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Game, Set, Cash!: Inside the Secret World of International Tennis Trading
Inside the secret world of tennis court-siding.
Brad Hutchins has been living a young bloke’s dream: getting paid to travel the world and watch sport. Sitting court-side on the pro tennis circuit, he uses his phone to transmit results to a gambling syndicate, taking advantage of the time delay in TV broadcasts to beat other online punters to the big pay-offs. His stories from life on the road capture the adventures and mishaps that come with following the world’s best tennis players and partying in a new country every week.
But like card counters in casinos, court-siders are despised by the tennis establishment. The more time Brad spends at tournaments, the harder it becomes for him to evade the security guards who are hell-bent on ejecting him from matches. The resulting cat-and-mouse chases will appeal to anyone who loves the roguish spirit of The Wolf of Wall Street or Catch Me If You Can.
Brad Hutchins has been living a young bloke’s dream: getting paid to travel the world and watch sport. Sitting court-side on the pro tennis circuit, he uses his phone to transmit results to a gambling syndicate, taking advantage of the time delay in TV broadcasts to beat other online punters to the big pay-offs. His stories from life on the road capture the adventures and mishaps that come with following the world’s best tennis players and partying in a new country every week.
But like card counters in casinos, court-siders are despised by the tennis establishment. The more time Brad spends at tournaments, the harder it becomes for him to evade the security guards who are hell-bent on ejecting him from matches. The resulting cat-and-mouse chases will appeal to anyone who loves the roguish spirit of The Wolf of Wall Street or Catch Me If You Can.
- GenresSportsNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2014
6 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 12, 2015
Picked up as a random kindle, because it is about tennis. I had no idea that sports betting took place on point by point tennis scores, or that it was lucrative enough to enable people such as the author to travel around the world relaying live scores to their syndicates. I say "was" as the end of the book implies that such times are now past. However, this book was a fascinating insight into a part of the tennis world that few people know about--and the perils of living the life.
Most of the book reads like a drunken frat boy party, with drunken exploits and hangovers, but it's entertaining none the less. As a tennis fan, I'd have liked more insight on the players themselves and the game, but it was still an entertaining read.
Most of the book reads like a drunken frat boy party, with drunken exploits and hangovers, but it's entertaining none the less. As a tennis fan, I'd have liked more insight on the players themselves and the game, but it was still an entertaining read.
July 27, 2015
An extraordinary account of one mans journey across the globe to discover the unknown world of tennis trading. Mr Hutchins retells the tales of he and his buddies late night to early morning shenanigans in more countries than one can dream of. He allows his audience to gain a visual aspect of destinations he finds himself in and gives insight on some of the most recognised sportsman in history. Whether or not you are a fan of tennis I assure you; you will enjoy this insightful, often-hilarious memoir of this cheeky, mischievous man's journey. It will leave you wanting to find that dream job that will provide you with the opportunity to jet set across this planet we call home to unravel the many diverse ways of living.
March 9, 2021
Thin on detail (in terms of the use that courtsiding plays for the back end and their trading algorithms); heavy on boozy tales. Not as informative as I had hoped, but still a fun read and an illuminating text on a short lived career in a closing opportunity (PSA: you will not be able to courtside after reading this, the tour have upped their security, it's no longer a viable option).
June 13, 2022
A fascinating insight into the hidden world of tennis courtsiding as it was 10 years ago. Some excellent stories with several truly laugh out loud moments, it was an enjoyable read.
September 2, 2017
Author Brad is an Aussie living in Queensland. He is a teacher now. But before ‘regular life career’, he enjoyed an colorful young life that almost everyone would envy. He spent three years on the road when he was about 22. Brad traveled the world and met different people. In rare occasion, he met ‘tennis court-side trader’ in London. He was introduced into this mysterious world afterward. Brad spent two years attending tennis tours around the world. He was paid to travel and enjoyed world-class sport events. It all sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?
This secret job is known to few people. I don’t even know there is such existence before I buy this book. The traders are those who sit on site and update scores for their employers. The ‘employers’ are behind the scene smart syndicate or individuals that bet or gamble on sports. They use computer algorithm and fancy models to predict outcome of events. They hire traders to help them update newest information from the venue. Traders normally use mobiles to send data back. Computers would use the latest information to their advantage. They have better chance to outperform markets and reap big profits.
According to author, it’s not illegal to do these kinds of things. But the tennis authority didn’t like them. Therefore, it became a game of hide and seek. Brad encountered several obstacles along the ways. There were ‘close calls’ that were very dangerous indeed.
This book is very interesting and hilarious! I love the stories presented, especially his fellow traders. Several of them were so hilarious that I usually didn’t believe in real life. It’s really like those crazy Hollywood comedy movies with children-not-appropriate contents. But reading the whole book is more fun than I expected! It’s a book about business, travel, lifestyle, memories, and many more. As usual, I like to ‘experience’ what attending the best tennis events (Grand Slams, Masters) feels like, and I get the taste now. Looking forward to attending on venue in the future!
Overall, it’s a delight to read the book!
This secret job is known to few people. I don’t even know there is such existence before I buy this book. The traders are those who sit on site and update scores for their employers. The ‘employers’ are behind the scene smart syndicate or individuals that bet or gamble on sports. They use computer algorithm and fancy models to predict outcome of events. They hire traders to help them update newest information from the venue. Traders normally use mobiles to send data back. Computers would use the latest information to their advantage. They have better chance to outperform markets and reap big profits.
According to author, it’s not illegal to do these kinds of things. But the tennis authority didn’t like them. Therefore, it became a game of hide and seek. Brad encountered several obstacles along the ways. There were ‘close calls’ that were very dangerous indeed.
This book is very interesting and hilarious! I love the stories presented, especially his fellow traders. Several of them were so hilarious that I usually didn’t believe in real life. It’s really like those crazy Hollywood comedy movies with children-not-appropriate contents. But reading the whole book is more fun than I expected! It’s a book about business, travel, lifestyle, memories, and many more. As usual, I like to ‘experience’ what attending the best tennis events (Grand Slams, Masters) feels like, and I get the taste now. Looking forward to attending on venue in the future!
Overall, it’s a delight to read the book!
February 1, 2025
The tennis trading is interesting, but it gets a little repeatitive. The author’s drunken shenanigans with his 20-something trading pals are a lot to stomach throughout the book. But, I did learn a few things about the tournaments I’d like to attend.
March 26, 2024
Such an amazing And interesting life & job. Well written and interesting just a bit repetitive.
February 21, 2015
I received this book as part of First Reads giveaway, in exchange for a fair review.
The book was well written, though did have three distracting 'auto-correct' style mistakes. It's engaging, and full of travel and descriptions of places all around the world so vivid you can picture yourself there. If you didn't want to travel before, you will after this book.
The only reason I could not award it 4 stars, was that half way through we moved into the second year of the authors trading life. Whilst there were bits and pieces of new fresh story for their adventures, it felt like I was re-reading the first half and I got tired of the repeat. There's only so many countries you can read about being intercepted by security and ousted. A lot of that could have been trimmed and not written, and I felt the drawn out year long repeat was letting the boom down.
I would still recommend this book for reading, because it was still worth the reading. I learnt about a whole new way of trading, and never imagined this world even existed! The travel was luxurious and it was a good reading experience.
Three stars from me is still a good rating, it has to be special to make 4 and then so blast out the water amazing I keep a book to be 5.
The book was well written, though did have three distracting 'auto-correct' style mistakes. It's engaging, and full of travel and descriptions of places all around the world so vivid you can picture yourself there. If you didn't want to travel before, you will after this book.
The only reason I could not award it 4 stars, was that half way through we moved into the second year of the authors trading life. Whilst there were bits and pieces of new fresh story for their adventures, it felt like I was re-reading the first half and I got tired of the repeat. There's only so many countries you can read about being intercepted by security and ousted. A lot of that could have been trimmed and not written, and I felt the drawn out year long repeat was letting the boom down.
I would still recommend this book for reading, because it was still worth the reading. I learnt about a whole new way of trading, and never imagined this world even existed! The travel was luxurious and it was a good reading experience.
Three stars from me is still a good rating, it has to be special to make 4 and then so blast out the water amazing I keep a book to be 5.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews