In the early days of betfair.

Did you know that in the early days of betfair it was not easy to become a member.In fact I might surprise you to tell you that I have a written contract with the worlds largest betting organisiaton .in the early days you could send cash by post,and all payments if you were lucky to win were paid by cheque.
You had to prove who you were and a driving licience and birth cert,had to be checked.This was done by fax machine.There was no broadband at the time.Bank accounts were checked before joining . later on and the electronic payments started.
In those days it was great to see the cheques mounting up on the mantle over the fire place.but alas those days are gone.
if you were a consistant winner you were called a sharp mind.If you backed in hundreds you were called a whale.
Like today the staff were very friendly,but they seemed to have more time in the past.Now nobody has a minute.In the old days guys would ring up and ask if "how are things"
and also ask if you had any problems.The forum would be buzzing with excitement and everyone would share tips and information.
A live football thread would get over 2000 posts.Forumites respected one another then.But now all has changed ,and the good old days are gone,sad really.