In the first six weeks of using SharpBetting Football’s model – the one that is used to derive the David’s Daily bets – I made 70% bank growth.  That is possibly the best start I’ve ever had to using any service.

The last seven days however, I’ve seen a loss equating to 17.25% of the bank.  Not disastrous by any means, but I do wonder how differently I’d felt about the efficacy of the model had I started seven days ago and had missed out on all the profit that preceded it?

Now look, I’m experienced enough to know now that if my stint with SB had got off to a sticky start I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.  But go back a few years, and the last six days would at the very least have had me running through all sorts of questions in my head.  Is it worth the subscription cost?  What if previous good results was just positive variance and in fact the edge might have gone, if it had ever existed at all?  Is my betting bank allocated to this service big enough?  Should I drop my stake size, just until I see an upturn in results?  Etcetera, etcetera…

As it is, I knew that SB Football had got off to an absolute flier for me, was running ridiculously hot at times, and that before too long it was likely that I’d experience something of a dip to start to bring performance levels closer in line with what had been seen historically.  And I guess that has happened/is happening now.  Now we see if this is to be an extended drawdown that will drag results below the expected performance line before changing course again, this time upwards.  Only time will tell, but regardless, I know at least I’m going to stay level headed about it all and just see where the ride takes me.  As it is, a run of six consecutive losing days for SB Football for me (others using the model will be taking different bets of course, and with that, getting different results) was brought to a halt by recording a small profit yesterday.

The losses via SB Football contributed to experiencing the worst drawdown I’ve suffered for three months this week, but a strong performance from eSoccer Edge and The Value Machine Exchange Profit over the last couple of days has just eradicated those losses and pushed me up to a new profit high at time of writing (Friday morning).  The drawdown wasn’t that deep (-292 points) and has been quickly clawed back.  Let’s see what the weekend brings, although I can say right now, it won’t be much if anything at all on Saturday.

Have a great weekend, whatever it is you’re doing.

May 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 344pts, -131.4pts, ROI -38.2%, ROC -8.8%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 920pts, +264.75pts, ROI 28.8%, ROC 17.7%

The Value Machine Exchange Profit: Staked 370pts, +137.57pts, ROI 37.2%, ROC 9.2%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 121.8pts, -79.8pts, ROI -65.5%, ROC -5.3%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 1,104pts, -135.01pts, ROI -12.2%, ROC -9%.

TOTAL: Staked 2,859.8pts, +57.41pts, ROI 2%, ROC 0.8%

eSoccer Edge (again!).

I wrote last week of the “battle” to be top dog tipster for May between eSoccer Edge and SharpBetting Football, and after a last day of betting on Friday a profitable day for the former and a loss for the latter meant eSE edged it.  Take nothing away from SharpBetting though.  It has played an absolute stormer!

Mayu has been a fantastic month, with the final ROI resting at 12.8% and the ROC (bank growth) figure at 28%.  The fact that Weekly Golf Value gave us two big wins in one week and yet going into the final day of the month was the third most profitable service, says a lot.

Let’s start at the top then, and after coasting for the first half of the month, after which I was more or less level, the second half of the month was explosive.  From the 26th to the 30th alone, I netted 661.5 points of profit.  That’s total bank growth of 44.1%, which is quite phenomenal. 60%+ bank growth on the month!

My worry of course, is how much longer can that last before the dreaded restrictions kick in?  I deliberately keep my stakes a fair way below the maximum allowed.  Who knows if this is the right strategy?  Might I be better off going all in and try and max out before I’m prevented from betting any more?  Or do I make more in the long run doing it this way, trying not to draw attention to myself by keeping stakes sensible, feeding the odd slots game in the Casino, and making myself look like something of a mug punter on a winning streak?

What has been notable is that after commenting in here that prices had begun to disappear incredibly quickly, I’m currently finding that getting on is on the whole, a little easier again.  I still wouldn’t want to hang around, but that immediate line movement we had started to see seems to be under control again, which is clearly a good thing.

As mentioned already, Weekly Golf Value has had a storming month and the overall ROI for this year has climbed to 46.7%.  Yes, as with any golf service, WGV is not immune to long dry spells, nor to fairly wild short term down and upswings.  But if you look at the record over years, it is incredibly consistent.  Two winners in one weekend is always going to be a highlight of any year’s betting, and so much fun!

It was only over the last couple of days of the month that SharpBetting Football dropped away after what seemed like days and days of making a profit.  There were one or two really strong days during the month, but mainly it was a steady return – something like 30 points of profit each day.  There were times it just felt robotic (in a good way).  Put the bets on.  See how they did the following morning.  Oh, there’s a steady bit of profit to add to the total.  It was the very epitome of no frills, steady, consistent profit making, and I loved it!

Like I say, things dropped away over the last day or so, and since then I’m now sitting on comfortably the worst drawdown I’ve encountered since signing up, although it really isn’t that big.  I mention it only to show that I’m aware that the service ran hot for me in May, and that at some point – and it’s possibly now – we’ll see a reversion to the mean.

Another to fall away a touch towards the end of the month was Tilt The Odds, but again not in any major way, and in fact when we look at the month’s ROI of 11.5%, then that really is very solid indeed.  I guess this month the success of the the three services I’ve described above has cast a bit of a shadow.  I’m also aware that I’m still struggling to get turnover anywhere near the level I would like it to be.  Being practical, I think that’s likely to remain the case over the summer, and then I’ll be able to get more bets down come the autumn when I can concentrate on it on Saturdays, which in my experience was always the busiest day of the week for the service when I used it previously.

The only disappointment this month was The Value Machine Exchange Profit.  Now I need to add in a massive proviso here, in that I was only able to strike the bets on one Saturday, and that turned out to be the biggest day of the month profit wise for me.  I’ve no idea how TVM fared on the other Saturdays, but I do feel I’m being a little unfair if I don’t point out the fact that I will have missed a lot of bets (Saturdays generally being busy) that may well have completely changed the P&L for the month had I been able to get on.

Anyway, a disappointing month for TVM, but which service doesn’t have those?  On we go.

May 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 994pts, +883.57pts, ROI 88.8%, ROC 58.9%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 6,140pts, +918.69pts, ROI 14.96%, ROC 61.24%

The Value Machine: Staked 2,124pts, -509.67pts, ROI -23.99%, ROC -33.9%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 593.25pts, +68.56pts, ROI 11.5%, ROC 4.5%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 6,131pts, +744.87pts, ROI 12.1%, ROC 49.7%.

WinnerOdds Football: Staked 357pts, -8.47pts, ROI -2.3%, ROC -0.5%

TOTAL: Staked 16,339.25pts, +2,102.78pts, ROI 12.8%, ROC 28%

Just a short post today.  With tomorrow being the last day of the month, I’d rather update figures and post a review on Monday so that I can neatly tie everything up.

What I would say is that this past week has seen something of a shoot out between eSoccer Edge and SharpBetting Football to see who wins the much-coveted and highly prestigious Bet Diary Service of the Month for May.  Bearing in mind the former was more or less breaking even for me halfway through the month, you can deduce that the last week or so has been fairly spectacular, whereas SharpBetting Football has been the very model of consistency from the 1st of May until yesterday.

With the 31st falling on a Saturday, I’d usually be saying that a busy Saturday’s betting could mean either a month ending with a bang, or if the Variance Gods are feeling somewhat malicious, undo a lot of good work that has come before.  However, with back to cricket coaching and playing this Saturday, it’s more likely than not that the last bet I strike this month will be today, Friday.

The comment made above about Saturdays though, is now, with the portfolio in its current guise, equally as relevant for any other day of the week.  Both eSoccer Edge and SharpBetting Football (I use the model to find my own bets) are high turnover and each therefore have the power to make a big impact on any day of the week.  So far in May, that impact has been very positive.  One more day in the same vein would be very much welcomed.

I’ll let you know how it goes on Monday.  Have a great weekend.

The Law of Sod dictates that as soon as I write a glowing piece about a tipster or service, the very next day I experience my biggest single day’s loss using that same tipster or service!  And that is exactly what happened on Saturday with SmartBetting Football.

I wouldn’t mind but regular readers will know that during the summer months I often am unable to place any bets at all on a Saturday.  This week however, a mix of old age and a bad back meant that Saturday was free, and so I used the morning to get a lot of bets down.  Typical.

That said, a cracking day on Friday with SharpBetting Football and a touch of profit on Sunday meant that across the three days, the service was up and Saturday’s loss of -72.8pts was barely a ripple anyway.

Good to see some weekend profit from The Value Machine Exchange Profit too, and when I add three profitable days from eSoccer Edge you can understand why the month is currently standing at a new profit high.

Going into the final day of the golf on Sunday and I was fearing a relatively hefty week’s loss, and those feelings didn’t dissipate when the earlier to finish DPWT event ended up with not one golfer in the placed positions.  However, three finished as placers over in the US event and instead of a hefty loss, I was rewarded with a small profit.  Happy days!

So all in all, a profitable weekend.  A good week this week and May will have been very fruitful indeed.  Let’s see what happens.

May 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 994pts, +883.57pts, ROI 88.8%, ROC 58.9%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 4,320pts, +257.19pts, ROI 5.95%, ROC 17.14%

The Value Machine: Staked 1,692pts, -456.69pts, ROI -26.9%, ROC -30.4%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 473.85pts, +148.62pts, ROI 31.3%, ROC 9.9%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 4,838pts, +545.28pts, ROI 11.27%, ROC 36.3%.

WinnerOdds Football: Staked 357pts, -8.47pts, ROI -2.3%, ROC -0.5%

TOTAL: Staked 12,674.85pts, +1,374.73pts, ROI 10.8%, ROC 18.3%

SBC’s Pete released a video to members that he did with SharpBetting’s David Hipkin, the expert behind the recently reviewed SharpBetting David’s Daily service.  I wrote the review, and on the back of doing so and seeing all the data analysis that we put into every review, decided to sign up.

To be accurate, I actually signed up not to the David’s Daily service, but the full service that provides access to all bets that are spun out by their model.  I felt that backing different teams/selections to those on the DD service, at varying times that suit me, is well suited to my style of following pro tipsters/experts.  I limit the number of bets I strike with any one individual bookmaker on any given day, spreading out the volume between a number of accounts I have access to, and I keep stakes relatively low, looking to put down plenty of volume and churn over the bank quickly and efficiently.  It takes me five to six days of betting at current levels to fully turnover the bank I’ve allocated to it.

So far, the results have been superb.  It’s coming up to six weeks since I signed up, and as of today I’m sitting on an ROC figure (bank growth) of 51.7%.  Using the bespoke ‘Sharp Staking’ system, I’ve undoubtedly sacrificed a bit of profit for the sake of reducing variance, and this seems to have worked.  A total profit of 776 points with a deepest drawdown so far of just 98.6 points is testament to this.  This week has seen the quiet accumulation of a further 8.5% worth of bank growth.

I’ve no doubt I’ve been fortunate to get off to a flier, and the current ROI of 11.7% is unlikely to be sustainable.  I think there may be opportunity to follow profitably on the Exchanges, but I can’t say that with any level of confidence at this stage.  I believe David is looking at the potential for Exchange use and will hopefully report back to SB members when the time is right.

Finally, it was interesting to hear from the video interview with Pete, David say that they’re looking to introduce more sports to their offering, with an announcement being made in June.  I’m excited to hear more.

May 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 744pts, +814.57pts, ROI 109.4%, ROC 54.3%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 4,020pts, +133.69pts, ROI 3.32%, ROC 8.91%

The Value Machine: Staked 1,296pts, -510.87pts, ROI -39.41%, ROC -34.05%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 361.65pts, +188.96pts, ROI 52.24%, ROC 12.59%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 4,096pts, +510.69pts, ROI 12.46%, ROC 34.04%.

WinnerOdds Football: Staked 357pts, -8.47pts, ROI -2.3%, ROC -0.5%

TOTAL: Staked 10,874.65pts, +1,128.8pts, ROI 10.38%, ROC 15.05%

I have a bit of a quandary, in that with not having placed a single bet over the weekend, I don’t have a great deal to report.  That’s going to be the way of it though for the next month or so, as cricket kinda takes over.

Without boring you, this is how the weekend panned out, and is fairly typical at this time of year.

Saturday: leave the house at 8.00am, two hours of coaching 8.30-10.30.  10.30 is the team I play for meet time, match starts at 12, finishes at 7.00pm, couple of beers, in at 10.00pm.

Sunday: Leave the house at 8.30am to get to Liverpool (35 miles away) to manage/coach Women’s 1st XI – match starts at 11.45, finishes at 6.30pm, drive home and arrive at 7.30, eat, glass of wine, fall into bed.

As you can see, no betting!

So this Monday update, until the autumn anyway, is really likely to cover only Friday’s betting plus an update on how the golf went each week.

Sadly, not even close to a repeat of the heroics performed last week by Weekly Golf Value, whose one sole, shared place return from the US PGA Championship gave very little back.  94% of the total staked across the tournament was loss – the nearest thing to being a blank week without it officially being a blank week.

However, Friday saw another (third) nice winning double from Tilt The Odds land to push it up to a new profit high, and that is now running along very nicely at 81% ROI for the month.  Coming close to getting three winners in a Lucky 15 too which should produce some very healthy returns, but have hit the bar twice last week on that front.  It’ll come.

SharpBetting Football continues to be the model of consistency and like TTO, is sitting on a current profit high.  It’s notched up bank growth of 43% in just a day or so over a month, which it has to be said, is a pretty spectacular start!  I’m not counting on that rate of growth continuing but to say I’m pleased with how things have started, is something of an understatement.

So May continues to produce profit, and let’s hope that continues.

May 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 744pts, +814.57pts, ROI 109.4%, ROC 54.3%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 2620pts, +82.69pts, ROI 3.15%, ROC 5.5%

The Value Machine: Staked 1,032pts, -354.39pts, ROI -34.3%, ROC -23.6%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 270.75pts, +220.86pts, ROI 81.5%, ROC 14.7%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 3,226.5pts, +382.09pts, ROI 11.8%, ROC 25.4%.

WinnerOdds Football: Staked 357pts, -8.47pts, ROI -2.3%, ROC -0.5%

TOTAL: Staked 8,250.25pts, +1,137.58pts, ROI 13.7%, ROC 15.1%

It’s fair to say that The Value Machine Exchange Profit is enduring something of a drawdown at the moment.  Nothing out of the ordinary and nothing to cause any worry, but normally I’d be checking the previous day’s results to update my figures, thinking and hoping that a good winner or two had reversed the downward trend.

After the big, big winnings on the golf last week though, and with eSoccer Edge (which has gone from -135pts to +135 pts since Monday) and SharpBetting Football proving so consistent this week, that sort of very low level anxiety over the TVM drawdown just hasn’t been a thing.  The conclusion – and it’s a very obvious one – is that when other services are doing so well, one that isn’t doesn’t register even remotely on the when-is-this-losing-run-going-to-end-ometer!

In addition to those two, I’m still looking for a big win to hit via Tilt The Odds but in the meantime another nice winning double has added nicely to the pot, and very quietly and without any fuss or fanfare, we’re running at an ROI of 53%.  Why can’t it always be as easy?

All this is a nice position to be in.  It won’t always be like this, of course.  But at present, I feel I’m just sailing away merrily on a flat sea, with a prevailing wind filling the sails and not so much as a cloud in sight.  We all know it won’t last, and sometime, sooner or later, will come a storm.  But for now, I’m going to sit back, chill, dangle a fishing live over the side and make the most of what’s happening in the here and now.

All sounds very Zen that, doesn’t it?

It’s the USPGA Championship on the golf this week, so only one tournament for Weekly Golf Value to sink its teeth into.  Ten players carrying the money.  Let’s see how they get on.  Is it too much to ask for three winners in two weeks?

Have a lovely weekend.

May 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 570pts, +976.9pts, ROI 171.3%, ROC 65.1%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 2,320pts, +135.25pts, ROI 5.8%, ROC 9%

The Value Machine: Staked 972pts, -336.39pts, ROI -34.6%, ROC -22.4%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 230.1pts, +121.97pts, ROI 53%, ROC 8.1%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 2,846pts, +324.92pts, ROI 11.4%, ROC 21.6%.

WinnerOdds Football: Staked 357pts, -8.47pts, ROI -2.3%, ROC -0.5%

TOTAL: Staked 7,295.1pts, +1,214.08pts, ROI 16.6%, ROC 16.1%

Three tournaments, four placed, two winners (both at 40/1)!  The result was my biggest day’s single profit figure following the Weekly Golf Value service.

The performance from the week’s Weekly Golf Value picks has seen a return the equivalent to bank growth of 68%.  When the golf betting gods smile down at you, they don’t just smile, they positively beam with a warmth and radiance akin to a Mediterranean sun.  The last knockings of the final round of the Truist Championship saw a face off between two WGV selections, and always looked likely to produce a winner, to follow Martin Couvra’s earlier victory in the Turkish Open.  It was more a matter of how big was the second win going to be, with a heavier stake on Sepp Straka than Shane Lowry.  Straka prevailed, and so the jackpot was hit!

Frankly, this was a phenomenal tipping performance, and a week that demonstrated in a very sharp light the need for patience in betting on golf.  WGV has been ticking along very nicely this year, but it is not unknown for it to go for months without generating any forward momentum.  And then, bang! Two winners and fantastic returns, and we push on to a new profit high not only for the service, but for the year to date across the board.

All this somewhat overshadows everything else.  I’m finding with cricket essentially taking over my life, especially at weekends, that turnover suffers on The Value Machine Exchange Profit, SharpBetting Football, and Tilt The Odds.  I guess for the next few months most of bets across these services will be struck across the week, which although isn’t ideal, is no great catastrophe either.

A bigger concern is how the accounts coughing up considerable golf winnings are going to react.  Do they remain viable?  I guess we’ll find out this week, but last week saw the closure of an account by one firm which for the life of me I can’t work out why.  It was primed, hadn’t produced any profit, odds on bets hadn’t shortened ridiculously…I’m genuinely flummoxed by it, but not surprised.

Catch you later in the week.

May 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 570pts, +976.9pts, ROI 171.3%, ROC 65.1%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 1,360pts, -135pts, ROI -9.9%, ROC -9%

The Value Machine: Staked 588pts, -121.13pts, ROI -20.6%, ROC -8%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 156.6pts, +84.28pts, ROI 53.8%, ROC 5.6%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 1,907.5pts, +172.96pts, ROI 9%, ROC 11.5%.

WinnerOdds Football: Staked 357pts, -8.47pts, ROI -2.3%, ROC -0.5%

TOTAL: Staked 4,939.1pts, +969.74pts, ROI 19.6%, ROC 12.9%

Not the best weekend of betting.  I say weekend, but really I mean Friday and Sunday, with Saturday being a blank day as cricket takes over.

It was a bad week for Weekly Golf Value with just one golfer placing across two tournaments.  It happens.

This was exacerbated by a small losing weekend for each of WinnerOdds Football, Tilt The Odds and eSoccer Edge, although I appreciate any readers who use these services may have experienced vastly different fortunes.  A small profit for The Value Machine Exchange Profit and SharpBetting Football, but not enough to even things out.

The weekend was essentially dictated by WGV, which tends to be the way of it.

Some updated thoughts around eSoccer Edge.

It has been very noticeable that the last week saw a bit of a different dynamic emerge.  Prices and lines of the advised picks started to change very quickly.  It used to be that if I happened to be in the kitchen making a cuppa or something when a bet alert flashed through on Telegram, I could saunter back to the laptop and get the bet on no problem after logging into the bookmaker account and then finding the relevant match.  Last week in particular, if I wasn’t actually sitting at my laptop when the bet came through, I had no chance.  That largely remains the case.

The guys there have acknowledged this shift to the group of members they have following, and are conducting all sorts of analysis to see how they might improve this situation moving forward.  Full credit to them for doing so and not burying their heads in the sand and pretending the problem doesn’t exist.

Hopefully the price movement will improve.  Like I say, if I happen to be sitting working at my laptop, by being particularly quick and efficient, I can get on most, if not all picks.  Let’s see what happens.

May 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 206pts, -157.2pts, ROI -76.3%, ROC -10.4%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 580pts, +28.5pts, ROI 4.9%, ROC 1.9%

The Value Machine: Staked 228pts, -50.02pts, ROI -21.9%, ROC -3.33%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 77.95pts, +9.44pts, ROI 12.1%, ROC 0.6%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 931pts, +66.76pts, ROI 7.1%, ROC 4.4%.

WinnerOdds Football: Staked 318pts, -31.37pts, ROI -9.8%, ROC -2%

TOTAL: Staked 2340.9pts, -133.69pts, ROI -5.7%, ROC -1.4%

eSoccer Edge!!!!!

There’s no arguing with the figures.  An ROI of 8.25% and bank growth (ROC) of 35.5% for April alone are outstanding figures.  Certainly I feel the decision made part way through the month to transfer from a flat, level staking approach to the graded one, two or three unit stakes advised for each bet now has been justified.

The month of April as a whole has been far more satisfactory and much less frustrating than March proved to be.  The end figures read an overall ROI of 4.6% and bank growth of  7.9%.  I would like that ROI to be a touch higher but in the absence of a long-priced golf winner something hovering around the 5% marker is ok.  Moving forward and a big win from Tilt The Odds could easily boost the ROI number.

In second place behind eSoccer Edge has been the new ‘Trial’ Service that I started following just under two weeks ago.  I can now reveal this to be the David’s Daily service, for which the SBC’s in-depth review was released just yesterday.  For clarity, I don’t simply follow the David’s Daily advised bets, but use the real time live model to source my own.  I appreciate that the current ROI figure of 10.4% is a bit higher than I can reasonably expect over the longer term, but it’s always nice to start with a new offering on the front foot and much better to run a little hot at the beginning than a little cold.

Weekly Golf Value started the month with an ROI in the 50/60% range without actually tipping a winner as a series of golfers provided place returns.  These dried up a little through the back end of the month, which meant some of the previous profit was temporarily donated back to the bookmakers.  Any month that ends in profit is a good one though, as far as I am concerned!

I’m going to write a post on each service, starting next week, and so will not say anything for now about WinnerOdds Football and where we are with that currently.

April 2025 (stakes normalised)…

Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker/WGV: Staked 1,017pts, +57.35pts, ROI 5.6%, ROC 3.8%

eSoccer Edge: Staked 6,455pts, +533.05pts, ROI 8.2%, ROC 35.5%

The Value Machine: Staked 1,978pts, -17.39pts, ROI -0.8%, ROC -1.1%

Tilt The Odds: Staked 365.1pts, +12.78pts, ROI 3.5%, ROC 0.8%.

SharpBetting Football: Staked 2,534.5pts, +265.57pts, ROI 10.4%, ROC 17.7%.

WinnerOdds Football: Staked 2,967pts, -137.57pts, ROI -4.6%, ROC -9.1%

TOTAL: Staked 15,363.6pts, +713.79pts, ROI 4.6%, ROC 7.9%