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Profit Accumulator

10/3/2017

Profit Accumulator, matched betting forum

The king (The Gambling Times) is dead, long live the king (Profit Accumulator).

There are a couple of choices still out there for people that want a matched betting forum. MSE and Oddsmonkey are useful, but out there on it's own is Profit Accumulator. There's no better place for a newbie to start. Once you've got the basics down you really only need it for the new offers, but that's still worth the membership fee.

I'm a little sad about this, as the best part of The Gambling Times was the people and the community, that's harder to get on a larger site, but first and foremost matched betting and advantage play was always about the money, so guess I'll have to get my witty banter fix from friends instead!

The Gambling Times

10/3/2017

It's with a sad heart that I report that The Gambling Times forum is being shut down.

The site will continue as a sport and betting news site following the change of ownership, but the forum will close in the next 6 months (though with the pace the site is currently loading and with no chat box it'll be dead before then.

The Gambling Times was a pioneer in the matched betting community. It offered a great location for like minded people to discuss offers and tactics, and I, like many other members, would not have made half as much without the community that was there.

Unfortunately it didn't keep pace with other rivals and was over taken by Profit Accumulator in recent years. Like all forums, if new people aren't joining then it stagnates.

So what to do now? Time to join Profit Accumulator. It might not have the same family feel to it, but there's no denying that they get all the offers and information you need, and some decent learning tutorials as well.

5 things you need for the cheltenham festival

9/3/2017

The Cheltenham Festival 2017 is nearly upon us.

The most exciting race festival of the year, and a time of enhanced bonuses, sign up offers and reloads.

Whether you're new to matched betting, or a seasoned pro, Cheltenham is simply the best time of year, which is why it gets called Cheltmas.

With four days of class 1 racing, it's like a week of Channel 4 racing, with all the associated bonuses, which means it can get a bit overwhelming.

To help the new folk, here are a list of the 5 things you'll need to profit from this brilliant event.

1. Firstly you need to know where the bonuses are, so head over to Profit Accumulator and sign up, it's worth the membership fee to get the offers and know where the value is.

2. A betting exchange account. Betfair have the best sign up offer, and as an exchange let you lay your bets and lock in profit from market changes, or work the if bets.

3. Betfair may have the best sign up bonus, but Smarkets has the lowest commission, so you should be doing most of your laying there.

4. With so many offers and bonuses everyone's float gets a little stretched at this time of year. To help you move money between accounts you'll need a digital wallet like Skrill. You'll be able to move your money near instantly between bookmakers and take advantage of more offers.

5. A TV to watch it all on. Above even the money making opportunities, the Cheltenham Festival is simply one of the most exciting racing meets, so it's it'd be a shame to spend all your time just watching the markets rather than the races themselves. You can stream live on Channel 4 if you haven't taken the week off!

How to Buy Snapchat Shares - Or Short them

9/3/2017

Snapchat went public with all the fanfare you'd expect from a major tech initial public offering (IPO).

Snap Inc. Chief Executive Evan Spiegel and Chief Technology Officer Bobby Murphy rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and the price rose rapidly.

If you got in and out then you should have made a handsome return.......but that was last week.

People became billionaires, models were smiling, all seemed well in the world of Snap.

That was last week. This week Snap Inc has had a stumble.

Shares in Snapchat fell 12% in trading on Monday to as low as $23.79, below the opening price of $24 a share. That makes them about 16% lower than their high after the IPO.

Perhaps more worrying than this price wobble, analysts don't currently rate it as a "Buy", instead they are warning about strong competition from Facebook (the daddy of social media) and Twitter (a company that has never made a profit) and slow user growth.

Some have suggested that the shares are wildly over priced and could result in the value halving over the coming months.

So this could be an opportunity to short the shares and make some money in the fall. Previously the preserve of Wall Street and major financial institutions, you can short shares (basically betting on them to fall in value) at forex trading sites like eToro.

etoro, trade snap stocks, trade snap shares, trade snap, buy snap, short snap

The Fairest Bet on the Super Bowl

5/2/2016

Betfair and Paddy, they're made for each other

26/8/2015

Been a while since I posted on here. Landing a new job has taken up more of my time and made it harder to devote to both matched betting and the site (and the other things that make up a healthy life).

Reason for posting today is the announcement that Betfair and Paddy Power are to merge, this following hot on the heals of Coral and Ladbrokes tieing the knot. I have nothing against Betfair, they practically invented the betting exchange, and made me a tidy side income in the process, but in my opinion they've lost their way. The point of a betting exchange is to provide value to customers by getting closer to the true price of an outcome.

Betfair's addition of casino games was bad, adding the sportsbook with it's awful prices just shocking, and teaming up with one of the few bookmakers who offers worse prices just leaves me cold.

Paddypower have rubbish odds. The odd decent bonus, but they are quick to gub and limit accounts and aren't interested in taking customers on, only converting them to accumulators and casinos. From that point of view Betfair and Paddy are a match made in heaven, neither are interested in value for customers, only from squeezing money out of them.

About a year ago I moved to smarkets.com who have much lower commission (2% instead of 5%), and decent customer service. More than that, they actually want to give value to customers, not keep it for themselves. I will not be going back to Betfair any time soon, nor should you.

5 Reasons the Conservatives will win the most seats

6/5/2015

With just a day to go before the UK General Election, do you actually know who you're voting for? A lot seems to have changed in the UK voting world in less than a generation. No longer are we in (realistically) a two party system. Instead we have a two party system where both are proped up by the minority parties. Even at this late stage the result is unpredictable. There's a 93% chance of a hung parliament, but what happens after that is a mystery.

Personally I think we'll end up with something no one really wants, like a re-run of the Conservative / Lib Dem marriage of convenience we've endured over the last 5 years, but a fairly safe bet for a starting point is that the Conservatives will win the most seats on May 7th.

Why? Well here's five reasons for you.

1. David Cameron doesn't get photographed looking like an idiot. Sure eating a hotdog with a knife and fork is odd, but when the alternative might involve a bacon sandwhich moment then it really was the smart option. Cameron shows the eating technique of an elder statesman, which in comparison to Ed is exactly what he is and that takes us nicely on to reason No. 2 that the Conservatives will win the most seats..............

2. Could you put Ed Miliband in a room with Putin and Obamah and back him to come out on top? Sorry Ed, but you simply don't have the gravitas required for the position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sure we might not be the major global power we used to be, but as one of the financial hubs of the world we have a place on the stage that should be maintained. Can you even imagine what he'd be like in the war room should it come to that?

3. Everyone thinks Ed's brother is better. He is Phil to Gary Neville. Whenever I think about Ed Miliband I see a man promoted above his ability, and the only likely result of that is turning out for England and hacking down a Romanian to give away a shitting penalty. Metaphorically speaking.

4. The betting exchanges say the Conservatives will in the most seats. They called the Scottish referendum, they called the last election, they called US presidential elections as well. Basically they have a solid record of getting this right, and they think the Conservatives will win the most seats.

Whether you think they're right or not, you can back (or lay) any conceivable result, including all the way down to the individual constituencies. Bet on the election now.

5. David Cameron is pumped for this election, and that can only help swing it in his favour.

So there you have it, 5 reasons the Conservatives will win the most seats (if not a majority) in this election. Sorry that I've engaged in negative politics, but when the opposition is so rife for mocking that was the easy way.

The Conservatives won't even be getting my vote, but they are getting my money (not a donation, I'm just betting on them to win the most seats!).

666Bet Close their London Office

12/4/2015

Just seen the post over at The Gambling Times regarding the 666Bet office in London (Highbury I think) being closed.

Pretty worrying when staff have been sent home, and no one really knows what's going on.

Think it's fair to say that a company that closes it's office and doesn't keep staff informed about what's happened probably has no intention of making a comeback.

So what will they decide to do with client funds? They've been told to pay them back, but customers aren't receiving withdrawals. If they decided to shut up shop completely some creative accountancy could probably get them out of paying customers, they'd be some backlash, but would anyone have the stomach for the fight to retrieve it? Not sure I would, might be considered throwing good money after bad.

Every customer now has to think about what they want to do, how much are they owed, and what steps are they prepared to take to retrieve it. Might be time to start the small claims court action.

As ever, good luck everyone.

Grand National 2015, Where's the Value?

10/4/2015

Grand National Betting

I love the Grand National.

Sure there are ongoing concerns about horse safety, that will always be the case when you throw 40 riders over 30 of the biggest jumps in racing, but in terms of excitement it really can't be beat.

It's als othe occassion where everyone wants to have a bet, that gives the bookmakers a great chance to make some money, and with their increased overround, they do just that.

40 horses, 40 riders, and the winner will be the bookmakers.

An overround is the bookmakers way of building a profit into the odds they are offering on an event. The difference between the true odds and the odds they offer is where they make their money. If you need a hand with the basic concept then here's an article on caclulating bookmaker overround.

Come the day of the race the high street bookmakers will be experiencing their busiest day of the year, in terms of customers if not money changing hands, as the country comes out on mass to place £5 each way bets on the horse with the name or colours they like the best.

So what do the bookmakers do with this fantastic bonus of additional customers and bets? They squeeze it for everything it’s worth.

The Grand National is notoriously hard to predict, in the last eight years winners have started at odds from 7/1 (Comply or Die as joint favourite) to 100/1 (Mon Mome).

2014 - Pineau De Re 25/1
2013 - Auroras Encore 66/1
2012 - Neptune Collonges 33/1
2011 - Ballabriggs 14/1
2010 - Don’t Push It 10/1 joint favourite
2009 - Mon Mome 100/1
2008 - Comply or Die 7/1 join favourite
2007 - Silver Birch 33/1

When it is such a crap shoot the bookmaker does tend to attempt to protect itself, but frankly they can do that with their standard over inflated overround. To put a book together with a 140%+ overround as some of them have for the 2015 Grand National is frankly profiteering.

William Hill 130%
Coral 135%
Paddy Power 145%
BetFair 110% (including commission
Smarkets 107% (including commission)

Those prices were correct at going to press.

You might be thinking that the isn’t really a problem, everyone bets at around the same odds on the same runners and it doesn’t make a difference. A horse going off at 25/1 might seem long to a once a year mug punter, but if the true odds on that horse winning are more like 100/1 or 200/1 then that punter has been ripped off.

The real difference in the true odds and the bookmaker odds can be seen at the betting exchanges. Smarkets will both be offering far better odds in the run up to the event, and their overround will be nearer 105% (though you also need to factor in the commission of 2%).

Disgraceful profiteering from the bookmakers on the one day when everyone has a bet. They also drop sign up bonuses (see BetFred as an example, down from bet £10 for £30 to £5 for £5) and offers as far as possible as it's a free crack at customer acquisition.

Even if you have just one bet this year, then you want to get the best odds. Go to a betting exchange and at least get the price you deserve on that three legged outsider………...who’s got every chance of winning.

If you're looking for Grand National offers and deals you can get them over at The Gambling Times.

Will 666Bet Remain Closed for Ever?

24/3/2015

666bet withdrawals

666Bet is currently closed (as is Metroplay casino, though I haven't seen anyone complaining about that for some reason), the question now is whether this is temporary, or if there is hope that they will reopen in the not too distant future.

I have little faith in them making a comeback,

Yesterday 666bet updated their website with a new message (or a rehash of the old message). Once again they confirmed that all withdrawals would be paid, and that customers with funds in there should contact them.

So far no one, that I know of, has either been paid or been contacted directly by 666bet since they closed their doors. David at TGT got through to one of his contacts there to get the heads up on the new statement yesterday, so people are still working there (though there are also rumours that many of the staff have been laid off).

Personally I can't see how the company can come back from this, the brand is burnt in the same way BetButler (and people are still waiting for cash from them a year on) was, there's nothing left to save, though the customer database would of course still hold some value if someone was prepared to take on the debt.

Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves though, potentially all outstanding withdrawals could still be paid. Both the Gambling Commission and the Aldernay Gaming Board have issued statements saying they've told 666bet to pay, but no one has been so far. Why haven't the payments been made? Well if there's a police investigation ongoing for fraud or money laundering then the Gambling Commission have no say in the matter. Any concern over how the company was funded would cast a shadow over ever transaction and mean customers might have a long, and even fruitless wait for a return of their balances.

Shame if they do go under, worse if customers lose out, but could we expect anything else from a company named for the number of the beast and using Harry "I don't know how to use a computer and set up bank accounts in my dog's name" Redknapp?

Good luck to everyone with money in there. Follow The Gambling Times on twitter and their 666bet complaints and 666bet payouts threads to get the latest information (it's where I get mine from!), they're your best shot as 666bet and the Gambling Commission aren't going to be saying much.