Finding profitable sports betting strategies isn’t as straightforward as it first seems. Simply choosing a product or tipster based on its impressive ROI, without delving any deeper, is a recipe for disappointment.
Pursuit of an easy profit is precisely why so many bettors fall into the trap of following social media tipsters; many of whom appear to be profitable, but ultimately turn out to provide betting advice with a negative yield. In other words, you’d probably be just as well betting at random.
But how exactly can you differentiate a legitimate tipster from a scammer? What should you look for in a sports tipster service? Who can you trust?
Key Questions To Ask
Consider the following list before you pay for any sports tipster service:
- Legitimacy: who collected the statistics? Are they trustworthy? Is the data correct and accurate? (learn about the best tipster websites)
- Data set: is the data set large enough to know whether the tipster is profitable (or not)? (learn about sample sizes)
- Overall profitability: how well has the tipster performed since starting out?
- Frequency: how frequent are the tips? When are they usually released?
- Recent performance: how well has the tipster performed of late? (e.g. past 3 months)
- Cost: how much does the tipster cost? Does it appear to be worth the investment?
- Trial period: will the tipster enable you to test out the service for free, or at a heavy discount? Is there a money-back guarantee?
- Area of expertise: does the tipster specialise in the specific sports/markets you want to place bets on? Does that even matter to you?
- Average odds: are the average odds at a suitable level for your risk tolerance? Can you handle the potential swings in results?
- Variance: has the tipster’s ROI been exaggerated by a few exceptionally good/bad periods? Might the results have been good/bad luck that’ll even out over the long-term? (learn about variance)
- Downtime: how often does the tipster take a break? Is he/she likely to consistently deliver the expected number of tips you’ve paid for?
- Smoothness of graph: does the graph of results have a smooth, obvious trend heading in the positive direction (strong correlation)? Or is the graph erratic and jagged (uncertain, weak correlation)?
- Age of account: has the tipster stood the test of time? Has he/she demonstrated the ability to adapt, and perform during different periods? (e.g. between different seasons and weather conditions)
- Methodology: is there an obvious methodology that indicates the tipster has an edge over the markets? Does the tipster provide reassurance that he/she isn’t simply ‘hitting & hoping’?
- Publishing time: when are the tips typically released? Will you be able to place bets at that time?
- Odds movements: are the odds achievable? Do they change too quickly to capture?
- Odds value: are the advised odds beating the start price of the event? (Learn more on beating the SP)
- Reputation: does the tipster have a solid reputation? Or do subscribers constantly complain about the results, or legitimacy of historical records? (e.g. on social media, forums, review sites)
- Popularity: is the service receiving a lot of positive attention? Or is it flying under the radar? Is there a chance you’ll have your stakes limited very quickly by following the tips? (learn more about account limitations).
- Motivation: is the tipster motivated by commissions from bookmakers? Does this create an obvious conflict of interest? (learn about tipsters with affiliate deals)
Many of these same questions can be raised when assessing other kinds of sports betting products — such as e-books, courses, strategies and software.
Most Tipster Services Will Fail
Take it from me: it’s not easy to identify consistent value in the sports betting markets without the use of a value bet finder.
You have to wonder how there’s so many sports tipsters and other betting services that are supposedly very profitable, and yet so keen to share their secrets to the public. Needless to say, the vast majority of subscription-based “money making” schemes within the gambling sector don’t deliver on their promises.
So it’s foolish to blindly follow the sports betting advice of strangers, or hastily purchase a tipster subscription, until you’ve asked all the right questions. It’s wise to at least trial a tipster — using only low stakes to begin with — in order to get a real sense of what’s going on.
My recommended tipster platforms will save you a lot of hassle in finding a verified tipster. But it’s still advisable to carefully select the strongest accounts from within those services.
Trialling Tipsters
I must admit, verifying sports betting tipsters and other strategies can become very tedious. But it’s vital that you test out a tipster before committing to a lengthy subscription.
The biggest problem in following a tipster is, regardless whether their tips are verified (i.e. the odds existed in the market), you still need to follow an account to determine whether or not the odds (and therefore value) can be obtained.
Good odds don’t stay still for long; bookies slash the value as soon as possible.
And to make matters more complicated, if you are able to pick off good odds enough times, Bookies will eventually limit your account. That’s unfortunately the way of the sports betting world. When you grab value, you’re shut down.
Some punters bet at reduced odds, below those advised by their tipsters. Doing this may indeed prolong the life of your betting account. But you need to be absolutely sure that those lower odds still have value. And once again that can take a lot of trialling…
Thankfully there’s one particular service that specialises in tipster research and trials: Smart Betting Club. If you’re looking to find tipster services that generate a profit given the challenges in obtaining the odds, it’s the go-to site.
Smart Betting Club Full Review
Recommended Tipsters
I couldn’t possibly trial each and every sports tipster service on my own. There’s not enough time in the world.
Instead, I monitor the progress of several long-standing verified accounts on Tipstrr, and recommend those that have demonstrated profitability, consistency, and a promising future. Importantly, these recommended tipsters earn solely from subscriptions (if they charge one), and their services are not affiliated with bookmakers. Therefore there’s no incentive to provide selections that grind a loss in the longrun. On the contrary: if you win from following their advice, you’re more likely to renew your subscription.
Hopefully this article will help you to, at the very least, avoid the scam artists that are so prevalent in the sports betting world.
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