|
USE OF THESE ARTICLES
All articles appearing on this page are the property of Sportsbettingcentre,
however visitors may use them subject to the following conditions:
1. The title of the article, by-line and link to Sportsbettingcentre or to the named
authors and sources must be retained.
2. Whilst you are free to replace other text links with your own if you have them, please
retain ours otherwise.
3. With the exception of the above, articles should not be altered in any way without
prior permission from Sportsbettingcentre.
Thank you for your kind co-operation.
|
Sports Betting - new ideas, new opportunities
BETTING on sporting events has long been a part of the culture of most of humankind. Here in
the UK we still have the traditional high street "betting shops" that I remember from the days of my childhood, and my 70-something
father remembers from his. Names such as Ladbrokes and Tote seem to have been around for eons and anyone who, like me, spent any time in these establishments in the days before we had
the internet will recall the tension amid the smoky atmosphere as men stood glued to the little television screen to
see whether the horse which they'd placed next week's rent money on had triumphed.
I exaggerate, of course. There were always those who would stand in the betting shop all day
nonchalently placing 50p or £1 a time on accumulators which seldom paid dividends, but which had the potential to change one's
life if they did. Those of us who recall Frankie Dettori's historic seven-race victory at Ascot in 1996 will know that
dreams do sometimes come true (sadly I wasn't on that particular acca on that momentous day, but a friend had the first five
races and made a tidy sum on that).
Today the local bookmaker's is a tad less seedy than it must once have seemed to the uninitiated,
with clear glass windows, no smoking (or throwing your discarded slips on the floor in disgust) allowed and, significantly,
a whole range of sporting and non-sporting options on which to place one's bet. Soccer betting in particular has become
a major contributor to the industry, but one can also take a punt on who is going to win the next election or, more importantly
to many, the next series of The X-Factor.
But the biggest revolution of all in the world of sports betting has been the advent on the online
sportsbook. Here the traditional bookmakers, most of whom have also established themselves as online providers of sportsbetting
services, are joined by a whole range of newcomers (at least to us) such as Bet365, Jaxx and Paddy Power, as well as some awesome offshore books like Pinnacle and BetCRIS.
Prices (or "lines" as our American cousins prefer to call them) are available on all manner of sports,
including soccer, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf, motor racing, US sports, athletics, trotting (I promise I am not making this
up), bandy and of course innebandy.
Furthermore, it's no longer just a case of betting on which team wins. In soccer, for example,
bets can be placed on the half-time result, number of goals, number of corners, number of bookings, correct score, first or
last goalscorer and whether or not Roy Keane will be dispatched to the dugout.
As always new markets bring new opportunities, and the hopeful punter now finds himself wagering alongside
the trader, the back/layer, the arbitrageur, the value bettor and fleeting disciples of the latest can't-lose system.
From amid the confusion there has emerged a vertiable host of middle-men offering services, some of
them genuinely profitable and others less so. Arbitrage provides a regular, guaranteed profit - provided you do it right and have starting capital to wager. Systems such as
the Martingale (which usually wins but can and will ruin you when it doesn't) have become common currency. Backing and
Laying - using the betting exchanges such as Betfair - has become an art form which can be gratifying, or depressing, depending on just good at it you are.
At Sportsbettingcentre we present you with the options and leave the decision to you. Whatever your betting style and preference, be safe
and be lucky.
Bonuses for Dummies
THESE days most of the leading sportsbooks offer start-up bonuses or freebets to entice new customers
to open internet accounts with them, but how is it possible to turn that freebet into a guaranteed profit?
The first thing to take heed of are the Terms and Conditions attached to the promotional
offer. They vary from book to book - some insist the bet is placed on certain types of sport only, others insist on
a minimum price of, say, 2.00 (or evens in UK parlance).
The second consideration to keep in mind is that in most cases returns from freebets will not include
the stake. So for example if you place a £25 stake from a freebet at 3/1 odds at it wins, your return will be the £75
profit, not the £100 you would have received inclusive of your original stake with a conventional wager.
Once these nuances have all been factored in, however, it is possible for the new online sports bettor
to lock in a guaranteed profit by the clever use of freebets and bonuses.
Let me give an example. Totesport and Jaxx each offer a freebet equal to the value of your first stake, up to a total of £25. The "deal" is that with Totesport single qualifying bets need to be at odds of 2.0 (evens) or greater, and at Jaxx 1.60 (3/5) or greater.
You open accounts at both, and deposit £25 at each book. The next step is to find a two-way
contest in any qualifying sport in which the respective prices come as close as possible to forming a balanced book, whilst
remaining within the qualifying criteria. In simple terms, an example of a balanced book would be one in which both
sides of the bet were evens, although in the real world a bet which was evens on one side and 19/20 on the other would be
a good one for the purposes of this article.
So, by way of an example you find a suitable contest - let's say in this instance it's a soccer
match between Manchester United and Chelsea and the wager is Over/Under 2.5 goals scored. Totesport is offering 2.00 (evens) on there being more than 2.5 goals scored in the match, whilst Jaxx is offering 1.95 (19/20) on there being less than 2.5. Both bets satisfy the respective sportsbook's qualifying criteria
for a freebet.
You then place £25 on both bets, meaning you will have staked a total of £50 of your own money.
Bearing in mind that one of your bets must win, the worst possible scenario is that less than 2.5 goals are scored in the
match and £48.75 is returned into your account at Jaxx. You are down £1.25 on the deal.
You now receive £25 freebets at both books. You then find another contest, this time between
Liverpool and Arsenal. Totesport is offering 2.10 (11/10) on there being more than 15 corners in the match. Jaxx is offering 1.83 (5/6) on there being 15 corners or less.
Again, the worst scenario is that there are 15 corners or less won during the match. Your (free)
stake at Totesport will be lost completely. Meanwhile your stake at Jaxx will attract a profit of £20.83, in other words £25 at 5/6 without the (free) stake being returned.
Your total profit from the exercise will therefore be £20.83 less the £1.25 lost on the first bet,
a mark-up of £19.68.
Now bear in mind that there are dozens of sportsbooks offering start-up promotions of one kind or
another (click here for some examples), and the picture begins to develop.
It is important to bear in mind that start-up bonuses are just that. You only receive them once.
Nevertheless with a bit of imagination it is easy to make yourself £200 to £300 of guaranteed income with new accounts, after
which you are free to continue using them or not to use them as you see fit.
Either way it's free money.
Debunking the Martingale Myth
THERE is a dangerous myth doing the rounds on the internet that
it is possible to overcome all risk and cruise effortlessly to eventual riches by means of a system known as Martingale.
Martingale is not a new concept, indeed it was popular in 18th century France. However
in the age of the internet it has taken on a whole new life, with countless sites offering the benefits of this supposedly
foolproof system, sometimes at a price and at other times out of the apparent goodness of somebody's heart.
The theory is this. The punter places a bet on a market, say £1, at evens.
The price doesn't have to be evens, it just helps us for the benefit of this example if it is.
The outcome will be one of two eventualities. Either the bet will win, giving the
punter a profit of £1 to place in his bank. Or, alternatively, the bet will lose in which case he then places another
bet, this time of £2, on a similar market. If it wins he will have made a profit of £2 on the bet, or £1 in total
when the initial loss is taken account of.
If this bet is unsuccessful, the same bettor then places £4 on another evens market.
Again, if it is successful, he will be £1 up overall. If unsuccessful his next stake will be £8, and so on.
The Martingale system can be applied to almost any kind of wager. It can be used
at the casino (most purveyors of this "foolproof" system, for some peculiar reason, seem possessed of the notion that
it works particularly well on European Roulette), at the games table (Heads or Tails is a particularly straightforward
market for using such a system) or in the sportsbook.
On the surface it would appear to make sense. If you flip a coin often enough, it
has to show a Head sometime - doesn't it?
Well technically the answer is yes. But the Martingale theory ignores two very
important, and when you think of it fundamental, considerations.
First of all, most punters will have finite resources at their disposal. After five
unsuccessful flips of the coin your next stake will already be £32, having already flittered away £31. If your losing
streak continues for another five flips, your next unsuccessful bet will leave you £2047 out of pocket. And don't forget,
even if the coin has shown a Tail on the last ten occasions, the chances of it showing a Head next time are still only 50%!
Secondly, most casinos and sportsbooks will have a limit as to how much you are able to
stake on any particular wager. Once you hit that limit, you cannot continue to apply the Martingale theory and must
therefore take the resultant loss on the chin.
So what are the chances of a coin showing a Tail ten times in a row? The simple answer,
in theory, is 50% x 50% x 50% x 50% x 50% x 50% x 50% x 50% x 50% x 50%. In other words 0.0009765%, or approximately
1 in 1000. When it does happen you will have lost £1023 in one fell swoop. How many £1 wins will you need to recover
this? Get the idea?
So far so bad. But when one takes into account the house edge, which ensures that
your chances of winning a 50/50 bet are actually less than 50%, the Martingale system reveals itself to be an absolute no-no.
To put it simply - you will win little and often, then you will lose big.
There are many systems being offered out there, but for as long as there is a house edge
none that are based on mathematical probability will ever work for you in the long run.
The only systems that work in the final analysis involve betting on winners (or laying
losers), using bonuses intelligently to reverse the house edge and exploiting over-generous prices at sportsbooks as
and when they are offered.
Online Sports Betting with confidence
ONLINE sports betting has expanded at a truly amazing pace in a very short space of time.
Whilst the traditional street-corner bookie continues to cater for his faithful band of local punters, the explosive
growth of the internet has opened up the industry to millions of people around the world, many of whom will probably never
even have seen the inside of a betting shop.
This huge growth has transformed the nature of the
industry almost beyond recognition. Clients now bet on a huge range of sports and other activities. Literally
thousands of bookmakers vie for our business, frequently offering bonuses, promotions and gimmicks - as well as
competing with each other on prices - in their efforts to get us to deposit our money with them as opposed to one of their
rivals.
On
the whole this improved choice is good news for the punter, and at Sportsbettingcentre we try to give an idea of what some of the leading books are offering
in terms both of service and inducements. We also highlight the relative benefits of the various British, European,
Asian, Australian and US sportsbooks, which often differ considerably in style and content.
But unfortunately there is a down side too.
Along with greater choice comes greater risk, and the sad fact is that there are scores of dubious, financially
unstable and even downright dishonest operations out there who will happily take your money with not the slightest intention
of ever paying you out. Sportsbettingcentre will only ever promote books which we are entirely satisfied are reputable
and solvent.
Getting
the best prices, the most efficient service and where possible a useful bonus, from a sportsbook that is going to play fair
and pay you what you are owed, when you ask for it, has to be object of the exercise for any smart punter.
Good luck, and happy
betting!
United Kingdom Casinos
THE United Kingdom is seeing increasing liberalisation of the casino business;
visits to United Kingdom casinos topped 11 million last year and seem set to increase further in coming years, buoyed by changes
in the law which will see many new casinos built, including a so-called "supercasino," the location of which has still to
be decided. There are also increasing numbers of casinos in the regions of the country, such as Scotland and Wales, a national
lottery, a thriving sports betting sector, and online gambling, which is increasingly popular with Britons. This diversification
is expected to continue in the coming years.
Until recently, United Kingdom casinos required visitors to apply for membership
at least 24 hours in advance of playing; this could be done in person or in writing (or e-mail), and required the customer
to provide a name and address, as well as two forms of identification, at least one of which must carry a photo. This requirement
was designed to prevent "impulse" gambling, but was widely agreed to be outdated and was discontinued in 2005.
Under Britain's Gambling Act of 2005, there will be three classes of new casinos,
small, large, and (initially) one "supercasino." These classes of casinos are differentiated by their floor size and customer
capacity, and also by the numbers of slot machines that they will hold: up to 80 slot machines for small casinos, and up to
150 slot machines for large casinos, both with a maximum jackpot of £4,000. These will be sited in cities throughout the country,
using criteria including the impact on the local community and the potential for urban regeneration. This also applies to
the single "supercasino," which will probably be located in the Millennium Dome in London, though this has yet to be confirmed.
The supercasino would hold up to 1,250 slot machines with unlimited jackpots, potentially making it Europe's largest casino.
Apart from London, which currently has over 20 casinos, there are other United
Kingdom casinos spread throughout the country. The largest United Kingdom casino is the Star City in Birmingham, which has
46 table games and over 200 slot machines. In all, there are over 140 casinos and related gambling facilities in Britain,
though this is set to rise under the new rules. There is also a long tradition of sports betting, principally on horse racing
and soccer, and the growth of online betting has seen the United Kingdom fast catching some of its European neighbours in
the betting stakes.
Can Gambling Guide Sites Really Help You?
GAMBLING guide sites, are they any good? Let's not
answer the question yet; first I want to present how these websites work and what they offer to those who read them. We can
draw a conclusion at the end of the article.
When you buy a new product
from the store, you usually read the manual, you learn how to use it, because if you use it in an inappropriate way, the product
may broke and it means you wasted your money. If you are a beginner in online gambling, you should do the same: you should
carefully read the manual in order not to waste your money. And what is the manual in this case? Yes, your guess is right;
it is a gambling guide site. So, let's see what exactly these sites offer.
Many people start to gamble online before doing some research on the
casino they join and later they are surprised that they are constantly losing their money. Some casinos may even disappear
from one day to another, leaving the customer unsatisfied and with many questions. To avoid this kind of dissatisfaction,
you should check out a gambling guide site before you join a casino, because they can give you precious information about
gambling in an online casino.
There are things you can find on every gambling site, let's go trough
them. You can find a list of casino games which can be played in an online casino, but its not just that: among the list you can read every game's detailed rules.
This can be very helpful if you are a beginner, not quite sure which game suits you the best. You can read and learn these
rules before you start gambling and this way you save some money, which you would lose if you would not be aware of the rules.
Isn't this just great? But a gambling guide sites can help you even if you are not a beginner and have some experience in
online gambling: you can find some betting strategies; systems which can help you win more money.
Gambling guide sites do even more than just listing and presenting the online casino games. They usually have a list of casinos, and a comparison
can be made between them. So if you are not sure which casino is the best for you, you can check this comparison and see which
online casino offers better and bigger bonuses, more games. Another important thing mentioned in these comparisons is about
the free plays. Many casinos offer you the chance of playing for free. This is very important, because this way you can get
used to the software they use and you can develop your gambling skills and gain experience without losing a dime. The type
of the casino's software is mentioned in this comparison and this is a good sign of a safe online casino. The online casinos
listed on a site like this are usually safe, so you do not have to worry about a scam; only the good casinos are listed on
gambling sites. It might be a bad sign, if your casino is not listed, but you do not have to worry, you can check it out on
other websites, on gambling forums and so on.
Yes, these websites usually have a forum where other gamblers share
their opinions, experiences about online casinos. Again, this is very helpful to a new gambler; it can help him/her choosing
the best casino. Not to mention that by reading other people's opinion, experience you gain experience too. Of the gambling
guide sites does not have a forum, then for sure it will give you the address of a specialized forum, where you can read and
ask questions.
Among the things listed above a gambling guide site can help you in many other things: you can read articles in how to avoid scams, what you have to check before
joining an online casino, what are the signs of a safe casino, the house edges for every game you can play in an online casino.
All in all, gambling guide sites offer you a great variety of
information beginning with how to choose a safe online casino, through listing the games and presenting the rules and ending
with comparisons and directing you to gambling forums. You can find all this important information in one place. This way
you can prepare for entering the world of online gambling quick, easy and free. I forgot to mention it, but yes, all this
information is free, you won't have to pay any money to obtain information on casinos, games and rules. So the answer to the
initial question is yes, gambling guide sites are good, because they offer important information
for free.
Football Betting Tips
WITH the increase of live TV coverage of games, football betting in the UK continues to increase in popularity. The most popular UK football events
for betting purposes are the Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup.
Premier League
Betting on the Premiership title revolves around the "Big
4" clubs, namely Chelsea (6/5), Manchester United (9/4), Liverpool (10/3) and Arsenal (20/1), with the remainder at 500/1
and upwards. Chelsea top the table with 33 points from 15 games, followed by Liverpool with 33 from 14, Manchester United
with 28 from 14 and Arsenal with 26 from 14. Arsenal can effectively be ruled out as they would probably need an unbeaten
23 games to mount a challenge. Recent head-to-head suggests that there is little to choose between the other 3 teams, and
at the prices on offer, Manchester United look value to make up the deficit.
FA Cup
The 2008-09 FA Cup has just reached the third
round. The last team from outside the top flight to lift the FA Cup was West Ham United, who defeated Arsenal in 1980. Given
the dominance of the Premier League teams, it comes as no surprise to see them all at the head of the FA Cup market. There
is no value in this market at present and any prospective FA Cup punter is advised to wait till later in the tournament.
Carling Cup
The Carling Cup has reached
the quarter-final stage, with the last 8 teams lining up as follows:
Burnley (50/1)
v Arsenal (5/2)
Stoke City (14/1)
v Derby County (40/1)
Watford (66/1)
v Tottenham (7/2)
Manchester United
(2/1) v Blackburn Rovers (14/1)
Prices
in brackets are to lift the trophy. Burnley have only met Arsenal once recently, losing 2-0 in last season`s FA Cup. Recent
head-to head form suggests there is little between Stoke and Derby. However, Stoke`s home form in the Premiership is far superior
to Derby`s Championship away form any they must be fancied to win this tie. Watford v Tottenham is a tough call, given Spurs`
poor away form. Blackburn have not won at Old Trafford since September 2005 and, given their current form, there appears no
reason why they should improve on that record. The likely last 4 are Arsenal, Stoke, Spurs and Manchester United. If Stoke
get a home draw against Spurs in the semi-final, they have every chance of making the final. A minimum stake investment at
14/1 is recommended.
RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING
Betting and gaming should be an enjoyable and exciting
experience. However, for a minority it can become a problem. The vast majority of online bookmakers are committed to promoting
responsible gambling and have instigated a number of measures to help avoid problem gambling. These include daily and weekly
deposit limits, limits on session time and self-exclusion options for customers.
The following guidelines are advised for all types of gambling, including on national lottery results.
1. Establish loss limits before commencing
gambling.
2. Do not gamble if it interferes with daily
responsibilities.
3. Do not gamble
if recovering from any dependency or under the influence of alcohol or other substance.
4. Do not gamble to recoup losses.
For further advice on
responsible gambling, contact Gamcare`s UK helpline on 0845 6000 133 or via the website at www.gamcare.org.uk.
Value Betting Explained
A TERM that bettors will come across as they research the various betting systems which
are available around the net is Value Betting.
With the multitude of strategies that exist by which the experts variously swear one could
be forgiven for thinking that Value Betting is just the latest fad in a seemingly endless quest to devise a means by
which to beat the bookies. But Value Betting, in theory at least, must undoubtedly lead to a profitable betting experience
in the longer term.
The concept of Value in betting is a simple one. It means, in essence, that the price
on offer is more generous than the real chances of the preferred outcome taking place would suggest.
Let me put that another way. In a sporting contest between two competitors of exactly
equal ability in which the only two possible outcomes are a win for one or a win for the other, the real odds on either competitor
will be 2.00 (1/1), or Evens.
Sportsbooks which agree that both competitors have a precisely equal chance of victory
will typically offer something less than Evens, say 1.91 (10/11) or 1.83 (5/6). The missing bit is what is known as
the "house edge", or to put it more truthfully the mark-up that ensures that the bookie will be quids in whoever wins
the contest.
Now just imagine for a moment that one sportsbook gets it "wrong", and prices one competitor
up at 2.10 (11/10). A return of £2.10 for a stake of £1.00 on a competitor with an exactly 50-50 chance of winning is
what is known as a Value Bet.
The competitor's chance of winning the contest will still be Evens. In other words,
there is still as much chance of your bet losing than there is of it winning. Nonetheless, if you were to take 100 similar
bets on identical terms it would be reasonable to expect that you will finish up in pocket, as every losing bet would cost
you £1.00 (or a multiple thereof) whilst every successful bet would win you £1.10.
Value Bets do occur frequently in sports betting. There are many reasons for this
- bookmaker error, or a lack of detailed knowledge of the event in question, among them. Odds comparison services often
use complicated formulae to decide which prices represent Value Bets.
However, you will have noticed that earlier in this article I used the words "in theory
at least". There is a reason for my having done so, and it is this - often a sportsbook will have specialist knowledge
which is unknown to others which leads them to offer what would appear to be an over-generous price on a particular eventuality.
For instance, a sportsbook which had inside information that a boxer was carrying a hand injury might be persuaded to offer
a more attractive price than others who were in the dark. Under circumstances such as this,
the "Value Bet" actually becomes a mug bet.
There is no easy way to know whether a seemingly attractive price is being offered by a
particular book through ignorance or knowledge. Sometimes an inspired guess is possible -
if a Russian book, for example, offers an unusual price on a Russian sporting event it might be prudent to anticipate that
its linesmakers are better informed than those at, say, a UK or US-offshore book.
The bettor who can get Value Betting right every time will in the fullness of the time
be a rich man or woman. The challenge is to know when to strike.
Reviews of Online Casinos
The new trends of playing casino are play casino online. As we play casino at the casino station we also play the casino Online. In online casino the normal casino
games like Blackjack, Roulette, and Video Poker you play. Also you play Online Keno, Slot Games, Craps, and Solitaire etc.
You can play the online casino from the large collection of games of the leading online casinos. The leading online
casino providers are 32 Red Casino, Inter Casino. By playing online you always feel like a king.
For playing online
casino first Pick and choose your game from the best on offer there are the sites which provides you a player and all the
information regarding the player which must require before choosing which online casino to play. You can find the related
information about casino gaming on the sites on a page and also compare the bonus of deposit, the games which offer by and
the reviews of user’s along with other players.
For a lover of online casino game it involved pure gambling,
i.e. your luck makes you the winner or looser, so you settle for games which play online like Keno, Slot Games, Craps, and
Solitaire. There are also the cards games in online casino in which you play against the computer like blackjack. The another
game called Roulette is the highest popular game in online casino games , in this you’re your main aim is the ball goes
in to your predicted pocket or not after each spin of the Roulette wheel.
As we play all the games for fun this also
gives a fun to the player and also you play the game either individual bets or in group bets. Another game called Craps requires
you to guess the result of a spin of the cube. It is most accepted nowadays as it was for the duration of the era of Romans.
On seem of it, this game looks very complicated but once you know the fundamentals, playing craps is much easier.
The
person who is interested in games that also allow for scheduling strategies in place off just on fortune dependency, for them
the Video Poker and Keno are best option. The Video Poker is the combination of gamers’ features of both poker and slots
and plus the luck and strategy elements related to it. Online casinos become so popular every where because of its exciting and fast moving game. The best game for gambler who is amateur
is keno reason because it’s a number game. If you want to be safer than and want to decrease your risks of falling into
debt than always play with small amounts. But there are the variations in this keno wherein the payoff of money becomes large.
So
when ever you play casino online play it from the safer online casino website and if you play for experience than play small
and safe.
Which Online Sportsbook?
SOME years ago I worked in a bar a short train ride away from the town in which I
live.
The doorman was a long-retired gentleman by the name of Fred. Fred was nearer
ninety than eighty, and for longer than most people could remember there was nothing he had enjoyed more than placing his
pound on a horse racing accumulator at his local bookie on his way to work.
We would often joke with Fred about the fact that he never seemed to win anything, but
one day the joke appeared to be on us. His acca comprising several horses at relatively big prices was a winner and
off he trotted, excitedly, to pick up his winnings.
Alas his excitement was short lived. For buried somewhere deep within the terms of
engagement published by his small, independent bookie was the stipulation that no payout would exceed a certain sum.
I think it was £5,000 - it was certainly ludicrously low in any event. After a bit of an argument Fred left the premises
feeling dejected, and about £50,000 lighter than he had anticipated.
It would never have happened at Ladbrokes or William Hill, or indeed any of the big, established bookmakers which unfortunately were just a little too far down the road for Fred to
walk to in his advancing years. In the very unlikely event that he is still alive, I'd wager (pun intended) that he
still regrets the fact to this day.
Fast forward to the age of internet sports betting, and this particular scenario is now
if anything more evident even than it was in those days. There are now literally thousands of sports betting providers
offering their wares, and some are huge multi-million dollar enterprises whilst others give the impression of being operated
by a kid from a laptop in his bedroom where he should be doing his homework.
And yet, at the top end of the market, there is now just so much choice available.
The punter does not have to concern himself or herself, as Fred had to, with the time and effort involved in doing business
with one book as opposed to another. They are all there on a computer screen, accessible at the tap of a finger.
So what factors should you take into consideration when deciding
which sportsbook, or sportsbooks, to open an account with?
Well, the first has to be reliability. There really isn't much point in investing your
funds with an operator who has no intention of paying you out irrespective of the outcome of your bet, now matter how
attractive the prices on offer. And they are out there, in their scores if not in their hundreds. In consideration
of this I make no apology whatsoever for giving a completely unremunerated plug to the excellent SportsBookReview, which is a goldmine of information for the cautious customer. Not that SBR is necessarily always right, of course,
but it is well worth spending a few minutes consulting before parting with all your hard-earned.
Then for the high-rollers amongst us there is the question of capacity. If your thing
is to wager a fiver once a year on the Grand National then it won't trouble you much how high the maximum stake happens to
be. But for those who want to bet big to win big there is little point in wasting time and effort on some of the
European books (you know who you are!) who see fit to limit your wager to the price of a round of drinks.
Some of the biggest operators in the high-volume department are the offshore books, the
best of which in my view is Pinnacle, which offers high limits in most of the larger sports as well as probably the most competitive odds on the market.
A third factor that needs to be taken into account is the ease, or otherwise, with which
you can deposit and withdraw funds. Is there a conversion fee involved (whilst seldom falls in your favour) or will
there be a "bank" charge when you come to withdraw your winnings? Do they accept a credit card or Moneybookers and,
if so, is there a deposit fee?
And last, but certainly not least, what prices are they offering? The aforementioned
Pinnacle manages a book which sometimes operates at -102, or 102%, which in layman's terms means a very small house edge. As
such it is often able to push its prices that little bit higher than most of its competitors, although this isn't always the
case and a good odds comparison site will be invaluable in helping you to make the right decision.
Whatever you decide, please just remember that however you choose to weigh the relative
merits of convenience and profitability, the first priority is always safety.
Old Fred will back me up on that one.
Ten Common Mistakes made by new Betting
Exchange Traders
Mistake 1: Predicting and trading in different timescales
You must make sure that you match the timescale of your prediction
of the price’s direction with the amount of time that you hold your position.
You must make sure that you match the timescale of your prediction
of the price’s direction with the amount of time that you hold your position.
For instance, a classic betting exchange trading mistake would
be if you are trading the favourite’s price 3 minutes before the race is due to start and you see that the price is
being Backed heavily and is going down. You think that this horse has a really good chance of winning the race so you decide
to Back also.
WRONG!!!
If you do that you are basing a short term trading decision on
a long term view of the price. The timescale of your prediction of the price, i.e that the price will go down because the
horse will win the race, is different from the intended timescale of your trade, which is to trade out of it with a profit
in a minute or less.
Unless you’re going to hold the bet until the race has finished
then you can’t base trading decisions on where you think the price will be when the race has finished.
Mistake 2: Not getting out instantly
Short term traders on the betting exchanges don’t realize
just how short term you have to be to avoid the losses.
To trade without knowing anything about what is going on, you
have to assume that any movement against you is going to carry on going against you in the most painful way it can. And this
isn’t to drastic of an assumption, as anyone that’s held onto a losing trade only to see it get worse and worse
will agree.
Without any knowledge to the contrary you have to assume the worst,
and the only protection against this is not to be in harm’s way: The less time you’re in a position, the less
can go wrong.
Take your profits quickly and your scratch trades and losses even
quicker.
By quickly I mean instantly, profit scratch or loss you should
be out, or at least have your counter trade in, within 10 or 20 seconds at the most.
Mistake 3: Not doing scratch trades
There is a tendency amongst new traders to see the scratch trade
as a waste of time.
The scratch trade is where you lay and back the horse at the same
price. Once someone has done a scratch trade, only to then see the price go 2 or 3 ticks the right way they tend to stop doing
them. The new trader can’t get it out of his mind that the scratch trade just cost him a profit and stops doing them.
However, human nature, some more than others, will always make
us dwell on what we just missed out on without appreciating what we’ve got.
A scratch trade that gets you out of the market before the price
suddenly turns against you is soon forgotten about as the trader quietly congratulates his trading skills and quickly forgets
all about it. A missed profit has a different effect on many people than a saved loss of the same size has.
The fewer scratch trades you do the more losses you will have,
that is a fact, so therefore you need more profits just to get back the extra that you’re losing.
It’s far better to not lose and then to not win than it
is to lose and then win.
Mistake 4: Letting losing trades ride as bets
To be a successful trader you must be taking profits and losses
of roughly the same size, but having more profits than losses, with the scratch trade taking the place of the losses.
As soon as you start to let your losses get bigger than your profits
you’re creating an uphill battle for yourself because then you have to have lots more profits than losses just to break
even.
The absolute worst thing you can do is hold on to a bet because
you were losing on it and let it ride as the race runs. Doing this is total insanity from a risk reward ratio and is gambling
at it’s worst.
If you want to gamble then gamble but at least do it properly.
Don’t do a hybrid mix of trading and gambling where you’re doing each one badly.
To make small one and two tick profits and then risk your whole
bank on the outcome of a horserace because you couldn’t take a small one or two tick loss is stupid. You know that in
the long run it’s going to end in tears so why do it?
There’s no point in winning 9 times and losing once if your
loss is 50 times the size of your profit. Anyone with such a complete lack of discipline not only will lose but deserves to
lose.
Mistake 5: Reading form and watching racing on TV
As a short term scalper the last thing you want to do is read
from and watch the racing on television.
Those that wish to gamble on the outcome of the races should of
course do these things but a trader should avoid the formbook and the television. Not only are they distractions from trading
but they implant biases in the betting exchange trader’s mind that detract from his ability to concentrate solely on
the numbers and the patterns of movement that they are creating, leading to Mistake 1.
The scalper shouldn’t read the racing paper or switch on
the television and should only log in to Betfair at the most 20 minutes before the first race.
Mistake 6: Wanting to enjoy the racing
Trading is often described as boring and detracting from the enjoyment
of racing.This may be the case but horseracing is of no concern to the scalper so this comment is meaningless.
Horseracing has nothing to do with what the scalper is doing.
Wanting to enjoy the racing or enjoy your betting is fine but
you cannot trade successfully at the same time. You can do one or the other but not both.
Trading requires concentration and dedication and if you’re
watching horseracing at the same time then you are being unprofessional.
Mistake 7: Over thinking their trades
Most traders over think which way the market is going to go which
has 2 drawbacks: firstly, they don’t do enough trades which cuts down their potential to make money and secondly when
they do eventually pull the trigger they have put so much thought and effort into their trade that they fall in love with
it.
They are unwilling to get out of such a trade with an almost instant
scratch trade or an almost instant small loss.
It’s as if doing that would be to embarrassing after waiting
so long and putting so much time into it.
This is why people ride their losses due to their inability to
accept so quickly that they were wrong.
Instead of entering into a trade with the confidence that you
are right, each trade should instead be entered with the assumption that you are wrong with a willingness to react correctly
if indeed you are wrong.
As much as you may have built up your reasoning for the trade
you just did, you must remember that you don’t actually know anything about what is going on and it’s ok to be
wrong.
Mistake 8: They don’t use BetTrader
Not using BetTrader PRO Betfair trading software when scalping is by far the biggest mistake anyone
could make!
It’s the only Betfair trading software that was designed
and built by a full time UK horseracing prices scalper, namely me!
They say necessity is the mother of invention and that’s
definitely the case with the BetTrader betting software.
Having live price feeds and one click bet submission at any price,
lay or back, gives the trader the absolute flexibility he needs to turn on a sixpence which the betfair website and other
betting exchange trading applications don’t let you do.
Mistake 9: Getting distracted during races
It’s easy to get distracted by lots of different things
when you’re trading but you must ignore everything.
Don’t check your emails, don’t be on instant messenger
and don’t go on the betfair forum while the racing is on.
To really get in the groove you have to concentrate on every race,
moving onto the next race when that one is due to start. That slack period where you have just greened up on a race and then
move onto the next race and there is still 10 minutes to go and everything is quite calm shouldn’t be used to do other
things.
That’s the time where you can sit back for a few minutes
while nothing much is happening and relax a bit, but you must still watch the price and be aware of what is happening.
Don’t take your eyes from the screen except to go for a
piss. If you smoke then smoke in front of the computer or not at all, nipping out for a cigarette will cost you thousands
of pounds over the course of a year.
And don’t completely leave the moment by chatting online
to others, don’t even answer the phone or check out other websites. Concentrate dammit!
For 3 and a half hours you are a trader and nothing else, you’ll
be surprised how much better you trade when you don’t allow any outside distractions of any kind, letting yourself be
absorbed by what you are doing and really seeing the movements and imagining what they might do next.
Mistake 10: Wanting a profit of a predetermined size
Many people decide how much they want to make out of a trade before
they enter it and then set their exit price according to that rather than what it looks like they can reasonably get now.
Wanting to make 2 ticks is great but putting your counter trade
in 2 ticks higher than you just layed at and then sitting back waiting is gambling, not trading.
It might go up, but it might go down, if you can’t get out
straight away with a profit you should ask for a smaller profit. If you can’t get the smaller profit straight away you
should scratch, and if you miss the scratch trade you should take a loss.
If instead of all that you remain motionless with your counter
trade still in at the same price waiting for your 2 tick profit then you are gambling and will have your share of profits
but also your share of big losses.
---------------------------------------
Adam Todd is an experienced betting exchange trader who has written
his own software as an aid to making higher profits on the betting exchanges.
If you are interested in using the exact same betting exchange
trading software he himself uses, why not take it for a free trial spin?
Click Here.
Those little promos - are they
worth it?
AS they compete with one another for your custom many sportsbooks
and casinos are devising ever more elaborate ways of enticing you to invest your funds with them rather than with their competitors.
What this leads to in practise is a plethora of special offers assailing your Inbox. Many of them won’t make it past
your spam filter.
But do these offers provide any value to the sports bettor who
is looking for that extra edge? The short answer is that in fact they frequently do.
What one needs to remember is that unless the punter is acting
in possession of specialist knowledge or information, the eternal battle between bettor and sportsbook is in essence a battle
of wits between (optimistically) two equal parties in which one (the sportsbook) has a built-in 10% head start. Anything that
negates or, better still, reverses that built-in advantage has to be good news for the customer.
Much of course depends upon the nature of the offer. Sometimes
a book or a casino will offer you a simply freebie, usually to entice you back if a formerly active (and losing) account has
been dormant for some time. Normally the amount offered is low – a free five quid or ten free spins on a slot –
but unless you have such a hopelessly addictive personality that you’ll be drawn into following through with your own
funds (in which case you should avoid gambling completely) this is just free money. Take it – why not?
Now you can let your free bet ride and hope that it wins, or you
can lay it at an exchange such as Betfair or Betdaq and lock in a guaranteed small profit – up to you. Always be sure,
however, to check whether any winnings include or exclude the original stake. If the latter is the case this needs to be factored
in when laying your bet (e.g. a price of 3.50, when the stake is excluded from any returns, is in reality a price of 2.50).
Less straightforward is when there are conditions attached. For
example "Stake £100 and we’ll give you £50 on top!". Again, you can lay your £100 bet at a small loss and still be well
in pocket when the £50 bonus is awarded. However, do read the Terms and Conditions. Does the whole £150 have to be wagered
a required number of times before any monies can be withdrawn (the "rollover requirement")? If so, how many times? If it is
3x, 4x or 5x then by laying at small losses until the rollover requirement is fulfilled (or, preferably, your funds finish
up with Betfair or Betdaq rather than the book awarding the bonus) you will still be in profit. It it is 30x, on the other
hand, this is unlikely to be the case.
Similarly at the casino, some quite fantastic bonuses are som
etimes offered but as always the devil is in the detail, or to put it more precisely in the small print. What is the rollover
requirement (all else being equal the lower it is the more attractive the offer)?
And which games, if any, are excluded? It’s always best
to find out before you waste your money playing them.
In sports betting, then, an offer can be exploited by laying at
small losses (or even "arbing") to tie in an assured profit, whereas at the casino, whilst there is no guaranteed profit a
win can be made more likely than a loss if the house edge is reversed.
So don’t reject offers out of hand – read them carefully
and work out for yourself whether you can benefit from them. Contrary to perceived wisdom sportsbooks and casinos do sometimes
throw money away, if they figure that by doing so they might lure a good customer back, or keep an existing customer who has
been a bit down on his luck interested. In online sports betting there is such a thing as a free lunch, just so long as you
are not obligated to sing for your supper afterwards.
How to Make Money Spread Betting
Spread betting is a way of winning or losing
based on how accurately you predict the outcome of a sporting event. With fixed odds betting, you are placing a wager on only
the outcome of a sporting matchup where the winnings, or losses, are fixed based on the result forecast. For example, if you
bet £10 the team A will beat team B by 2 goals to 1. If that is the final result, you would win at the odds offered. If that
isn`t the final result, then you would lose your £10 stake.
Spread betting allows you
to benefit from the increased accuracy of your prediction. The more right you are, the more you win. However, the more wrong
you are, the more you will lose.
One example
may be where the predicted time for the opening goal between two teams is the 35th minute of a game. The spread betting firm
would offer punters the option to bet on when the goal would be scored. One may bet low at, say, 33 minutes whilst another
may go higher at, say 38 minutes. If the first goal is actually scored in the 20th minute, then the low bet would win 13 times
his bet (33 minus 20) whilst the high bet would lose 18 times their bet (38 minus 20). Hence the opportunity for winning or
losing multiples of the bet wagered is significant - especially if the initial bet is large!
This
principle can be applied to all forms of sport be it horse racing (for example, one horse beating another by a set distance),
golf (e.g. score shot on a particular round), boxing (when a knockout may occur) or, indeed, any activity where an outcome
can be bet. Some companies will even allow you to create your own spread betting topic if they are not setting the market
themselves.
With
careful planning, the rewards from spread betting can be managed so as to reduce any downside and increase the upside. The
use of a `stop loss` account, which has the effect of capping any winnings or losses, can be an important strategy in ensuring
that your bets downside risk is managed. Some spread betting firms accept bids as low as 5 pence so there is a market for
gamblers of all sizes! It is also possible to close out positions whist the event is underway and the result is yet to be
determined. This way, you can take any profits or cut any losses at any time, unlike fixed odds betting where you have to
wait to the end of the event to claim winnings or crystallise losses.
Spread betting is for those who are comfortable with the sport they are following
and the financial leverage impact of the bet. Some sports are inherently more volatile than others - for example football
rarely has a game where there are more than 8 goals scored in total. Always work out what you worst position could be and
follow the event closely so as to be able to save money before losses start to mount up.
|
.gif&AffUrlID=967)