🏇 Cheltenham: An Expert’s Guide From ‘No Foto Needed’

With Cheltenham upon us, preview nights, ‘tip lists’ as long as your arm and antepost portfolios (with past selections that are now non-runners removed!) have dominated the run up to the curtain raiser on Tuesday 12th March.

There is so much noise that finding quality content is tricky. To help with this, we have prepared some special content with four professional punters who have excellent Cheltenham records. All of them also tip, with special Cheltenham offers and exclusive discounts available with SBC Membership.

After our Andy Holding SBC Podcast release  yesterday, next up is No Foto Needed, the SBC Premium Tipster who has been in sparkling form so far in 2024!

To promote the service before Cheltenham, a 10% discount is available up to midnight on Monday 11th March. To access this offer, just visit the No Foto Needed page and follow the sign up instructions using the promo code CHELTENHAM. Please be aware that this code is available to everyone – both SBC Members and non-members alike! 10% will be knocked off any and every package available on site.

Here is an interview with the mysterious maestro where we quiz him about how he finds those long-priced winners:

1. Under the moniker ‘No Foto Needed’, you have an excellent ROI of  11% ROI from nearly 2,500 bets and 2024 has started brilliantly with nearly 50 points of profit delivered, with ROI running at 33.69% for the year. Can you summarise how you approach finding value in the racing markets?

‘On the National Hunt I will be honest, it is a lot harder than the Flat but I do stick to the same approach. The first thing I always do is check the possible pace in a race (you can see a free guide on this on the At The Races website). Once I have that, it’s very important to have a profile on all horses and because I only concentrate on the better class racing (0-120 Handicaps + over jumps and 0-70 Handicaps + on the flat), it does make it easier to keep on top of things.

When I use the word concentrate, keeping a Horse Tracker is key. I re-watch races every day and take notes on each horse I wish to put into my Tracker. That means that when they are due to run I already have an edge on the race. Not starting the race from scratch is always a help! 

I use my Racing Post account the most and it is money well spent because it’s very user-friendly. The main function for me is the Pro Card section, which covers an awful lot I want to see on the same page (Topspeed of their last six efforts, RPR, Postdata, Stats, and much more) and that’s before I click onto their form. The most important function there is re-watching the videos of their races. 

You could ask 10 people to re-watch a horse race and it’s possible you could get many different answers about what to take away from that race for the future. I’m saying this because most form students have different ways, opinions, and ideas about this sport and the key is to stick to the way you want to do it and listen to nobody else. That is of course if you have the time to do it properly (which you can take from me is at least 6 hours a day to keep on top of things!).

I know I got a bit away from the question, but when you’re clicking through a race, looking at the previous form of each runner here is key to find the right ingredients and make sure that are ticked. Flat=(Distance, Ground (check current weather), Pace, Draw, Grade of race, How the horse travels, Tracks, i.e. Course Form, Trainers Form, Time since its last run, and believe me there are many other nuggets I look at but those are the main ones for each horse I concentrate on. Jumps= ( Everything I mentioned on the Flat except the Draw of course, and you add-in how the horse jumps. I know the National Hunt will take longer to watch a previous race but the hours you put in will get paid-off in the long run.

So, to answer the question, when you do all of the above you will start to form a market in your head which leads to possible value that might be available on a particular horse you feel is over-priced compared to your own tissue prices.’ 

2. Do you have any pointers for those getting ready to pick their own selections for the action at Prestbury Park?

‘(a) If you haven’t already played Ante-Post on any particular contest it’s best to wait until the final declarations are out. They are out 48hrs in advance of the race which I feel is plenty of time, because I’m sure most punters would have studied most of the 28 races long before that and now they just have to go over the exact runners and riders in front of them, which shouldn’t take too much time. 

(b) Betting firms: when you are finalising your selections it’s mightily important you check Oddschecker before you place a bet. There is no doubt that many of the top firms will be trying to outdo one another, especially with Extra Places, Bigger Prices, Special Offers, Money-Back specials, If your horse finishes 2nd to the Fav etc. So bottom line, if you are in a position that you have different betting accounts, make sure you shop around for that extra value or those extra places.

(c) Many horse racing followers think that Cheltenham is a very stiff track- but keep this mind- the first two days the races are run on the Old Course and there are many tight turns around the galloping track which has a major outcome on results at times- mainly because hold-up horses get poorly positioned, especially if the pace up front is not too strong and they have so much ground to make-up on the leaders before they turn for home.

On the 3rd and 4th days the horses run on the New Course, which is the stiffer track of the two, mainly because there is a long run when they jump the third-last over the hurdle track to the second last which makes the climb-up the stiff run-in that more demanding. On the Jumps Course the bends are not as tight as the Old Course which makes it a proper test.

(d) Handicaps: with many firms paying Extra Places on these contests it could work out in your favour, because we all know most trainers/connections will be targeting these events from many months ago and they are ultra-competitive, so every extra place you get can pay dividends considering most of the runners will be 100% fit and trying to win and the odds should be rewarding.

Mentioning trainers,  the same names pop-up every year in the winner’s enclosure in these tough handicaps. Here are a few to concentrate on when you are narrowing down the fields to a selection (yes, they are well-known to us but it’s important to remember these guys have the best percentages over the past 20 years in these kind of races): Gordon Elliott, Paul Nicholls, David Pipe, Dan Skelton (mainly hurdles) Jonjo O’Neill, Willie Mullins, Nicky Henderson, Kim Bailey (mainly chases), Joseph O’Brien. Of course, we see them win races on a daily basis but they are masters at doing it on the big stages so please give extra attention to their runners, even if the recent form of the horse is not that colourful. 

(e) When you are looking through the form book, a horse that has previous form at the track has a massive advantage in certain races. If you go over the past results, you will see plenty of horses that had solid form at Cheltenham )but more importantly form from Cheltenham Festival’s) stand head and shoulders above most criteria and this repeats in most of the results every year at the Festival.’

3. Do you have a favourite Cheltenham winner which stands out, where everything went as you expected or you landed a juicy priced winner?

‘There are loads of great memories, but none more so than trying to crack those very difficult handicaps when you land on one at a huge price and it goes off shorter and gets the job done. The one I loved more than others was in 2014 (can’t believe it’s 10-years-ago!). The horse in question was Savello- trained by Tony Martin at the time – for the Grand Annual, I tipped it up at 40/1 went off at 16/1 and “Mr Cool”- Davy Russell passed the post first which was amazing scenes.

There were many Ante-Post bets that went our way also- two that will always stick in my mind. Un De Sceaux (2015- Arkle), tipped-up in November, at 7/1, wins at 4/6f in March (by 6L), and one a little more recent Envoi Allen (2020- Ballymore), tipped-up in October at 8/1 wins at 4/7f in March (by 4.5L). 

Those thoughts (well in advance) are always good for the any tipster, when their opinion clearly turns out to be correct having spotted the talent of an animal very early in their career, getting the rewards at massive odds compared to the SP.’

4. There are a lot of races with short-priced favourites this year. Will you be looking at every race or will you ignore races where you think a horse ‘just wins’?

‘There are races I know already I won’t be getting involved in, not because of a short-priced Fav but because I know they are very difficult to narrow down for one reason or another. The few I won’t be looking at are the Kim Muir, the Cross Country and the Foxhunters.

Regarding the races that have short-priced Favs, yes there are ones that if the same horse turns-up from their recent form they should win- Constitution Hill, Ballyburn, El Fabiolo, Lossiemouth look certain to win barring mishaps but the other 21 races might need a lot of form studying that may work out to be well rewarded.

I want to make sure I mention this well-known saying- “a 2/1 winner at Cheltenham is the same as a 2/1 winner at any other track”. So please remember, Cheltenham will always throw-up strange results and don’t up your stakes just because it’s Cheltenham. There will always be better betting opportunities at the same odds against weaker rivals in the very near future.’

5. Cheltenham is seen as the pinnacle of the National Hunt season but we still have lots of big races yet to come. What are you looking forward to most in the remainder of the season?

‘It`s a great question, mainly because not all the best horses meet each other at Cheltenham. We still have Fairyhouse, Aintree, Punchestown, Ayr and Sandowns’ Festivals yet to come this term and I’m sure there are a few more T.V weekends not mentioned (Newbury and Haydock spring to mind) where we can still use our team of horse trackers from previous meetings that need to run before the season is over in a few months’ time.

So, it’s another way of reminding everyone that yes, Cheltenham is a fantastic 4-day spectacle. but it’s not the end of the season, far from it. The few horses that are lucky enough to run well there we will have the chance to see them again, but will they be the same horse after a gruelling test at Cheltenham when they arrive at Aintree or Punchestown later in the season? All that is ahead of us and I am one who can’t wait!’

📈100 Days COMMISSION FREE! Exclusive SBC Offer For The BETDAQ Exchange 📈

Competition for exchange custom is hotting up and after profiling one of Betfair’s rivals in January, today we are back to have a look at another.

BETDAQ offer odds on a multitude of markets, with liquidity and prices to cater for the majority of punters’ needs.

We will be exploring how to profit in these markets in coming weeks but today we are here to share an exclusive introductory offer for those of you who do not yet have a BETDAQ account.

The Offer

BETDAQ want customers. They want liquidity. As an exchange, they won’t restrict winners.

With this in mind, they have come to us with the following exclusive offer:

  • New sign ups can get 100 days of commission free play
  • After that, the next 100 days will see you pay just 1% commission on your winning bets

This offer is solely available to new sign ups. We have negotiated a ‘backdated’ deal for SBC Members but this is solely for those who have a paid SBC subscription.

Sign Up Now

You can access this exclusive SBC BETDAQ sign-up offer by clicking here and following the sign up instructions. This will automatically ‘enrol’ you into the 2 commission offers that will last for 200 days.

For extra benefits and some unique content that demonstrates how to profit from some ‘BETDAQ only’ markets, you will require a SBC subscription. This includes a special video guide on how to take advantage of BETDAQ’s ‘Enhanced Specials’ markets that regularly throw up exception value if you know where to look. Our video guide explains exactly how to maximise profits in this area – something ideal if twinned with the 0% commission.

Options for different SBC paid memberships can be found here.

We will be back to look at BETDAQ, their markets, their customer service and how they deal with issues such as affordability and other checks throughout March but in the meantime, enjoy your 100 days without paying any commission!

📰 SBC Magazine Issue #139: Andy Holding, Popular Podcasts & Getting On!

In the second of our monthly SBC Magazines, we are back with another jam-packed betting bonanza in our February Issue, #139.

As a reminder, we have slightly altered how we publish magazines in 2024 as we are now compiling all of our content into one easy-to-consume piece with blogs, tipster reports, member questions and embedded links for audio and video content.

So – you can download each monthly PDF and be fully informed on what you need to know to make money betting!

Sign-up for membership today for instant access to SBC 139 and our full back catalogue!

Clocking in at 55 pages long, SBC 139 includes:

  • Our in-depth review of Andy Holding Speed Figures, the private service of the famed horse racing tipster
  • Additional analysis of Andy’s Oddschecker tips
  • SBC’s take on Matchbook, the pretender to the ‘exchange king’ crown
  • Three ways to help you get on, with a free SBC service and guides for bookmakers & brokers
  • Member Questions (and our answers)
  • ‘Tweets of the month’ from the betting community

In addition, we have links to some of our video and audio content for the month with SBC Podcast #70′s chat with Harry Stewart-Moore being a highlight.

Having a gambling law expert on the pod was a first and I was delighted with the reaction to this release. Harry spoke with authority, humour and wisdom; as a result, this is one of our most popular releases to date. If you haven’t listened to it yet, you can still do so here.

Sign Up For Instant Access

To gain instant access SBC Magazine #139 and all of our back catalogue of reviews and reports, you will require SBC Membership. To sign up as a paid SBC member, just click here and follow the registration link.

🚨 NEW REVIEW ALERT: Andy Holding – The UK’s Most Well Known Horse Racing Tipster?🏇

Andy Holding is one of the most well known and respected horse racing tipsters in UK betting circles.

William Hill Radio, regular podcast appearances and a daily Oddschecker column have propelled him into this position and as the feature review in the February SBC Magazine for February, we have published our findings from proofing his personal tipping service, Andy Holding Speed Figures.

Alongside our review, a unique and *considerable* discount has also been made available for all SBC Members, with subscriptions using our discount code costing just £25 – a saving of £14 a month!

This means that if you sign up with SBC today and avail this offer to join Andy’s service, you will save the cost of an annual SBC subscription in just under 8 months – and that’s before you use anything else that we have to offer!

What Does The Service Do?

Tipping makes up a portion of what is on offer at Andy Holding Speed Figures, with the majority of our review looking at performance, odds movement, advanced analytics and how this all compares with what gets released for free on Oddschecker each and every day.

Alongside that, this service offers much more, including:

  • Speed Figure sheets that are a great source of information to find your own bets
  • A weekly blog that highlights horses of interest
  • The ‘Irish Racing Podcast’, where Andy discusses any racing from the Emerald Isle when there are meetings

We will be following up with a fresh SBC Podcast in the next month or so, which will give me a chance to quiz Andy about his methods, how he identifies edges and all things betting when it comes to the sport of kings.

For those of you who want a preview, in this interview, Andy joined friend of the show, Simon Nott, to talk about his betting and tipping:

Is This For Everyone?

Like with any tipster service, workload, variance, price sensitivity and access to bookmaker accounts are all questions that need answering when considering whether said service is suitable for you.

We discuss all of these issues in our review, with our advanced analytics and commentary making it very clear who this service will work for, who it won’t work for and how to maximise any subscription to benefit from what is on offer.

One thing I can share is this – Andy Holding Speed Figures is more than a tipster service – the wealth of information that comes with a subscription can help you find your own selections too!

Sign Up To Read This Review

To read our review of Andy Holding’s service and all of our expert content, you will need a Smart Betting Club membership, with different subscription options available to view here.

This will provide you with instant access to every report we have ever written, alongside a wealth of other benefits including discounts to services like Andy’s.

With Cheltenham approaching we will be as active as ever helping our members to profit from their betting, with some excellent offers and promotions already in the works.

New SBC Magazine Format: Your Questions Answered!

Earlier this week, we released SBC Magazine Issue #138 – the first publication in a brand new format for 2024.

Instead of solely containing a collection of tipster reviews or special reports, issues now include much more so that everything we publish on profitable betting in any given month can be found all in one place.

Here, we will answer a few questions about this change to explain how it is different from what has gone before!

Why has the format changed?

Our SBC Magazines have always been central to what we do as this is where we collect our tipster reviews. We felt that monthly releases would improve things for members as they allow for plenty of time to digest each review and we can also include so much more content. Emails, blogs, reviews and reports can still all be read as they arrive but this way, everything is collected in one place.

How will the content be different?

Each magazine will still contain at least one headline review . in addition, we will also include key emails we have shared, new services (e.g. our new free service, Account Agent ) and an overview of the month’s news in the gambling world.

A monthly magazine also provides us with a great opportunity to tackle and answer key questions on betting that our members have.

For example this month we explored topics like banking and the practical reality of which banks to use and how to try and avoid being flagged for ‘too much betting’ by your bank.

How can it help me?

Our in-depth reviews will be the same as ever, with detailed results analysis, betting bank recommendations and more complex mathematical modelling all feeding into a conclusion.

This month’s golf special is a case in point – we cover every angle, from each-way betting and following tips through to more complex modelling and playing win only on exchanges. Whatever your circumstances, reviews make it very clear how (or if!) a service is suitable for you.

Alongside this, our articles, analysis, member questions and news will give you a well-rounded document to read, each and every month!

What is in the first new issue? Can I still read old ones?

As previously mentioned, golf takes centre stage in January’s edition, with a well known free tipster and MMA reviews also pencilled in for the first half of 2024.

All of our past publications can still be accessed in the member area as we have a back catalogue where everything is stored to be read whenever you want to.

It is worth noting that if you sign up today, you can instantly access everything we have ever published.

Can SBC really help my betting & is it possible to make money betting with tipsters?

This is a regular question and quite rightly too. It’s important to ask about just how realistic it is to make money betting using the information we publish.

What I can tell you with the upmost certainty is that those of us who work at SBC live and breathe betting profitably.

We have real life skin in the game and long-term profitable records that allow us to run SBC and also bet extensively.

The reviews, information and expertise we gather operating the Smart Betting Club feeds directly into our own betting, which in turn feeds into how we can help our members with our content.

Of course, it’s not as easy as joining SBC today and making a fortune tomorrow.

It takes time, patience, resilience, expert advice and a bankroll of sorts to win at betting but if you are looking for the right kind of professional help, give us a try!

Further Questions & Sign Up Options

If you have any further questions about our new magazines (or anything else we do) then you can get in touch by replying to this email or by reaching out to use on social media @SBCInfo.

We have multiple sign up options, with quarterly, bi-annual and annual subscriptions all available for you to choose from here.

With our brand new magazine format and plans afoot for even more excellent content in 2024, we would love for you to join us. We are so confident that you will love SBC Membership that we also offer a no questions asked money back guarantee!

Like I said, if you have any questions, please get in touch!

SBC Magazine Issue #138: Bigger & Better Than Ever!

For 2024, we have decided to make a major change to how we deliver our SBC Magazines, starting with the release of SBC 138 today, which is our biggest EVER issue!

This is because it includes not just our major reviews and feature articles, but also important news, podcasts, videos, tweets and a section dedicated to answering your questions.

Effectively Issue 138 collates everything of interest from a smart betting perspective into one easy to find PDF.

So you can download each monthly PDF and be fully informed on what you need to know to make money betting.

Sign-up for membership today for instant access to SBC 138 and our full back catalogue!

Clocking in at 73 pages long, SBC 138 includes:

  • Our Golf Betting Special Report that provides services, tips and tricks to make profits with both bookmakers and exchanges
  • A guide to ‘Account Agent‘, our new free service that helps maintain bookmaker accounts.
  • Links to all podcasts, videos, articles and blogs from SBC in January
  • ‘Your Questions Answered’ section as the SBC Team provide support for members who have queries or issues with their betting
  • News, as we profile the key goings on in the gambling world over the last month
  • Tweets of interest – all the important posts on ‘X’ from the last month

SIGN UP FOR INSTANT ACCESS

This new monthly magazine format will make SBC more interactive than ever and each issue will serve as the perfect place to read everything you need to know about the gambling world, all in one place!

To gain instant access SBC Magazine #138 and all of our back catalogue of reviews and reports, you will require SBC Membership. To sign up as a paid SBC member, just click here and follow the registration link.

📈 Our Process: How We Assess Tipster Performance To Find You Winners

Last week I shared my personal near-40k profit betting record for Winner Odds, the remarkable tennis betting service.

For those who haven’t watched it, you can do so here as I also touch on some tips and tricks, where to place bets and the software behind the success.

This work on Winner Odds is a great example of how we research, uncover and report back on the best tipster services – those you can follow in the quest to make a profit betting.

The SBC Process

In the above video, I also touch upon the SBC process of finding winning tipster services and tools.

Winner Odds is a ‘typical example’ as it has gone through these stages:

  1. Proofing: When we are first introduced to a service we start by proofing until we can build up a comprehensive picture of how the service works and performs over time. Depending on bet volume and regularity, this can take up to 2 years as we require large samples to help us analyse performance and draw conclusions. The main requirement is having a LARGE set of data to analyse.
  2. Independent Review: Once we have this data, we put together a detailed independent SBC review that explores all aspects of the service, its performance and our recommendations. ‘Standard’ metrics such as ROI, ROC and performance on exchanges are contextualised using statistical analysis such as Monte Carlo simulations. Very often we also add in our own real-world experience and practical advice on using a tipster, such as with Winner Odds.
  3. Ongoing Monitoring: As time wears on, we regularly update about the ongoing performance of each tipster in our Sports Tipster Profit Reports and Horse Racing Tipster Profit Reports, with the very best performers entering our Hall of Fame. Our ‘Tipster Ratings’ (see below) give you contextual information on how each service compares.

How We Can Help You

The above outlines in brief just some of the work that goes on behind the scenes to profile the very best tipsters and Winner Odds just one of a large number of services that we track, profile and recommend.

Yet the best thing about our bank of knowledge is how easy it is to find a service that suits you.

For example – for those of you who have no bookmaker accounts available to you.

In your case you want to view our Exchange & Sharp Bookmaker tipsters where we have profiled dozens of services that are suitable.

If you have bookmaker accounts but want a low-workload service that is easy to follow?

We cover the time needed to follow a service in every report.

Are you looking to bet on a specific sport or market?

In this case, you can easily find what you are looking for in our tipster ratings and SBC Magazine directories.

Get Started Immediately

You can get instant access to all of this information, data and support with a SBC Membership.

To top it all off, we have negotiated over 40 tipster trials and discounts so that you can recoup your membership fee many times over!

More member content will be released in the coming weeks and we would love for you to join us so that you can use all of what we offer to make more money from your betting!

🎥 £39,852,26 Profit! SBC’s Story Of Using A Service That Serves Up Serious Returns

A thing of terrifying beauty!’.

That is how one of our members described the service I would like to introduce today,

I agree wholeheartedly – it has made over £39,000 profit and in a special video, today I explain how.

With this service lining up in our latest Sports Tipster Report (where it is a holder of our ‘Hall of Fame’ award), now is as good a time as any to tell you about my use of it.

In the video below (click here to watch), I introduce the service, using the context of our process at SBC to show how and why it has become central to my portfolio.

Press play to listen to me talk about:

    • The profits I have made
    • The software behind the site & simple results tracking
    • Bookmakers, Exchanges and Sharp Bookmakers
    • Tips and tricks to add extra value to the service’s offering

2nd ‘Advanced Video’ Guide To Maximise Profits

As I touch on in the video, SBC Membership offers so much value when it comes to services such as this one.

As well as being able to read our detailed reviews on the service in question, members also have access to a 30 minute advanced video guide on maximising profits.

This second video contains:

  • More advanced tips for how to maximise profits using the service
  • Practical advice on bet placement and notification
  • How to find little known (or connected) bookmakers to use
  • How to extend the length of your bookmaker accounts using some expert tips if following this service
  • How to compound profits using multiple bet strategies – both on this sport and others
  • How to stay strong mentally and understand the pros and cons of using

Paid members also get access to:

  • Tipster Reviews where we take a deep dive into performance by every metric, discussing historical records, bookmaker availability, exchange viability and using a service practically (alongside so much more!)
  • Ongoing Performance Analysis in the form of our regular Tipster Profit Reports where we revisit services and monitor their short, medium and long-term performances with rankings, tables and explainers
  • Detailed Practical Support in the form of videos, FAQs, email correspondence and reports from the SBC Team
  • Discounts that often cover (or exceed!) the cost of SBC Membership in one go!

If you are interested in this service (or any of the other of the services that we review) then signing up will provide you with instant access to all of the benefits outlined above. My deep-dive video will be added to an extensive library of first-hand accounts of using the very best services from the SBC team.

As ever, if you have any questions please get in touch, either by email or at @SBCInfo and I will get straight back to you!