Month: January 2021

More information & links on the ongoing consultations due to impact UK based bettors

Posted on by Peter Ling

I wanted to share a few important updates on the email I sent a few weeks back about proposed new ‘affordability’ checks on UK based bettors.

If you missed that article, you can read it on the SBC Blog – something I urge those of you based in the UK who bet regularly to do as the implications are massive.

1. Shorter Gambling Commission Consultation – 9th Feb Deadline

The first thing to mention is that following my initial email on this topic, the UK Gambling Commission have released a significantly simplified consultation you can fill in – available via this link.

This consultation is not only shorter but more to the point without the jargon and should take no more than 15 minutes to fill in.

Time is ticking on this though and you have until the 9th Feb to submit your feedback so don’t delay!

2. Horseracing Bettors Forum Submission

For those of you looking for some further inspiration on talking points to consider as part of your submission, Colin Hord, chair of the Horseracing Bettors Forum (HBF) shared with me a summary of the key points they had put forward.

I have copied them below as they get to the heart of the issue and why in their opinion, affordability limits are not necessary.

In summary the HBF believe that affordability checks should not be introduced. The main reasons being as follows:

  • The Government has announced a review of the Gambling Act 2005 in which it wants to assess affordability checks: HBF believes that introduction of such checks is a matter for Parliamentary debate and ultimate decision by the Government.
  • Any checks will be easily avoided by using different online bookmakers, using proxy accounts set up by friends and family, betting on the high street or the racecourse in anonymity and potentially moving bettors to illegal bookmakers online and/or unregulated overseas operators, resulting in a loss of tax and levy income.
  • HBF believe that there needs to be a demarcation between betting on horseracing (and other sports) and online casino gaming, i.e. games of chance (roulette, slots, virtual racing etc.). The odds for a horse or sports event vary and depend on the opinion of the bookmaker’s odds compiler, whereas casino gaming is fixed odds betting in which the house has a built-in advantage. The horseracing bettor operates under a different risk framework to the gaming customer who is focused on the quick adrenaline buzz of the spin of a slot or the turn of the roulette wheel.
  • For many people, betting on horseracing is an enjoyable pastime, because, with time and effort, the player can develop skill that enables them to take a profit or at least lose an easily affordable amount. Horseracing betting for many is a cerebral activity that is challenging and enjoyable with an aspirational element of deriving a profit. A loss of betting revenue will have significant impact on UK horseracing.
  • The proposed limits are extremely low and would likely include small stakes players who encounter a losing run. Even those betting £5 stakes would have a 20% chance of losing £100 in a month if betting horses to win at 6/1. Betting Exchange and Spread Betting customers could also fall into affordability checks if they have liabilities of greater than £100 per month and have to deposit additional funds even though they may not have lost. Similarly, the ante-post bettor may be creating an ante post portfolio for an event that does not take place that month.
  • We also believe that there should be a reduction in cross fertilisation of casino games with those who bet on sports and horseracing and that steps should be taken to make players more aware of the house edge in casino games.
  • HBF believe that Operators should be putting the welfare of their customers at the centre of their businesses just like an airline puts safety at the heart of their business. Safer gambling tools that have recently been required should be evaluated before affordability checks are imposed. The operators should create tools and procedures that can identify those that have, or are likely to have, gambling problems. After all, the Operators can easily spot those bettors who show skill!

3. SBC Podcast On This Topic

Finally, to explain more on this subject, in the latest episode of the SBC podcast, I spoke with Brian Chappell from the Justice For Punters website on this consultation and its potential impact on UK based bettors moving forward.

Brian has been at the forefront of many discussions with several stakeholders within the betting industry and so is ideally placed to shine light on the issues at hand and how important it is for as many UK bettors to take part in the consultation.

As part of the podcast we also explore whether staking and affordability limits will be introduced as part of a solution to tackling those with a gambling disorder and why the UK bookmaking industry is in such a mess due to its structure of restricting winners and encouraging losers.

You can listen and download this episode via the links below OR simply search ‘Smart Betting Club’ wherever you get your podcasts

Spotify

Google

Apple


That’s all for today,

Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor

The results are in… Updated tipster league tables and rankings including our 2 new expert recommendations

Posted on by Peter Ling

All the betting tipster information you will ever need…Welcome to the January 2021 Tipster Profit Report

Your prime location for finding out the very latest results, commentary and performance data on all the top tipster services that we monitor at the Smart Betting Club

Inside this special report, you can get results, league tables and ratings for 51 different tipsters,

We then pick out and recommend services to follow this year and beyond with 20 tipsters in our ‘Hall of Fame’ including 2 new additions:

  • Free Golf Tipster: The FREE golf tipster who returned a huge 75.0% ROI from 262 bets in 2020.
  • PGA Golf Tipster: The low-cost PGA tour expert who returned a healthy 46.5% on all of his advised golf tips in 2020.

Both of these golf tipsters also have long-term profitable records dating back several years and are well worth their Hall of Fame inclusion.

Proven Experts Over A Long Time!

Each Tipster Profit Report is designed to help you find the very best betting tipsters – those that have proven themselves to be successful over a long period of time.

And when I say a long period of time, I mean it…

As unlike many other tipster ‘review’ sites that base their recommendations on 3, 6 or sometimes 12 months results, the average age of a ‘Hall of Fame’ SBC tipster is over 4 years.

You have to be a seriously good tipster for a seriously long period of time to get a Hall of Fame recommendation.

Not only can you explore our Hall of Fame recommendations in this report, but also view a full breakdown on all 51 tipsters we monitor so you can easily compare and contrast them to find those that suit you. Including:

  • Our unique Best Buy Tables to keep you fully informed
  • Independent SBC ratings for every tipster
  • Details of SBC savings and free trials available including several free to follow experts
  • Suggested staking calculations revealing 12 month tipster profits to sensible stakes
  • Profit adjustment tables – to take into account ‘odds movement’ tipsters

 

Join Now With Our Best Value Membership Offer

You can access your own copy of the Tipster Profit Report and our entire back catalogue of magazines the instant you join the Smart Betting Club.

This includes access to every single tipster review we have ever written (there are literally hundreds available) and all of the Hall of Fame Tipsters we recommend to make you money betting.

Our memberships are currently the lowest price they have ever been, with the chance to save as much as £38 if signing-up today.

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As an SBC member you get access to all of our winning products…

  • SBC Magazines
  • Tipster Profit Reports
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Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor

An important update for all UK based bettors on action you need to take!

Posted on by Peter Ling

[20th Jan Update: The Gambling Commission have simplified their online consultation – a very welcome decision! You can fill in your response before the 9th February via this link.]

I have a very important post to share with you today about new ‘affordability’ checks being proposed for UK based bettors, what you need to know about it and action you can take right now on this topic.

The UK Government recently announced a gambling review which poses the greatest existential threat to the serious UK based recreational punter in decades, and we have only weeks to fight for our rights to have a decent bet upon its conclusion.

Now this may sound extreme, but we are in battle with politicians and campaigners who have little knowledge of the betting and gaming industry and are adopting a hard-line stance towards it.

Following on from the FOBT debate and subsequent stake reductions, there was an inevitability that an industry review would happen, after all whilst you are restricted to £2 a spin in a betting shop, you can sit in that very betting shop gambling thousands in online casinos via your mobile phone.

The main proposal surrounds affordability checks, which have been put forward by the UK Gambling Commission as part of their ongoing consultation on how to address the issue of gambling disorder.

Options range from limiting bettors to a monthly loss no greater than £2000 down to just £100 and several other requirements that could impact all UK based bettors in the future. Including but not limited to the need to pass on your bank statements and wage slips just to ensure you can get a reasonable bet on.

These affordability limits are being considered because bookmakers have failed abysmally to properly address the numbers of people who bet outside of their means and are considered to have a problem with their gambling.

Mixing Casino-Style Betting With ‘Skill Based’ Betting

This issue is also down to bookmakers knowingly blurring the lines between betting on skill-based events such as racing and casino-style gambling, which are the biggest driver of gambling disorder and source of bookmaker profits. There is evidence that shows that problem gambling rates are higher if betting on online slots and casino games than, for example, horse betting.

Therefore a clear differentiation needs to be made between these two forms of gambling and the Gambling Commission needs to be made aware of it.

Ensuring that it can introduce targeted action to really treat those types of betting which have the greatest issues with gambling disorder rather than a blanket limit that impacts the vast majority of us who bet and do so sensibly.

A blanket set of affordability checks on all types of betting and all punters will only serve to create more issues including likely driving a section of the betting population who wish to bet more to go offshore or into unregulated markets. It also serves as an opportune time to raise the issues of restrictions and closures of shrewd gamblers and how this contrasts with bookmakers claims to take problem gambling seriously. How can then when it is only long-term perennial losers who are allowed to consistently bet without stake restriction or account closure?

Hence my post today as it’s vitally important that those of you based in the UK make these points to both the Gambling Commission as part of their consultation and also to your MP.

HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION

There are three things you can do today to help raise awareness of the above points over the next few weeks:

  1. Submit evidence to the Gambling Commission as part of their consultation (ends 9th Feb)

This can be done at any time via the following link: https://consult.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/author/seeking-views-on-how-gambling-companies-interact-w/consultation/intro/ as evidence from all parties (consumers and operators) is invited between now and the 9th February.

The more of you that do so and reiterate the key points I outline above (separation of casino style gambling and skill based gambling) the better.

  1. Write to your MP

I have also been working with a UK parliamentary contact who has a keen interest in betting to draw up a template letter/email to send to your MP. Here is what to do:

  • Locate your MP here: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP
  • You will need to input your postcode and it will find your MP and their contact e-mail address.
  • Once located, insert their name at the top and your name and address at the bottom and send the below.

Dear (insert MP name)

I am writing to express my deep concern about the current review into the Gambling Act and the suggestion by some campaigners that restrictive affordability limits are introduced to betting accounts held by recreational sports bettors.

The reason for my concern is what I would define as skilled betting on sports should not be treated in the same way as unskilled gambling on online casinos, slots or bingo. I spend many hours studying sports markets and would equate what I do to someone investing in the stock market. You do not have to face invasive affordability checks with this investing and I believe the prospect of having to send bookmakers bank statements and wage slips is a huge breach of privacy, a significant data risk and a gross infringement of liberty.

As well as this, I would argue that this is a sledgehammer to crack a nut solution, as evidence shows online slots and casino games have comparatively higher rates of problem gambling than, for example, horse betting. Introducing affordability checks for sports betting will simply drive punters to unregulated markets and hit the treasury revenues at a time the Country can least afford it.

I am therefore asking you to represent my views and contact Nigel Huddleston MP calling upon him to decouple sports and events betting from that in online casinos and reject intrusive affordability checks as part of this review.

Kind regards,

(insert name and address)

3. Sign Our Petition

You can also sign our petition backing up the above points and which will be referenced as part of the Smart Betting Club’s submission to the Gambling Commission.

The more of you that sign it and believe in the statement we are making, the more weight these points will carry and greater likelihood they will be listened to.

Sign the petition via this link

 

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW

If we don’t individually and collectively do our best to take action in the next few weeks, then we can likely have no complaints if in the future we are confronted by short-sighted blanket affordability checks that might impact everyone betting from the UK.

So the more of you that can either take the consultation or write to your MP (An email will take only a few minutes to send) the better and the greater chance our voices will be heard.

There is no doubt that bookmakers have failed to properly tackle the issue of problem gambling, but any new measures introduced need to be done so in a very targeted and specific manner to avoid ruining betting for the many of us who bet sensibly and within our means.

Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor

 

 

Ben Coley Tipster Review – The free-to-follow golf tipster with a 21.8% ROI since 2017. Who he is and how to follow (includes full interview)

Posted on by Alex Lyons

Happy New Year!

If one of your goals in 2021 is to add a winning golf tipster to your betting portfolio then this FREE sample tipster review is one to read.

It features our in-depth review and interview with top tipster, Ben Coley who advises his bets free of charge on the Sporting life website each week.

First published in September 2020, this review is a great example of how a Smart Betting Club membership can help provide you with everything you need to make money betting using tipsters.

Here is what you can read about in this review:

  • Ben’s profits over the last 4 years totaling a 21.8% ROI since March 2017.
  • His excellent performance levels during 2020.
  • How you can implement his strategy on the exchanges allowing you to match, if not beat quoted odds with bookmakers.
  • A full interview with the man himself.

With golf and the PGA Tour starting again this Thursday, there is no better time to improve your golf betting by downloading this free report.

Simply click the link below to download your special free PDF and discover more.

Download Your Free Review

 

Want To Know More About The Best Tipsters?

If you want to learn more about the best tipsters such as Ben Coley, then you might like to consider a Smart Betting Club membership.

Ben is just one of hundreds of tipsters we have reviewed in the past with the very best and most profitable experts listed in the SBC Hall of Fame and featured in our Betting Magazines.

We also constantly track and monitor these very best tipsters and feedback to you as a member on their ongoing progress with tipster league tables, ratings, charts and analysis.

Helping you keep track on tipsters like Ben and their ongoing performance.

So, why not try out the Smart Betting Club service to see how we can help you and your betting?

Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor