‘The reviews were more detailed than anything I had come across before’

How long have you been a SBC Member?

I have been with SBC for 12 months now.

What made you sign up?

I came across SBC on Twitter and started listening to the podcasts and reading the free reviews available. The reviews were more detailed than anything I had come across before and I had learned quite a bit from the podcast guests.

Did you do any betting or following of tipsters before you joined up?

I had built up a bankroll through matched betting and arbitrage for a few years. I had followed a couple of form and ratings services that I used to create my own systems and strategies, but it was harder and less successful than I thought it would be.

What sports do you bet on?

Golf and Horse Racing predominantly, but also tennis, greyhound racing and football.

How much of your betting is your own/how much is following tipsters?

At the moment it is about 50/50. I bet larger stakes on the bets from tipsters, but I have a few of my own horse and greyhound racing strategies that generate around 100 bets per day. The high volume of those selections allows me to bet reasonably small stakes yet still achieve solid bank growth.

What services do you use (both SBC & non-SBC)

I use quite a few services. In terms of tipsters, I subscribe to Winner Odds, Betaminic Over 2.5 Goals, Winabobatoo, Optimum Racing, Golf Insider and The Value Machine. I also follow free tipsters such as Ben Coley and Tour Tips, as well as 80/20 Racing and Achievable Value through SBC.

Another subscription I have is with BF Bot Manager, which I use to place my horse and greyhound racing bets into the live Betfair market instead of taking the BSP. I also use the FairBot Software for any trading and matched betting I do.

How did you choose those services?

I always read the SBC reviews of each service and if the tipster has appeared on the SBC podcast, I will listen to that. The odds movement analysis is one of the critical things for me. I don’t want to have to get my bets on within a couple minutes of the tips being sent, especially since I follow quite a few different services.

This made golf an obvious choice, which I bet win-only on Betfair, as well as horse racing which I use the Bot Manager to bet into the live Betfair market.

Do you have any favourite service(s) or memorable win(s)?

My favourite service was definitely Winner Odds, which made me $9,000 in roughly six months. After six weeks I was down over $1,000 but stuck with it and only had two losing weeks since then. I am also a big fan of 80/20 Racing. My favourite bet would have to be Nick Taylor in the Canadian Open who I backed at 90 on Betfair. I only checked the bets after the event and was pleasantly surprised!

Which level of betting do you feel that you fall into in our 5 Stages? 

I would say I have moved into stage 5. 90% of my betting is done through Betfair. I can get very small stakes with one or two bookmakers which has made following high-volume services such as Winner Odds and The Value Machine a possibility.

Do you have any tips for new bettors who are starting out on their journey?

I would encourage anyone to build up a bankroll through matched betting and arbitrage. Aside from making solid profits, you also get experience using Betfair and reading market movements etc. Similar to that, try to sustain your bookmaker accounts for as long as possible as they are extremely valuable. Betting to outlandish stakes, particularly on obscure markets or standout prices, will likely get you limited very quickly. It is much better to make small, steady progress over a long period of time, in my opinion.

What are your plans for the future?

I think in time most of my betting will be on horse racing and golf. I am transitioning all my golf betting to Win-Only, as I have found betting in the place markets to be time consuming and frustrating due to lack of liquidity, particularly on the DP World Tour.

I suspect I won’t add too many more tipsters to my portfolio, instead just increasing my stakes so that the amount of bets I am placing is manageable.