Betting Expertise

Six Nations Preview From Sports4Cast: Sneak Peak

Posted on by Josh P

Sports4Cast are a sports data company who use their expertise to help organisations and teams with everything from analysing performance, making and using predictions and consulting on how best to engage their audiences.

Their wealth of data also lends itself well to betting and they offer services that identify value in the football, rugby and baseball markets (with more to come). The SBC are currently crunching the numbers on all of this but with the Six Nations starting on 31st of January, we thought that getting Sports4Cast’s CEO Graeme Acheson’s thoughts on the tournament would be helpful for anyone considering a bet. Below, you will find what the models are saying and we will follow up with a Twitter/X Spaces closer to kick off!

Sports4Cast Six Nations Sneak Peak

Graeme Acheson

After a long, dark, cold January, things are finally starting to look up. The days are (marginally) getting longer, the temperature is (allegedly) going up—but most importantly, the Six Nations is nearly here. Rugby’s Greatest Championship – shameless bait for the Southern Hemisphere friends – is back again.

Who’s going to take the crown this year? Can Ireland pull off a historic 3-peat? Are France back to the powerhouse everyone fears? Will England’s defense finally gel? IS IT SCOTLAND’S YEAR? And what about Wales or Italy?

Well, read on, dear reader. All these answers – and more – are below. Let’s get into it.

Sports4Cast Predictions

At Sports4Cast, our prediction models are designed to take (at least some of!) the guesswork out of the game. Covering both international and club rugby (and football if that’s also your thing), we use a proprietary rankings system and a host of additional factors to simulate match outcomes and tournament scenarios.

The result? Unbiased predictions that cut through the noise, offering a fresh perspective on each team’s chances. It’s an excellent starting point for serious rugby fans trying to gauge form and chances and let’s be honest, an irresistible trigger for online trolls. You know who you are.

We also use these predictions to calculate a fair price or odds for each match or tournament outcome. This is what the bookmakers should be offering as a fair return for your stake – we call it the ‘Value Threshold’ – but as we well know, this is not always the case. Therefore we highlight any matches over these thresholds to draw your attention to the matches where these mispricings, or opportunities, exist.

We also take it one step further with our Premium Analysis which provides stake recommendations using a modified Kelly to help manage your bank.

You can check out the predictions here and the betting analysis here.

Ireland for the 3-peat?

Our model has Ireland as favorites for the Six Nations. If they succeed, this would mark their third title in a row – a historic feat no team has ever achieved.

All of France, England, Wales and Ireland have won twice in a row, with both England and France achieving three wins in four, but nobody has ever managed to win three consecutive Six Nations titles.

Our model gives Ireland around a 40% chance of achieving this feat, and about a 25% chance of the Grand Slam. 

However, this means it’s more likely than not that someone else will take the crown.

How will the absence of Head Coach Andy Farrell affect the team’s chances? Will they lose some of their cohesion and structure, or will they fight even harder for a spot on the Lions Tour? It’s hard to say, but our model still tips Ireland to lift the title.

Are the French back?

France is the main challenger, with a 30% chance of winning the title but just a 5% chance of completing the Grand Slam.

Why are the French less favoured? Didn’t they look better in the Autumn? Well, arguably yes. They beat New Zealand after the Irish lost to the Kiwis, and comfortably put away Argentina while the Irish struggled. 

However, home advantage plays a massive role in Six Nations rugby. While both Ireland and France have three away fixtures this year, Ireland hosts key games against England and France at home. The French, on the other hand, have to travel to both Dublin and Twickenham. The French don’t have a great record in Ireland in particular – winning only 1 of their last 6 there – and the model is backing Ireland to get the job done.

What do the bookies say?

Winner

The bookies have – very marginally – moved in favour of France for the title. Ireland were slight favourites last week, although it was very close either way. Interestingly, it seems that France’s increased chances have come at the expense of England, with the position on Ireland remaining fairly constant.

An average of the current bookmakers odds gives France an implied percentage chance of 36%, with the Irish trailing a mere fraction behind. The current best odds for both are around 3, although it varies day to day.

 

According to our model, Ireland represents good value for the tournament at odds over 2.78 – making the available odds (2.94 highlighted green above) worth a look. Betting on the Irish to win the Six Nations … ? Surely never that bad an idea at the moment!

Italy’s odds of 251 are highlighted yellow as this is technically a value bet – 251 being above our Value Threshold of 202 – but the chances of this happening are extremely low. These sorts of opportunities are highlighted yellow to reflect this risk.

All the other odds are coloured red to show that the odds are below our Value Threshold and therefore not recommended. (What can also be seen in the above is the Bookies ‘Overround’. This is the practice of factoring in the profit margin which is implemented by bookmakers, and is best displayed as a percentage. Above you can see the total of the bookies odds adds to 109% when it should add to 100%. This 9% extra is the bookies overround.)

Grand Slam?

The model has Ireland as most likely for the Grand Slam at just under 25%, but it thinks it more likely than not that no one will do a clean sweep of matches. Historically, there have been 13 Grand Slams in 25 years of Six Nations rugby so you might fairly say that there is around a 50% chance. However, the model thinks it (marginally) less likely this year, perhaps as a result of the increased competitive nature of the tournament.

Again, this looks like an opportunity. Perhaps it is similar to punters forgetting about the draw in football – when asked in the Six Nations who’s going to win the Grand Slam, people forget that ‘Nobody’ is actually a good answer. 

And with odds of 2 available at William Hill for a bet that the model thinks has nearly a 2 in 3 chance of coming off – well, again that seems fairly reasonable.

What about England?

Well, they have a reasonable chance! 16% or around 1 in 6 according to the model which – as third favourites – is perhaps more than people might expect given all the doom and gloom surrounding the team of late. But then as can be seen above those chances are around the same as the bookies implied chance at 20% so perhaps people are expecting it.

England have three fixtures at home and two away. Their schedule starts off about as hard as it gets in rugby these days – away to the Irish in Dublin. After that, the French visit Twickenham which is likely to be a real 50:50 affair apparently – but after that it gets steadily easier. 

Scotland seem to have had England’s number in recent years, but surely the English have to win this year … ? 5 in a row for Scotland – and 4 in row at Twickenham without a win for England – seems too much.

All in all, you’d expect England to finish maybe on three wins, and have a good chance at the fourth. Although this might not be enough to see them lift the title, it should see them finish high in the table.

If you’re looking to bet on England then right now you should be looking for odds over 7 to get value for your money, but the best we’ve been able to find is 5.7 at Betfair. The Grand Slam should be priced at least 34, but again the best we’ve found is 13 at StarSports. 

All in all it’s what you might expect for England in big sporting tournaments – poor odds and little value – but keep an eye on it throughout the tournament as the odds often move unexpectedly with results.

Don’t say it … but is it Scotland’s year?

Could it finally be the year? I’m afraid it seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened! They have a decent chance of winning each match – at least individually – but it seems unlikely that they will string 4 of them together which is likely the minimum requirement to win the title. And the Grand Slam? Just under 2%.

The Scots have also suffered a further blow with a recent training injury to their talismanic captain Tuipolutu. However, saying that our model gives them a reasonable chance of  winning three matches. They have two relative ‘bankers’ at home against Wales and Italy, and then a reasonable shot against all of Ireland, England and France. A good return for Scotland would be winning one of those extra games, but which of these is tricky to say.

Scotland have been flicking over and under the value threshold over the last few weeks, so they are definitely one to keep an eye on. You should be looking for odds over 8.3, which we have found from time to time, but the best right now seems to be 7.5 at Unibet.

Wales and Italy?

As for who might prop up the bottom of the table, it looks like a straight shootout between Wales and Italy right now. Wales have had well documented woes of late, and are without a single win in over a year – 12 matches in a row. 

And unfortunately, this Six Nations may not yet yield it. Their best chance is against Italy, but sadly for Wales, it is away in Rome in week 2. This may prove a stretch too far for them right now, but either way it should be a good match to watch.

If you’re looking for value at the bottom of the table it’s not to be found on the two ‘favourites’, who the bookies have priced fairly poorly. However, if you like a long shot, then France have enormous odds at over 200 at William Hill. 

It’s very unlikely to happen – just a 0.73% chance according to the model – but at odds of 201 it is technically worth it. I wouldn’t recommend a large stake however …

Opening Weekend

Opening weekend looks like a fairly one sided affair across the board and, although we’ve been wrong before (unbelievable, I know), it seems unlikely that we’ll see anything but three home wins.

If you’re feeling adventurous, then Wales and Italy are technically worth a punt at odds of 26 and 17 respectively – as are the draws – but personally, I wouldn’t be betting much on any of these! 

However, Ireland are very close to the Value Threshold right now and, at the time of writing, there seems to be some value out there on them at Betfair so they are perhaps worth a small bet.

Looking further ahead, Weekend 2 looks like it could be a much more exciting affair, with three tantalisingly poised matches. As of yet there are no odds available for these matches, so we’ll have to wait and see what prices are being offered when they are published. Usually however, these types of close matches show up a few more opportunities as they are much more difficult to gauge.

Check Sports4Cast and their Betting Analysis throughout the tournament for all the latest info, to see how teams chances change as results come in, and to see the best opportunities, prices and recommendations for the bookies. Good luck!

Predictions 

Betting Analysis

Getting On: A Comprehensive Bookmaker Guide From The SBC

Posted on by Josh P

Betting with the odds in your favour is what the Smart Betting Club is all about but it does come with issues and account restrictions or closures are close to the top of most people’s lists!

With that in mind, we have many resources to help with getting on and our Major Bookmakers Guide has proven to be very popular since we developed it last year.

A Regularly Updated Guide

This resource is the perfect place to find alternatives to the Bet365 and Paddy Powers of the world as we have documented seventy-two bookmakers that are fully-licensed and operating in the UK & Ireland. Many are household names but some are not.

There have been several additions and edits made to the original page since it was first published and this provides SBC Members with a one stop shop to find new operators that they may not have had accounts with before.

When a new operator opens or we learn something new, these pages are where we will document key information. This includes:

  • Any parent company or relationship that the bookmaker has with other entities (e.g. Coral and Ladbrokes are both part of Entain; Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet are part of Flutter)
  • The markets that the bookmaker offers, with notes on spots where they are a good source for particular value
  • Correlations with restrictions/closures, odds, places and the markets offered by bookmakers in the same group
  • Any personal or widely documented experiences that are worth noting (e.g. issues around getting paid)
  • Other notes that we feel will help you to decide if they are a firm that is of use to you!

Other Guides Inside!

In addition to our Major and Smaller/Independent bookmaker guides, we also have plenty of further resources in the SBC Intelligence section, with information about brokers, tipsters that are usable on exchanges and a wide array of educational materials.

The evolution that is crypto betting, templates to help with bookmaker disputes and a lot more is currently in the works to make the SBC your source for help in all aspects of profitable betting.

Sign Up For Full Access!

To get instant access to all of this as well as all of the other membership benefits discussed here you will need a paid SBC Membership.

Options to sign up can be found here and if you have any questions about what we do and how we can help your betting, please get in touch!

Snapshot Review #1 Sharp Betting Boxing

Posted on by Josh P

In a new SBC feature we will be releasing Snapshot Reviews, where we take a look at services and let the betting public know about how they work, the performance during our time observing them and anything else that we pick up on whilst trying them out.

These reviews will not have all of the in-depth analytics that we use in our full reviews, but should give you a good idea of whether the service in the Snapshot is something that may interest you. These pieces will be free for everyone to view, whether they are an SBC Member or not.

Snapshot Review #1 Sharp Betting: Boxing

  • Boxing opinion pieces with recommended bets, analysis & more
  • Written by two well-established and experienced bettors with very different backgrounds
  • 14.68% ROI using a unit loss staking plan
  • Only 34 bets so far; difficult to measure CLV
  • Qualitative measurements (judgement!) used

 

Betting Bluster

Two betting events in 2024 left me questioning the betting world and its ‘experts’ more than any others and to be honest, I had no idea how to go about pricing either of them up. My bewilderment came from listening to or reading commentators exude overconfidence, blatant biases and hubris when talking about things that they very obviously had no domain knowledge of.

The US Presidential Election market was the first. I read some extraordinary takes about the probabilities of each candidate’s chances given their respective odds and the depth of the market in the weeks leading up to the Electoral College count. A book could be written about how some people would be (a lot) poorer if they really believed the things they said with such conviction but I’m A) a poor writer and B) too lazy to write a book.

The second event was Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, the weird, wonderful or woeful matchup (you choose which camp you fall into) that took place in Mid-November. Like US Politics betting, I would be lost if asked to price something like this up from scratch but yet again, I saw such disparate (yet definitive) opinions so confidently decreed – it was very clear that a lot of the ‘expert betting community’ had no idea either.

Sharp Betting: Boxing 

Luckily, this coincided with trying to learn a little about boxing betting via the Sharp Betting site and their collective commentary around the fight was a lot more balanced, probability based and, with the ‘bullshit detector’ on full alert due to everything else I’d seen, informed. The outcome was irrelevant to me (even though the core bet and top-up landed) – it was one of very few places that talked without emotion or the nostalgic memory of Tyson’s brilliance. Fighter A was up against Fighter B – what should the odds be? How did these odds compare to the prices available in the market? 

Sharp Betting’s boxing offering has been live since February this year and they have provided 30 pieces during that time, talking about everything from specific boxing cards and suggested bets right through to quizzes, opinion pieces, trends and analysis – all of which are freely available to read here. New previews are promoted on Sharp Betting’s social media channels for less regular visitors to the site. 

The Numbers

I will get into what I think about this content shortly but first you will no doubt want to know how these opinions have stacked up figures wise.

You can find a full record of Sharp Betting’s boxing recommendations here, with the following headlines:

  • 34 bets have been advised with selections ranging from straight ‘win’ bets through to round betting, method of victory betting and some multiples where value was identified in several spots on a card
  • The advised odds average out at 3.63 (2.63/1) with the shortest-priced selection being put forward at 1.33 (1/3) and the longest-priced selection being put forward at 19.0 (18/1)
  • 17/34 (50%) of bets won, with the longest priced of these delivering at 5.0 (4/1)

No stakes are advised alongside selections so I have deployed a unit-win strategy to assess the bets with a uniform edge. With all bets staked to make £100 profit, turnover totals £3,337.22 so far and the resultant profit of £473.07 using this strategy represents a 14.68% ROI. 

Reading the columns will give you an idea of the conviction that the writer has – variable staking is well worth considering here if you ever follow the advice in as both massive ricks and lukewarm leans are both present throughout the catalogue – my crude unit-win numbers can no doubt be improved upon.

This sample is still small so we can’t read too much into the data so far. Ordinarily I would use Closing Line Value (CLV) to analyse such a sample but obtaining accurate closing odds for most selections was difficult (please see the notes at the bottom of the results sheet for more information). With both of these things in mind, we need something more qualitative to judge whether the service is worth following moving forward.

About The Contributors

The core contributor is David Hipkin, the co-founder of Sharp Betting and a former boxing trader in the industry. David has been responsible for the majority of the selections and write-ups so far and you can see/hear him talk about his betting and processes in several videos on the Sharp Betting site.

The other regular contributor is Johnny Wright, a well-connected US wing of the group who brings nuance and a very obvious expertise to the fore. 

Both David and Johnny talk about past fights, fighting styles, psychology, ‘ring IQ’ and the verbal sparring that preempts the physical action. From all that I have read, David leans on this heavily for his analysis; Johnny introduces less visible factors (boxing politics, the unseen yet evident pressure on judges & boxing media narratives) to provide a good blend of the quantitative and qualitative.  

In this video, you can view the pair talk about the biggest bouts of 2024 from a betting perspective, with price and probability yet again central to everything they cover:  

Is It Worth Following?

So, is it good? I’m nowhere near being a boxing betting expert but I feel that I’ve seen enough tipster services and commentary to take a stab at answering the question with a few observations.

I like the fact that odds and probability are central to every chat. The underdog is value? Why? Fighter A is 1.33 but should be 1.2? Why? These questions are posed and answered, something that is an issue in betting chat generally, but especially so in the boxing content I have consumed.

David’s first write up – which covered the Ngannou vs Joshua and Zhang vs Parker bouts – is a prime example. The fact that both of his recommendations won is irrelevant when we’re looking for a long-term edge – he called the fights based on the odds and the chances of the fighters winning, not by lazily saying ‘I think this fighter will win, 2 point win’. Here is how he concluded his Zhang vs Parker write-up:

‘When this fight was announced, Parker was a generously priced 3/1 outsider. You’ll do well to find 2/1 odds for him now.  Zhang is a huge test, but he is a 40-year old man with a 20-stone frame to carry over the scheduled 12-rounds.  Parker is underrated in this fight, he will present more movement, speed and athleticism than Zhang faced in his headline-grabbing wins over Joyce. I think the market has got this one wrong and would have Parker no bigger than 6/4.’

 Johnny’s writings have a different flavour, as the man himself points out here:

‘We will weigh thoughts about each of the fights we dissect by giving a breakdown of some of the lesser analyzed & somewhat overlooked aspects of each fight and fighter. Many of the aspects of the fights we analyze might not be considered by the average bettor and/or might not be weighed heavily enough. In fact, some of the stuff we discuss might be completely overlooked by some bettors, possibly due to some bettors being swayed by Boxing Media propaganda or the consistent ramblings of many clueless online casuals.’

This type of take on other commentary is one that I appreciate but can it provide the edge we are looking for?

I think so. Johnny’s breakdown of the mental frailties of both fighters in the Joshua vs Dubois fight was a fascinating read and before making a value based call, he freely admitted the uncertainty he felt: ‘Trying to look into the psyche of Daniel Dubois to try to figure out his mindset heading into this specific match is like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube after drinking 12 pints of Guinness.’

After ‘toing and froing’ he landed two bets based on odds he thought were too disparate from their opposites – Dubois to win and for the fight to go the distance. The former landed (at odds of 4.50) but the latter lost (at 5.00) as Dubois KOd Joshua in the 5th.

Away from the relative merits of any given fighter, analysis of the collective mindset of the market is a prominent factor in David and Johnny’s work and I have been regularly reminded of ‘talking horses’ who are so often overbet. They regularly oppose this mindset with very clear reasoning whenever they do so.

Conclusion 

The snippets shared above provide examples of what we can expect from Sharp Betting’s boxing coverage and this Saturday (21st December) will provide another that we can watch play out live. A 4.0 (3/1) shot is Johnny’s call for ‘Usyk vs Fury II’ – you can read why here.

What I have observed from Sharp Betting’s offering so far is excellent and it fits the criteria of what I look for in analysis and commentary. Doubt is a positive, probabilistic calculations are essential and the market can be both a guide and a paradox (see Paul vs Tyson) with a sport that is so hard to model.

As a ‘boxing betting layman’, I rate this service and will continue to follow it. Listen to the chats or read the previews and you hear about bouts talked about in a way that is the polar opposite of the overconfident bluster I referenced in the introduction.

Do I rate Sharp Betting’s boxing offering enough to follow in selections with chunky stakes? No, probably not. This isn’t due to a lack of confidence in the contributors – I really like what I’ve seen so far. I save my bigger banks for things that I have an opinion on myself and with any tipster/betting record, I like to build up a more comprehensive idea of CLV and other data points before taking the plunge towards staking aggressively.

What I will be doing is reading and listening to anything they produce and follow them in for bouts that I will be watching (starting with Usyk vs Fury II this weekend). If you decide to join me, good luck! 

Like This Piece? Sign Up Or Learn More With A Free Membership

This Snapshot Review is a little less detailed than most of our reviews but I hope that the fact you’ve got to the end means you enjoyed it! If you would like to see what our more detailed analysis looks like then please click here to sign up for a Free SBC Membership which will provide you with a sample magazine with four full reviews inside alongside some other content from 2024 that we have delivered to our members.

If you would like a full membership with instant access to all of the SBC Membership benefits then you can find sign up options here.

New @ SBC: Video Guides To Offshore Bookmakers & Crypto Betting Insight

Posted on by Josh P

As part of our increased focus on exploring alternative places where you can bet, we have added some new features to the SBC members’ area of the website to make you aware of.

These are as follows:

  1. New Offshore Bookmakers Guide
  2. BetOnline Exploration & Interview With Paul Krishnamurty (odds compiler)
  3. Crypto & Betting Video Guide and Tutorial

Each of these new resources are available to explore now with an SBC membership.

1. Offshore Bookmakers Guide

Firstly, we have added a new section dedicated to ‘Offshore Bookmakers’ to help explain their popularity, how they work, why they welcome winners and the pros and cons of using them.

In general, these firms appeal to those who are at Stages 4 and 5 of their Betting Journey and who have been limited by ‘Soft Bookmakers’ (such as Bet365, Draftkings or Bet Victor).

In recent months we have received several questions regarding offshore firms, so this new section is designed to give you all the facts about them. We will be adding regularly to this section with explorations of some of the different offshore options available currently.

2. BetOnline Exploration & Interview With Paul Krishnamurty (odds compiler)

The first Offshore bookmaker we have taken a deep look at is the the long-running firm BetOnline.

In operation for the past 25 years, BetOnline does not directly operate under the same model as Pinnacle, but there are certain similarities in how the two sportsbooks handle betting markets, odds, and the overall user experience.

Most importantly of all – they welcome winners and allows bets at large stakes in most popular markets across sports such as Soccer, Golf, Cricket, Tennis, American Sports and even others like Politics.

To explain more about BetOnline, we have put together two videos:

Video 1 is a walkthrough guide with SBC Editor, Pete, who shows how BetOnline works using his own account and experience of using them.

We also have recently added a second video which features an exclusive SBC member chat with Paul Krishnamurty about the BetOnline service.

Paul is ideally placed to talk about BetOnline as he has worked there since 2021 as an odds compiler on markets such as Politics, Golf and Cricket.

Recording this video ahead of the huge 2024 US Election market, Paul explains the markets he offers alongside more insight into BetOnline and why it welcomes winners, high stakers and large volume!

SBC’s new guide to crypto !

3. Crypto & Betting Video Guide and Tutorial

Today we have also added another new much-requested video – this time on the topic of using crypto currency from a betting perspective.

Crypto is never far from the news at the moment and to discuss its usage in betting circles, I was joined by my recent podcast guest – Pisky to explore the topic for SBC members in a special new video guide.

Pisky is perfectly positioned as an expert on this topic, given his deep knowledge of both crypto and betting and extensive use of it himself personally.

In this chat, we discuss everything from getting started to buying crypto, how to keep it safe and also how to deposit/withdraw and why it’s so much easier, cheaper and faster than fiat currency.

Subscribe To Access All Of Our Betting Intelligence

These new resources are located in our essential ‘Intelligence‘ section as part of our quest to give SBC members all the key information they need on their betting journey.

Explore now with an SBC membership and gain instant access!

Circles Off Podcast – Using SBC’s Expertise To Profit In North America (And All Around The World!)

Posted on by Josh P

A lot of our work at SBC over the last 12 months has focused on expanding geographically (Betting Without Borders), with sports and services from around the world making up a much bigger fraction of our reviews and content.

As sports like horse racing become more and more difficult to profit from, finding new opportunities is essential as we all adapt to the betting landscape.

In a new FREE SBC Magazine, we outline how we can help bettors from North America (and everywhere else in the world!). Click here to get your copy! It contains three reviews, some extra information and some handy odds comparison tables for converting fractional, decimal and American odds.

After talking to a Brazilian podcast back in November, this week I joined the North American based podcast, Circles Off to talk to the well-known bettors Rob Pizzola and Johnny from Betstamp about all things tipping (or handicapping!) and The SBC!

In this interview (which can be watched by clicking here or on the image below), we also chatted about the industry’s evolution and the new generation of tipping services.

video preview​

Learn More About How We Can Help You

To learn more about how we are evolving our services to provide bespoke advice we have compiled various resources, including:

All of this (and much more) is summarised on our ‘How We Can Help Your Betting‘ page, where you will also find details and links to discounts, educational resources and our review processes.

If you like the look of what we offer here at the SBC then sign up options are available to view here and our cast-iron money back guarantee means that you can try us out and get a full refund if the service isn’t for you!

I hope you enjoy the podcast and learning about how we can help you make some money from your betting.

Please remember to get your free SBC sample magazine too by clicking here!

If you want to ask any further questions about The SBC or anything else betting related, please get in touch!

The Winners and Losers from the 2024 SBC Awards – Download Your Free Report!

Posted on by Josh P

The results are in…and the winners and losers of the 2024 SBC Awards are now available to view.

Best Free Tipsters, Betting Podcasts, Video, Website, Expert and both Best and Worst Bookmaker (where we have a NEW Gold Award Winner!) – the public’s favourite people, services, sites and villains are ready to be revealed!

To showcase the results we have prepared a 19-page ​free-to-download 2024 Awards Report​ for you to enjoy.

Remember – these results are based on YOUR VOTES so represent the consensus opinion on the the very best of the betting & tipping industry. This is not our opinion – it’s yours!

Click on the link below to get access to your report.

Why The SBC Awards Matter

These Awards are important as they are based on the ​fundamental SBC principles of honesty, fairness and independence​, with no bookmaker affiliations or advertising budgets to cloud opinions.

They represent the true judgement of the general betting public and SBC members on what is out there of merit in the betting world and is worthy of greater recognition.

They reward those websites, services, bookmakers and individuals doing the right thing – whether it be in the information or resource they provide OR by simply offering you the best place to bet itself.

And as its voted for by you in your thousands, it represents a real barometer on what is good and also when it comes to bookmakers – what is not!

Find out more about the Smart Betting Club

Established in May 2006, the Smart Betting Club is a 100% independent source for reporting upon, reviewing and monitoring the world of betting advice.

Here is a snapshot of some of the key benefits of SBC Membership that are available to you immediately after ​signing up​:

For more information and subscription options, please visit ​www.smartbettingclub.com​. If you have any questions, please contact us at ​pete@smartbettingclub.com​ or via Twitter/X at ​@SBCInfo​ and we will get straight back to you!

Smart Bash: Less than 50 tickets remain. Yet more big name speakers and guests announced!

Posted on by Josh P

Yet more big names have been confirmed for this year’s unique betting event – SMART-BASH and if you haven’t yet booked your ticket, now is the time!

That’s because there are less than 50 tickets remaining for the event, which is being held on Friday July 19th at Chelsea Football Club.

These tickets are on a first come first serve basis and we will NOT be selling tickets on the door!

SMART-BASH 2024 will be a day packed with invaluable insights, panel sessions and networking among the betting industries brightest minds.

Newly confirmed to be speaking at the event are:

  • Luke Paton – Pro punter with a decade of golf betting experience and 8 years at Betfair.
  • Chris Poole – Director of Trading at BetVictor, 25+ years in the industry, leads a team of 50+ traders.
  • Olof Stenius: Founder of Odds Reactor Ltd, PhD in operations research
  • Harry Stewart-Moore: Expert betting lawyer and partner at Gardner-Leader
  • Brian Chappell: Justice For Punters founder & champion of bettors rights
  • Craig Edwards: Ex-professional snooker player & golf/snooker expert
  • Bill Chen: American quantitative analyst, poker player, and software designer
  • Varun Sudhakar: Ex of Fanduel and now the CEO and Co-Founder of BetDEX

SMART-BASH 2024 is being held on Friday July 19th at Chelsea Football Club and it’s a day packed with invaluable insights, panel sessions and networking among the betting industries brightest minds.

​You can book your ticket now whilst spaces remain via this link​

The SMART-BASH Schedule

We have also published a schedule of events for the day, which you can see below.

Event Highlights:

  • Insider Strategies: Learn from industry experts through seminars, presentations, and panels tailored to elevate your betting prowess. 💡
  • Networking Opportunities: Engage with fellow betting enthusiasts and professionals, sharing knowledge and forging valuable connections. 🌐
  • Lively Evening: Unwind and mingle at Frankie’s Bar during our lively drinks evening. 🥂

For more information on SMART-BASH visit: https://smart-bash.com/

​Click here to purchase your ticket​

I look forward to seeing you!

Have You Cast Your Votes For The 2024 Smart Betting Club Awards?

Posted on by Josh P

If recent news is anything to go by, then betting and public votes should not mix!

Well, we would like to contradict that as you can vote on your favourite betting people, resources and media in the Smart Betting Club Awards 2024.

Unlike the General Election, some of the categories are looking very competitive, meaning that your votes could make all of the difference!

If you haven’t voted yet then please remember that we will be giving three stellar prizes away in a draw for those who vote. A ticket to Smart Bash (worth £200) is available alongside 3 and 12 month SBC Memberships. All you need to do to be in with a chance is to answer the 2024 SBC Awards Survey!

There are 13 categories that you can vote in. They are:

  • Your Favourite Free Horse Racing Tipster
  • Your Favourite Free Sports Tipster
  • Your Favourite Horse Racing Podcast
  • Your Favourite Sports Betting Podcast
  • Your Favourite Betting Website
  • Your Favourite Betting Data Resource
  • Your Favourite Betting Writer
  • Your Favourite Betting Video Producer
  • Your Favourite Betting Expert
  • Your Favourite Bookmaker
  • Your Worst Bookmaker
  • Your Favourite Betting Exchange
  • Your Favourite Independent Bookmaker

This should take no more than three minutes to complete and is a great way for you to share your appreciation (or frustration!) with the people or organisations that are central to the betting industry.

Voting closes next Monday (1st July) at 10pm , so please make sure you get your votes in!

​Click here to cast your votes.

Introducing BetDEX – A New Sports Betting Exchange With A Twist

Posted on by Josh P

One of the key challenges for us bettors these days is working out exactly where we can and should place our bets – especially as keen, smart bettors.

So in today’s article, I want to introduce another excellent new exchange option now available – BetDEX, which will appeal to many of you. More on them shortly. 

Yet whether it be exchanges like BetDEX, soft and sharp bookmakers, brokers, or even offshore/grey bookies – there is a lot of choice available to us these days as punters. 

Yet due to the vagaries of how these firms work and their regulation, not all of them are available to each of us based on where we live and bet from. That might be down to something like restrictions (soft bookies!), deposit limits or even licensing issues. 

Hence why we have such a focus on all of these topics at the moment at SBC as part of a desire to explain which options are available to you.

So whilst BetDEX are not licensed in the UK yet (They are in several countries such as Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Germany and many more) their unique ‘decentralised model’ suggests they will be a real coming force. This is because they have developed their exchange using a permissionless protocol which anyone can access (Think Betfair but with an actual Open API)

The fact they work with both fiat and crypto currency backs this up further and we expect exchanges like BetDEX to be the direction of travel for keen bettors in the future.

Introducing BetDEX

To best understand BetDEX and what they do, I asked them to explain more on who they are, what they do and why they might appeal to you. Thanks to Varun from BetDEX for writing the below…

‘Hi there,

We’re BetDEX – a team with over 100 years of experience in sports betting. We have seen first-hand how the industry can often take advantage of its customers. High fees, difficulty withdrawing your winnings, arbitrary account restrictions and a lack of product innovation are unfortunately par for the course.

We think it’s time that you ditch the premium charging incumbents and come check out the BetDEX Exchange – a sports betting exchange truly Built for the Bettor.

About 18 months ago, we launched the initial beta offering of our product, with the mission of building the most customer-centric betting exchange in the world. Over the past year, we have created a betting exchange with: 

    1. Expansive market coverage: Went from pre-match football to a wide variety of betting markets, including football, American football, tennis, hockey, basketball, baseball, cricket and more 
    2. Liquid betting markets: Bet $5k+ on key markets, with liquidity growing every day as the platform scales 
    3. Increased funding options: Fund your account easily with fiat or crypto. Additional options coming soon! 
  • Open access: We spun out our back-end into the Monaco Protocol, a permissionless and transparent on-chain matching algorithm and orderbook which anyone can access to trade into, provide liquidity onto, build their own applications on top of, and more. 

Traditional betting operators do not optimise their products for successful bettors, but BetDEX is changing the game.

What does this actually mean for you? On BetDEX you can expect to bet on a platform where: 

  1. Winners are welcome: No premium charges, no stake limiting.
  2. Low fees: Only 3% of net profit per market. We only charge commissions when you win, aligning our incentives with yours.
  3. Fair ecosystem: Bet against another user or be a bookie yourself.
  4. Great prices and tight spreads: Liquid markets with competitive prices
  5. Expansive sport coverage: Bet on football, american football, tennis, hockey, basketball, baseball, cricket and more
  6. Transparent operations: No front-running of orders or opaque order matching. All trades occur transparently on the blockchain. We’ve open-sourced our matching algorithm so you know there are no shenanigans involved. 
  7. Hassle-free withdrawals: No requests for unredacted bank statements
  8. Responsive Support: An actual human to help when you need it. 

With many Exchange operators now having a Sportsbook & Casino attached, driving the vast majority of their revenue, they naturally don’t want winning customers to stick around. 

In contrast, our business model consistently offers industry-best pricing with a promise to never apply restrictions to our users. Our fee structure is fair, our operations are transparent and winners are always welcome at BetDEX.

The list goes on and on, but as we all know – actions speak louder than words. 

If you are someone who just wants to get their bet on at a great price with no restrictions, come try us out at BetDEX.com!

To celebrate our launch out of beta, we are offering 0% commission on all trades till September 6th. See more details here.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me directly at varun@betdex.com, or on twitter @svarun91.’ 

Learn More About Where You Can Bet!

Our work exploring the likes of BetDEX is based on our increased focus on helping to educate you on the best places to bet – beyond the main high street bookmakers and exchanges that you already know about. There are many more options than Bet365!

We report this based on 5 main categories to SBC members as follows:

  1. Soft Bookmakers
  2. Sharp Bookmakers
  3. Betting Exchanges
  4. Bet Brokers
  5. In Person – Shops/Kiosks

So if you are confused or unsure on what, where and who you should bet with, let us help unravel it for you. All of this insight is now part of our increased ‘Intelligence’ section dedicated to providing you with the knowledge and insight to help you win as a bettor.

Learn More – Key Links

Betting Intelligence

Betting Without Borders – International Betting

Matchbook Focus & 0% Commission Deal 

Betdaq Focus & 100 Days Commission Free

International Help With SBC: Making A Profit Betting Wherever You Live!

Posted on by Josh P

Betting for profit these days is an international pursuit with bookmakers offering value prices and markets all across the world.

And with more and more new members now joining us at SBC from all over the globe, including Europe, North America and Australia, we have just introduced some new sections of the SBC members area to guide you on your betting journey, wherever you live!​

Contained within our ‘Intelligence’ section of the members area, they are dedicated to providing insight on who to follow, what to bet on and where to bet – all based on your location.

We have broken down the options available based on the 5 main regions we report back on in our new review format. They are:

  • The UK & Ireland
  • North America (USA/Canada)
  • Europe
  • Australasia (Australia/New Zealand)
  • The Rest of the World

 

Tipsters To Follow Based On Location

In this first ‘location specific’ section we outline the tipster options available to you in 5 key betting markets:

  • Soccer (Football)
  • Horse Racing
  • Golf
  • Tennis
  • All Other Sports

We supply advice and insight into how to choose and follow some of the recommended tipsters we put forward based on your location.

So for example, if you are in the UK/Ireland, you can get a quick check on the best tennis tipsters to follow.

If you are based in Europe, you can get an understanding of how to bet on horse racing.

This section helps you to find the best resources for their circumstances.

Where To Bet Based On Your Location

In the second location specific section we outline where you can bet and this time it is broken down into 5 main categories:

  1. Soft Bookmakers
  2. Sharp Bookmakers
  3. Betting Exchanges
  4. Bet Brokers
  5. In Person – Shops/Kiosks

We also have additional advice about Offshore Bookmakers ‘The Grey Market’ for those of you interested in this as a specific betting option

So again, if you have questions on any of the above betting options, this section seeks to answer them with specific examples.

More Information: Sign Up For Access

You can read more about these location based sections of the site on the Betting Without Borders page where we introduce what is inside.

To read all of our content you will need a paid SBC Membership, options for which can be found here – https://smartbettingclub.com/subscribe/.

Content for our members all over the globe is a massive focus for us in 2024 so you can expect an ever-expanding set of resources no matter where you are betting from!

If you would like to ask any questions about how we can help your betting, please get in touch by emailing me at pete@smartbettingclub.com or by contacting us on Twitter/X @SBCInfo.