Phil Smith: How a Professional Bettor Made Over 100% ROI

What does it actually take to make a living from betting?

Not simply finding the occasional winner, but identifying a genuine edge, exploiting it consistently and – perhaps most importantly a adapting when things stop working.

That’s the subject of our latest How I Bet For Profit video interview, available exclusively to Smart Betting Club members.

My guest is Phil Smith, a professional bettor and antepost specialist with an outstanding long-term record – including an extraordinary 2025/26 season that ultimately produced around 100% ROI.

Exclusive Video Interview Now Available For SBC Members.

Inside the Mind of a Professional Bettor

Phil’s route into antepost betting actually began almost by accident.

Having initially concentrated on trading, he started exploring football antepost markets as something of a side interest. After turning an initial bankroll of around £3,000 into £12,000, and importantly tracking the bets along the way, he realised there appeared to be a significant edge worth pursuing.

That edge has since developed into his full-time profession.

In this exclusive interview, Phil explains:

  • How he identifies antepost markets where bookmaker prices haven’t caught up with changing circumstances.
  • Why predicting where a price is going can be as important as predicting the eventual winner.
  • How he researches teams, leagues and goalscorer markets.
  • Why knowing which markets not to bet is crucial.
  • How he constructs and manages a portfolio containing thousands of bets.
  • The role of hedging, staking and risk management in his approach

It’s a fascinating look at the work that goes on behind the headline profits.

From a Challenging Season to Over 100% ROI

Perhaps the most interesting part of Phil’s story, however, is what happened when things didn’t quite go according to plan.

Following a more challenging 2024/25 season, Phil analysed his performance and identified where he could improve in his choice of markets, staking and where he was placing his bets.

The changes were substantial – and what followed was an exceptional 2025/26 campaign that ultimately produced over 100% ROI.

Even more revealingly, Phil can still identify mistakes he made during that hugely profitable season and areas he believes can be improved further.

It’s a great example of something we repeatedly emphasise at SBC: long-term profitable betting isn’t just about finding an edge. It’s about continually testing, refining and adapting it.

SBC Members Can Also Join Phil Smith Select

There’s another reason why this interview is particularly timely.

We’ve recently teamed up with Phil to launch Phil Smith Select, a separate betting service available exclusively to SBC members, giving subscribers the opportunity to follow a more accessible version of his antepost approach throughout the season.

Note – Phil Smith Select requires its own subscription in addition to SBC membership. The full How I Bet For Profit video interview with Phil is included as part of your standard SBC membership.

The emphasis is particularly on goalscorer bets and accumulators, with modest stakes allowing followers to gradually build a portfolio across the football season.

As a member, you’ll also receive access to our independent, in-depth betting service reviews, exclusive interviews with successful bettors, strategy and educational content, practical betting advice, the monthly SBC Magazine and a growing range of member-only offers.

Join the Smart Betting Club today and you’ll gain immediate access to the full Phil Smith How I Bet For Profit interview, along with our latest SBC Magazine, independent betting service reviews, exclusive member content and offers.

You’ll also have the option to join Phil Smith Select and follow Phil’s bets throughout the season.

Inside the Bet Diary: Real-Life Betting Wins, Losses, and Lessons from Rowan Day

Betting can often feel like a solitary game and it’s rare for many of us to regularly talk about our punting in an honest and transparent way, if at all (booming on social media doesn’t count!).

Which is why Rowan Day writes his Bet Diary for us here at SBC as we felt there was a gap in the market for an honest, realistic and at times humorous rundown of what it is like to bet on tipsters to make a profit.

Follow Rowan’s real life betting journey

Below are some excerpts to show why this series is so popular as Rowan gets into the weeds on the ups and downs of how he makes a long-term betting profit.

And the good news is that lately it’s been a very positive time as Rowan outlined in his latest diary update. Here is an excerpt:

“My last post was headlined, “56% bank growth…in one bet!!!”.

What’s it going to be in my next post? “1,000% bank growth…in one bet!!!”, as a Lucky 15 is landed with four double digit winners?

A man can dream.

But, what is no dream, is that following on from a 3 out of 4 winning Lucky 15 using the Bookie Bashing Racing Tracker last week, Weekly Golf Value – taking value priced players from the Bookie Bashing Golf Tracker – put up 200/1 winner of the Genesis Championship in South Korea, Junghwan Lee! I woke up to the news that a final round 64 had shot Lee to the head of the leader board, and there he had stayed. Wow!

If memory serves me correctly, and sadly I’ve reached an age where perhaps my memory is not quite as sharp as it was, that’s the biggest winner I’ve ever had on the golf. “

Yet as good as a period of form its been lately (His October ROI sits at 16.49% as he updates at the end of each blog post), it’s not always sunshine and rainbows when betting as we all know.

There are often challenges, not just losing runs but things like online restrictions and juggling it around work and other commitments as he posted about on the 1st October:

“September has been a particularly underwhelming month, and several issues have arisen that frankly, have been a little tiresome to deal with. I’ve recognised the problems, because I’ve been through these situations before. More to the point, I knew they would arrive again, and have therefore had plenty of time to think ahead.

In a nutshell, the time has arrived again to start to look towards betting predominantly in shops and on the exchanges.

My betting now has to be designed largely around work, and being able to get to bookmaker shops. I’m fortunate in that I have a number of BetFreds, William Hills and Ladbrokes all within a very short drive. I’ve been here before, and I’ve been able to make it work.”

Real Life Betting

Rowan lives and breathes his betting, reporting the challenges that can come with following any tipster or system.

He has been doing this for a long time so he knows ‘the game’ but I still find it fascinating (and refreshingly honest) when he articulates the joys, biases and paranoia that can come with serious betting for profit.

In addition to this, Rowan’s posts also discuss things like:

  • New tipsters, strategies and angles that have come into the SBC or the general market
  • Account restrictions
  • Exchange betting
  • Shop betting and dealing with the ‘beady eyes’ when taking that value
  • Rowan’s thoughts on developments in the gambling world
  • Arsenal’s title challenge (Yawn!)
  • A lot more besides!

Read More Every Week

For those of you interested in reading the Bet Diary, simply visit the Bet Diary link each week to read Rowan’s posts.

Every one of Rowan’s pieces is also kept on this page if you would like to go back and read through the archive!

Betting doesn’t have to be a solitary game when you can read the thoughts of others – this is the perfect opportunity to do just that!

My results from my SBC betting portfolio – 6 months in

Alex from SBC here letting you know that I’ve been given the privilege of writing for the Smart Betting Club on a permanent basis.

From now on you’ll be hearing directly from me about your favourite betting subjects on top of the usual great content that Pete releases for SBC.

I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Some of you may have already seen my Video Bet Diary series and I’ve added to that today with another episode.

This time updating viewers on my 6 months results plus a bit about 2 new services I’ve added to my betting portfolio.

If you’re interested in adding some services to your betting portfolio then I certainly recommend giving it a watch.

You can watch the rest of the Video Diary series and the rest of our betting strategy and advice content on our YouTube channel.

Watch here

All the best

Alex Lyons
SBC Writer