You've seen them on the telly, you've seen them on-course, shouting the odds and holding wads of notes seemingly effortlessly won from the hapless punters. Are you fed up with fighting what seems a lopsided battle? How about going over to the enemy?

Well, it's doesn't have to be just a pipedream. These days, the closed ranks of the bookies are open to newcomers, so you really could jack in the day job to become an on-course bookie. That's not to say that you could wake up tomorrow morning, decide to be a bookie and be taking bets by the end of the day.