Episode 100 SBC Podcast: Ant De Rosa on Sharp Betting, Pinnacle, and Market Execution

In Episode 100 of the SBC Podcast, I welcomed a special guest to mark the milestone, in the form of Antonino (Ant) De Rosa, a former Pinnacle trader and now operator of a large scale professional betting group.

This episode goes deep into the reality of sharp betting. Not theory, not models in isolation, but how markets actually move, how sportsbooks react, and why execution is often the biggest edge in the modern game.

Ant shares his unique journey from elite level Magic: The Gathering player to being recruited by Pinnacle, where he specialised in live NBA trading. He explains how his edge was never about knowing sport better than others, but about predicting behaviour, understanding where the next bet would come from, and how the market would react.

The conversation then shifts into the mechanics of running a serious betting operation today.

From scaling across multiple sports, managing hundreds of accounts, and handling real world challenges like liquidity, restrictions, and non payment. Ant is clear that having a strong model or idea is not enough, if you cannot get money down, the edge has no value.

This is a rare, honest look at the sharp end of betting in 2026, where success comes from combining insight, discipline, and the ability to execute at scale.

You can listen to Episode 100 FREE now via Apple / Spotify / YouTube and all other major podcast directories (search Smart Betting Club)

You can also support the SBC Podcast by visiting our podcast sponsor, Matchbook. You can get 150 days, commission free with them via this link.

Topics covered include

  • From Magic: The Gathering to Pinnacle trader
  • How Pinnacle identified and used sharp bettors
  • Predicting where the next bet comes from
  • Why market movement is driven by respected money
  • The difference between “cold” and “hot” bets
  • How sportsbooks actually set lines and limits
  • Building and scaling a multi sport betting operation
  • Managing hundreds of accounts and execution challenges
  • The reality of getting bets on and getting paid
  • Why liquidity defines what is worth betting
  • How edges evolve and disappear over time
  • Where opportunities still exist in modern betting

Key Quotes

On what made him successful at Pinnacle
“I was able to predict where the next bet was coming from.”

On market dynamics
“If nothing is happening and a sharp bets you, you have to move. If they bet after you move, that means something completely different.”

On sportsbooks and pricing
“Opening lines don’t matter. Within 15 minutes you’re at the right number taking bets.”

On timing of bets
“Why did they bet now and not later, that’s the question you should be asking.”

On betting reality vs theory
“If you can’t get money down on it, it’s worthless.”

On execution challenges
“I had no idea how hard it was to bet until I started doing it myself.”

On scaling and liquidity
“For us to get 10k down on a challenger match, 300 people might have to see the bet.”

On building an edge
“Start with an idea, then test it. Don’t start with a sport and hope to find one.”

About The Smart Betting CLub

The Smart Betting Club (SBC) is an independent service that has been helping serious bettors and professionals since 2006. We review, rate, and monitor tipsters and betting strategies, uncovering proven ways to profit and avoid the noise. Our mission is to help you make smarter, more sustainable profits without relying on bookmaker goodwill.

Inside SBC membership you’ll find:

  • In-depth tipster reviews and performance reports
  • Access to winning strategies that work with sharp-friendly bookmakers
  • Educational guides, data, and insights from professional bettors
  • Monthly magazines and podcasts covering everything that matters in betting today

If you’re ready to treat betting as an investment and want guidance from experts who actually win, join the Smart Betting Club today.

 👉 Join SBC and start improving your betting now

 

Winner Odds Football Review Reaction | What We Found in 4,000 Bets

Back in February, we published a deep dive into the Winner Odds Football service in Issue 160 – as part of the monthly magazines we provide Smart Betting Club members.

Over 20 pages, more than 4,000 real world bets were analysed in depth, alongside a full breakdown of how the service performs and has performed for those using it. The good, the rough, and everything in between.

Since then, something interesting has happened.

Winner Odds have released a series of three emails that echo many of the same ideas we explored in that review.

No coordination, no shared agenda, just two independent viewpoints arriving at similar conclusions about what actually works in betting.

Independent In Operation, But Aligned in Values

We are not connected to Winner Odds operationally.

That is to say, no money changes hands for us to review them or promote them or vice versa. There are no ‘affiliate links’ or monetary connections at all. Just good, old fashioned mutual appreciation.

But we do tend to find ourselves aligned with people who:

  • Actually win over meaningful samples
  • Understand markets properly
  • Communicate honestly about risk and results
  • Bet themselves

That goes both ways.

In their first email, they made a point that cuts through a lot of noise in today’s betting world.

We live in an age of quick opinions, recycled takes, and surface level thinking. People sharing views on systems they have never properly studied. Dismissing approaches based on headline numbers or short term outcomes.

Claims like ‘You cant win money betting at short-odds‘ for example as per my recent blog post.

Yet, as they highlighted, there is still demand for depth. For properly analysed data. For long form thinking.

That is exactly what we aim to deliver at SBC.

And it is why they referenced our review so strongly.

What Stood Out From Their Follow Up

Their second email touches on something we see time and time again.

Even the people closest to a system do not always see it fully.

It often takes independent analysis to surface:

  • The true probability of long term outcomes
  • Where the edge actually sits
  • How performance holds across different markets

In this case, our review highlighted things like:

  • The extremely low probability of a losing year
  • Consistent returns across Asian handicap, 1X2, and totals

Their takeaway was simple.

The edge is not in picking moments or markets.

It is in following the model properly, over time.

The Psychological Edge Most People Miss

The third email is where things really hit home.

They reference a key behavioural insight that underpins so many betting mistakes:

For our brain, a loss carries roughly twice the weight of a gain of the same size

This idea, popularised by Daniel Kahneman, explains why:

  • Losing a short priced bet feels far worse than it should (Why losing a 1.10 bet can ruin your week)
  • Winning multiple bets does not feel as rewarding
  • Bettors start chasing losses or avoiding valid bets

They illustrate this with the classic value curve, showing how perception diverges from reality.

And it leads to a simple but powerful conclusion.

Many bettors focus on avoiding losses, when they should be focused on maximising long term gains.

That shift in mindset is often the difference between:

  • Following a profitable approach through variance
  • Or abandoning it halfway through

And crucially seeing the value in betting at short odds!

Read The Full Picture

If you want to understand this properly, it is worth going through both sides:

You will see the same themes from two independent angles.

SBC members can access the full review, along with an exclusive discount for the service.

Final Thought

We operate in a space where it is easy to sell a story.

Quick wins. Big claims. Unrealistic expectations.

Made up bet slips or videos at racecourses waving bank notes for 30 second reels on social media.

That is not how we approach things.

At SBC, we focus on what actually works. Long term data. Honest reviews. Clear explanations of risk, variance, and execution.

It is not the most lucrative route if your goal is to sell a dream.

But it is the right one if your goal is to win. And maybe to sleep at night too in knowing you are helping others rather than helping yourself.

If you want access to reviews like this, and a clearer understanding of where the real edges sit, you can join us here.

Speak soon,
Pete
Smart Betting Club

‘The Beer Test’

P.S. While we don’t work together operationally, I have a great deal of respect for Miguel and the team at Winner Odds.

I’ve had the chance to meet Miguel and several members of his team at Smart Bash over the past couple of years, and we also shared a dinner with mutual friends last year.

They’re not only among the sharpest minds in the betting and tipping space, but also genuinely some of the nicest people you could meet.

I think that says a lot – the qualities someone shows in business and betting tend to carry through into real life. You can sit down, have a beer or share a meal, and enjoy good conversation even when you come from different backgrounds or speak different languages.

So next time you come across a TikTok video, tweet, or reel where someone loudly claims they’ve cracked betting, take a moment to pause.

Ask yourself: Would I actually want to sit down and have a beer or coffee with this person?

More importantly, do they seem like someone with solid values?

If the answer is no, it might be your instinct telling you to tread carefully and trust your gut. Listen to that because betting is NOT easy and NEVER cracked – its a constant journey and those who say otherwise, are selling a dream that doesn’t exist.

?️ Mads Kindberg Nielsen: Mastering The Mental Game In Sports Betting ?️

Mads Kindberg Nielsen was a recent guest on SBC Podcast #77 (links for which are below) and at the end of that chat, he talked about betting psychology with some practical tips to improve performance, whatever level of bettor you are! With Mads’ permission, we have translated a post where he writes about this (that he released in Danish at https://monetosbetting.dk/kindbergs-corner-hold-styr-paa-hovedet/)to read here. No edits have been made to the text – here it is:

Mads Kindberg Nielsen, co-owner of Monetos and long-time successful sports bettor, writes blogs on relevant topics within the betting world. The blog only expresses the writer’s opinion. 

You have to master the mental game in sports betting.

If you don’t have your head down, you can’t call yourself a good sports bettor. It’s that simple in my world. With the exception of responsible gambling/bankroll management, it is the most important feature in sports betting.

‘But what about my mathematical skills, my ability to read a football match or my large database of all sorts of statistics,’ you might think.

My answer: It doesn’t really matter if you piss off the entire month’s profit – or MUCH worse all your money – on one bad day, because you have played badly and irresponsibly and not been there in your head!

We sports bettors are constantly practicing to get better. We put an extra column in the spreadsheet with new numbers, so our model is (possibly) 0.3784% more accurate. We see extended highlights instead of just the goals. We read more and more news about each team and its players. Perhaps one more piece of news is just what gives us an advantage in the market?

In other words: We are working on our A-game. We optimize our A-game. All the time. And that’s fine enough.

But we forget our B- and C-game.

Same mechanisms as in poker

I once read a book called The Mental Game of Poker written by American Jared Tendler. It’s about poker, but the same mechanics apply in sports betting, and it helped me see my game and myself in a completely different light.

When we play our A-game, we’re in the zone. We find the right statistics and use them correctly. We don’t get emotional about overtime scores. Instead, we move on to the next analysis, which we can put our A-game into – WITHOUT changing the bet because ‘what is lost must be won back home’ or other stupid things that our emotions can tell us. No, we stick to the overall strategy of bankroll management and responsible play when we play our A-game.

In our B-game, we still make good decisions – for the most part. Maybe we get a little disturbed by a phone, a screaming baby, maybe we do our analysis with one eye while the other watches the football game on television. The analyzes are not quite as thorough. Overtime scores hurt a little, and we feel how the irritation is slowly moving us further and further towards the place we don’t want to go in any way: Our C-game.

In our C-game, we are on tilt. We make bad bets because we are in the throes of emotion. The brain hides under the desk or in the broom closet, while the emotions control the body and our actions. We no longer want to do the analyses, and the pulse is galloping away. The mouse clicks become harder in frustration, maybe we even slam our hand into the wall or the screen. All rational thinking has been flushed down the toilet, and the worst case scenario is that in our C-game we abandon our overall strategy and, in the worst case, play up our entire bankroll – and maybe even more. No thanks, right?

The next time you feel your C-game, STOP. Make something else. Be with family, friends, watch a good film, go for a walk with the dog. For God’s sake stop playing – and never consider playing again if it’s really bad.

When you’ve cut your C-game completely, you only have your A- and B-game left. So far, so good. So what do you do when you find yourself playing your B-game?

The answer should be self-evident: Then you stop, of course, because then you only have your A-game left.

Mads

You can listen to Episode 77 now via Apple / Spotify / YouTube and all other major podcast directories (search Smart Betting Club)

You can also support the SBC Podcast by visiting our brand new sponsor, Matchbook, with whom you can also get 150 days commission free via this link.