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Dark Horses

April 12, 2018 By reviewer Leave a Comment

Its that time of year again. The flat racing season is about to start and a plethora of new services and guides will be hitting your in tray over the next few weeks. And here we take an initial look at one of them which has been put together by John Burke for The Race Advisor.

If you watch the video on the marketing page there is no need to read it as well as it merely repeats the same text. We have words such as “sensational” “huge wins” “going to smash it” and “astonishing” which might lead you to conclude that there is no firm data on which to base the claims. Of course there cannot really be much because of the nature of the flat racing scene so what is on offer is an assessment of the potential of a number of  4 categories of horses which should be racing this season. An aide to support your personal form reading or system picks although it does assert that use of the guide will allow you to “tap into profits no matter who you are”.  There seems to have been a late change to the number of horses covered as both the marketing and guide itself refer to 20 horses at some point despite the headline 25 quoted – the final figure is 21 though.

At just under £10 (plus VAT where applicable) it is hardly a great outlay and so the chance to find out the views of other punters is beckoning. On paying your fee you will immediately be given access to a 23 page PDF document which can be saved on your device and accessed when convenient. As well as covering the specific horses there are sections on Jockeys and Trainers plus some micro angles on them. (A bonus guide to the forthcoming Craven meeting is included in the price but we have not seen this at the time of writing)

After a general introduction the author explains that he is trying to find both expected and unexposed horses that can do well in certain circumstances and also comments on a few of the older handicappers prospects. There is also advice on placing bets which are recommended as wins where the odds are 6/1 or less and consideration should be given to each way staking above that level. It is recommended that you should not stake at more than 1% of your bankroll for any selection made using the guide.

The specific horses advice is split into sections – classic contenders (6), 3 year olds under the radar (5), 3 year old maidens(5) and the older horses (5).  Each horse is examined in detail and specific advice given on when to back them – an example of this follows:

ADVICE: Soft ground is not ideal for this runner, and he should only be considered on good-soft or
firmer. Seven furlongs also proved to be a bit short, so watch out for his entry into a race where the
ground is firmer and the distance is one mile and he’ll be the one to beat.

The assessments are well written and interesting to read. I would have thought that it would be suggested that the subjects be placed in your trackers so that you can receive notification when they are running rather than have to check yourselves.

We then move on to some micro systems covering 3 jockeys and 2 trainers which are simply set out and easy to follow. If the historic performance continues then there will be useful profits available.

And finally further jockey and trainer analysis advising of tracks and specific distances where the subject has returned at least a 10% ROI betting at industry SP.

The guide is well put together and will appeal to a range of punters. I am not sure it will make you a fortune on its own but as a back up to your personal research/system it could well be giving you that bit of confidence you need.

With the nominal cost involved I am happy to give the guide a positive rating and will be interested to hear members thoughts on the doubtless wide variety of angles that will be considered.

Filed Under: Horse Racing, Positive, Reviews, Wins Tagged With: ADVICE, PDF, ROI, VAT

Good Bet – Horse Racing Edition

February 22, 2018 By reviewer Leave a Comment

An interesting product from the Betting Dev group who offer a range of products aimed at automating betting processes including an excellent Virtual Private Server. Here we have a software program which provides a base system allowing users to develop their personal form reading in a logical manner and a supplementary subscription offering which automatically loads the UK and Irish racing data into the software saving a considerable amount of time.

The software is stand alone and does not depend on feeds from any third party. It is aimed at horse racing bettors of all types from beginner to expert and will help users in any country where racing takes place. Please note that the software only operates on Windows based devices (but can be used with other systems if a VPS is available).

MANUAL ENTRY MODE

This is the basic package attracting a one off fee which will cover future upgrades as they occur. On payment a software program is installed on your device and a PDF manual is also included giving full instructions for both installation and operation of the software.

Analysis of form has been broken down into 16 or 17 elements depending on the type of race and a detailed explanation of the individual criteria is given in the manual. To analyse a race you simply add a “Yes” tick for each horse across the elements and the score is automatically calculated. You can do this for as many horses in the race as you wish and at the end you will have an assessment of the comparative scores for your selections. Further guidance is then given as to the type of bet you might (and equally importantly might NOT!) consider based on the scores achieved. There are slightly varying formats for Flat, Jumps and Harness (Trap) racing.

The entry of the data can be undertaken by reference to several free websites such as Racing Post or Sporting Life and I found the simplest – and quickest – to use was At The Races. After some practice I could enter a single horse’s characteristics in under 2 minutes.

It will be obvious that you are developing both a personal database as you use the software (the analyses may be saved to csv files) and a consistent assessment criteria for looking at races. How you make use of the output is down to you but again there are options ranging from assessing the potential of a tipsters selections through establishing bets you might place on selected races to the development of your own systems. For obvious reasons I cannot divulge the factors leading to scores being allocated but what I did like was the ability to fine tune these based on your own knowledge – if a fact was the horse not having raced more that x times in a given period but you considered that a different number was more valid you could readily factor this into your use of the software.

In my testing I experimented by assessing a tipster who provided 3 selections daily and checked what the outcome would have been if I placed bets based on the Good Horse bet scores rather than just blind. The software did show a marginal improvement on the raw tips so the time would have been well spent.

Unless you are only following racing in the UK and Ireland the manual entry mode is going to be necessary for using the methodology. However, if you want to save time and are looking at the UK and Ireland races then you should certainly consider the Automatic Mode but only once you have understood how it all works via the manual entry option.

At £49.95 the program is priced in the mid range and is certainly a substantive offering with a great deal of thought behind the finished article. There is no trial available as once you have the manual you could continue to use the method without the software.

AUTOMATIC MODE

A useful video overview for this monthly subscription service can be found on the marketing page. The subscription package is only available once you have acquired the basic manual entry program but there is no ongoing commitment

Instead of having to check the criteria against public information users of this upgrade will be able to download the full daily race cards for all UK and Irish races with the scores already detailed. So in my test example above it took less than 30 seconds to check the tips against the data for each race and unlike the manual version I could see how the selections matched up against other horses in the race with no additional work. In say an 8 horse race it would have taken me around 10 minutes to achieve this analysis manually.

As with the manual version the output is exportable and I have recorded the tipster outcomes by consolidating the output in an Excel spreadsheet. It is also possible to export to Word or PDF if you prefer. You may then use the data for further analysis as you see fit.

The daily data is available by 10am on the day of racing – often earlier but the timing is not fixed. All that needs to be done is to open the program and an alert will tell you the update is ready. A minute later and you are ready to make your personal analysis of the days racing.

But the story does not end there – acting on the suggestions of subscribers there have been several upgrades to the output and for each race you can also see the At The Races data for Forecast Price and Pace as well as Class and Distance variations. A further enhancement is the indication of the horse’s Dobbing potential (a type of bet where it is anticipated the price will half in running and allow a profit at the equivalent of evens). All potentially useful for those developing their own strategies – to have your info on a single display and thus eliminate the need to become distracted by the process is a great advantage leading to potentially more informed decisions.

In a couple of months of testing the software has worked well and without undue problems.  It is simple to use and pretty intuitive once you have understood what it is trying to tell you. The ability to export your chosen output is very useful both for further analysis and pure record maintenance. If you do have any questions the support is prompt and informed.

CONCLUSIONS

There are a number of ratings services available and I consider the Good Bet offering to be a positive addition to the range. Potential users need to check out the methodology on the manual system before deciding to advance to the Automatic service.

By using the framework provided it will be possible to develop your own nuances and preferences to hopefully improve your betting outcomes. There are testimonials on the site which indicate a wide range of successful uses and the response of the service to enhance the software following requests is encouraging.

There will be a time investment needed to assimilate the underlying methodology but after the initial effort the time saving should be considerable especially if using the Automatic Service which is a steal at the low monthly subscription – I would venture to suggest that if you are happy with the initial offering the subscription add on is a no brainer.

If making your own selections for horse racing betting is the way you wish to go then you should consider this option very seriously. A fair price is charged for the method and excellent value for the automatic daily output.

Filed Under: Positive, Reviews, Software Tagged With: Betting Dev, Ireland, PDF, UK

Football Bet Data

February 9, 2018 By reviewer Leave a Comment

I make no apology for repeating the review I undertook in 2014 – the service is still excellent and worth serious study for those who want to devise their own betting strategies and not rely on tipsters.

Every now and then we come across a little goldmine and this service may well just be one. It will appeal to the statistically minded football betting fraternity especially those who want to develop their own systems.

Initial access is free so you can see what is available and there is a video showing how to use the service. If you want to make full use of things you will need to upgrade to advanced membership.

There are 2 main elements to the service – historic data and predictions. Both cover some 65 leagues across the world and go back as far as the 1997-8 season. Any report that you generate can be exported to Excel and then developed further as the user requires.

I have included an example of a report downloaded plus the analysis that is derived automatically from the report (don’t worry about the actual figures on this – my report was just to illustrate the way data is presented and not aimed at a killer system!)

You can see that example here

Systems can be saved by the user so that reports can be run as each week’s events become live. Because of the ever changing nature of the input data the reports are considered accurate for events up to the date run. They include the predicted odds and the maximum odds considered applicable as well as final score number of goals and result forecasts.  The odds predictions calculations are explained in a PDF and this demonstrates the great detail which is underpinning this service. Users can define their requirements to very specific settings and of course refine these as they review the out put.

Using the service is relatively straightforward even though the interface is a bit clunky – no doubt a product of the longevity of the service and the significant amount of underlying data that needs to be made available. Downloading the output is simple.

In addition to the main services (monthly/annual subscription) there is an additional product which attracts a one off payments. The Betfair Tool is an Excel download which allows the user to green up on any game where there is an in play market. The tool is used in conjunction with the score predictions from the main service.

There is no doubt that this site offers much useful and potentially profitable information for those who are prepared to put in some effort to interpret it for their personal use. If users have questions the customer service is both prompt and effective.

To investigate whether the products are useful for you will take a small investment – if the basic site information does not convince you – but the amount involved is miniscule and not really a consideration if you are serious. On this basis we are happy to recommend members consider the offerings.

 

Football Bet Data – Review Update 10/07/2014

Earlier in the year we reviewed this service which has been around since 2006. It is the brainchild of Chris who looks after everything personally but clearly does things right as evidenced by the positive comments we have seen since publishing the review.

The service website has recently been given a makeover and additional features have been added which improve further the potential value of the service.

Note – February 2018

I spoke with Chris who is as on the ball as ever and tweaking the service when required. He tells me a revamp of the website is in hand and should be completed by the summer when there will also be more video training available.

Don’t forget to take a look at the sister site which offers a similar service for horse racing – review here – and you can access both sites for a reduced overall subscription.

Excellent value whatever option you take and still well worth investigating.

Filed Under: Football, Positive, Reviews, Software Tagged With: PDF

Football Lay Bets

November 28, 2017 By reviewer Leave a Comment

Despite the claim that this service is “one of the most profitable football tipping services on the planet” the marketing page is not to overdone and unusually for this type of service the author readily agreed to a review. It is a pretty simple concept – a daily email is sent advising teams in soccer games that are not expected to win and thus you should be able to lay them in the main match result market. Alternatively, if you do not like laying you can place back bets in the Double Chance market backing the other team.

At the outset we were given some additional thoughts on the betting and in particular a maximum lay price of 6.0 was advised. The bets can be placed at any time after receipt of the advice and as the coverage of leagues is quite wide it could pay to wait until nearer kick off or ask for a price and put in the keep. What you cannot do is bet at BSP as the author suggested – there is no such price for football games and certainly no option to place such a bet.

In general the tips are received in good time on the day of the match – I was however surprised to see that one tip was rescinded half an hour or so after being sent out for no good reason and if the service advice is followed the bet would have been placed before the change was received.

After a successful start on day 1 we then saw 4 consecutive unsuccessful bets and the service did not recover from this with continuing losing bets and the advised bank of 25 points completely depleted after just 26 bets. I am pretty sure this is the quickest loss of a whole betting bank that I have seen in just over 7 years of reviewing. Naturally I asked the author what advice he would give his subscribers in the circumstances but did not receive a response despite a reminder. The bets continued to be advised and no mention was made of the losses incurred. To be fair there has been a slight recovery since then but nobody in their right mind would have been placing cash on the selections after day 3.

In the results spreadsheet I have included what would have occurred if the Double |Chance Option had been followed and here the bank would have been blown after 25 bets.

The author offered subscribers and potential subscribers a PDF which he said gave the insight into his methods and would allow readers to expand their betting activities in the field. Anybody who has downloaded this will have been staggered at the amateur nature of the document which is a rambling and imprecise and would not really help – no doubt this is the plan so that people will then subscribe but if he really derives his selections from such sloppy theories then I for one would be steering well clear.

Any service that blows a betting bank must be regarded as failed and at least there is a 60 day refund policy here which is more than adequate! One to avoid.

PS 4/1/2018 – There is currently an issue with the access to the results PDF. If you would like me to send you a copy just drop me an email or ask on the thread.

Filed Under: Failed, Football, Reviews Tagged With: betting bank, BSP, Double Chance Option, PDF

The Bet Engine

October 3, 2017 By reviewer Leave a Comment

 

First impressions count and when you look at the website it is so clear what you are getting that you immediately feel positive about the program.

The free trial period is sufficient to allow you to decide if the program has the features that you require. If you are new to bots then the familiarisation time may be a little longer but the instructions are clear and well laid out in a  PDF manual so you are able to see the screen and the instructions at the same time. Sounds trivial but can make a big difference to the time spent and understanding.  Alistair seems to go the extra mile for his clients with pertinent email advices about potential problems such as Betfair down times. There is also a forum with many questions that you may have discussed and answered. In a nutshell, the infrastructure is all there to support the product.

The program allows you to both back and lay horses and greyhounds using any system you have chosen and there is a test mode so you can make sure you have it right before risking cash. There are around 30 built in staking plans that you can assign to your system and in addition you can set up your own staking plan to operate with your plan and this can be stored independently.

Setting up your system is simple and the really good thing about this particular bot is that everything is pretty much visible on just one screen – you will use pop outs to both adjust your settings and selections but because you start from the same place every time it makes life easier and the less potential for error there is the better.  As well as being able to make your selections daily and just input them you can set up your pet systems for both backing and laying and these will then be bet automatically and excellent records kept that you can download to Excel or direct to The Staking Machine which is an excellent assessment tool. All the staking plans can be fine tuned for your own peculiarities and once you have set up your system on the bot it is then just a question of recalling it when you want to enter the days betting. Some tipsters even load their selections direct to the bot so you have very little to do but manage your cash.

It seems to me that pretty much every eventuality has been catered for by the software and a detailed description of any function is easily accessible in the manual. I particularly liked the ability to use live odds rather than just Betfair prices and to be able to have a minimum liquidity setting for any race is very sensible. One of the dangers that the Bet Engine will allow you to overcome is the revolving favourite – you can set the software to place a bet only once during its search time or allow multiples. Each way betting using Betfair is well set up and you can adjust the weight of bet between win and place as you wish.

Stake adjustment can be automatic using the plans pre-loaded and you can even set overall profit/loss targets for the day across your systems rather than allow them all to have a bad day!

There are audible signals for you if you are actually present during racing. If you are remote then the obvious problems of power/internet connections cuts are something you must consider but as I read things you could in theory set your bets for a week if using automatic systems and go away and leave it to get on with it as there is an automatic roll over to the next days racing feature. Using a Virtual Private Server would overcome the power failure risk if potentially a problem.

This is a sophisticated piece of kit and probably not for those just embarking on their betting careers although you could argue that it may be the best time to start before you get too hidebound in other directions. The not insignificant time you will need to invest in getting to know the program is likely to be very worthwhile and I would recommend that you make full use of the trial to see for yourselves the power of the program.

Filed Under: Positive, Reviews, Software Tagged With: Bet Engine, Brief Summary, PDF

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