#BettingPeople: STEPHEN LITTLE

#BettingPeople: Legendary rails bookmaker Stephen Little was the biggest independent bookmaker until the UK when he decided that he couldn’t see a future in the on-course betting industry and got out while the going was good. He’s just had his autobiographical account of his career ‘From Bicycle To Bentley’ published. In this interview, Simon Nott follows up from Stephen’s first #BettingPeople recording to talk specifically about the book and the questions picked up from its text.

---

STEPHEN LITTLE (part 1 of 4)

Stephen talks about why he felt the time was right to put pen to paper, working with Rupert Mackeson, why the number 147 haunts him, betting professionally on photo finishes and earning his stripes working for various bookmakers. He talks about getting his first pitches and cycling to the course to work some of them, looked upon as doomed by those already plying their trade there.

---

STEPHEN LITTLE (part 2 of 4)

Stephen talks about the type of punters that would bet on the rails, how most bets were on account but he’d advertise he’d take cash. Why he decided that he’d bet to figures rather than have an opinion, turning over as much as £21,000,000 in one year and never closing a winning account.

---

STEPHEN LITTLE (part 3 of 4)

Stephen talks about being a shy person that was once described as the ‘Incredible Hulk’ when he got onto a racecourse, the dry humour in his book, being disappointed to find out that one of the great bookmakers was a crook and being branded a spiv but another big name that didn’t like to pay, enjoying the trappings of wealth, his exasperation at his fellow bookmakers and his ‘get behind me Satan’ attitude.

---

STEPHEN LITTLE (part 4 of 4)

Stephen talks about making his betting pay after leaving the ranks of bookmakers, his opinion that rails bookmakers are the wholesale end of the business and his opinion of them getting annoyed when they lay an arb. He talks about his love of coursing and why he loves it so. Why he still helps out on course, and what his plans are for the future.

---

STAR PROMOTIONS

 

[smartslider3 slider=”2″