can make some longer videos there. I have at least 26 formations within human development. I have all my Master Coach background - personal coach, business coach, professional coach, positive psychology, neuroscience - all in the area of human development. It is my passion. Trade is one of my passions, but my biggest passion is working with human development. Leverage another's life. Develop the other to develop the potential of his life. This is my mission. And the YouTube channel is to publicize all this. Disseminate both my work as a trader and related to human development. It's the media I use most.
When did you decide, or realized, that you could be an influencer in sports betting?
I remember when I started making money - because before I only lost - there was no YouTube channel, nothing. I lost a lot of money. I left, came back, then I realized that they had several sports trade channels and some training. I started to buy all the training that came up. I did everything, absolutely everything you can imagine. That was five years ago. I won't say they were bad, because everyone has their value, but I realized that practically everyone was the same. Then I said, "Wait, that's not how things work." I made a video without any pretense, to show people that this was not the way. I began to show through statistical and mathematical bias, the way I thought it was right. Many people began to access my content and I started to produce more material. I make videos to publicize the work, not just for doing. I spend a lot of time in YouTube, I answer a lot of people, but it's not to be Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but to solve a problem that people have. And I'm paid for it. My social media is a job, and I'm there to solve people’s problems. In exchange for this, my time, my expertise, they pay me. That's how it works.
In your videos and social media, what do you want to give your audience as basic elements?
Standard and management. Find a pattern. What are the odds that something happens or not at a specific time. The team taking the goal, the team not taking the goal… What is the most likely to reach that number? With this, you will be in front of millions of people. Find patterns in events. And management, because management is psychological. Because you know what you have to do, but you don't do it. Then comes the behavioral biases. That also enters my whole neuroscientist training, human behavior… To help people make them understand how we make decisions.
What is your betting mode? Do you have a preference for any sports or betting device?
I am a trader and only operate at Betfair and in football. I've tried tennis, played with horses, but with no great results. So today, I only operate football at Betfair.
What strategies do you use for your bets?
I really like Match Odds. I operate a lot in Match Odds. Back or Lay. My strategies are created to work in Back or Lay.
What tips and recommendations would you give to the beginner?
Go after the standards. Pushing the buttons is easy. What is back? Lay? Over? How to get into the operation and how to get out? This is all quiet to do. It is not what will bring you results. What will bring you results are the patterns. I need to find the pattern. This is what bookmakers do. What is the pattern in this kind of behavior in the game? What is the probability of this type of behavior being over 1.5? Have an under 1.5? Learn how to do this. Because pushing the buttons is easy.
How is the daily life of Ricardo Santos / ‘Full Trader’? What is your routine?
My routine depends a lot on the project I am on. There are times when I'm in hyper focus. When I'm hyperfocused - like now that I'm going to do three events - I'm going to sleep late, around two in the morning and wake up around 10am. I concentrate better at night and can focus more. But in my day to day, when I'm not in my hyper focus, I usually wake up around 6:30. I do a meditation, I don't usually eat in the morning, I do an intermittent fasting process. I feel better this way. I also always visualize in the morning what my day will be like, and project my future. What will my future look like in five years? All this in 15 minutes. Around 9:30 am I get ready for the games, which is when I record the video for the guys, and I also get ready for the games of the day. From then on, I'm all in the market. I set aside there, too, about three hours of my day to monitor other businesses that I have that generate me passive income. On average, six hours of my day is dedicated to trade and training people, and three hours for other types of business.
How do you currently see the timing of sports betting in Brazil? And how do you think it will be in two or three years?
I am extremely optimistic. I think this will work in Brazil better than in much of the world. I think Brazil can be a leader in the sports betting market in a short time. In two, three years, I imagine Brazil as one of the leaders of the sports betting world. Brazil is the country of football, of opportunities. The Brazilian is always looking for a way to generate income, and I think it will explode here in a way that, in countries that have been doing this for ten years, has not yet. This for all. The gambler, investor and the guy who create business in sports betting.
Source: GMB / Go Apostas
