November marked month 104 in the Making a Million From Sports Betting Challenge. 2025 has been a good year from a betting prospective but the recent announcement of an increase in gambling taxes has many in the industry rattled. In this months video I go over the latest results, strategies used and speak about the impact of these recent changes.
Total Made in November 2025
Total = +£1854
Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began (104 Months Ago)
October marked month 103 in the Making a Million From Sports Betting Challenge. The last few months have seen some strong results and I’m hoping the trend continues till the end of the year. Instead of the usual written write up, this months update is in video form.
Total Made in October 2025
Total = +£1702
Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began (103 Months Ago)
September marked month 102 in the Making a Million From Sports Betting Challenge. It has been a solid year of betting so far and an improvement from a below par 2024.
Let’s take a look at the results!
Value Betting Results
It was a big month for value betting with the biggest profit total made in a single month for a number of years. Value betting consists of a number of different strategies that all look to beat the closing odds of the betting markets or take advantage of advantageous bookmaker terms.
This month both Priced Up and Betdaq sportsbook hit me with betting limits, which was frustrating as I seemed to be going under the radar for quite a while. A good string of results however lead to being completely gubbed accounts on both.
Profit:£4547
(Adjusting stakes to win £100-£150 per bet).
I record profit/loss daily by each individual bookmaker or exchange.
Horse Racing Betfair Strategy Results
It was a winning month for the horse racing system on Betfair. These bets are also placed on bookmakers as part of my value betting if odds are better with a bookmaker I can bet with. If odds are better on Betfair then I place half the stake at odds available and half at the Betfair SP. (This is due to testing and finding the system profitable at SP).
Profit: £537
(Staking £10 per bet).
A decent month for the this horse racing system and overall the system has passed £2k in profit overall since implementing it at the end of the last year. Had a few emails asking if I could share more details on it, unfortunately that could ruin the edge. Potentially I could share the bets at SP with a Telegram group, this may be something I look at doing in the future and would test first.
Total Made in September 2025
Total = +£5002 (Profit is slightly different to the combined totals in this post due to a few misc bets that don’t fit into any category but are recorded on my daily P/L)
Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began (102 Months Ago)
+£207,340
Thoughts Going Forward
April 2023 was the last month I managed to hit a profit over £5k. This month was nice reminder that when positive variance is with me, big winning months are still achievable. The year now stands at a profit of £16,890, which is very respectable and is something I would have taken at the beginning of the year. Now that my bankroll has some extra padding I can also increase my staking in area’s where I am able to (exchanges) and look to scale things up.
There are a few services and software that I am testing at the moment:
JMbets – This is a service from a reader of this blog, it highlights value in the prop betting markets with some of the more popular UK bookmakers (Skybet, bet365, Paddypower etc). Whilst I can’t get money down on every bet it looks to be a very profitable service and one that is free for the moment.
Bet Hero– Finds big value in some lesser looked at markets card, corners etc. Covers some of the smaller bookmakers which other value services ignore. Also finds value on the exchanges but tends to be in low liquidity markets. My results are breakeven so far but will see where we are in another months time.
If the above two services show a decent level of profit then I will be adding them to my value betting approach. Overall happy with the profit made in 2025 so far and hopefully can end the year above £20k profit.
July marked a significant chapter in the Making a Million challenge as I hit the 100-month milestone. It’s been nearly eight and a half years since I began documenting profits and losses from sports betting. While the £1 million target is still a work in progress, this month was especially rewarding, with total profits since the challenge began surpassing the £200,000 mark.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of July’s results and what’s been working in my strategies.
Value Betting Results
After a pretty underwhelming 2024, the value bets are back to bringing in consistent profit.
In terms of the strategies used to get value bets I am using quite a few:
Bookmaker boosts – Priced Up and any other bookmaker I can still bet with
Each Way Value using Oddsmonkey and Betting Mastermind – Again taking value with any bookmaker that still lets me bet, Betdaq Sportsbook are one I have been recently been using quite a lot.
Inflated Odds on the exchanges – for example Bet365 superboosts on smaller markets (lay money pushing odds higher then they should be)
Shop bets – I have a Coral literally a 5 minute walk away, useful for each way bets and UFC.
I placed upwards of 59 bets this month (I now record grouped results per bookmaker or platform for efficiency). Realistically, total individual bets sit in the 700–1,000 range per month.
Horse Racing Betfair Strategy Results
Winning month for the horse racing system placing selection on Betfair. These bets are also placed on bookmakers as part of my value betting if odds are better with a bookmaker I can bet with. If odds are better on Betfair then I place half the stake at odds available and half at the Betfair SP. (This is due to testing and finding the system profitable at SP).
Profit: £139
(Staking £10 per bet).
Golf Betting
Golf betting is the newest addition to my toolkit, and it’s already proving its worth. Enhanced each way terms at Coral and Ladbrokes shops have been beneficial. Unfortunately, I lost access to Barone Racing in July. They tolerated my horse racing bets for a long time, but once I started placing golf bets, my stakes were immediately flagged and limited to £0. If you’re using bookmakers primarily for horse racing bets, I’d recommend avoiding golf betting entirely to avoid the risk of losing access. For now, it’s a balancing act between value and sustainability.
No big wins this month but I few decent places meant that a small profit was made.
To find bets I am using the 20 minute golf system from Mike Cruickshank and also checking Each Way Pro from Oddsmonkey.
Profit: £105
(Staking £10- £20 per bet).
Final Thoughts – Crossing £200K Profit
This month marked two milestones:
Crossing £200k profit
100 Months of recording P/L on this blog
It’s been a decent year so far and if you’d told me when I started this blog that I’d make over £200k profit from betting part time over an 8 year period. I would have been pretty fucking happy!
The betting landscape has changed a lot since then. Back in the day, there were massive sign-up offers, countless bonuses, and an industry that seemed to grow by the minute. While opportunities are less abundant now, the ability to make tax-free income from my computer is still something I deeply appreciate. Decent profit this year has shown there is still life in the old dog yet!
Looking ahead, I plan to keep scaling my bankroll and place larger stakes when possible. Without any major expenses on the horizon (new house, more children, etc.), I’m optimistic about achieving some solid growth in the years to come.
Thanks for reading the blog, appreciate your time and if you have any questions feel free to comment.
Total Made in July 2025
Total = +£1740 (Profit is slightly different to the combined totals in this post due to a few misc bets that don’t fit into any category but are recorded on my daily P/L)
Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began (100 Months Ago!)
It’s been a couple of months since the last update, and here we are already halfway through 2025 (time flies, doesn’t it?). Let’s dive into the latest results and see how things have been shaping up over the past few months.
Value Betting Results
The last two months have brought a much-needed upswing in value betting results. This strategy involves a mix of bets placed on both bookmakers and exchanges, with the majority of volume going through a 0% commission Smarkets account and Betdaq. On the bookmaker side, I’ve primarily been using Priced Up and Bar One Racing—smaller bookmakers that still allow me to get bets down.
Profit:£6095
(Staking to win £100-£150 per bet).
It’s nice to see value betting bring in some decent profits in the last two months as there has been a long stretch where it pretty much broke even. Looking over my longer term results value betting has made around £8.5k profit over a 12 month period of time. Which really highlights the volatile nature of value betting and the need for a long term outlook.
Value betting covers quite a few methods but they are all based on beating the closing odds or backing odds that are inflated.
The horse racing system on Betfair has made steady profits over the last four months and I’m now staking £10 per selection (£5 at odds available, £5 at SP). It focuses on horses odds at 6.0 or above and is pretty up and down as you can see from the graph below.
Profit: £442
(Staking £10 per bet).
Not a lot to report here, I have been backing some selection on bookmakers if better prices are available or I am having to offer up back bets on the exchanges. However I record these results under value bets and this section if for the Betfair bets only. I average around 10 – 20 selections a day with this method on an active day of racing.
Sharp Betting Football Results
The newest strategy that I added to my betting portfolio was Sharp betting football (backing selections on the exchanges). I was quietly confident that this would turn out to be a profitable strategy in the long term as I really liked everything about about the people behind the product and its long term results looked very promising. My results over a three month period however were not profitable.
Results: -£158
(Staking £10 per bet)
While I considered continuing with this strategy, it was quite time-consuming, and with limited hours in the day, I decided to put it on hold. If I manage to open some new bookmaker accounts in the future, I might revisit this strategy using bookmakers exclusively.
Golf Betting
In June I started place golf bets using a strategy from the Betting Mastermind service. This works pretty well as I have have a few bookmaker accounts that offer good terms and are allowing me to take some value out of the markets. This is also offered as a standalone service for those that asked, if you are interested in it you can click here.
Profit: £278
Previously, I tried betting on golf through the exchanges but didn’t see any success. I even followed a tipster who had been profitable every year—except for the one year I followed them! This new system from Betting Mastermind seems much more reliable, and I plan to stick with it as long as my bookmaker accounts remain active.
Final Thoughts – Vindication
The last few months have felt like vindication for sticking with betting. Profit for the first six months of 2025 has already surpassed last year’s 12-month total (£6,788), which was my worst year to date. For context, previous years have typically brought in £20k+ profits. If this year had been another poor one, I might have seriously considered shifting my focus elsewhere (I hear gigolo work pays well…).
It’s not been a case of radically altering things, again its just simple trying to get down on value bets as often as possible. The key is to be able to ride through the downswings and break even stretches knowing that what you are doing does win in the long term.
Here’s to a strong finish to 2025!
Total Made Mar/April/May/June 2025
Total = +£7247
Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began (99 Months Ago!)
As we step into 2025, the Making a Million Challenge hits months 94 and 95. Overall profit at the start of the year stood at +£190,510, however in the last couple of years profits have steadily dropped off. Being a sports bettor in the UK is far from what is was in previous years but is there still money to be made?
Let’s dive into the results from the past two months to find out!
Value Betting Results Jan/Feb
As always, we’ll kick things off with value betting—undoubtedly the backbone of my long-term success. It’s a strategy that’s not just stood the test of time but has repeatedly proven its effectiveness year after year. Most of my value betting revolves around the exchanges, where I take full advantage of 0% commission deals. This alone improves margins and helps preserve profitability, especially in a market where squeezing out every bit of value is critical. Alongside this, I also dabble in shop betting and soft bookmaker accounts, although this makes up a smaller slice of the overall strategy.
I now record results from each individual bookmaker/exchange rather then each individual bet. This just saves me a lot of time. The year started off very well until I had a terrible weekend and lost around £1k, been steadily recovering from that since.
Stakes are set to win £100 – £150 adjusted for odds.
In total a profit of +£901 has been made from value betting
Been using a strategy based on following odds movement. This strategy focuses on horses at odds of 6.0 or above and stakes half at the available odds and half at SP. Did a lot of testing for this strategy and currently staking £6 per selection.
A profit of +£93 has been made.
This strategy is pretty volatile, with previous swings reaching as high as 100 points. But for me, it’s worth staying the course. A key reason is that, in the same timeframe, I also back selections for Tilt The Odds, spending about an hour in the morning.
While profits over the past two months have been minimal, the long-term picture tells a different story. Since starting this strategy at a modest stake of £4, the results have shown a steady upward trajectory. (Results are tracked on a daily basis rather than individual bets)
Everything Else (Casino Offers, UFC and Tilt The Odds)
In future updates I will be adding Tilt The Odds selections to the value betting section as it is basically a value betting method. I have covered Tilt The Odds on this blog and on Youtube quite a few times however for those not aware it is a horse racing service that finds value with bookmakers.
In terms of Casino offers I have mainly been doing weekly offers from 32red. When it comes to UFC betting my volume is quite low with 2 or 3 bets made on each event.
Overall a profit of +£660 has been made from these strategies.
Total Made Jan/Feb 2025
Total = +£1654
Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began
+£192,164
Wrapping Up the Start of 2025
Kicking off the year with some profit is always a positive, even if I’m still waiting for that standout run of results to hit. In Feb I downloaded some API software and looked at pre race/ in-play horse racing trading. It’s impossible to ignore how some bettors are raking in consistent profits with this strategy. However, understanding the steep learning curve and the time it would take to hit their level is another matter. With the current direction of the betting industry, I can’t help but question whether the edge will last long enough to justify the commitment.
Thinking long-term, I see real value in broadening my horizons beyond betting—especially living in the UK, where the betting market is tightening. That said, my focus remains the three core strategies mentioned in this blog: Value Betting, Tilt The Odds, and Betfair Horse Racing Bets. All of them work long term and currently not spending much more then an hour a day getting bets down
How about you? How has your year started?
Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences!
Happy New Year! I hope 2024 was a good year for you and that 2025 brings plenty of positive moments and progress.
In this post, I’ll be sharing a straightforward breakdown of my betting results from 2024. I’ll walk you through the strategies I used, how they performed, and some key takeaways from the year. Hopefully, this reflection will offer some useful insights for those of you following along on similar paths.
Value Betting Results 2024
Starting off with value betting, which has been the highest volume part of my betting for a number of years now and the biggest source of profit in the previous two. My value betting mainly consists of betting on the exchanges when I believe the odds are overpriced due to a different factors.
Imbalance of lay money coming into the market
Bookmaker mistakes on early markets (can offer arbs to the market)
Odds movement on sharper bookmakers
As the graph indicates the year started off pretty strongly and then flattened out for the last 6 or 7 months of the year. There was no change in strategy, it just became a real grind to make any sort of profit. Felt like any time some momentum started to happen, a string of loss would put me back to square one.
The way in which I record my value betting results has changed from previous years, rather then record every single bet. I know record profit from the platform I used (Smarkets, Betdaq, Betfair etc), this meant that I massively cut down the amount of time I had to spent recording my bets.
My staking for value bets is betting to win £150 (stake adjusted for odds), if something is higher value I may stake to win slightly more.
Overall a profit of +£5828 was made from value betting.
In 2024 a bet on more horse racing selection then any previous years. This year I used two systems that were based on monitoring odds movement. For the first system the stakes were between £20 – £5 depending on odds. This system was stopped after I looked over results and saw the majority of profit was coming from a higher odds range.
The graph below shows the results over 216 days betting the first system.
The second system was started in November staking £4 per bet splitting half between odds available and Betfair SP.
Again the graph shows results on a daily basis.
Overall both systems made a profit.
System 1 = +£731
System 2 = +£724
Tilt The Odds
The one service that I used this year for horse racing was Tilt the Odds which I started using in October of this year. I use this service with soft bookmaker accounts and take some single selections on exchanges where I have 0% commission. The vast majority of selections are with bookmakers.
Tilt The Odds tracks your profit and loss via its website. This isn’t entirely accurate due to things like best odds guaranteed and rule 4 deductions not be being adjusted, however I don’t believe the true results are massively different. Given that I look over results on a daily basis for my daily P/L figures.
This P/L includes everything outside of the strategies mentioned above. I group all of these together as they are much lower volume. MMA betting has been one of my strongest sports over the years however this year has been a losing one.
Casino Offers are those advised by Oddsmonkey which have a positive expectation. 2024 was a very low volume year for casino offers but these also resulted in a loss. Lastly there are some free tipsters which I also follow and occasionally bet but these account form maybe 1 or 2 bets most weeks.
Overall a loss of -£1298 was made.
Results by Month
Overall it is fair to say that it has been a poor year in terms of betting profit. After a very strong 2022, 2023 saw a drop in profits and then that has continued this year. This year I have bet less volume and took off two months where I really only bet the bare minimum but still results are disappointing. There has been a 8 month breakeven stretch this year has made betting feel a little pointless during this period.
2025 feels like a bit of a turning point for me. I’ve found myself questioning whether betting is still something I want to pursue as a source of income. It’s no secret that my enthusiasm and passion for it aren’t what they used to be a few years ago. I believe that happens to most that stay in the game for a long time, initially betting is very exciting and you live and die by every results. Then it basically becomes data entry and you become pretty detached.
While 2024 wasn’t a disaster by any stretch, betting does feel much like a job to me rather then something that I really relish the thought of getting stuck into on a daily basis.
Yet, here’s the tricky part—betting remains incredibly lucrative. The ability to pocket thousands of pounds in tax-free profit is an undeniable perk that’s hard to ignore. It stands in sharp contrast to the other streams of revenue I’ve built up in recent years, which are accompanied by an unwelcome growing tax bill. Each year, as I see those tax numbers climb higher, it serves as a clear reminder of the unique earning potential that betting offers.
2025 Plans
In 2025 I will continue with value betting, the newer improved horse racing system shows promise. I can increase stakes in both of these areas as they are mostly bet on the exchanges. Tilt the Odds accompanies this pretty well as I can place all the bets within a 1 hour and 30 minutes period in the morning. In terms of adding anything new to the portfolio, I’m always on the lookout for interesting services/tipsters and still review products for this website. Adding anything to my own betting that shows promise.
Overall I hope that 2025 will be more profitable, I hope your betting was profitable in 2024. If you have any suggestions or recommendations for me email me or comment here. Always happy to connect with other bettors and traders!
It’s been a while since the last update, in fact it has been the longest time between updates since I started this blog. The last update was in April which marked month 85 in the “Making a Million Challenge”.
Which means we have May, June, July and August to catch up on.
There have been a few reasons for lack of updates:
Poor results in May and June
Took a break from betting over July and August
Other work took priority
For the first time since I started betting on what is almost a daily basis. I started to feel burnout and decided I needed a break from betting. Poor results were definitely a big part of that. This game is easy when you are crushing it week to week and making money.
The other side of variance is where it gets tough. Suddenly you are losing money for the 12th day in a row and seeing a previous months profit wiped out. Had these periods previously over the years and usually just grind through but this year felt I needed a solid break to do other things.
One of my local hikes
The last two months done a lot more hiking, running and been more physically active. Went away on holiday to Bulgaria (nice place) and stayed off the laptop completely.
A good exercise is to ask yourself every now and again, what would you change if you had “retirement money”?
Not being one for expensive cars, watches etc.
Thinking about it I would just spend more time with my kids and being active outdoors, which doesn’t require that much additional money. So that is what I did, spent a lot more time doing these things. Betting didn’t completely come to a stop over the last two months but I lowered my volume and only bet what I deemed obvious value.
Now all the big leagues are back in play and there are more opportunities, I’m ready to pick the volume up again. Looking to try and finish the year strong.
In today’s update I will go over the year as whole up until the start of September.
Value Betting Results
Let’s start off with value betting and have a look at results for the year so far.
In terms of recording my value betting, I changed this a few months back.
Previously I’d recorded each individual value bet. In order to save some time I then switched this to recording profit and loss by each platform. For example I would record the P/L from Betfair, Betdaq and Bet365 in 3 different entries. There may have been 26 bets however across all three sites.
Due to feeling a bit of burnt out with the grind of betting, this just cut down on some time recording results.
Up next is the horse racing system I came up with at the end of last year. This tested really well and I had high hopes that this would crush this year. It is a system based around monitoring odds movement in the earlier markets and beating the Betfair SP.
I record the results for this system on a daily basis, rather then by each bet. Again this cuts down on a lot of data that needs recording. It’s had a half decent upswing in the last few weeks, despite things looking pretty poor after 100 days of betting. Stakes for this system range between £10 to £50 and total profit for the year is at £1099.
Been a few times this year where I have felt like packing in this system. It consistently finds horses that beats the SP but there have been some periods where despite that it loses bet after bet. Will run it to the end of the year and make a decision.
Everything Else (Casino Offers, UFC, Value Collective, Tipster Bets)
Everything else includes the Value Collective which was a paid service I ran. This is currently free to previous subscribers but not open to new ones currently. This service is up 2.5 points for the year after a rough run of results in the last few months. UFC betting is included in the Value Collective but there are also additional bets I make that don’t get posted.
Casino Offers are those advised by Oddsmonkey which have a positive expectation. Then there are some free tipsters which I also follow and occasionally bet.
Everything else accounts for a loss of -£1644 this year so far.
I was surprised to see this accounts for my losses this year. Casino offers account for -£422 however the rest is in-play UFC betting and a few bets on free tipsters that I follow. Feel like it has been a weird year for UFC betting, had some judging changes and drug testing has changed. Perhaps its time to be more selective?
May/June/July/August
Overall Results
Below is a graph for the four months since the last update. As you can see it wasn’t pretty, for about a 60 day period there was the odd day where things went well. Only for future losses to wipe everything out and a decent 60 day downswing occurred. In the second half of the graph there were plenty of no bet days which is why the graph leveled out.
Last 4 Months P/L
Total Made In May/June/July/August 2024
Total = -£2049
Total Made In 2024
+£4551
Overall Profit Since The Challenge Began
+£188,213
Thoughts Going Forward
After a tough period I feel pretty refreshed and ready to grind again. The 2 month break has done me a world of good and I feel quite excited to start getting bets down again.
Have some new soft bookmaker accounts to use which is always a bonus and as always I will be looking to find some new edges. Soft bookmaker accounts open up a lot of different opportunities, such as tipsters and services. If you have any recommendations let me know.
Other then that it is time to return to grind and see how the year ends.
April marked month 85 in the “Making a Million Challenge”. The football season is coming to a close but with Euro 2024 not far away, there is still plenty to look forward to in the next few months.
Value Betting Results
It was a volatile month for the value betting strategy. Which was very up and down through out the month, all value bets this month were placed on the betting exchanges. However I did start to look at using this strategy again with soft bookmakers as there a few bookmakers left that I haven’t got round to using.
Betgoodwin
Bresbet
21Luckybet
Vickersbet
If anyone has comments on useful these are from a value betting perspective, let me know.
I have had a few emails regarding value betting on the exchanges and my approach is different to that of soft bookmakers. Unfortunately I can’t going into exact details without ruining my edge, however there are opportunities on the exchanges but that’s about all I can say.
Overall there were 181 bets and a profit of £866 was made.
The horse racing system picked up this month, a decent profit was made. This system can be used every day however it is a strategy that requires me to be at the computer at certain times in the day. Often work/family commitments take priority so there were quite a few no bet days.
In terms of staking I adjust my stake to win £100 per bet. Last month I mentioned that Copybet had allowed me to bet for about 6 months with decent limits.
About a day after I posted this blog last month my limits were cut. Which was frustrating but unfortunately that’s the game.
Overall the system won £586 this month, which I am pretty happy with. Not much to add other then that I will continue on and scale up the bet sizing in the next few months, providing results stay positive.
The Value Collective
The Value Collective is a Telegram group where I send out selections based on value bets available on the exchanges and mma/boxing selections. The focus is on the stronger selections which also have enough liquidity on the exchanges to share with members.
It was a very small losing month for the Value Collective in April with 0.57 points being lost. My personal staking is £150 a point for these selections.
Overall a loss of -£85 was made.
Overall the service is in profit to 24 points on 2% commission and 26.5 points on 0% commission accounts. Personally I am very happy with the overall results.
Generally the feedback has been positive. However they seem to be some people that think if you pay for a service it should win every month or make 200 points a year. Some people have very unrealistic expectations when it comes to sports betting.
If you are happy with a slow burner approach which will profit long term. Then it’s a good service to look at. The service costs £13.99, if you want to join you can do so here.
Moving towards lower volume style of betting suits me pretty well. There was period of time in my life where I wanted to be in front of the computer 24/7 and hit any type of edge that I could. However at this moment I am very happy to bet in the area’s I am most confident in and spend time working on things outside of betting.
Completely off topic but have been massively enjoying breath work recently. Started maybe a year or two ago with the simple Wim Hof method but lately been doing lots of different extended breath work sessions and it’s crazy the effect your breathing can have on your body. Seems like a very under utilized tool, that we never get taught about growing up
If you are someone that struggles to deal with stress or anxiety. Which sports betting can definitely be a source of. I’d recommend looking into it.
Moving forward I will be looking at using soft bookmakers again. Still have some friends and family members that I can work alongside. This could see profits improve in the second half of the year hopefully.
Overall thanks for reading, will be back next month!
