It is now a week since Smart-Bash 2024 and as there was no filming in or around the event, we thought that a short blog on what the day was like would be a good idea! A more detailed account of what the day was all about will follow soon.
In my experience, those of us who live and breathe gambling sound like we’re talking double-dutch to ‘normal’ people whenever anything betting-related comes up in conversation.
‘Winners’ vs. ‘a good price’ , ‘EV’ not having something to do with hippy cars and general probabilistic problems (do you price things up in your head too?!) are thought about in completely different terms by people who don’t work in or around the industry or in similar fields.
That’s why Smart-Bash 2024, which was held in London last week, was so enjoyable. Attendees like me most probably talked a load of nonsense all day (I would make that a 1.01 shot), but collectively, we all seemed to understand each other.
The Panels
The structure of the day, hosted at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, was defined by 7 panels and a presentation, with breakfast, short breaks and lunch preceding and then breaking up this action.
Listening to the experts on the modelling panels talk about their processes was insightful, even when the sport or market was something that I have little experience of. The exchange discussions were thought-provoking as they collectively grow in popularity and scope. When you have eloquent speakers such as Brian Chappell and Harry Stewart-Moore, even the abyss of despair that is gambling regulation can come to life in an interesting way.
The day opened with a Sharp Punting Panel that focussed on horse racing as Daniel Hussey hosted Johnny Dineen, Chris Poole & Dean Valentine; later, an exchange betting panel containing Jesse May, Ronan McDonagh, Tom Brownlee and Matthew Trenhaile talked about some of the intricacies of these platforms.
Miguel Figueres and his team are just as impressive ‘in the flesh’ as they are on the WinnerOdds platform; Chris Poole was honest and forthright about the bookie vs. punter battle and how the big firms deal with their betting enemies; speakers who I hadn’t heard a lot from before like Bill Chen and Dylan Beirne are very obviously masters in their respective fields.
In short, the panels were a great way to get the experts talking. They bounced off each other and shared wisdom, which is a tricky thing to pick up when reading a book or listening to a podcast.
The ‘Networking’
All of this was surrounded by something even better. We arrived on Tuesday and got to meet up with people we’ve worked with or talked to for a long time over email, social media or at best, over the phone or on Zoom. Pete and I (who were meeting for only the second time in person ourselves) got to sit and chat with colleagues, industry insiders and friends before Friday which was great, as we normally just grunt at each other over voice notes all day.
I’ve always detested ‘networking’ in previous lives as it meant having to promote yourself or listen to some bore talk about some inane subject or other. Last week, and the event itself, was different. That shared language that I mentioned earlier means that meeting new people is not a chore as we all have collective experiences or interests that mean that conversation is easy. Bad beats, the dreaded email from Denise, betting ‘gossip’ – there was plenty to talk about and nothing felt forced.
I got to meet people who I’d only ever listened to talk on podcasts and quiz them about something that I thought they could help me with, SBC Members were well represented so we got to put faces to people who we’d shared hundreds of emails with and punters from Scandinavia, Portugal and Spain shared how their landscape is similar and/or different from ours.
Get Out The Trumpets!
Seeing SBC Award winners pick up their prizes was great too. Fitzdares, Daryl Carter, geegeez, Steve Palmer, Racing Post, Betfair and The Barstewards Enquiry all picked up fancy awards, with photos taken and some (x-rated!) congratulation speeches made. Lee from The Barstewards was obviously very emotional when receiving his award. As the tears welled up in his eyes, he spluttered about pride, a ‘long journey’ and something about it being ‘the best day of his life’ (I may be exaggerating a bit but he was made up).
Fancy prizes were presented to well-deserving recipients, voted for by the betting public
The day closed with food and an open bar (up to a couple of grand only, unfortunately!) and this was another chance to sit around and talk about betting again, late into the night.
Smart-Bash 2025
If you listened to national coverage about what we all do, you’d think that we were all degenerates sitting in urine- stained jogging bottoms in a dark room all day, slowing frittering away any ‘respectably earned’ money to rapacious bookmakers.
This isn’t the case and whilst there are no doubt challenges within the industry, it was great to be around people who love ‘the game’, finding edges and betting or laying them to make a profit.
This was the first event hosted at this scale and I have no doubt that it will be even better next year. If you were a guest, then I look forward to seeing you again then. If you weren’t, then I can’t recommend taking a day out to join us next year – I look forward to meeting you.