Smart Sports Trader

Ryan is a former mixed martial arts and kickboxing competitor. After finishing university he played online poker and taught English for a living in Thailand for a few years. Upon returning to England his focus has been on making a living from sports trading, betting and arbitrage. Over the course of 5 years he has managed to make a six figure profit using the strategies discussed on this site. Ryan runs the sports betting and trading website www.smartsportstrader.com

PGA Profit Review 2023 – Trial Included

PGA Profit Review Betting Gods

PGA Profit is a long running golf tipster service.

The service has been sending out selections since 2018 and has managed to secure a profit every single year.

Results Page From Smart Betting Club
Long Term results proofed by Smart Betting Club

One of the great things about the golf betting markets is that they are very liquid with a lot of money being traded on the betting exchanges on the major tournaments.

Which is positive for two big reasons.

1. Betting on event’s that have bigger turnover’s is advantageous as bookmakers tolerate winners for longer.

2. It’s easier to get bets matched on the betting exchanges when the markets are liquid (lots of money matched.)

Both of these factors make golf betting appealing for bettors that are looking to make a decent primary or secondary income from sports betting.

PGA Profit Review

Results

Let’s start off with what is the most important factor when looking at a tipster service.

Did the service actually make money?

Our review of PGA Profit ran over a 6 month period. This is slightly longer then normal reviews as like most golf betting tipsters. When betting on the golf outright markets you are betting on big prices (10.00+) week in week out.

Which means there is going to be a lot of variance and long losing runs can be expected.

The graph of results perfectly illustrates why with golf betting you need be able to handle losing periods. From January to April this year it was pretty much one consistent downswing. At just over 100 bets you would have been down around £1500 following staking advice of £10 per point.

However 25 bets later and you be looking at a profit of just under £1000.

Total Bets136
Winning Bets15
Profit£732
Return On Investment17.2%

Our Results

Let’s take a look at how our tracked results matched up with official PGA Profit results.

PGA Profits Tracked Results

The tracked results were a little lower then official results due to odds movement after selections had been sent.

Total Bets136
Winning Bets15
Profit£602
Return On Investment14.2%

Can You Follow PGA Profit Using Betting Exchanges?

You are able to follow PGA Profit selections using the betting exchanges. So for those that are limited/banned from the majority of bookmakers this is an option.

PGA Profit Betfair

PGA Profit will send out the exchange odds when selections are sent out. Along with this they will give you the minimum value odds should a selection shorten in odds.

This week PGA Profit sent out bets for the following golfers.

Cameron Smith @ 15.00

Matt Fitzpatrick @ 21.00

Adam Hadwin @ 46.00

Chris Kirk @ 51.00

PGA Smarkets

Using the betting exchange Smarkets, these were the prices that I managed to attain. The exchanges usually offer prices close to the those sent out by PGA Profit, sometimes you are able to achieve better prices.

The one downside of only using the exchanges is that you do not benefit from extra places. With the recommendation being that exchange bettors use the top 5 market to place what would be the each way part of the bet with bookmakers.

Long Term Results

PGA Profit has proofed their selection to both the Smart Betting Club and the Betting Gods Network.

It has proofed selections to the SBC since 2018. PGA Profits results over that period of time are as follows.

Total Bets1423
Points Staked4220
Profit In Points1384
Return On Investment32.8%

Over on the Betting Gods network they been selections since December 2020. They have recorded the following statistics.

PGA Profit Review Betting Gods

How The Service Works

PGA Profit is a very easy service to follow.

An email is sent out on Tuesday with selections for the next major golfing event. Which is usually happening a few days later. This gives ample time to get your bets on and by this time the exchange market have usually got a decent amount of liquidity to bet into.

PGA Profit Breakdown

 

Keen golfers and golf bettors will appreciate the in depth breakdowns for each bet. Whilst for those that ae just interested in getting selections and moving on. Clear guidance is given on staking, best available odds, lowest odds you should bet and often the Betfair price is also quoted.

Overall it is an easy service to follow and you don’t have to worry about the quoted odds disappearing in minutes.

Staking and Betting Bank

The service recommends a betting bank of 500 points.

Which is a large amount however makes sense given the amount of variance involved with backing at higher odds.

Staking amounts range from 0.5 points to 4 point bets.

PGA Profit Trial

There is a discounted trial for those that are interested in testing out the service. This is available with the Betting Gods network.

PGA Profit Trial

 

The trial itself lasts for a month days which would give you selections for several tournaments. This would give you a good feel for the service and if betting with bookmakers. Would allow you to see if you can get on the advised prices.

Click Here To Trial PGA Profit

PGA Profit Subscription Cost

PGA Profit offers 3 subscription models via Betting Gods.

Monthly at the cost of £59 per month.

Quarterly at the cost of £149 per quarter (£49.60 per month)

Annually subscription costs £599 (£49.9 per month)

Oddly the quarterly membership works out as the cheapest current option.

PGA Profit Review Conclusion

Our review of PGA Profits was an interesting one as it really highlighted the long term view you need to approach golf betting.

For those that want a smoother less volatile way of making money from sports betting. Then I would recommend looking at matched betting or value betting.

However for those that can ride out the storm of volatility that comes with betting on golf. There are some major benefits to betting on this sports.

With the biggest one being that you can use betting exchanges to get bets down. Which for many is becoming the only way that they can bets down following betting tipsters.

Given its historical results and ones attained over the last 6 months.

PGA Profits gets a recommendation as it stands out as one of the best golf tipsters currently available on the market.

Click Here To Get Your One Month Trial Of PGA Profit

 

Affiliate Disclaimer

(This article features affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. I use or have used any product I review. If I recommend them it is because I believe they are helpful, useful and offer value to their customers. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel they will give you value or that they will help you achieve your long term goals.)

 

 

Making A Million From Sports Betting And Trading – May 2022 Results

May Profits

Month 62 is done in the “Making a Million Challenge” and it was another very good month with Golf and Horse racing tipsters chipping in with decent profits.

Things will be a bit quieter now we are in June and the majority of the football leagues take their summer break.

Let’s take a look at results from May.

Making A Million

Value Betting/Trading

There was a bit more volatility in value betting this month. With it being the end of the season and varying motivations for teams. Odds movement in football becomes much more volatile.

Whilst a lot of my value betting looks at recurring patterns in the markets, it was a little bit different during May. I couldn’t just rely on looking at odds movement as the markets behaved pretty differently.

60% positive and negative edges are usually pretty rare.

 

I often use Trademate to keep track of closing line. You can see from the above image that there were some big swings in prices by the time games kicked off.

Overall however it was another very good month. The gravy train that was Bet365 odds boost has slowed but they still offer decent value now and again.

One of my long term Bet365 accounts was limited which is always frustrating however had it had lasted about 2 years. So can’t really complain.

Using the exchanges as much as possible as long term there are only a limited amount of people I can work with. In terms of getting bets down on soft books.

In total there were 325 bets made.

A total profit of £3813 was made.

Not Familiar With Matched Betting Or Value Betting ?

Read Our Guides Below

Matched Betting Guide

Value Betting Guide

 

Advantage Play – Casino Offers

In total I did 9 offers during May.

A profit of £148 was made.

Not much to write about here, there are more offers that I could be doing. However I just don’t really have the motivation to grind casino offers like previously. Sticking to doing higher value reload offers when they come through.

If you are looking to build a bankroll then doing lower value offers is worthwhile. Looking through Oddsmonkey’s casino reload offers you can still make £50+ a week from casino offers, fairly easily.

Click Here To Read Our Guide To Making Money From Casino Offers

 

Smart Sports Betting Community/MMA Results

A profit of £856 was made from pre fight MMA bets this month.

MMA Bets May

If your interested in receiving these bets for free email me at [email protected] and I will send you the link.

Horse Racing Tipsters

Rejigged the horse racing portfolio this month, after things had been a little flat for a while.

In came the highly touted Hansbury Racing, along with the free SBC tipster “No Photo Needed.”

Along with the long standing tipster in the portfolio Kieran Ward’s Value Tips (Another free SBC tipster.)

 

Horse Racing Results May

Results were really strong this month with Hansbury Racing having some big winners early on in the month. Before giving a decent amount of the profit back. Whilst Kieran Ward and No Photo Needed had strong second half’s of the month which maintained a decent profit overall for the month.

During May a profit of £581 was made from stakes ranging from £10 to £30.

Golf

PGA Profit came good this month in pretty emphatic fashion. Hitting 3 big priced winners over the course of the month. Tipping Sam Burns (34.0 winner), Justin Thomas (17.0 winner) and Max Homa (46.0 winner) which recouped all losses from the year and put the tipster up just under 100 points for the year.

Unfortunately for me. I completely forgot to place my golf bets the week Max Homa won. (Which is  the first week this year that this has happened.)

Only realizing on the Friday when golf had already started. Which meant I missed out on a 46.0 winner, buts that’s betting sometimes these things happen.

Overall a profit of £466 was made from golf

Misc

A profit of £167 was made following bets from free tipsters and misc bets.

This section basically includes profit on my daily P/L which is not accounted for in any of the other sections.

One free tipster that I think is worth a follow comes from Asian Connect. If you register your interest with them as broker you get sent free tips.

AC Tips
Example of Asian Connect tips

I don’t bet every selection but I think the break downs usually make sense. In this case Poland did shorten pretty significantly before the game started.

Thoughts

This year has been excellent so far. Profit made so far in the first 5 months is around what I normally make in a year. I am aware that I am running really well and expect things to slow down in the next two month. With a lot less football available to bet on, alongside the fact that I am clinging on to the last few soft books I have available.

In contrast to how well this year has been for me betting wise. The UK betting industry does seem to be on its arse, with over regulation and silly affordability limits. Looking like it could ruin the game completely or force all serious bettors into the black market.

Time will tell!

Given there is a lot less to bet on this month. Going to take a look at other ways to make money besides betting. Just in case it becomes no longer viable.

Looking at freelance writing jobs, creating another website. Always thought trading the financial markets could be interesting. Similar to sports betting it seems like the majority of people get burnt trading however there are those that are doing it successfully.

Thanks for reading will be back with the next report in July.

May Profits

 

Results For May

Value Betting- £3813

Casino Offers – £148

Golf – £466

MMA – £856

Horse Racing Tipsters – £581

Misc – £167

 

Total Made In May

£6031

Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began

£155,779

 

Recommended For Matched Betting/ Value Betting/ Arbitrage

Oddsmonkey Matched Betting And Arbitrage Software (Click Here For A Free Trial)

Subscription Cost – £12.50 a month (Annual Subscription)

Trademate Sports Value Betting Software –   Click Here For A Two Week Trial

If you comment “Smart Sports Trader” in the chat when you sign up for a Trademate Sports trial. You will get an extended two week trial and also a 10% discount off your first month.

Subscription Cost – £105 a month (Monthly)

 

 

This blog post features affiliate links.

Which means that if you subscribe to a service through a link on this site I will receive a commission.

This does not come at any additional cost to you. In fact with some of these services I have negotiated discounted prices for readers of smartsportstrader.com.

I only recommend services I am using or have used in the past.

The Best Sports Betting Books 2023

Sports betting is a huge industry but it can be hard to find good reading material related to sports betting.

Here are 6 of the best sports betting books that I have read.

Best Sports Betting Books

1. Squares And Sharps, Suckers And Sharks

best sports betting books

Written by well renowned sports betting writer Joseph Buchdahl. Who writes for the bookmaker Pinnacle and is also the author of two other highly rated sports betting books. 

Squares and Sharps, Suckers and Sharks is Buchdahl’s latest offering. This book takes a stark and realistic look at the sports betting markets.

It isn’t a book that encourages sports betting or has tales of people winning millions. In fact in might do the polar opposite, it isn’t an easy read nor does it intend to be.

This book tackles the science and probability behind gambling. It looks at the psychology and often irrational behaviour of human beings in relation to gambling.

Whilst this book might not provide the answers to becoming a profitable sports bettor. It will certainly make you analyze and question your own process in finding profitable sports bets.

Squares and Sharps, Suckers and Sharks is a really interesting read. If you are aiming to make money long term from the sports betting markets then this book is a must.

Buy It Now

2. Gambling For Life – Harry Findlay

best sports betting books

Gambling For Life by Harry Findlay is a very different read to the first selection.

If you are looking for a book that’s going to help you become a professional gambler and improve your betting. This book isn’t it!

What “Gambling For Life “is, is an easy read that documents the story of colorful professional sports bettor Harry Findlay. I found Gambling For Life a very enjoyable read of an old school gambler that often threw caution to the wind.

Putting your entire bankroll on one football match is not something you find Tony Bloom or Zeljko Ranogajec doing. But that is part of the charm of Harry Findlay. He isn’t a gambler that always stuck to staking sensibly and following the rules.

He was a big risk taker often to his own detriment however as a story it makes great reading.

Buy It Now

3. Enemy Number One – Patrick Veitch

best sports betting books

Enemy Number One is the autobiography of professional sports bettor Patrick Veitch. Veitch is estimated to have made over £10 million profit from betting on horse racing.

This book details the beginnings of his betting career as a student studying maths at Cambridge. Through to his career as a full time sports bettor. Along the way Veitch became a target for extortion from a dangerous criminal who later would go on to be tried for murder.

Veitch never reveals his exact betting methods or goes on to write about how he was able to consistently find value in the horse betting markets. However the book does detail how he ran his betting operation and was able to get down large amounts of money at bookmakers all across the country.

If you are interested in sports betting and particularly the horse racing markets then Enemy Number One is a recommended read.

Buy It Now

4. Trading In The Zone

best sports betting books

Trading In The Zone by Mark Douglas is not a book about sports betting. It is based on trading the stock market however a lot information provided is this book can be applied to sports betting and sports trading very well.

This book tackles the psychology behind good and bad trading. It is often regarded as the bible when it comes to books on trading psychology.

Trading In The Zone’s main message is to not bring our emotions into trading (betting) as this has no effect on the market itself. The market doesn’t care if you have just had an blazing argument with your wife and it won’t give you back 50% of your bankroll if you decide to take out your frustrations this way.

Douglas teaches that discipline and controlling the variables that you are able to. Are the key factors in what makes a profitable trader (sports bettor).

If you are looking for a book that can you help you understand the psychological traits behind being a successful sports bettor then Trading In The Zone is a good choice.

Buy It Now

5. Fixed Odds Sports Betting 

best sports betting books

For book number 5 we return to author Joseph Buchdahl. Fixed Odds Sports Betting was written in 2003 but still holds up as one of the best sports betting books around.

Buchdahl was a former bet runner for the previously mentioned Patrick Veitch and in looking to emulate him has spent a huge amount time collecting sports betting data. Looking for ways in which to profit from the sports betting markets.

Fixed Odds Sports Betting aims to teach its readers the fundamentals of bookmaking. It takes a thorough mathematical look at sports betting with an in depth look at various staking plans.

This book is an excellent introduction to sports betting for novice bettors. Whilst also appealing to experienced bettors looking to get a better grasp on some of the key fundamentals behind investing in sports betting.

Buy It Now

6. The Logic Of Sports Betting

Logic Of Sports Betting

“The Logic Of Sports Betting” is one of the newer books on this list published in 2019. The book was written by Ed Miller and Matthew Davidow. Miller is a successful poker player and has previously written some very well regarded books on the subject. Whilst Davidow is a sports modeller and co founder of two sports analytics firms.

Being one of the newer books on this list. One subject that this book does cover is live betting. Live betting becomes bigger and bigger with each year. The logic of sports betting discusses the pros and cons of live betting, covering such issues as streaming delays.

If you are looking to make money from your sports betting in 2022 then this book is a worthwhile read!

 

 

 

 

Make A Living From Sports Betting – 8 Crucial Factors

2up Betting

Do you want to learn how to make a living from sports betting?

In this article we are going to take a look at the crucial things you need to know, in order to be able to make big profits.

Starting with the basics, moving through to lesser known bits of information that can really improve your betting and take you to the next level.

Let’s get started!

Make A Living From Sports Betting

How To Make A Living From Sports Betting – 8 Crucial Factors

  1. Always take the best odds possible

Number one and it might seem very obvious however there are still a lot of people that want to be successful betting that don’t do this.

Make sure you are always taking the best odds possible. Don’t be lazy and only bet with one bookmaker because you have funds in the account. If you want to take this seriously you have to treat sports betting like a business.

Great businessmen are always looking for a way to cut costs and increases profits. In the same way a professional sports bettor always bets at the best odds they possibly can.

There are numerous odds comparison websites you can use to help you find the best odds.

Here are a few examples –

Oddsportal

Oddschecker

Over the long term ensuring you always get the best odds you possibly can, is a habit that enables you to make the highest amount of money from your betting as possible.

Best odds

 

2. Take advantage of promotions

Next on the list is taking advantage of bookmaker promotions and bonuses.

There is a lot of money to be made from this.

Free bets, cashback offers, in-play promotions, 2 goals up promotion on football, numerous horse racing promotions, extra places. Bookmakers are always trying to attract new customers and hang on to existing ones.

You can learn to take advantage of this fact and make good money solely from exploiting these offers.

2up Betting

This is called matched betting and there are already thousands of people taking advantage of this. If you are looking to bet on sports for a living. Taking advantage of this low hanging fruit is recommended.

It is an easy strategy and a very valuable one to have in your arsenal.

Wanted to get started Matched Betting? Here Is Our Number 1 Recommendation!

3. Proper bankroll management

Not using proper bankroll management is one of the key reasons most people fail to make money long term from sports betting.

If you are aiming to make a living from sports betting and don’t have a plan for how are going to approach your staking. It is very likely you will fail.

Any well run business starts off with a plan.

As a professional bettor you should know exactly how much you are going to stake on a bet before you click that “Place bet” button.

Bankroll
Use proper bankroll management

There are several different staking plans you can look.

Kelly staking – this staking plan adjusts the size of your bet based on the perceived edge of your bet and odds on offer.

Flat staking – Staking the same amount on every selections. Trouble with this staking plan is when you are betting at a wide range of odds 1.2 – 20.00. Doesn’t make sense to bet the same amount of money at odds of 1.2 and then odds of 20.00.

Stake to win set amount – Perhaps the easiest staking plan to have when starting off. You stake to win the same amount for every bet. For example if you to win £100 per bet.

You would stake £100 at odds of 2.0, £50 at odds of 3.0, £33.33 at odds of 4.0 etc.

No matter which staking plan you choose. Having some kind of staking plan in place will put you ahead of 95% of bettors already.

4. Have as many accounts as possible

This next point relates heavily to number one but also is important for other reasons.

You need to utilize as many places to bet as possible.

1. You want to get the best odds on every single selection (which we covered already)

2. As you scale your business your bets become larger. Some bookmakers will be unwilling to take your full bet. Which means you may need to spread it round several bookmakers.

3. Profitable sports bettors can accounts closed or limited. Unfortunately bookmakers have the ability to refuse your business and close accounts. This means that successful bettors constantly have to find new places to bet.

4. Different bookmakers offer different opportunities. Some bookmakers will offer different market or promotions that others don’t.

If you are doing this for a living, finding new angles and edges is vital to sustaining or increasing your profit levels.

5. Use proven strategies

Making a living from sports betting isn’t easy however having said that. There are multiple proven strategies outlined on this very site, that work long term.

That you should really know!

Arbitrage betting – This involves covering all outcomes of an event in order to guarantee. We have a guide which covers this in great detail here.

 

Value betting – Another solid method which uses sharp bookmakers (That don’t ban winning bettors) along with the betting exchanges. To identify value bets in the market. This is one of the easiest ways to consistently place bets that a positive expectation.

You can read our guide to value betting here

Bonus Accumulator Results

Exploiting casino offers – Using casino promotions we can the flip the edge from the casino to player. If you only play casino games when that edge is flipped over to you. A profit will be made over the long term.

Click here for our guide to making money from casino offers.

6. Work with others

Eventually you will run out of bookmakers to use if you are betting successfully. This is because the majority of bookmakers ban or heavily limit winning bettors.

Many professional bettors end up working alongside other people in order to get bets down. Most start off working alongside family members and friends. This is known as multi accounting as it involves using multiple accounts rather then just your own.

If you are unable to work with other people. The other option is to look at making a profit from the betting exchanges or Asian bookmakers via a broker.

7. Specialize

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got. Was to find an area of betting to specialize in.

The majority (Not all) of very successful bettors specialize in one sports. Think Paulo Rebelo and Psychoff who are both extremely good football traders. Patrick Veitch has made a lot of money betting on horses, Tony Bloom excelled at betting in the Asian handicap markets.

Psychoff Profits

There are several different way to make money from the sports betting markets, find the one that suits you.

  • Pre match betting
  • Arbitrage
  • Exploiting promotions
  • In-play betting
  • Pre match trading
  • In-play trading

8. Keep learning

The sports betting markets are constantly changing and evolving. Edges come and go, what makes money one year may not be profitable the next.

If you are looking to make a living from sports betting. Then it is likely you are going to need more then one way to make money. Having multiple different edges in the markets is likely going to give you more longevity in the game.

Learning new approaches is going to be key.

Make A Living From Sports Betting

There we have it 8 keys factors you should know if you want make a living from sports betting.

Do you agree, disagree?

Let us know in the comments!

 

 

Making A Million From Sports Betting And Trading – April 2022 Results

Value Betting Trading

Month 61 has been and gone in the “Making A Million Challenge.”

Building on a record month in March where for the first time a fix figure profit was made.

April was going to be interesting, let’s take a look at the results.

Making A Million

Value Betting/Trading

Another strong month for value betting and trading.

Although with football nearing the end of the season, my usual strategy wasn’t as straight forward. Some teams have bigger motivations then others with potential relegation/promotion. Whilst other teams had little to play for.

This means more volatility in the football markets.

Bet365 also seemed to have settled down a little with their boosts. Initially they seemed to be offering value on almost every game, however now they are being a little bit more selective.

Value Betting Trading

In total there were 512 bets made.

A total profit of £3042 was made.

 

Not Familiar With Matched Betting Or Value Betting ?

Read Our Guides Below

Matched Betting Guide

Value Betting Guide

Advantage Play – Casino Offers

It was the lowest volume month in years for me when it came to completing casino offers. Just doesn’t seem to be as much around as there was. However I will also admit that I am not actively looking every day.

Let me know in the comments if your still doing a lot of casino offers?

During April I did 10 offers.

A profit of £190 was made.

Smart Sports Betting Community/MMA Results

A profit of £690 was made from 9 bets this month on the pre fight MMA selections.

 

MMA Bets April

I also bet in-play on MMA using Betfair but I added these results to the value betting/trading section. The pre fight bets I send out for free on Discord.

If your interested in receiving them email at [email protected] and I will send you the link.

Horse Racing Tipsters

The horse racing tipsters are holding steady at the moment.

CD Systems is having a a pretty bad year but has a stellar record behind it.

I always find it tough following tipsters, as you always wonder whether the downswings are due to variance.

Has something changed in the market?

Do they still have an edge?

The other two horse tipsters made a profit this month.

Quentin Franks Racing – Betting odds 5.0 or above using only exchanges (Click Here For Our Review)

Kieran Ward Value Service (Free Smart Betting Club Tipster)

A total of £354 was made from horse racing.

Staking £10 on horses above odds of 10.00 and £20 stakes on odds below 10.00.

A New Tipster Emerges

Hansbury Racing is a tipster that readers have emailed me about. It’s a service that multiple stellar reviews. Including the Smart Betting Club who recently showed in their review that the service is very profitable even betting at Betfair SP.

So it made sense with football winding down to look at adding more on the horse racing side. Hansbury Racing looks like it should be a good addition.

Hansbury Racing
The headline stats look very impressive.

Click Here To Read More About Hansbury Racing

Golf

It was a poor month for Golf betting.

PGA Profit has not performed very well this year, my own value selections (based on what the markets is doing) also under performed this month.

Golf Betting

Overall a loss of -£463 was made betting on golf.

Misc

Misc includes bets from free tipsters such as Matchbook Insights.

Along with other bets/trades that I don’t track in any of the above categories. For example live bets if I watching a game. However I do add these to my daily P/L at the end of every day.

From this section a profit of £506 was made.

Thoughts

Overall it was another strong month. With football winding down and no big international tournament in the summer profits are likely to drop.

The horse racing markets are still something I would like to get more involved in. From talking to people it seems like one of the sports where following tipsters is a good option.

Other then that I think its just a case of continuing to scale what is working at the moment. Which is mostly value betting and a few strategies of my own that are based on beating the closing line.

I do want to keep this blog interesting, as I realize just writing profits from strategies I am not willing to give away will become tiresome. So if you do have any interesting tipsters or services, you would like me to trial let me know.

 

Results For April

Value Betting- £3042

Casino Offers – £190

Golf – –£463

MMA – £690

Horse Racing Tipsters – £354

Misc – £506

Total Made In April

£4319

Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began

£149,748

 

Recommended For Matched Betting/ Value Betting/ Arbitrage

Oddsmonkey Matched Betting And Arbitrage Software (Click Here For A Free Trial)

Subscription Cost – £12.50 a month (Annual Subscription)

Trademate Sports Value Betting Software –   Click Here For A Two Week Trial

If you comment “Smart Sports Trader” in the chat when you sign up for a Trademate Sports trial. You will get an extended two week trial and also a 10% discount off your first month.

Subscription Cost – £105 a month (Monthly)

 

 

This blog post features affiliate links.

Which means that if you subscribe to a service through a link on this site I will receive a commission.

This does not come at any additional cost to you. In fact with some of these services I have negotiated discounted prices for readers of smartsportstrader.com.

I only recommend services I am using or have used in the past.

Make Money Betting On The UFC – 5 Key Strategies

So you wanna make money betting on the UFC huh?

Let me tell you something, every f***ing jabroni that’s ever said. “I think that guy is going to win” and then gets it right. Think he’s the f***ing Nostradamus of UFC betting!

Making money betting UFC is a tough gig, I’ve seen grown men cry and s*** in their pants when a big losing bet goes down. You wanna be the guy crying on the floor with s*** in his pants because you didn’t f***ing read this article?”

Dana White

(Just to be clear this is a parody and Dana White didn’t really say this. At no point has Dana White endorsed this article or even seen it.)

Dana White
Please don’t sue me Dana

Make Money Betting On UFC – 5 Key Strategies

Alright so after those inspiring words that didn’t really come from Dana White, let’s dig into actually how to make money from UFC betting.

For the past 5 years I have been taking betting pretty seriously, in that time managing to make over six figures in profits. The single sport that I have had the most success betting in, using only my own knowledge happens to be mixed martial arts.

Betting on UFC fights is something I am very familiar with.

Make money betting UFC

In this article I am going to reveal FIVE different angles that you can consistently use to find value when betting on UFC.

Make money betting UFC

Fade The Marketing Machine

The UFC much like boxing relies on engaging fans through story telling and character!

Because of this it is often in the interest of the UFC to put more promotion behind fighters that have more character. Fighters that sell more tickets and have a wider appeal. This can often influence the betting market and as a result create value.

Brock Lesnar for example was a fighter that the UFC was fully behind. He transcended the sport of mixed martial arts and became the heavyweight champion beating 45 year old Randy Couture. Subsequent wins over Frank Mir and a comeback victory after being destroyed in the first round by Shane Carwin.

Make money betting UFC

Had Brock Lesnar calling himself the “baddest man on the planet.”

His next fight came against the undefeated at time Cain Velasquez. A heavyweight that had shown  a great gas tank, sharp striking and the wrestling pedigree to contend with Brock Lesnar. If you removed all the hype it was pretty obvious who the better fighter was.

Cain Velasquez closed as a 2.55 underdog in that fight. He handily beat Brock Lesnar inside the first round via TKO.

Every sharp UFC bettor I knew at that time was on Cain Velasquez.

Amanda Nunes as 2.6 underdog against Ronda Rousey is a similar example of the UFC marketing machine skewing the odds.

Recently Francis Ngannou’s odds against Cyril Gane went from 2.0 out to 2.3. Mainly based on the promotion of the UFC heavily favouring Gane. This was due to Ngannou butting heads with the UFC over contract issues

Whenever the UFC marketing machine is heavily behind one fighter it is always worth taking a look at the opposing side. Removing the hype and looking at the skill sets and how fighters match up.

 

Look To Oppose Fighters That Finish Fights

Every UFC fan loves a fighter that puts an exclamation mark on a win. Whether that’s with a knockout or a submission victory, definitive wins are something that really elevate a fighters stock.

Sometimes a fighter will get consecutive finishes in a row which can really inflate their odds. This links pretty well with the first point. The hype machine starts to generate with these types of fighters, sometimes it will be warranted but often it isn’t.

For every Francis Ngannou there are probably ten Todd Duffee’s.

What level was their opposition?

How was the fight playing out before they got the finish?

What did their gas tank look like?

Have they ever been past the first or second round?

Sometimes you may spot major holes in the overall game of these fighters, which may be exposed in the next fight. There is a lot of variance in the sport of mixed martial arts, sometimes fighters benefit from this and their record may look better then their true skill set.

Unbeaten Fighters/Impressive Win Records Tend To Be Overrated

Bro you ever heard of Khabib Nurmagamedov!!!, undefeated GOAT, this article sucks.

Granted not every unbeaten fighter is going to be overrated but as a general rule. Looking to go against undefeated fighters in the UFC is usually a good idea.

Why?

Because undefeated records/impressive win records don’t mean much without the context of their opposition. let’s take a recent example Joseph Holmes (record 7-1) came up against Jamie Pickett (record 12-6).

Looking at the skill sets of the two there didn’t seem to much difference however Holmes was favoured and Pickett was 2.35 underdog. The odds seemed largely based on the records of the two fighters.

UFC experience was with Pickett, he had also fought the better competition in his career. He had been to multiple decisions. Holmes on the other hand had been winning most fights in the first round and had only two 3 round fights under his belt.

Fighter records very rarely give a good estimation of how a fight is likely to play out.

Boring Fighters Are Underrated

One fighter that UFC fans never really got behind was Jake Shields.

Shields wasn’t particularly flashy, didn’t have an ounce of charisma and his striking was pretty basic. However he was an effective grappler, very tough and could grind out victories against high level fighters.

He rose the ranks defeating Dan Henderson as a big underdog in Strikeforce. Before coming to the UFC to compete against GSP for the championship. He lost convincingly.

Backing Shields in his last 6 UFC fights after losing to GSP would have seen a profit of £340 staking £100 each fight. Defeating Demain Maia and Tyrone Woodley as a decent sized underdog.

Shields is the perfect example of a boring fighter that especially as an underdog usually offered a lot of value.

Give me a boring fighter that wins minutes with grappling control or a solid jab over a wild man every time. Especially if the UFC fan base isn’t particularly high on them, as that’s usually reflected in the odds also.

Method Of Victory Markets Are Gold

The majority of professional sports bettors will tell you that prop markets or secondary markets, are usually more profitable then the higher volume match odds market.

Reason being, that markets with less volume (less money bet on them) tend to be less efficient. They are not looked at with as much scrutiny.

This means that bookmakers don’t put as much effort into pricing them up. In comparison to the match odds (fight odds) market where the majority of money is bet.

One other solid reason to look at method of victory markets or over under props etc, is that bookmakers can be slow to adjust them. A local shop bookmaker in my area doesn’t even bother to adjust them despite the money line (fight odds) changing.

Which can be big if a fight has been incorrectly priced early on or some new information is released. Could be injury news, a terrible weight cut etc.

This can increase the likely hood of a finish occurring in the fight. Thus offering value in the prop market when perhaps there isn’t any in the fight odds market. Which has been adjusted.

Looking to make money betting on the UFC?

Don’t ignore the prop markets!

Make Money Betting On UFC – Conclusion

Those are 5 angles that are really worth considering when betting on the UFC.

Combining them, watching tape on fighters and keeping up with the latest UFC news. Is going to give you a very solid footing when it comes to making money betting on the UFC.

Other ways to profit from betting on the UFC are –

Best UFC Tipsters List

Matched Betting ✔ (Click Here To Read Our Guide)

Arbitrage Betting ✔ (Click Here To Read Our Guide)

Which are strategies that work on all sports. But have a limited shelf life due to relying on bookmaker promotions or slow bookmakers that limit accounts.

Mixed martial arts is a great sport to watch. Making money from the sport of mixed martial arts is also very possible with a disciplined strategy.

Hopefully this article has given you some ideas on where to find the value, when betting on the UFC.

Got any strategies you want to add to this?

Let me know in the comments below!

 

(This article features affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you.

I use or have used any product I review. If I recommend them it is because I believe they are helpful, useful and offer value to their customers.

Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel they will give you value or that they will help you achieve your goals.)

5 Ways To Make Money From William Hill

5 Ways To Make Money From A William Hill Account

William Hill is one of the most popular bookmakers in the world. Boasting over 3 millions customers across the UK and Europe.

The question is can you make money from a William Hill account?

The answer is a resounding yes, We brought in a professional gambler to tell you how.

5 Ways To Make Money From A William Hill Account

5 Way To Make Money From A William Hill Account

Take Advantage Of Promotions

Let’s start off with easiest way to make money from any bookmaker account. Taking advantage of bookmaker promotions and free bets.

William Hill offer a number of promotional offers that offer value. Free bets are an easy way to lock in a profit using matched betting as a strategy.

Currently William are offering £30 in free bets after staking £10. They also offer recurring bonus’s most weeks with bet £10 get £5 in free bets.

If you are looking for a low risk way to make some money online. Then taking advantage of free bet offers is an easy way to do this.

This is by far the easiest method of making money from a William Hill account. If you want to learn matched betting click here for our simple guide.

However if you want to scale things up and make more from your William Hill account, let’s take a look at a few more profitable strategies.

Basketball Betting

European Basketball is an area where William Hill seem to offer the best odds on a regular basis. They are slow to move their odds in comparison to most other bookmakers.

Which means they are often the best value bookmaker when it comes to betting specifically on European basketball.

For example the “Slam Dunk Wizard” a profitable basketball tipster from the Betting Gods network. Often tips selections at William Hill as they have the best odds available on many selections.

Slam Dunk Wizard Profit

The smaller European basketball markets seem to offer a lot of value. If you have good knowledge in this area or just want to follow a tipster such as Slam Dunk Wizard. Then William Hill often offers the best value.

Click Here To Trial The Slam Dunk Wizard

Horse Racing Betting

Horse racing betting can be very profitable when done correctly. There are various promotions applied to horse racing betting. Along with multiple profitable tipsters that are able to make a profit betting in these markets.

As one of the biggest bookmakers in the UK and Europe. William Hill offer a lot of opportunities to make money from horse racing.

Best Odds William Hill

One promotion that is worth taking advantage of is bets odds guaranteed. This means that if a horse drifts in a price and goes off at a higher starting price then you backed. Your bet will be paid at the starting price should it win.

The way to take advantage of this promotion is to place bets that are close to an exchange lay price.

For example if a horse is priced 2.00 with William Hill and is 2.02 to lay on an exchange such as Smarkets. You can back and lay it for for a small loss.

Let’s say we back it for £100 at odds of 2.00, we also lay it for £100 at 2.02.

If the price drifts and the horse wins, you make a profit a on additional bonus of being paid at the best odds guaranteed price.

For example if the horse drifts to a starting price of 2.5.

The back bet would pay back £150, whilst the lay bet would lose £101.

This would equal a profit of £49 would be made from very little risk.

Click Here For A Detailed Guide For This Strategy Here

Horse Racing Tipsters

Similar to European basketball, the horse racing markets are an area where there is money to be made from a William Hill account. This can be done using a betting tipster with a proven winning record.

Quentin Franks horse racing service for example will often tip bets with William Hill.

From the statistics in the above image, you can see that since 2014. He has been very successful betting in the horse racing markets that William Hill offer.

Click Here To Read Our Quentin Franks Review

Arbitrage Betting

Next up is arbitrage betting. This is a strategy that is very low risk and can enable you to lock in a profit before the start of a game.

In the above image there are two selections in a football match between De Sonora and Correcaminos.

Over 2.5 goals is available  to bet at odds of 1.89.

Under 2.5 goals is available to bet at 2.2.

Splitting a £200 stake across the two selections enable a profit of £3.32 on each side.

With both selections returning a profit of £203.32 despite the total amount staked on both selection being £200.

This is the beauty of arbitrage betting, it is low risk and can bring in small steady profits.

Click Here For Our In Depth Guide On Arbitrage Betting

Casino Offers

Last on the list is taking advantage of casino offers.

This can be a very lucrative way of making money online and William Hill regularly have casino offers that are worth taking advantage of.

William Hill Casino Offer

There are times when bookmakers or casino’s offer their customers a bonus. When they do this they often flip the edge that the casino usually has over to the customers. If you only play casino games when you are being offered an advantage. It is possible to make a profit over the long term.

To highlight this here is my P/L graph for casino offers.

Casino Offer Results

A profit of over £20,000 was made after over 4285 casino offers.

If you want learn how to take advantage of casino offers, we have an detailed step by step guide on how you can so.

Click Here To Read The Guide

 

Make Money From William Hill – Conclusion

There you have it 5 different ways to make money from a William Hill account.

Covering multiple different strategies depending on your risk tolerance and how you would like to approach your betting.

Using all of the strategies above across multiple bookmakers has enabled me to make a six figure profit from sports betting.

Finding area’s where bookmaker’s offer the most opportunity and exploiting them to the fullest. Is a great way to make money from the sports betting markets.

Three Contenders for Championship Player of the Season

The 2021-22 Championship season is quickly drawing to a close, there is still plenty that needs to be ironed out in the final few weeks of the campaign. It seems only a matter of time before Fulham are crowned champions and Barnsley, Derby Country and Peterborough United fate is sealed as three relegated sides.

However, there is still plenty to play for elsewhere — with the second automatic promotion spot and the four play-off places proving hard to call in the Championship betting with Betfair. So, with plenty of headlines left to written, let’s take a look at three candidates for the Player of the Season award.

Mitrovic

Aleksandar Mitrović – Fulham

On the basis of the award more often than not going to a forward, who better is there to kick things off with than the prolific Aleksandar Mitrović.

The Serbian has sent records tumbling for Fulham so far this season, with his 38 goals in as many Championship games blowing the previous record for most strikes in a season (31), set by Ivan Toney just last year, out of the water.

Mitrović has been an influential factor in Marco Silva’s swashbuckling side, who have scored a huge 94 goals this campaign. However he is starting to garner a reputation as somewhat of a ‘Championship striker’ due to the massive gulf in his performances between the second and first tiers. With Fulham all but crowned champions, that’s a title he’ll be hoping to shake when back in the Premier League next season.

Ben Brereton Díaz – Blackburn Rovers

If the classic Sunday League ‘Most Improved Player’ award existed in the Championship, we have no doubt Ben Brereton Díaz would be this year’s recipient.

The Stoke-on-Trent-turned-Chilean forward has been unrecognisable for Blackburn Rovers since returning from the Copa América last summer. Scoring a whopping 20 goals in the second tier by late December, more than he’d managed in five previous seasons combined.

Unfortunately, the 22-year-old hasn’t found the back of the net since hitting the 20-mark in December — a feat that was 1000/1. International commitments and a lengthy spell on the side-lines with an ankle ligament injury have played its part in that. Back to full fitness now though, Tony Mowbray will be hoping that the forward begins to fire on all cylinders again so that Blackburn can secure a play-off place.

Dominic Solanke

With Brereton Díaz slowing up on the goalscoring front. Dominic Solanke has been able to make up ground on the Chile international and put a bit of a gap between him and the Blackburn man in the top scorer charts. Netting his 24th goal of the season for Bournemouth in 3-2 win over Bristol City at the beginning of April.

Having moved to south coast from Liverpool for £19-odd million in January 2019, Solanke was yet to really live up to his relatively high price tag at the Vitality Stadium.

So he’ll be happy that he’s finally beginning to repay the club and its fans for their belief. If he can manage the find the net a few more times in Bournemouth’s remaining seven games. Which they’ll likely be tipped to win in the Championship score predictions, he might just guide the Cherries back to the Premier League!

Live Betting on Football: Discussing Advantages and Pitfalls

Live Betting

Few innovations in sports betting have been as revolutionary as live betting. The ability to place a wager on the action happening before us has been a boon to many punters, although it needs to follow an effective strategy.

While most sports offer live betting these days, football remains the big draw. As a result, you’ll find 100s of in-play markets, particularly for big matches in the Champions League, Premier League and Europe’s other top divisions.

But when it comes to a live betting strategy, is there anything about that medium that gives us a particular advantage? And, on the other hand, are there any pitfalls?

The answer is yes and yes.

To be clear, we want to look at the emotional side of live betting here, how it makes you feel about placing a bet.

React to shifts in momentum

Starting with the advantages, we can say one of the fundamental benefits is that it allows you to react to shifts in the momentum of a game. We have all been there before where we have backed a team fully convinced that it will win, only to see the players really off it as soon as the game starts.

Want an example?

Look no further than the 2014 World Cup Semi-Final between Brazil and Germany. Pre-game, Brazil were clear favourites to win the match in front of tens of thousands of home fans at the Maracanã Stadium, but within minutes we knew something was wrong as the Brazil players looked visibly shaken.

Final result? 7-1 Germany.

The point is that live betting is a gift in situations like that where you can pinpoint what’s happening in front of you is not reflected in the odds.

Ask yourself this question: How quickly could bookies react to the debacle in the Maracanã? Not quick enough.

Of course, a football match that took place eight years ago is just one example. But within games, you often get mini-shifts in momentum, a sense of inevitability that the match is going to turn on its head. The stunning shift in momentum when Liverpool beat Barcelona 4-0 (coming back from a 3-0 aggregate deficit) in the Champions League in 2019.

If you want a more recent example, how about when PSG fell apart against Real Madrid last month? A 17-minute hat-trick from Karim Benzema may have stunned pundits at the time, but you could see the PSG defence was all over the place. For some, the Madrid comeback felt inevitable.

Live betting can be emotional

So, what, if anything, represents the pitfalls of live betting on football? Well, for a start, those shifts in momentum can be deceptive at times. Moreover, they can make you doubt your previously concrete assessment of an event. All football games ebb and flow, even when stronger teams play weaker ones.

The point, as such, is that live betting can sometimes lose the courage of your convictions. It might sound like a cliché, but good teams often win when playing badly. Quality players will have moments that determine the outcome of a game, even if things aren’t going well around them.

Manchester United have made a habit of this in recent years. Yes, they have become a laughing stock among rival fans. But objectively speaking, they have achieved good results when playing badly.

Perhaps the most significant pitfall of live betting is that it’s too emotional. By that, we mean you are going to experience a range of highs and lows during a match, particularly when you have money riding on it. Everyone knows that you bet better with a cool head and live betting allows you to reach instantly: if it’s pulling on your emotions, then you might not be following the best path.

Of course, whatever you do with live betting, you should remember to always keep in mind the strategy you have set yourself beforehand. It’s all too easy to keep tapping the bet now button when watching a game. It should be fun, not stressful.

So bear that in mind the next time you bet in-play.

Making A Million From Sports Betting And Trading – March 2022 Results

March marked the 60th consecutive month in treating betting as a business.

After a really strong February I was really hoping to finally break over 5k profit in month.

Let’s take a look at results from March to see if it that happened.

Making A Million

Value Betting/Trading

Value betting and trading went like a dream in March. I continued to develop an edge that had been working really well. Staked more aggressively when I was confident, traded positions that I thought had a high likely hood of shortening in price.

Had some big in-play UFC bets which came off as during March we had some earlier start times.

During March there were 505 value bets.

A profit of £10,716 was made.

This month was pretty ridiculous in terms of profit. It was way bigger then any previous month. As much as I would like to go into more detail about the exact strategies I am using.

Giving too much away would only be detrimental to my own betting and create competition for the bets I get on. What I will say is that it is all based on looking at different ways to beat the closing odds.

Below is a video showing proof of results (screenshots are very easy to fake). Although I can’t give away all my strategies, I still want to be transparent and give people motivation to see what is possible if you stick with things.

 

Not Familiar With Matched Betting Or Value Betting ?

Read Our Guides Below

Matched Betting Guide

Value Betting Guide

 

Advantage Play – Casino Offers

Solid but unspectacular results for casino offers. Only really doing weekly offers now from Bet365 and the occasional reload offers. Could do a lot more but would rather spend that time looking at sports betting as the moment.

During February I did 48 offers.

A profit of £248 was made.

 Click Here For To Learn How To Make Money From Casino Offers

 

Smart Sports Betting Community/MMA Results

It’s been a breakeven year so far, for my pre fight MMA selections. Which I’m not overly concerned about as my volume is low and still pretty confident long term I cam beat the markets.

In March a small amount of profit was made.

UFC Bets March

12 bets were made in March.

A profit of £134 was made

Horse Racing Tipsters

Cheltenham festival came and went in March. I managed go without a single win over the whole festival.

Came close with a few seconds, CD Systems also tipped up Corach Rambler which was a winner. However for some reason my bet was only partially matched on Matchbook. Which meant I missed out on a decent winner.

Overall the horse racing portfolio still feels a little flat. With no big international football tournament this summer, doing more on horse racing is something I will look at.

A small profit of £292 was made from horse racing.

These are the current horse racing tipsters I use.

CD Systems Daily Bargain

Quentin Franks Racing – Betting odds 5.0 or above using only exchanges (Click Here For Our Review)

Kieran Ward Value Service (Free Smart Betting Club Tipster)

 

Golf/Free Tipsters/Misc

From everything else which includes some bets from matchbook insights, golf tips from PGA profit.

A loss of -£403 was made.

Thoughts

Breaking £10k profit in month having previously never won over £5k was pretty f***ing awesome not going to lie. But it didn’t change anything.

Kind of half expected a fireworks display and some C list celebrity knocking on the door with a giant cheque. 

What It did prove however was that going all in and actively looking at developing my own edges. Rather then relying on tipsters. Was something I should have done probably much sooner.

Whilst I don’t think that every month will be as good as March. I am pretty confident that this year should see a new year high in profit for betting.

Still looking at joining FTS Income for next season. Will probably look also at Tradeonsports during April as it looks like they have made some new developments. Would really like to develop my in-play betting, the edge I have in pre match isn’t going away any time soon. But I still think its important to keep finding new edges where possible.

Overall it was a stand out month. April’s results should be interesting as it should be a good indicator of whether I just ran extremely well in March ir things will continue this way.

Results For March

Value Betting- £10,716

Casino Offers – £248

Free Tipsters/Golf/Misc – –£403

MMA – £134

Horse Racing Tipsters – £292

 

Total Made In March

£10,986

Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began

£145,429