The past week saw the launch of the new ‘Secrets of Pricewise’ book from The Racing Post’s James Milton.
With the words “The World’s Number One Tipster Revealed” emblazed over the front cover, we were suitably intrigued to pick up our own copy and give it the SBC review treatment.
Will buying this book change your betting world and enable you to pick winners like Tom Segal? Check out a summary of our review below…
Our Pricewise Secrets Review
For those of you outside the UK or who have been asleep – Pricewise is a betting column launched nearly 25 years ago by the Racing Post, by its then writer and creator, Mark Coton. The column is now the premier tipping column of the Post and is written by Tom Segal, mainly focusing on major race days and weekends.
The book starts with what is an interesting introduction into how the column came about with Mark Coton launching the Pricewise concept on the basis that the column “was about market dynamics, not form dynamics”
Effectively it was the start of bringing value betting to the mainstream, something that many of us use for as a basis these days. Finding value, not winners was the goal.
The book then details the evolution of the column, how it was handed over first to Mel Collier and then its current resident tipster Tom Segal, about whom most punters interest will lie.
The Enigma Of Pricewise’s Tom Segal
No doubt, Segal is the number one tipster in UK trade papers and the one with the biggest following (whether or not deserved). He shares a number of pointers about his selection policy such as “There is no point in betting around the draw” and “The trip is the most overrated thing in racing”, although nothing particularly ground-breaking.
Tom clearly has a method that works for him, but it isn’t something a reader of the book will be able to copy after reading it. As he openly admits “It’s just down to luck, a bit of educated guesswork”.
More general comments and padding are found before he drops a bit of a bomb stating, “sometimes I’ve got to give tips that I’m not confident or happy about. It’s just part of the job – I’ve got a page to get out by 5pm and 800 words to write before deadline”. In effect highlighting one of the negatives of the Pricewise concept – the need to tip in every race. Something made even clearer in this promotional video where Tom also admits it’s the bookmakers who call him to tell him which race he is tipping on.
Think about this for a moment – why would a bookmaker want to control where the UK’s allegedly top tipster is likely to put up a bet? Isn’t tipping a battle between shrewd punter and bookie? Not in this instance it seems and it all seems far too cosy for our liking.
The book then continues to sing the services praises with 40 pages of historical wins and 10 pages of readers’ positive messages, which add precious little of value.
One Pricewise Secret Of Note
There is one big secret that I can’t reveal here, but this is more to do with how the Pricewise column is compiled and the head-start Tom has on every other punter. With this info in tow, it’s fair to say most clued-up punters could do pretty well tipping like Tom.
Knowing this won’t change your betting but it might make you long to be in Tom’s shoes. It also highlights how well a number of racing tipsters that we monitor actually do by achieving better results than Tom – some with ROI figures well in excess of 30%…and of course odds you can actually achieve (mainly because the bookies aren’t telling them what race to bet on!)
In summary then, will this book change your betting outlook and help you pick winners like Tom? Not likely and if buying with this in mind, you will be very disappointed.
For a day’s light reading you could do worse, just don’t expect anything to be revealed of great significance for your betting balance.
Get More On Tom Segal & Pricewise Extra
You can read our full independent review of the Pricewise book in the latest SBC Magazine, which was released on Thursday 18th October.
You can also access the historical results for the Pricewise Extra tipping service dating back to October 2009 in our Tipster Profit Reports. These contain best buy tables on 48 racing & football tipsters to help guide you through the maze of what makes money betting.
Of these 48, 21 tipsters are currently in our Hall of Fame (Pricewise Extra isn’t one!) which are those services we consider to be the best out there.
You can gain access to all of this and more with a Smart Betting Club membership.
