I have always been fascinated by the concepts of probability and chance. As a kid I would go to the library and check out and continually renew "Scarne's Complete Guide to Gambling" to devour all the information on odds and probabilities as they applied to games of chance. I was always good at math and developed a love for sports at a very early age. It was only natural that I would combine the two in some fashion. I began to develop Power Ratings for college football in junior high school -- numbers that I have maintained and updated to this day. What started out as Ratings for about 100 teams has grown to all 252 teams at the FBS and FCS level.
Sure, the money is important but it is the intellectual information of pitting my knowledge, experience, prioritization of factors against those of the linesmakers, fellow bettors, etc. that continues to fuel my passion for handicapping/betting football -- and all sports for that matter.
Additionally, the "immediate feedback" -- positive or negative depending on the results -- also fits well with my personality. I much more like the impact of my decisions to be known quickly, rather than over a period of weeks or months -- or years in some cases.
Positive feedback/results fuels my enthusiasm for what I do even more. Negative results and losing streaks inspire me to work harder to uncover why my methods might not be working and to refine my techniques to eliminate mistakes. Of course, oftentimes there are no "mistakes" associated with losing selections but rather the element of "randomness".
To this day, after more than 40 years of forecasting sports events, I still tinker with my methods on a daily basis, looking to uncover unpublicized and unknown relationships from the huge amount of data I have accumulated over the years. I began using the personal computer when they first hit the market around 1980 -- I still have my first Apple II+. I am always optimistic that I am getting closer and closer to isolating the factors and the combinations therein that will continue to increase the success rate.
And it's not the destination that motivates me. It's the journey of trial and error that repeats itself ad infinitum that continues to fascinate me and from which I derive great pleasure -- and some profits along the way.