Phil Bull lived during the same era as John Aspinall. Where Aspinall was known for his gaming establishment, Phil Bull was popular from his gambling on horses. He made millions during his career in gambling, breeding and publishing. He owned a printing press, but it was the money from betting on horses that helped him gain the funds to become a publisher. Timeform was a brand he organised in 1948 on an international level. What made Bull so successful was his strategy of looking at the whole season rather than just each race. He used the same techniques each race, studying as much data as possible and helping him become a winner.
Timeform was his company under Portway Press where he published racing guides. Not only did he gamble on the races instead of taking up cards, but he actually made guides to bet on horse racing.
Bull started to gamble at an early age. His first bet was at Epsom Derby where he placed a bet on a horse called Caerlon in a 25/1 bet. The 40s showed Bull as a definite gambler with a self devised system. It was during this decade that he actually sold ratings under Temple Time Test and became one of the most well known gamblers in the racing industry.
William Hill was one of his friends along with celebrities like Bud Flanagan and The Crazy Gang. According to the history books Phil Bull managed to earn close to 300,000 pounds between 43 and 74. Some sources actually put this figure at a half million pounds. Had he been alive in the 90s making the same bets, his earnings would actually have been 5 million pounds based on the prices of that decade compared to those during his life time.
Phil Bull managed to make horse betting what it is today because of his guides and strategy for betting on a horse. Without Bull in the gambling arena someone else may have come up with a system, but Bull certainly made it there first. The fact that he was a successful gambler is not surprising given his business acumen and his choices in betting on horses rather than cards. The creation of the published guides was also a way for him to succeed in the 40s when many others failed.
There are other famous gamblers that became known because they had a hand in making giant strides in the gambling industry. It was Bull’s good luck to be one of the successes rather than failures. He never gambled more than he could afford, which also helped him stay above the devil in gambling. Most that have the gambling bug tend to play it out trying to win back what they lose and eventually become poor. At the time of his death Phil Bull was still a wealthy man. He was born in 1910 and died in 1989, making him 79 at the time of his death. It was a ripe old age for the times and the life he lived.