SBC: You first joined SBC back in 2012, so you are coming up to nearly 9 years of membership now! What is it about SBC that continues to appeal to you?

Jim: I have been a member of SBC since 2012 – a long time.

At first, I just played around with different tipsters to try and find the right one for me. The first one I chose gave out tips the night before and still is very good, yet I don’t use him anymore as I got banned very quickly by the bookies for following him in. SBC warned against this as being a red flag for this service and they were right. I thought that suffering from a bookmaker restriction was a status symbol at first, but I quickly realised it’s a no no now.

SBC: Back in 2016, in our original chat, you explained how 2015 was a vintage year for you making over £20,000. How has your betting fared since then?

Jim: That’s right as it was only in 2015 that I began to take it seriously and I made 20 grand in total that year. In the years since, I have still made a good profit on average of around £12,000 per year.

In 2019 I was down £6000 up to June after a poor first 6 months, but it all turned around in the second half of the year and I ended up £12,000 in profit in total. Shows the value of being patient, but then having done this seriously since 2015 I know how to ride the ups and downs along the way.

SBC: In terms of the tipsters you use – have you been following any since 2012?

Jim: Well the first thing to say is that I only follow racing tipsters, which is both good and bad. Good because they make a fantastic ROI but bad in that it increases issues at my profit levels with bookmaker restriction issues.

Service wise, I have been with 2 of the same tipsters since 2012. They don’t just give tips out and say get on with it. They genuinely care about their members and making sure you can make a profit following their advice.

SBC: What about the tipsters you follow currently?

Jim: I only use 4 tipsters now and I’m happy with how things are going. I could follow more but I want to have a life outside of them and my day job. I would also rather up my stakes in these 4 tipsters I trust rather than join anyone new.

Three of them are SBC recommended tipsters and the other one I just came across through a fellow SBC member who is very switched on. My outlay in a year is now about £200k in terms of stakes and I try to make 10% ROI. 200k might sound a lot but I’ve built it up over the years, so it’s well within my comfort zone.

SBC: What are your betting plans for the future? Do you think you will still be doing this in 2030?

Jim: In the future I want to be able to make a good profit just by using the exchanges although that isn’t always possible right now. At my staking and profit level, getting on is tricky sometimes as I don’t use a VPN and I’m hopeless at the tech stuff. So, I use a mixture of phones and place a bunch of bets in shops too as this works for me (I work in a big city centre so have ready access).

SBC: What would you say to anyone considering a SBC membership but unsure as to whether to take the plunge?

Jim: If you take the plunge to join SBC it can change your life but just remember it’s a lot of hard work and effort, especially at my staking range.

I would also say it’s essential to keep a spreadsheet of all your bets so you really know where you stand. Some months you think you are losing because you have had a few bad days in a row but when you look back you realise you’re doing ok and vice versa. It’s only because you have the spreadsheet, do you actually know where you stand.