First of all, can you explain what it is the US Sports Tipster Reports provide?

Rowan, US Editor: Sure.  The US Reports are based on the format SBC members are familiar with for the Betting Magazine reports we produce for UK and European based tipping services.  They contain the same in-depth tipster reviews that SBC is famous for, except this time the focus is on US Sports & betting markets.  Our aim is to provide members with the insight needed to enable them to choose who they follow from the most successful US Sports tipsters,  safe in the knowledge that the SBC have done their usual, thorough, due diligence.

We set out to both inform and educate members who may not be too familiar with the US Sports arena, the betting markets, or the jargon used, but for whatever reason would like to diversify their betting.

And of course, as always with the SBC, we want to make sure people are aware of the traps and pitfalls that come with exploring new markets, and believe me, our initial impressions were that there are more sharks and conmen operating in the US tipping industry than there are in the UK and Europe!

What was it that made you decide to tackle the US Sports market in the first place?

Rowan: It was becoming increasingly clear from feedback we were getting from our members that there is a strong and growing interest in betting on US Sports.  Some of the more experienced bettors, who need to be able to get fairly large stakes into markets that could absorb them having had their UK-based ‘High Street’ bookmaker accounts limited, realised that sports like the NFL carry huge markets through every week of the season.

Then there were those with less betting experience but who were interested in American sports, perhaps gained from watching the increasing European television coverage of NFL, NBA and MLB, and who wanted to know if there were any good tipsters out there that would add to their enjoyment.

What is the appeal of betting on US sports?

Rowan: Well, I’ve mentioned the huge markets that carry massive liquidity, and to serious bettors that is a real boon.  With the odd exception, we tend to find that good US tipsters don’t cause prices to crash, and generally speaking, if there is an initial drop in the odds offered on a pick, they frequently rebound.

There’s also the fact that there are serious US-based bookmakers like 5Dimes who stand a bet to larger stakes and don’t close accounts in the same way as so many of their European counterparts do.

OK, so moving onto the US Tipster Reports themsleves, what can you find in each report and what sports are covered?

Rowan: The main sports we cover are American Football (NFL), Baseball (MLB), Basketball (NBA), and Ice Hockey (NHL).  Across the three US Reports issued to date, we’ve reviewed services that between them have covered all of these sports.  Each review really drills down into a service and analyses the results achieved in such a way that bettors can easily see where a tipsters strengths lie, and which can then be exploited to add profit.

In addition to the tipster reviews, each US Report contains a ‘how-to-bet-on’ guide on a different US sport so as to help explain them for those unfamiliar. For example, in Issue 3, we feature a guide to betting on Baseball – ideal for anyone totally new to the sport to get to grips with it.

Each article breaks down the rules of each of the main sports covered, and allows the reader to start looking for profitable angles for themselves that can be used to make money from betting on US sports.

How exactly do you review a tipster? Can you walk me through the process?

Rowan: The first thing we do is identify those services that are showing promise and might be of interest to members.  We then ask the tipster if we can proof their bets and if so, and once we’ve collated a fair sample of their picks, we let our data analysts loose!

They examine every aspect of the tipster’s performance, looking for areas of strength and weakness in addition to the headline ROI and ROC figures.  This often kicks up valuable information that can be utilised to increase profits, or at the very least avoid areas where a tipster is perhaps not so strong.

For example, we discovered that with one service we reviewed, we could use the data supplied by the tipster in such a way that we could massively increase turnover and ROC in one simple stroke.  Information like that is priceless!  Anyway, once all the data analysis has been done, it’s sent over to me and I write up the review and present it in a way that is easy to read and follow.

You just released Issue 3 of your US Tipster Reports, can you walk me through what is inside?

Rowan: We have two full reviews, one of a chap who has done incredibly well tipping in basketball and hasn’t had a losing season since starting his service back in 2007!  The other takes a good look at an ice hockey specialist who has achieved an ROC of 360% over just two and a half seasons of betting!

As the MLB baseball season is just getting into full swing we also have an article that takes a comprehensive look at the sport, covering the rules of the game, the scoring system, how the league is structured and of course, how to bet on the sport.  We follow this up with a first look at what looks to be a baseball tipster with a considerable amount of potential that has come onto our radar.

How about Issues 1 and 2 – are they still available and what do they feature?

Rowan:  First things first, yes, they are still available.  Anyone signing up to a Platinum membership will immediately have access to all three US Sports Reports.

Issue 1 carried a massively detailed review of a service based out of the States with very reasonable subscription charges and which covers all of the main US sports, plus some others such as college football and basketball amongst others.  We broke this down somewhat though, to really get to grips with the baseball bets offered, and then in Issue 2 we did the same with American Football.  The findings were extremely interesting to say the least!

We also reviewed an NBA tipster in Issue 1, and ran an article taking a look at how to bet on this exciting sport, plus an article outlining the very real traps that exist in US tipping circles and which are very easy for the uninitiated to fall into.  For example, whilst we were researching the market, we found that many so called ‘independent’ tipster monitoring sites were anything but!

Issue 3 carries three full reviews including two specialising in American Football betting and another NBA tipster, plus another “How To Bet” article, this time on the NHL (ice hockey).

Are there any differences between betting on US Sports compared to the likes of Horse Racing and football?

Rowan: Fundamentally, no, there are no real differences, really.  Some of the jargon associated with US sports betting is different, for example we might place a bet on the ‘Moneyline’ in an NFL match, which simply means we’re backing a team to win.  The main differences are not in the betting itself, but the fact that the markets are huge and easy to get a bet into without account restrictions, as previously mentioned.  Not something that can be said for anyone who consistently does well betting on the horses!

How about US tipsters compared to UK tipsters – what are the differences there?

Rowan: One big difference we’ve noticed is that US tipsters seem to have no concept of a completely independent monitoring body.  It appears there is no SBC equivalent in the States!  Therefore I think to some US-based tipsters, they have a slightly lower expectation of the levels of customer service they feel obliged to provide.  Speaking to many people, a lack of communication between tipster and subscriber is commonplace.

Another difference can be cost, too, with many US tipsters charging extortionate amounts for picks that
haven’t ever been proofed anywhere!

What bookmakers do you need for US sport betting?

Rowan: With the increasing popularity of US sports in the UK and Europe, all the big High Street bookmakers price up US sports markets now.  The big Asian books run hugely liquid markets on all US sports, and then there are the American firms like 5Dimes and Bovada that can be used too.

One company that we can recommend strongly is Matchbook, who we’ve found often offer the best odds in the market, even when taking into account the commission Matchbook customers pay.  We’ve high hopes too for Smarkets and we’re keeping a close eye on what they have to offer from a US point of view

It all sounds great, what do you have planned for the future for US Report subscribers?

Rowan: We’re constantly scouring the market for more top notch US Sports betting tipping services so that we can break these services down and direct our members towards making strong profits from betting on US sports.   We’ve several in the pipeline including a very cheap NFL tipster with a strong track record over the past five seasons, which should come out just in time for the new NFL season in the early autumn.

Other than that we’ll be finishing off our ‘How to Bet’ guides with an in depth look at American Football, and we also plan to bring news of tipsters who specialise in areas such as College Football and Basketball which are massive markets in their own right.

How can someone find out more on your US service?

Rowan: Well they can always contact me directly with any questions they have at rowan@smartbettingclub.com.

By following this link too, they can read more about the service and what we have to offer and most importantly, how to join!