Experiences with following tipsters?

[pinkisntwell]

Ever since I got a full-time job I've not had time to follow sports as closely as I used to, thus I have stopped betting. I'm thinking of starting again, but this time by following proved tipsters, like the ones in PL's tipster league. Do you think this is a viable approach? I want to hear from people who have tried this; what were the unforeseen problems you encountered? Did you make any money?

[Nervous Anorak]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? There's only answer I could ever consider giving to this. As blunt as it may be, if you don't have the ability to be able to make your own decisions, or go with your own instincts rather than relying only on other peoples opinions, then you shouldn't be betting. You seem to want "other people to do the work for you" all round, even to the point of asking if other punters think the tipsters are reliable, yet that's information you yourself can ascertain if you can be bothered to by checking the results of their tips. Seems like a totally pointless thread to me.

[Cons]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? To be fair Im doing both, smaller bets on the tipsters here who seem to do well here, a bit from GG and bigger bets on my own choices.

[Jase82]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? I don't think you'll find anyone here that is likely to advocate betting blindly on tipsters.... Do it but would you really want to entrust your money to someone other than yourself, and judging by their past history is helpful it's not a precursor to their future performance. If you haven't the time for making selections yourself then don't bet is my advice. If you can't do that then you probably have a slight problem....

[Nervous Anorak]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

I don't think you'll find anyone here that is likely to advocate betting blindly on tipsters.... Do it but would you really want to entrust your money to someone other than yourself' date=' and judging by their past history is helpful it's not a precursor to their future performance. If you haven't the time for making selections yourself then don't bet is my advice. If you can't do that then you probably have a slight problem....[/quote'] which will likely manifest itself into a larger one. Perfect advice Jase.

[Nervous Anorak]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

To be fair Im doing both' date=' smaller bets on the tipsters here who seem to do well here, a bit from GG and bigger bets on my own choices.[/quote'] Excellent advice here as well C. Reliable tipsters are often useful as they will repeatedly find an "unfashionable" match or a race that many punters will overlook where a chance of a good win can be found. I stopped tipping in the S.American football forums as there were so few other punters contributing it seemed a waste of time, shame because there was a lot of decent work there.

[pinkisntwell]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? Thanks for all the replies, but I was mainly looking for other peoples' experiences, not lessons. A couple of posters even implied that I might have a gambling problem, which I certainly don't, as I have only bet once or twice in the past two and a half years, even though I have multiple betting accounts all of which are funded. It's not a matter of if I'm going to do it or not; I have already made that decision. I'm looking for experiences of people who have attempted this, because in any endeavour there are unforeseeable problems. For example, I subscribed to some tipsters (without actually betting their selections yet) and I saw that by the time their selection reached me the price had already gone. These are the kinds of problems I wish to preempt. Please refrain from posting if you have not attempted betting by trusting tipsters' selections, as such posts will be off-topic.

[Nervous Anorak]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

Thanks for all the replies, but I was mainly looking for other peoples' experiences, not lessons. A couple of posters even implied that I might have a gambling problem, which I certainly don't, as I have only bet once or twice in the past two and a half years, even though I have multiple betting accounts all of which are funded. It's not a matter of if I'm going to do it or not; I have already made that decision. I'm looking for experiences of people who have attempted this, because in any endeavour there are unforeseeable problems. For example, I subscribed to some tipsters (without actually betting their selections yet) and I saw that by the time their selection reached me the price had already gone. These are the kinds of problems I wish to preempt. Please refrain from posting if you have not attempted betting by trusting tipsters' selections, as such posts will be off-topic.

No one here would ever doubt that anyone who claims to have "funded multiple betting accounts" has a gambling problem, that would be a suggestion as silly as someone coming onto the Punters Lounge forum bragging about such. To add to that, no one here would dream of suggesting that anyone with all of those allegedly funded accounts would be reckless enough to place more than two bets from them in the quoted timespan either, especially without first seeking the advice of a financial adviser before acting so irresponsibly. He or she would probably advise gaining interest on the "unused" funds during that period through such schemes as an ISA, to be a better and risk free investment, that is assuming those funds were below the maximum annual ISA input of what I recall is £3000 ? As daunting as they appear, I honestly don't think anyone on here is experienced enough to help you solve the dilemas you are currently faced with.

[only1woz]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? I don't think he is looking for anyone to "solve the dilemmas" for him. He simply wants to try to gather some more information so he can be as well informed as possible to continue in the path he has chosen to bet. If you can't provide that info, I really don't see why you're getting involved.

[Nervous Anorak]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

I don't think he is looking for anyone to "solve the dilemmas" for him. He simply wants to try to gather some more information so he can be as well informed as possible to continue in the path he has chosen to bet.If you can't provide that info' date=' I really don't see why you're getting involved.[/quote'] If you can't provide that info, I really don't see why you're getting involved :rollin To "continue" in the path he has chosen to bet :rollin

[Datapunter]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? NervousAnorak, you don't have to agree with other posters, but you do need to respect their contributions, your last post does not reflect that. Anyhow... pinkisntwell, I think you'll have a hard time making a profit from following tipsters. The main reason for this is the timing involved. You have no control over the moment in time that tipsters publish their tips to you and in fact many of the 'best' tips are given quite close to the start of an event. This is especially the case where tipsters rely on 'market information' which usually only becomes available close to the event start. Therefore in order to profit you would basically need to be on-line 24/7 and if not then because of this timing issue you'll miss most of the better tips. In fact that alone may be the difference between profit or loss. As you've also mentioned price is an issue. Many tips will be given because at the time there is a good price available. That is the basis of any 'value' based betting. By the time the tip reaches you and you go to place your bet the price may be gone and therefore also the value, no more profit to be had. So timing needs to be the first thing to look at. When can you make time for any kind of descision making process, even one as simple as checking tipster emails or webpages. When can you make time to actually place bets and with how many exchanges/bookmakers. If you're going with tipsters then you need to find those that fit that time restraint, (efficiently).

[Matthew]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? I've followed quite a few tipsters blindly in my time (with the necessary checks on their credentials). Look for ones where they offer set times to publish their bets. If it fits your lifestyle, then great. Look for ones that limit numbers - knowing that it is the weight of money that moves the odds - if you are one of a select few and you can react quickly, it's likely you'll get the price. If you can't react quick enough, look for ones that tip in big markets (English Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A etc) where weight of money takes longer to take an effect. Get a good smartphone - placing has never been such an easy, mobile experience as it is now. Look for twitter announcements / Facebook groups. Something that has notifications baked in so you'll get the tip directly and you'll be told about it. Multiple accounts is key, as datapunterrightly points out, getting best price can be the difference between profit and loss. Don't forget to net subscription costs off the profit line too. Too many charlatans advertise saying they made X from Y bank over Z months. But with fees incorporated it's actually a losing proposition. If it's too good to be true - it probably is, never more true than in tipster circles.

[only1woz]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? Excellent, helpful and informative posts here. These will help the OP. How novel.

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? NervousAnorak, I agree with Datapunter - distinct lack of respect in your posts there, calm it down, that's not what we do here on PL. Pinkisntwell, I have followed tipsters in years gone by but the problems come in a few ways: 1. If they are successful, then their odds tend to drop very quickly and you may miss the price. 2. Can you get all of the stake you need to get on? 3. Can you make sure you catch every single bet that tipster makes, because if you miss the odd one, then that can mean all the difference to your profit/loss figures compared to the tipsters record. It's difficult to follow other tipsters in my opinion. If time allows, then I would definitely say choose your own tips and do it at your own pace.

[Cons]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? GG site provided 3 winners (1st's) today already so far today on the daily tips, but as with all tips or selections, some that 'should', havn't, and some that 'should'nt', have :s The BBOTD table has shown some people here predicting 13 winners out of 20 but the same people haven't had any consistency to such a high standard (from what Ive seen) I like to variate, as bit of both, best of both worlds and so on...

[pinkisntwell]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? Plenty of informative posts, thanks very much. I happen to work as a software developer, thus I spend plenty of time in front of a computer anyway, so catching the tips early is not much of a problem. The most difficult part is, as Paul Ross said, to be able to catch all the tips that someone offers. I will most likely be able to get on early, but sometimes they might tip bets that might not be available on the sites I bet on. I can try to counter that by using tipsters that tip on popular leagues (although those leagues tend to have the tightest odds...) I still think I'll give it a try though. A little background might be interesting here. For the past 3-4 years I've been working on betting through artificial intelligence software, developed by me. I've had some promising results, but they were only on snooker, and snooker has very few events per year, not suitable for earning significant amounts. I tried to adapt my software to tennis, but it failed miserably. So I thought that betting through AI is essentially trusting your money to a computer program, so why can't you trust it on another human being instead? To me it doesn't make much difference if the one who's tipping is a computer program, me, or another person.

[stho1978]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? I've never paid for a tip but I think the main point is that with a computer program designed by yourself, or you doing your own research, you know exactly when you're going to get the tip and you are the only person who gets the tip. The problem that you may get with good reliable Tipsters is the fact that they will most likely have a large following (which may effect the price of the bet etc) and the timing of when they give their tips out. But you've probably gathered that. Anyway good luck! Let me know how you get on.

[DirtyVadah]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? Good thread. Thought I'd give my experience. Been forming a portfolio of tipsters myself and following their picks for a few months. I have given up since. The greatest obstacle as others have pointed out is timing. If you can't be on your computer 24/7, you will have a hard time catching the odds or the line your tipster has recommended which is the difference between profit and loss. You might also outright miss the pick itself and start cursing at your luck of missing winning picks and playing all the losing ones. The second obstacle is the tipster himself. In my experience, tipsters are very inconsistent. Their past performance is no indication of future performance. This has to be experienced to be believed. I for example followed a tipster who was an expert on euro basketball leagues. After earning me around 1500£ with an impressive strike rate of 65% strike rate for 4 months, he proceeded to lose it all. Thirdly, free tipsters are the best in my opinion. They are under no pressure to do well, they bet for themselves and share their picks. When they start charging though, the pressure settles in and they crack. Have followed quite a few tipsters who did well for free then started charging and lost all their mojo. Hence my advice would be don't pay for tipsters, find free ones if you're gonna do this. Fourthly, this is just from experience but in my opinion the best tipsters are those who don't bet 1.9 odds and go above evens. They search for value, rather than predicting the right side of a line. These 1.9 bets are like flipping a coin and you give 10% of your stake to the bookmaker which means for every 10 bets, you have a loss regardless of whether they win or not. Those going for >2 are typically the ones making the most money, they bet on value (the answer to making money in this industry) rather than attempting to guess the outcome of a game. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Build a portfolio of tipsters who have been very consistent so that if one fails the others cover it.

[pinkisntwell]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

The second obstacle is the tipster himself. In my experience' date=' tipsters are very inconsistent. Their past performance is no indication of future performance. This has to be experienced to be believed. I for example followed a tipster who was an expert on euro basketball leagues. After earning me around 1500£ with an impressive strike rate of 65% strike rate for 4 months, he proceeded to lose it all.[/quote'] How had you picked your tipsters? Did you pick them off well-reputed sites? If their past performance is not indicative of future performance it means they just got lucky in the past. But it would be quite improbable to be lucky for a great time period.

[moggis]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? As it happens,a while ago I posted on another thread something along the lines of following the 4 best sports tipters being a good idea and,indeed,the easiest way to find value. I am rather surprised by some of the posts on here about tipping sites. Yes,obviously there would/could come a point where a tipster does so well that you cannot get the price...but I would have thought anyone would know to then search out pastures new. Using tipsters means always being on the lookout for upcoming talent. And,of course,as has been implied,the upcoming talent can sometimes-even often-be found giving it away on forums. HOWEVER,never mind all that....because there are a small group of tipsters you can follow where you can get the price even though they are good and successful!! I refer to those tipsters who concentrate primarily on antepost bets(sports). I know of 2 companies/people who are well known and who make good profits from antepost betting advice year after year. Indeed it is a huge mystery to me why more people dont bet this way! But then people are a huge mystery to me in general. I think what you are doing mate is a very good idea.Just research the tipsters well and bear in mind the fact that bookies will usually hold antepost prices in spite of them being tipped by succesful tipsters.

[MPLouis]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

pinkisntwell, On another thread you have argued that no one makes a worthwhile living from sports betting -

http://forum.punterslounge.com/threads/130186-The-reality-of-sports-betting-trading-for-a-living I think you've made a reasonable case. On this thread you asked about peoples experiences following tipsters, with the idea that you would like to follow some yourself. Given your well-argued views on the other thread about how hard it is to profit from sports betting, can I just ask you what you are trying to achieve by following tipsters? I'm not taking sides with or against you, just genuinely interested in what you are trying to achieve by following tipsters.

[pinkisntwell]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

pinkisntwell, On another thread you have argued that no one makes a worthwhile living from sports betting -

http://forum.punterslounge.com/threads/130186-The-reality-of-sports-betting-trading-for-a-living I think you've made a reasonable case. On this thread you asked about peoples experiences following tipsters, with the idea that you would like to follow some yourself. Given your well-argued views on the other thread about how hard it is to profit from sports betting, can I just ask you what you are trying to achieve by following tipsters? I'm not taking sides with or against you, just genuinely interested in what you are trying to achieve by following tipsters.

I was curious whether the records that tipsters display can be obtained during real-life betting. My results so far point very firmly towards a negative answer; their good results are probably mostly due to luck or to posting unobtainable odds.

[MPLouis]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

I was curious whether the records that tipsters display can be obtained during real-life betting.

And you have the idea of following tipsters yourself, if you are happy that you can profit from them in practice?

[pinkisntwell]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

And you have the idea of following tipsters yourself' date=' if you are happy that you can profit from them in practice?[/quote'] Yes, but this seems very unlikely to produce profit.

[AlanJenkins2]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? I have noticed some prices that were no longer available [ I checked back using oddsportal].Perhaps people should point out more when the prices were really out-of-date [ obviously,the prices will change after the tips are posted,so they'd have to check back].Also,some allowance should be made for the time needed to post a tip. I'm sure the tips are settled correctly,it is whether the odds were correct when the tips were posted. Of course,some tipsters don't allow comments,so incorrect odds would need to be posted somewhere else.

[Matthew]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

I was curious whether the records that tipsters display can be obtained during real-life betting. My results so far point very firmly towards a negative answer; their good results are probably mostly due to luck or to posting unobtainable odds.

Are you following the right tipsters? What are you putting in place to ensure you have reputable tipsters at your disposal?

[pinkisntwell]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

Are you following the right tipsters? What are you putting in place to ensure you have reputable tipsters at your disposal?

I used tipsters showing yield over 3% for at least 150 bets (verified by independent sites).

[Matthew]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

I used tipsters showing yield over 3% for at least 150 bets (verified by independent sites).

3% over 150 bets is hardly a long term profitable track record is it! When putting my money at risk based on someone elses opinion I'd need more concrete evidence than that! Testimonials from people who already follow said tipster are also vital. But nothing says more than a verified profitable record over 100s if not 1000s bets. And even then, if it was 1000s of bets but a 5% strike rate I'd be asking questions.

[pinkisntwell]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters?

3% over 150 bets is hardly a long term profitable track record is it! When putting my money at risk based on someone elses opinion I'd need more concrete evidence than that!

It's not like I put my fortune on them, just small amounts to see if I can get the odds or not.

[zbrochu]

Re: Experiences with following tipsters? I think that the task of evaluating tipsters is more complicated than most people tend to believe. Good results is not enough for me to clearly say if one is good or not. It also depends on sample size, credibility, sports and leagues played and even average odds. If I have two tipsters with same number of bets and same ROI but one bets on 2.00 and the other 8.00 events, I am much more inclined to follow the first one. It is because I obviously can't safely bet ~1.5% of my bank with underdog bettors while I can easily follow the first one with this stakes. And it is also important if it is actually easy to follow a tipster. Does he play some major leagues or minor Moldovian League with 20 EUR bookmakers' limits and odds dropping within 5 minutes from publishing. The most credible in my experience are asian handicap or spreads punters. You might want also read my guide to choosing a good tipster to follow here: http://www.30bets.com/how-to-choose-paid-service/ Excuse me self-promotion but I thought it was relevant to discussion so decided to post it anyway.