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

5 Ways To Make Money Gambling Online

Make Money Gambling Online

Is it really possible to make money gambling online?

Yes it is! There are multiple ways in which in you can make an income from gambling online.

How do I know this?

For the last 67 months I’ve been documenting my profit and loss using various strategies to gamble online. In that time period a total profit of £161,942 has been made.

Make Money Gambling Online

Let’s take a look then at the various ways you can make money gambling online.

Sports Betting

Number one is online sports betting, this is an area where if you take the correct approach there are plenty of opportunities to make a profit.

What’s the correct approach?

The easiest way to make money from sports betting is by taking advantage of bookmaker promotions and offers. This is a very simple way to make a profit.

Bookmakers are always looking to attract new customers, because of this they sometimes offer a tasty bonus when you sign up. This is usually in the form of free bets.

For example Bet365 will give you £50 in free bets once you have signed up and placed a £10 bet. By using using a strategy known as matched betting we can cover all outcomes of an event to make a small loss on the initial £10 bet. Then do the same to guarantee a profit on the £50 bet.

Bet365 Offer

Poker

Next up on our list is the great game of poker.

Poker differs to most casino games in that you are playing against other players and not directly taking on the casino. Most casino games are rigged to favour the casino long term however in poker this is not the case. Poker is a game of a skill and skilled poker players can make a lot of money playing online.

Dan Cates

Daniel Cates for example is an American poker player that has made over $11 million in profit playing online poker. According to the high stakes poker database Phil Ivey is another individual that has done very well playing online poker. Ivey’s estimated winning are thought to be over $20 million.

If you are looking for a casino game that you can actually make money from, poker is an obvious choice.

Casino Offers

Coming up 3rd on the list is taking advantage of casino offers.

Similar to to bookmakers, casino’s are often willing to offer loss leaders as a way to entice new customers. They will also offer recurring bonuses to existing players in order to get them back in the casino gambling.

Shrewd casino players can take advantage of this. By only playing games when there is some form of bonus or cashback on offer. A casino player can flip the mathematical advantage that the casino normally has over to themself.

William Hill Casino Offer

This is a very good way to make money gambling online and is something that many people are doing to make an extra income

If you would like to learn more about how take advantage of casino offers, we have written an in depth guide which is linked at the end of this article.

Sports Betting Arbitrage

The 4th way to make money gambling online is using sports betting arbitrage.

Sports betting arbitrage occurs when different bookmakers are offering the opportunity to cover every outcome of an event and lock in a small profit. This can be due to bookmakers having a difference of opinion or bookmakers being slow to react to new information entering the market.

Let’s take a look at an example of what an arbitrage bet looks like.

Sports Arbitrage Betting

In the image above you can see we have a football game between Cimarrones and Correcaminos.

William Hill are offering over 2.5 goals at odds of 1.89 and Bet365 are offering under 2.5 goals at odds of 2.2. This is a 1.6% arbitrage bet.

By placing bets on both over 2.5 goals and under 2.5 goals a profit of £3.33 is locked in using a total amount of £200. This is the beauty of arbitrage betting, no matter the outcome of the event a profit will be made.

Lottery – Luck

Last on the list is luck!

Now obviously luck is not something that you should rely on if you are looking to make money gambling online. The first four strategies that we outlined are much more reliable and proven to be profitable with the right approach.

Huge Casino Win

However we have all heard the stories of people hitting a jackpot online or winning the lottery. If you are a recreational gambler that enjoys betting but doesn’t want to treat it like a business. That’s absolutely fine but you will be relying on luck and landing a big one time win.

That being said if you utilize casino offers and advantage play. Then you may be able to play casino games with a positive expectation and still be in with a chance to land a big jackpot.

5 Ways To Make Money Gambling Online – Conclusion

In this article we have covered multiple ways to make money gambling online.

Depending on your own preferences there are several different options.Want an extremely low risk and easy way to profit then take a look at profiting from bookmaker bonuses (matched betting).

Fancy yourself as a bit of a mathematical whiz that enjoys a challenge? look at learning poker. Can handle losing runs and variance? Casino offers can offer a long term solution to making money from gambling online.

We have in-depth guides for all of the strategies discussed in this article. If you want learn more about any of them click on the links below.

Matched Betting Guide (Sports Betting Bonuses)

Arbitrage Betting Guide

Casino Offer Guide (Advantage Play)

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

Montly Profit Loss

October was a pretty frustrating month in betting terms.

Seemed to be cursed by the MMA betting gods at the moment. Had two freak injuries go against TJ Dillashaw dislocating his shoulders seconds into the fight. Then the week after Calvin Kattar blew out his knee after one round.

This capped off a month where betting wise it just didn’t go to plan.

Let’s dig into the results from Month 67 of the challenge!

Making A Million

Value Betting/Pre Match Trading

Value betting went much better then I imagined it. Checking these results at the end of the month and a strong profit was made.

Overall there were 296 value bets and trades made.

A total profit of £2008

Value betting October

The world cup is coming up in this month, which may mean a decline in value bets. Will depend on how active bookmakers are with their boosts during the tournament. Sure there will still be plenty of opportunities.

Not Familiar With Matched Betting Or Value Betting ?

Read Our Guides Below

Matched Betting Guide

Value Betting Guide

 

Advantage Play – Casino Offers

Not much worth noting down for October. I don’t have the inclination to grind smaller value offers anymore and not getting many higher value reload offers. There were only 2 casino offers that I completed in October.

A profit of £160 was made

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

Smart Sports Betting Community/MMA Results

Not a pretty month on the MMA betting front.

As mentioned in the introduction it does feel like things are going against us at the moment with freak injuries costing us two bets. Overall I don’t think there is too much to worry about, this is betting. Sometimes you have to accept you can’t always be the hammer and being the nail is inevitable at some point.

MMA Betting Results

A loss of -£1180 was made from 12 bets.

Horse Racing Tipsters

Still only following one horse racing tipster at the moment. That horse racing tipster is Kieran Ward’s Value Tips (free SBC tipster.)

Along with Kieran Ward I also bet my own selections based on market movement in the morning markets.

Horse Racing Portfolio

As you can see from the graph it was a pretty flat month overall.

A loss of -£31 was made from horse racing bets.

FTS Systems

FTS is a subscription service that offers a wide range of data to help you develop profitable betting strategies. It is a run by professional bettor Ian Erksine.

Currently I am running 4 season long strategies (I added a new strategy this month).

One strategy focuses on laying the draw, the second strategy is goals based backing under 2.5 and 3.5 goals. The third strategy is again a lay strategy on the match odds markets based around form. Strategy number 4 looks at backing higher odds and is again based around form.

A loss of –£699 was made in October. (Which oddly is exactly the same amount I made last month but in profit from FTS)

Match Odds Lay

Draw Lay Strategy

Under Betting Strategy

Getting butchered on the under 2.5/3.5 goals strategy is what did the damage this month. The lay the draw strategy amazingly didn’t lose at all. This is laying at odds no greater then 3.5 either so it was on a pretty impressive run.

Despite the losses, these are season long strategies so won’t be making any rash changes based on results this month.

In-Play Betting (Football and UFC) And Misc Bets

Didn’t do a lot of in-play betting on football this month due to work commitments and spending times with the kids at the weekend. The World Cup this month though this month will likely offer the opportunity to do more in-play trading.

Overall a loss of -£568 was made this month

 

Results For October

(Graph should say daily Profit/Loss)

Montly Profit Loss

Value Betting – £2008

Casino Offers – £160

MMA – –£1180

Horse Racing Tipsters – –£31

FTS Income – -£699

In-Play Betting/Trading And Misc – -£568

 

Total Made In October

-£310

Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began

£161,942

Thoughts Going Forward

Not going to cry over a small losing month. This year betting wise has been the best one from recent memory.

Happy with all the strategies that are being used. I may look int to getting a few more soft bookmaker accounts up and running in near future. Solely using the betting exchanges at the moment but even though setting up new accounts can be a hassle.

At the end of the day its money left on the table.

Thanks for reading, hope you had a decent month!

 

 

4 Basic Sports Betting Tips for Beginners

At first glance, sports betting seems like it might be an easy and quick way to earn some money.

After all, you just have to choose the winning side and the profit is yours right?

Unfortunately, the reality of sports betting is not that simple. In fact, beginners regularly make common mistakes that greatly contribute to losing bets. To help you make you you don’t suffer the same mistakes, below you’ll find some of the best beginner-friendly tips that can help your sports betting efforts!

Never Bet Under the Influence!

In movies, characters who go to casinos often do so while drinking. You might here a friend tell the story of how they turned £100 into £1000 whilst playing blackjack drunk.

Drinking alcohol and betting on sports is a bad combination.

Why? Whilst under the influence of alcohol, you’ll lose the ability to see the long-term effects of your actions.

Basic Sports Betting Tips

Alcohol lowers inhibitions and enhances your emotion. Whilst usually you might only bet £10 a game for a bit of fun. When the alcohol kicks in that might increase to £30 a game, a losing streak might infuriate you to the point of betting much more then you can afford.

If you really want to make smart bets and make your sports betting profitable. Staying away from alcohol when sports betting is one of the most sensible things you can do.

That’s why it is so crucial to be sober when placing bets on various sports. If you want to drink something during your daily sessions with a bookmaker like UFABET Sports Betting , get some tasty tea or a cup of steaming-hot coffee to sharpen your senses.

Have a staking plan

Before you even place a bet, you should have a good idea of what your bankroll is and what you staking plan is. One of the big differences between professional sports bettors and losing sports bettors in a discipline.

Before you start, you should consider how much money you could lose and not feel emotionally crushed by the losses. Losses in sports betting are inevitable. Most long-time players advise not to place individual bets above 2% or 3% of the total sum that you could spend on sports betting.

Check out our article on staking plans and find the best sports betting staking plan for beginners.

Learn To Control Your Emotions

Although it seems silly, many beginner sports bettors feel almost personally attacked when they lose a bet. The referee is against them, the players are having their worst game ever, the weather has made the pitch unplayable. Some sports bettors believe they are cursed and become quick to blame their losing bet on anyone other than themselves.

Sports Betting Tips

They react emotionally, and place riskier bets, ignoring the fact that only they can be blamed for their poor decisions. There are no Gods of Sports Betting against whom you could seek vengeance. It is understandable that you might feel sad or annoyed if you lose money, however this the reality of sports betting.

It is vital to understand that losses are part of sports betting and that is ok!

Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. Learn to accept that things won’t always go according to plan. If you are feeling frustrated or angry with your betting take some time away from the screen.

Go for a walk, get out of the house and wait until

Bet With A Strategy

In the short term it is possible to win money with sports betting by placing bets on a whim, however to do it long term usually requires a solid betting strategy. Strategies such as matched betting, arbitrage betting and value betting are all proven to work.

Value Betting Results

If you are betting for fun, sure trust your intuition and place a small bet. Long term winners in sports betting however are usually using mathematical models or following the market to find value bets.

Other factors that you may want to consider are weather conditions, injuries to players, market overreactions to previous results. There are many factors that contribute to making the odds of a sporting event. Some factors however may be over looked?

Conclusion

Sports betting can be a great way to have some fun and potentially earn some money. However, as with any other type of gambling, there is always a risk involved. To minimize your losses, and increase your chances of winning, make sure to keep the tips from this article in mind!

How To Make Money Betting On Sports

Sports Betting Results Monthly

It is a well known fact that the majority of people that bet on sports lose. It is estimated that the number is around 95%.

How then do you become part of the 5% that actually make money from sports betting?

On this blog we have been running a sports betting and trading challenge detailing the results each month. Over a period of 66 months a profit of £162,252 has been made.

Make Money Betting On Sports

In today’s article we are going to breakdown what’s been working over that 66 month period. Looking at how you can become part of the 5% that make money from betting on sports.

Profit From Bookmaker Promotions (Matched Betting)

One of the easiest ways you can start to make money betting on sports is from taking advantage of betting promotions.

There are numerous sign up offers available that you can make quick profits from. After you have completed all the sign up offers that are around you can then start to make money from recurring promotions.

Matched Betting Strategy

Above is an example of the type of offer that you can use to make a quick and easy profit. After your initial £10 bet has been placed. 888sport will hand you £30 in free bets and a £10 casino bonus.

By using a process known as matched betting you should lock in a profit of around £24 from this offer. Matched betting is the easiest and lowest risk strategy to start making money from betting on sports.

Want to learn more!

Click Here For Our Guide To Matched Betting

Arbitrage Betting

The next strategy is one that compliments matched betting very well. This is a low risk and profitable strategy called “arbitrage betting.”

Sports betting arbitrage involves covering every outcome of an event in order to guarantee a profit.

Sounds almost too good to be true right!

Sports arbitrage betting does work, it is a strategy that is commonly used by those looking to profit from sports betting.

Let’s take a look at an example.

Arbitrage Betting Strategy

In the above image you can see there is a tennis match starting in around an hours time.

Pokerstars are offering the player Casanova at odds of 2.4. Her opposition Acosta is available to bet at odds of 1.8 with Starsports.

Staking £86.14 at odds of 2.4 will return £206.74.

Staking £114.86 at odds of 1.8 also returns £206.75.

No matter which side of the bet wins a profit of £5.75 is secured due to the combined odds making an arbitrage bet.

(206.75 – 86.14 = £120.61)

(206.74 – 114.86 = 91.88)

Why doesn’t everyone do this and become very rich from sports betting?

Is a great question!

Unfortunately bookmaker’s don’t tolerate winning sports bettors over the long term. Whilst you can make good money from sports arbitrage. Once a bookmaker realizes that you are doing it they will cut off your limits or close your account.

Sports betting arbitrage is a great short term way to make money betting on sports. But it should be noted that it isn’t a long term option unless you can constantly create new betting accounts.

Interested in arbitrage betting!

Click Here For Our Guide To Sports Betting Arbitrage

Tipsters

Finding profitable tipsters and using their selections to make a profit is a strategy that you can use. There are all manor of betting tipsters available on the internet.

Many of these tipsters are not profitable, in fact a large number are affiliates for bookmakers and profit from referred players losses. Which means they are incentivized to provide losing tips.

There are however some tipsters that have proven to be long term winners. Below is a list of articles where we have highlighted some of the best free and paid tipsters available.

Best Tennis Tipsters

Best Basketball Tipsters

Top free football betting tipsters on Twitter

Chasing Steam (Value Betting)

Chasing steam is a strategy that looks to take advantage of slow moving bookmakers. When money is coming in on a selection with sharp bookmakers this is usually an indicator that the bet has value. Betting these selections at slow moving bookmakers yet to update their odds is a very profitable betting strategy.

Value betting or “chasing steam” is a very simple strategy that has a lot of data backing it up. Simply by monitoring sharper bookmakers and betting exchanges, you can find value with other bookmakers.

Let’s take a look at an example!

Trademate Betting

In the example above Bet365 have Venezia at odds of 3.5.

The sharp bookmaker Pinnacle has Venezia priced lower at odds of 3.23. Which according to the value betting software highlighting this selection is a 4.55% edge.

By consistently backing odds at slower moving bookmakers Bet365, William Hill, Unibet for example. You are able to make money betting on sports long term.

Click Here For Our Guide On Value Betting

Boosts And Extra Place Terms

Next up on the list is another strategy that is very profitable and easy to implement. Bookmaker’s frequently offer boosted prices and extra place terms.

These boosted prices can be worth taking when they above bookmakers or betting exchange prices.

Betting Boost

Above you can see that Skybet have boosted the price of England to win the T20 world cup to odds of 4.5. At the same time this is priced at 4.2 with Betfair.

Make Money Sports Betting

This is a clear value bet due to the difference in odds.

Taking advantage of these bookmaker boosts for either value betting or arbitrage betting can be very profitable.

Extra Places

There are also sports such as horse racing and golf where bookmakers will offer extra places. When the odds between bookmakers and the betting exchanges are close, having an extra place can be very valuable.

Historical Data

There are some sports bettors that build profitable betting systems using historical odds data.

Cassini is a popular sports betting blogger that is noted to use historical odds data in order to find profitable strategies. Another advocate of this approach is Ian Erksine from FTS Income.

Make money betting on sports

Finding area’s that historically look like they offer value is a great approach. One that can be built on and is especially useful for those that have been limited or banned by most soft bookmakers.

You can find free football odds data here

How To Make Money Betting On Sports – Conclusion

In this article we have covered 6 different way to make money betting on sports.

Matched betting and arbitrage are an ideal way to make a low risk income from sports betting. They are very easy strategies to use and can open your eyes to opportunities that there are in the sports betting markets.

For the more advanced sports bettor that has already made use of bookmaker promotions. Value betting is a strategy that you should really be considering.

If you are an expert sports bettor that has already made decent profit but has found themselves limited and unable to get money down with soft bookmakers. Delving into historical odds and looking for profitable angles to use on the betting exchanges and sharp bookmakers, is something to consider.

Our advice is to take a look at Oddsmonkey which offer software for matched betting, value betting, boosts, casino offers extra places and much more!

 

OddsMonkey

Best Staking Strategy For Sports Betting

If you want to make money long term then it is vital you find the best staking strategy for sports betting. Most importantly finding a strategy that you understand and suits your risk level.

In this article we are going to take a look at several different sports betting staking strategies. Identifying which is the best strategy to use based on your experience level and what you are trying to achieve from your sports betting.

Alright let’s get into it!

Best Staking Strategy For Sports Betting

 

Level Staking

We are going to start off with the most simple staking strategy you can use for sports betting.

Level staking is a simple strategy were you bet the same amount of money for every selection. For example you may choose to bet a set amount of £100 per bet. You then stick to betting this amount for every bet whether the previous selection win or lose.

Level staking is a good strategy to use for beginners due to its simplicity. The problem with level staking however comes when you are backing at different odds.

level Staking strategy

If we are betting £100 on a selection that is odds of 2.0 (£100 to win £100). Then the market is saying that we have a 50% chance that our bet is going to win. The next bet we like however is odds of 4.0 (£100 to win £300.) which only implies a 25% chance.

Drawbacks of Level Staking

This is where the problem lies with level staking. Due to the lower win probability at higher odds, we risk long losing periods using level staking and increased variance.

Which can put our bankroll in danger.

Level staking is great if you are consistently betting at around the same odds for each selection. It is ideal for the Asian Handicap market where you might be backing close to evens each week.

The simplicity makes it ideal for beginners however the draw back is when you are betting at various different odds ranges.

Which brings us on to the next staking strategy.

Stake To Win

The next sports betting staking strategy is a personal favorite and ideal for those who are getting to grips with sports betting.

Stake to win is a strategy that involves staking to win the same set amount for every bet.

Let’s say we are looking to win £50 every time we place a bet. We can bet at various odds ranges and adjust our stake so that should the bet win, our profit will be £50 each time.

  • 2.0 – Stake £50 to win £50
  • 3.0 – Stake £25 to win £50
  • 5.0 – Stake £12.50 to win £50
Stake to win Strat
Example from a lay strategy where £50 was the target to win for each bet.

It is an ideal strategy when you are betting at variable odds or placing lay bets. The major benefit of this strategy is again its simplicity and sensible staking should avoid large volatility in your results.

In comparison to level staking where a run of losers at higher odds could ruin your bankroll. The stake to win a set amount strategy makes losing runs much easier to deal with.

Martingale System

The Martingale system is a popular staking strategy among many bettors.

In fact I was once at a friends wedding and got introduced to someone. The subject of betting came up and let’s call him “John” told me about this amazing system he had used to make thousands from roulette.

He explained to me how the Martingale system worked.

Now before you get excited John was either lying or had gotten very lucky as Martingale is a mathematically flawed strategy that will likely send you to the poor house.

Due to its popularity though it is something we should cover.

Martingale Example

The martingale system is a staking strategy that involves doubling your stake after every loss. When a winning bet occurs you revert back to your original stake.

  • Bet £10 at odds of 2.0 it loses, move on to the next bet.
  • Stake £20 on the bet it loses again
  • Next bet is £40, another loss
  • £80,£160,£320,£640,£1280

You can start to see why this strategy is so dangerous. Losing runs do occur even with a solid long term winning strategy you can go through some pretty bad losing periods.

Even when looking to win only £10 per bet, It only takes 7 loses in a row for the next bet to be £1280.

In order to win £10!!!

Martingale Strategy

Martingale is not a strategy you should ever consider using seriously in betting. The risk vs reward of using this strategy is pretty terrible and even the best sports bettors in the world go through losing periods.

It is much smarter to accept that you will go through losing runs. However if your sports betting strategy does have an edge you will win long term!

Kelly Criterion Staking Method

On to Kelly staking which is a favorite of many professional sports bettors. It is however a strategy that is suited to the more experienced sports bettors. Who has a good understanding of what their edge in the betting market is.

The Kelly Criterion is a variable staking method that takes into account the probability of a bet and the implied edge. As the implied edge becomes bigger the suggested bet size also increases in relation to the odds.

Sounds complicated right?

Although it lacks the simplicity of stake to win or the level staking method. The Kelly Criterion isn’t as complicated as it sounds. Also there are a lot of Kelly staking calculators available online that do the hard work for you.

Kelly Staking Calculator

Kelly Staking Calculator Link

Using the calculator above or a similar, makes using the Kelly Criterion for sports betting accessible to anyone.

Kelly Criterion Formula

Stake = ((Decimal Odds x % Estimated Win Probability) – 1) / (Decimal Odds – 1) * 100

Stake = Optimal size of stake

Decimal Odds = Odds offered by bookmaker or exchange

% Estimated Win Probability = Estimated probability of bet winning

Negatives Of Kelly Criterion Staking Calculator

The Kelly Criterion is often seen as over aggressive and risky due to its high level of suggested staking. Many professional sports bettors suggest using a 1/2 or 1/4 Kelly. Which is a much lower risk and more suitable for sports betting.

The other drawback of the Kelly criterion is that you need to be able to identify your edge in the market down to a specific probability.

Trademate Kelly Staking
Value betting software Trademate uses Kelly staking

Fibonacci Staking

The Fibonacci staking system works by increasing your bet size after every losing bet. It is a negative progression system much like martingale.

Next up is the Fibonacci staking system which much like the Martingale system is used on bets around evens. The Fibonacci system was designed to help bettors recuperate their losses. Again however it is viewed as a mostly flawed system for sports betting due to its staking progression.

Whilst not as aggressive as the Martingale system, long losing periods using the Fibonacci system would suggest staking thousands to win £10.

In the Fibonacci sequence, every new number equals the sum of the previous two numbers. Let’s start at staking £10 to show how the sequence would work.

  • Bet 1 = £10
  • Bet 2 = £10 (to recuperate £10 lost)
  • Bet 3 = £20 (£10 +£10)
  • Bet 4 = £30 (£10 + £20)
  • Bet 5 = £50 (£20 + £30)
  • Bet 6 = £80 (£30 + £50)

Much like the martingale system, the Fibonacci system is not for the serious bettor. Whilst you will make lots of small profits, there will always be the one long losing streak which will wipe out your bankroll.

It is a popular system among casino bettors, however it is not advisable to use this strategy if you are serious about making money from sports betting.

Best Staking Strategy For Sports Betting – Conclusion

What is the best staking strategy for sports betting?

 If you are a beginner beginners then staking to win a set amount is a great strategy to use. It is very simple, lowers the volatility that betting at variable odds can bring and is easy to implement.

If you are a successful sports bettor then it is also a staking strategy that is easy to scale up. Perhaps you start betting to win £50 initially.

Doubled your bankroll?

You can now start staking to win £60, When your bankroll increase so does the amount you aim to win. If your bankroll decreases you can always lower the amount you are staking to win.

For the advanced sports bettor. Who understands what their edge is and has proven to be profitable over a large sample size of bets. Look towards 1/4 or 1/2 Kelly staking.

Overall the best staking strategy is the going to be the one that suits you. Its the strategy you are comfortable with and confident in implementing!

Useful Article – How To Make £100 A Day From Sports Betting

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

September Results

September was an interesting month.

Enjoyed football being back in full flow until the dreaded international break. There were some exciting UFC events to bet on and I spent much more time looking at live betting/trading football.

Let’s take a look at how things went in Month 66 of the challenge!

Making A Million

Value Betting/Trading

Not a great month for value betting which hit a pretty bad losing streak pretty early on. Didn’t find any really big pre match trading opportunities either to counter the down swing.

The international break also meant a reduction in the amount of bets compared to last month.

Value Betting

In total there were 176 bets made in September.

A total loss of -£1197 was made.

Overall a disappointing month for value betting and pre match trading. However long term the strategy is solid, I know it works just got to continue to put the work in.

Not Familiar With Matched Betting Or Value Betting ?

Read Our Guides Below

Matched Betting Guide

Value Betting Guide

Advantage Play – Casino Offers

Been a while but finally hit a decent win on a casino offer.

Betfair had been running a bet £25 get £5 bonus promotion for a few weeks, which was plus ev. Managed to hit a bonus round whilst staking £5 and won £651.

Casino Win

Overall I took part in 13 casino offers during September.

A profit of £697 was made in total.

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

Smart Sports Betting Community/MMA Results

Booked in a losing month for MMA betting.

One bet that I was really confident in was Jake Collier to win inside the distance. This looked like it was going to cash in the few minutes as Collier put a beating on Barnett for most of the opening round.

However props to Barnett, he was incredibly tough and came out to finish Collier in the 2nd.

UFC Bets

Overall I made 6 MMA bets this month and a loss of -£392 was made.

Horse Racing Tipsters

Down to following one horse racing tipster at the moment. That horse racing tipster is Kieran Ward’s Value Tips (free SBC tipster.)

Occasionally I also have my own horse racing selections which are based on market movement.

From the start of September horse racing bets were in the red. This continued throughout the month and there were many days where no selections were placed.

Overall a loss of -£227 was made from horse racing.

FTS Systems

FTS is a subscription service that offers a wide range of data to help you develop profitable betting strategies.

Currently I am running 3 season long strategies. One strategy focuses on laying the draw, the second strategy is goals based backing unders. The third strategy is again a lay strategy on the match odds markets.

During September these three strategies combined made a profit of £699.

In-Play Betting (Football and UFC) And Misc Bets

Last month I started looking a lot more at the in-play betting markets for football. This is something I have looked at previously but this month I approached it slightly differently .

The video below outlines an in-play trading session on football, discussing some of the strategies used.

Alongside the in-play betting, I also follow selections from a few podcasts and articles.

The football guys at Matchbook Insights are worth a listen with Mark O’Haire in particular being pretty sharp.

A total of £1553 was made from in-play betting and misc bets.

Results For September

Value Betting – –£1197

Casino Offers – £697

MMA – –£392

Horse Racing Tipsters – –£227

FTS Income – £699

In-Play Betting/Trading And Misc – £1553

September Results

Total Made In September

£1133

Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began

£162,252

 

 

 

Make £100+ A Day From Sports Betting In 2023

Oddsmonkey Boosts

How do you make a £100 a day from sports betting?

Is this even possible!

On this site for the past 5+ years I’ve been documenting my progress in the sports betting markets. In an attempt to make a total of £1,000,000 profit.

Over a period of 65 months a profit of £161,119 has been made. Which is pretty far off a million but still shows that money can be made with the right approach.

During 2022 a profit of £34,406 has been made after 265 days.

Make £100 a year Sports Betting

If we break that down. This works out at £129.80 a day (£34,406/265).

In today’s article we are going to take a look at the strategies used to make over £100 a day. Starting with the easiest strategies that you can use, then moving on to more advanced ones.

You won’t need to use all of these strategies, some of the simplest strategies can be very profitable and scaled up to make over £100 a day. However it is best to cover them all, as its always good to have multiple ways to profit from the bookmakers in your back pocket.

Matched Betting And Arbitrage

Like taking candy from a baby!

These strategies are without doubt the easiest way to make money from the world of sports betting. In fact in all my years of trying to make money online. Matched betting is the easiest method I have found to make tax free income online.

Bet365 Sign Up Offer

 

Alright so after that build up what exactly is matched betting?

Matched betting uses bookmaker offers and promotions to consistently secure very low risk profits. From matched betting you can expect to make anything from a few hundred pounds to potentially thousands

Matched Betting Offers
Snippet of a few sign up offers on offer.

Matched betting example

Let’s use the Bet365 sign up offer as example.

This is one of the best offers that is available at the moment!

You have to bet £10 to receive £50 in bet credits. Let’s take a look at a very low risk way of taking advantage of this offer.

Which will guarantee a profit of around £44 to put in your back pocket.

The first thing we want to do is find a bet on Bet365 that is similar odds to that of a betting exchange. (Betting exchanges allow us to place a lay bet which means that we act like a bookmaker. Laying essentially let’s us bet on two outcomes.)

Bet365 Offer

In the example above I have used a matched betting calculator to give you a clear indication of how this works. By betting our initial £10 on Mansfield at 2.05 and then laying it on Smarkets  at 2.04.

No matter the outcome we will stand to lose £0.06. When this bet settles Bet365 will hand us a £50 free bet, which if we just bet with on its own would make this offer worthwhile.

What we can do however is use a similar backing and laying approach to guarantee we end up with a profit.

Elanga Premier League Bet

Now again we look for odds that are similar on Bet365 and on the betting exchanges.

In the above image you can see I found Elanga to score the first goal at 11.00 to back with Bet365 and 11.00 to lay with Smarkets. By covering both outcomes a profit of £44.60 can be locked in from the free £50 bet.

This is why matched betting is an incredibly powerful strategy to use!

It is low risk and the easiest way to start making money from sports betting.

Arbitrage Betting Example

Let’s move on to arbitrage betting which is similar to matched betting in that is very low risk. Arbitrage betting however doesn’t use offers and promotions.

Profit is made when there is a difference in the odds between a bookmaker and exchange which allows us to back all outcomes to generate a small profit.

Arbitrage Example

Here is an example of a good arbitrage bet.

Sportnation are offering Burton at back odds of 2.3 and Burton are also available to lay at odds of 2.18.

Whenever you can back a selection at bigger odds then you can lay, a profit can be made! (Much like buying a stock and selling it at a lower price.)

Make £100 a day sports betting

Plugging this in to an arbitrage calculator. You can see a profit of £5.50 could be locked due the difference in back odds and lay odds.

Matched betting and arbitrage are great strategies to get started with!

We recommended taking up a free trial with Oddsmonkey by clicking here if you want to get started now

If you want to learn more we have two in-depth guides on both matched betting arbitrage below.

Matched Betting Guide

Arbitrage Betting Guide

Exploiting Casino Offers

Next up we are going to look at exploiting casino offers to make long term profits. Not exactly sports betting however many bookmakers also offer a casino and it is worth knowing how to exploit profitable bonus offers.

It should be noted that this is a level of risk that is higher then matched betting and arbitrage. Exploiting casino offers however be very lucrative!

Bonus Accumulator Results

How exploiting casino offers works.

We can make money from casino offers and bonuses. When the offers flip the advantage from the casino to the player. This happens because casino’s are willing to lose money initially on these offers in order to recoup it from long term gamblers.

If we only choose to play when the advantage is flipped over to us. Then we will win long term!

Below is a video where I walk you through an offer and explain why it is profitable.

If you want to learn more about how to exploit casino offers read out guide below.

Casino Offer Guide

Value Betting

If you are fairly new to sports betting, initially you would be better off sticking with the first 3 strategies. Using these first 3 strategies you should be able to make your first £1000 or more from sports betting.

Those that choose to multi account can push these strategies to the £100 a day profit mark. (Below is a video explaining multi accounting for those that are not familiar with it.)

Moving on to more of an advanced method.

Value betting uses information from betting exchanges and sharp bookmakers to highlight when slower moving soft bookmakers are offering value.

We can find value bet using a number of different ways however the easiest way to find value bets is by comparing bookmaker’s odds to the odds of a betting exchange.

Bookmaker’s frequently boost prices, now sometimes these “odds boosts”are basically fictional and the “boosted” prices offer no value at all. On other occasions however these boosts can be very profitable.

These are great value bets as indicated by the betting exchanges.

Oddsmonkey Boosts

On Oddsmonkey they have a community forum where value boosts are highlighted.

In the above image you can see Joe Joyce to win by KO (boxing) was boosted to odds of 5.0 whilst it was a lay price of 4.4 on Betfair. Unibet had also boosted Ronaldo first goal scorer to odds of 5.0 whilst he was 4.5 on the Smarkets exchange.

There is a lot of data that shows consistently backing at odds greater then the betting exchange prices is profitable long term. Value betting is one of the key strategies I use in today’s markets and it is very profitable.

Value Betting Results

Interested in learning more about value betting. We have a guide which can walk you through multiple different ways to find value bets.

Value Betting Guide

Betfair Trading

Lastly we are going to take a look at Betfair trading.

Out of all of the strategies this is probably the hardest one to master. There are so many options with exchange trading that people often get lost in the shuffle.

Moving from sport to sport, strategy to strategy. Then ultimately becoming so frustrated by it that they abandon it completely. Citing that it is impossible to make money from trading on the betting exchanges.

Pre Match Trading

It is far from impossible but it isn’t easy either. You have to be prepared to spend some time learning the markets and gaining experience.

Let’s take a look at my favorite Betfair trading strategy that is suitable for beginners!

Pre Event Trading

One huge advantage of the betting exchanges is that you can trade betting odds. By backing and laying prices (or laying then backing) you can lock in a profit before the game has even begun.

In the video below I explain pre event trading and show 3 different approaches that you can use to tackle the markets.

  • Team News
  • Managerial Changes
  • Midweek Performances
  • Injuries
  • Market Patterns
  • Weather Conditions

There are many different factors that affect the price of a sporting event. By gaining an understanding and experience in the markets, you can use this information to profit from pre event trading.

Make £100 A Day From Sports Betting – Conclusion

In this article we have covered five different profitable betting strategies. Using these 5 strategies I have been able to make over £100 a day from sports betting.

It is fair to say however that don’t need to master all of these strategies to achieve that level of profit. In fact there will be many people that have far exceeded the profit I have made from sports betting using fewer strategies.

The information in this article gives you multiple options and approaches that should enable you to make money from sports betting.

For the majority of people I would suggest using a tool such as Oddsmonkey. Start making money from matched betting, arbitrage, casino offers and value betting. Building up that bankroll and then look towards Betfair trading

What are you waiting for go make that first £100 in a day!

OddsMonkey

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

August was a good month.

The major football leagues returned, which meant a big increase in trading and value bets.

Spent a week in the beautiful Greek island of Corfu with the family. Which was a welcome break after a couple of years of covid making traveling abroad difficult.

Simplified my betting this month by removing the golf bets and trimming down the horse racing portfolio. This month I came to a similar realization as Steve from https://www.daily25.com/.

That the majority of my profit comes from one source. Which without sounding too much like an arrogant prick is from my own betting and trading. Over the years I have used multiple tipsters but outside of Beth Bet and Trademate (Which aren’t strictly tipsters) the time spent hasn’t really been worth while.

Early on in the month I decided to focus more on my own approaches, (scaling them up, improving them). Spending less time on getting tipster bets on.

Let’s take a look at how things went in Month 65.

Making A Million

Value Betting/Trading

Big increase in the volume of bets this month with the major football leagues kicking off. This also meant more pre match trading opportunities cropping up.

Fafabet

The biggest single winning bet I had on was with Fafabet. They gave out a nice 50% refund on a max bet of £200 which is very rare these day.

I took a straight bet on the draw in Leeds vs Everton game as it looked like it had some value, fortunately the draw came in. Likely that is the last offer I see from them.

Value Bets August 2022

It was a really strong month for value betting and trading. After 2 consecutive months that had been below par. Was nice to get some reassurance that the methods are still working.

In total there were 302 bets made.

A total profit of £4157 was made.

Not Familiar With Matched Betting Or Value Betting ?

Read Our Guides Below

Matched Betting Guide

Value Betting Guide

Advantage Play – Casino Offers

Did a few more casino offers this month and the daily bet £25 get £5 free on Fishin Frenzy, from Betfair was nice addition.

Betfair Fishin

Not sure why they started throwing offers my way again, after a year or two of nothing. Hit a few nice wins this month and a profit of £242 was made.

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

 

Smart Sports Betting Community/MMA Results

A low volume month in August for MMA betting. However more importantly is was a profitable one.

MMA Bets August 2022

It wasn’t looking too good for Leon Edwards going in to round 5 of his fight with Kamaru Usman. That was until he landed a picture perfect head kick that Mirko Cro Cop would have been proud of becoming the new Welterweight champion of the world.

Capping a profitable month of mma and boxing bets.

A profit of £280 was made this month from 6 bets.

Horse Racing Tipsters

As mentioned at the start of this article I cut down on the horse racing tipsters I was using.

Hansbury Racing has an excellent long term record however I realized I wasn’t comfortable with the long losing runs you get betting at higher odds. Which is a similar reason to why I stopped betting golf. Missing winners at big odds is very frustrating and can extend those losing runs that your bound to go through even more.

From the 10th of August I decided just to follow Kieran Ward’s Value Tips (free SBC tipster.)

Not as regimented as before, but when I see the email come through and I am at my computer I’ll place the bet.

Horse Bets August

Alongside this I also bet horses using one of my own methods, which is based around odds movement.

A profit of £305 was made from horse racing bets this month.

FTS Systems

August saw the first month for the FTS systems to kick in. Things didn’t get off to a great start as I was around £1k in the red at one point. However a recovery was made by the end of the month.

It’s been really interesting using the FTS database and confirming some bias’s that exist in the market. Using that I have also been able to see some trends for pre match trading.

Very optimistic that I can use this data to profit more from the exchanges going forward.

Overall a profit of £138 was made from my FTS systems.

 

Misc And Thoughts

Profit/loss was misc bets/trades this month was £308.

These are bets/trades that I haven’t recorded in any other section but are added/removed from the daily totals.

A strong month to kick off the new season. Feel like I have made a good decision focusing more time on my own methods over tipsters.  Time will tell I suppose.

Overall very happy with everything this month, excited to see how things look at the end of the year.

Thanks for reading!

Results For August

Value Betting – £4157

Casino Offers – £242

MMA – £280

Horse Racing Tipsters – £305

Misc – £308

Total Made In August

£5292

Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began

£161,119

Best Sports to Bet On: Which Leagues Are Most Profitable

As sports betting becomes increasingly popular, people are always looking for new ways to make money off their favorite teams. In this article, we will explore which leagues offer the best profit opportunities and why it is important to do your research before placing any bets. We will also provide some helpful tips on maximizing your chances of winning.

So whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, read on for all the information you need to get started in the exciting world of sports betting.

Sports Betting

The Importance of Research

Some of the best online sports betting sites in the US offer a wide variety of leagues to bet on, and it can be tempting just to pick your favorite team and start placing bets. However, this is not the most innovative way to approach sports betting.

Instead, it is essential to do your research and find out which leagues are most profitable. This may seem like a lot of work, but it is well worth the effort as it can make a big difference to your bottom line.

NFL: America’s Favorite Betting League

The National Football League is America’s favorite betting league. Each year, Americans bet billions of dollars on NFL games, and the league’s popularity shows no signs of waning. There are several reasons for the NFL’s popularity among bettors.

  • First, the league is extremely competitive, with a parity that ensures close games and exciting finishes.
  • Second, the NFL offers a wide range of betting options, from simple moneyline bets to complex prop bets.
  • Finally, the league’s popularity means abundant information and analysis are available to help bettors make informed decisions.

Prop betting is probably the easiest area to find some value or perhaps exploit some slower moving bookmakers with a value betting strategy.

NBA: A Global Betting Sensation

While the NBA may be most popular in the United States, it has also become a global betting sensation.

In China, for example, the NBA is the most popular sport to bet on, with millions of dollars wagered each year.  It’s not just professional gamblers who are getting in on the action; many ordinary people are also placing bets on NBA games. With the help of online bookmakers, anyone with an internet connection can log on and place a bet.

NBA

 

The popularity of online betting has also made it easier for people to place bets on games they might not otherwise have access to. As a result, the NBA has become a truly global phenomenon, with fans betting on games from all over the world.

MLB: The Money Maker for American Bettors

While the average American bettor may not be overly familiar with MLB, that hasn’t stopped it from becoming one of the most popular sports to bet on in the US. In fact, MLB is now the third most popular sport to bet on in America, behind only the NFL and NBA. There are several reasons for this, but the biggest is probably the sheer amount of money that can be made by betting on baseball.

For starters, there are more games in an MLB season than any other major sport, which means more opportunities to make money. But beyond that, baseball is also a relatively low-scoring sport, which means that even a small wager can have a big payout if you pick the right team. And finally, there’s the fact that baseball is a very strategic sport, which means that even casual bettors can make smart picks if they do their homework.

All of this adds up to big money for those who know how to bet on baseball.

Final Thoughts

Making a profit from your sports betting isn’t easy but it is possible if you put the work. A solid starting approach would be to specialize in one sport and learn as much as you can about the betting markets!

 

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

After a fairly disappointing June, did things rebound in Month 64 of the “Making A Million Challenge!”

July overall was another quiet month betting wise but things picked up at the end of the month with lower league English football returning.

Another highlight of the month was seeing the England women’s team win the Euros. The women’s game gets quite a bit of flak but I really enjoyed it. You see way less play acting and general shit housing, it was refreshing to see players get hit with a hard tackle and then just get up.

Generally they just seemed like they wanted to get on with playing football.Rather then use every little physical altercation as an opportunity to get teh opposition carded.

It highlighted really how pathetic a lot of male footballers are in the modern game. How rolling around pretending to be hurt just became an accepted part of the men’s game. I will never understand the decision to let it become an accepted part of the men’s game.

Seeing grown men, who are role models for millions of children act this way again just seems really pathetic.

Anyway enough rambling, let’s dig into the results.

Making A Million

Value Betting/Trading

Still a fairly quiet month for value betting.

The women’s Euros did throw up some selections, as did the UEFA qualifiers. Had a quite a few bets in the MLS and some of the summer leagues also.

August will see things ramp back up however with the return of major European leagues.

Value Bets July

In total there were 135 bets made.

A total profit of £811 was made.

Not Familiar With Matched Betting Or Value Betting ?

Read Our Guides Below

Matched Betting Guide

Value Betting Guide

Advantage Play – Casino Offers

Very small amount of casino offers done this month. There is much more that I could be doing here. In honesty it’s just a lack of interest on my part to grind casino offers at the moment.

I did 3 reload offers this month.

Losing £80 in total.

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

Smart Sports Betting Community/MMA Results

It was an improved month on the MMA betting front.

Felt like the things had been going against us the last couple of months. The misfortune which was Tom Aspinall breaking his leg 15 seconds into his main event fight against Curtis Blaydes. Gave us some profit in what I expected to be a competitive fight.

So the MMA betting gods seem to shining some favour our way again, Praise Odin!!

A profit of £575 was made from 15 bets.

MMA Bets

Horse Racing Tipsters

Pretty sure last month was the worst month on record for horse racing bets.

It was pretty much a month of consistent losers and gave back much of the profit made since Beth Bet folded.

The current racing tipster portfolio consists of 3 tipsters.

Hansbury Racing was the big loser this month . It really struggled to hit much this month and has been giving back most of the profit it previously made.

Horse Racing Bets

Overall a loss of -£1025 was made from horse racing.

Golf

My venture into the world of golf betting might be coming to an end soon. It’s been 11 months since I started golf betting and after last months results the overall graph is standing at -£25.

There has been some missed bets and using the exchanges only means that there isn’t the advantage of extra places. However I am starting to feel like my time might be better spent elsewhere.

In July a total of -£257 was lost betting on golf.

FTS Systems

This month I got the chance to delve into the data that FTS Ultimate provides.

It’s been really interesting getting a chance to look at the historical odds data and models that you get with FTS. I have had theories about strategies that might work long term, in the past.

“Yes I knew I was fucking right!” or “Ah balls I really thought that would work!”

Actually getting to confirm whether that is true or not with actual data is really rewarding.

Pretty excited to see how this goes in the long run. The fact that it looks possible to have winning strategies in high liquidity markets. Where I don’t have to worry about bookmaker limitations is very appealing.

From FTS Ultimate I have developed 6 systems that I am pretty sure will win long term.

For this season I will stake pretty conservatively at £50 a point.

Going forward there will be a lot more selections but this month there were 8 bets.

A loss of -£137 was made.

Misc

Misc includes profits or losses made from anything that is noted down on the previous headings. This is usually from following from bets from free tipsters. That I don’t individually record.

A loss of -£135 was made

 

Results For July

Value Betting – £811

Casino Offers – -£80

Golf – –£257

MMA – £575

Horse Racing Tipsters – –£1025

Misc – -£135

July Overall

Total Made In May

-£111

Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began

£155,827