Deutsche Welle, Germany
Jan 18 2005
Winter Break Champion Tipper – The Secret of his Success
Do you try to predict the winners of Bundesliga matches, but bet on
the losers? Meet Artem from Armenia, the tipper currently topping
DW-WORLD’s Kick-Off Tip betting game halfway through the German
soccer season.
Artem is a 46 year-old physicist from Yerevan in Armenia. A soccer
fan who now works and lives in the town of Deajeon in South Korea,
Artem has been an avid and passionate fan of the game since childhood
and has followed the top European leagues for as long as he can
remember.
Because South Korean television does not always carry the reports or
show the games from the Bundesliga and other European competitions,
Artem gets most of his information from the Internet. It seems to be
paying off for Artem who, with a winter break score of 129 points, is
sitting pretty on the top of the tipper’s league table ahead of many
players who have the luxury of watching the Bundesliga live. DW-WORLD
asks the current pace setter what his secret for success is.
DW-WORLD: What is the secret of your success?
Artem: I can simply guess the results better. I can’t give away my
secrets or there will be many other people instead of me out in
front.
DW: How is it that a soccer fan from Armenia can be the best tipper
in a game about the Bundesliga featuring more than 3,000 players?
Artem: I have been interested in soccer since my childhood. I have
followed many of the soccer leagues in Europe and I know the German
national team quite well. However, I’ve been living in South Korea
now for over a year and it’s a lot more difficult to find out about
the games here than in Armenia.
DW: Do you have any special ways to prepare before the games?
Artem: No, I have no special preparations.
DW: Are there any teams with which you have more success than others?
Artem: In the first half of the season, I have guessed many of the
right results featuring Hamburg and Hanover but I have also had a few
successes with teams such as Bayern Munich and Stuttgart.
DW: Do you have any advice for those players who have picked up very
few points in the betting game?
Artem: I have no advice which can help these people.
DW: Do you tip as part of a team or do you play alone?
Artem: I play alone but I have also had many offers to join a team.
DW: What is your main motivation? To win the prize or is it simply
sporting ambition, to be better than the others?
Artem: Sporting ambition and the desire to be first.
DW: Does it irritate you to receive mails from your fellow
competitors?
Artem: I do not communicate often in these mails. Mostly I get
questions about my strategies which I do not talk about, as I
mentioned before. Maybe I will reveal some secrets at the end of the
season if I win.
DW: What would make the Kick-Off Tip game even better, in your
opinion? Is there anything which the game lacks?
Artem: I think everything runs very well in the game. Maybe I think
that because I am out in front.
Martin Schülke/ Sergey Gushcha
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress