How to Expand an Existing Sportsbook Business

Are you looking to expand or take your sports betting platform to the next level?

The key is to find creative ways to retain the existing users while attracting new users to the sportsbook. The reason is simple – these users are the ones to use the sports betting services you offer on the platform. So, it makes sense to have as many of them as possible glued to your sportsbook.

Finding the best ways to go about this doesn’t have to be difficult, because we have figured it out for you.

Read this article to discover some of the steps you need to take to expand your existing sportsbook platform.

1. Get the Sportsbook Provider to Offer Post-Launch Services

This is the most logical thing to do. Even before the sportsbook platform is launched, you want to confirm from the provider if post-launch services are available. This can go a long way to help you save costs while making it easier to make the needed improvements on the sportsbook at the right time.

The post-launch services include but are not limited to:

Maintaining the sportsbook software.
Marketing support for promoting the sportsbook platform.
Regularly updating the games and introducing new titles.

2. Integrate Live Odds Software

The live odds software enables the live updates of the odds used across the different sportsbook betting types. This also offers the users/players the opportunity to follow their odds and see if they could be adjusted to increase their chances of winning the bet.

3. Be Intentional About Promoting Your Sportsbook Brand

You are the chief promoter of your sportsbook platform and even if you have hired others to do the work, your inputs are needed once in a while. Marketing the platform does two things for the brand:

It creates awareness, thereby, attracting more sportsbook lovers to check it out.
You will be able to come up with creative ways to promote the brand while integrating more services that your competitors have not thought about.

Here are a couple of ideas on how to promote your sportsbook platform:

Hire Influencers in the Sports Niche

Some sports pundits would help promote your sportsbook. Note that you should prioritize working with those with a large following on social media because they tend to record more conversions than those with lower followers.

The Money is on the List: Use Email Marketing

Ever heard that “the money is on the list?” You can make more conversions from those leads who had exchanged their email addresses and names for a freebie you offered.

Run Paid Adverts

Organic adverts might bring some leads your way but using paid adverts can scale things up faster for your sportsbook brand. Therefore, consider running targeted adverts on the following platforms:

Facebook
Twitter
Google

Use Content Marketers

The right content is the one that “speaks the right message to the right audience.” Content marketing can be used to promote your sportsbook platform, whereby you will be using more storytelling to tell related stories that encourage the readers to check out your sportsbook platform.

Create YouTube Videos

You can create a niche YouTube channel, where you publish videos related to sportsbooks. These videos can be in the form of:

Tips on how to use a sportsbook.
Information about the latest content added to your sportsbook platform.
Guide on how to bet on games available on sportsbooks.

Take Advantage of Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a business model that allows someone to earn a commission for attracting a sale. In the case of a sportsbook, it is someone who successfully attracted users to sign up, play wager on the games on a sports betting platform.

You can either build a customized affiliate network for your sportsbook or use any of the popular sports betting affiliate networks.

Build a Mobile App for Your Sportsbook

Mobile gaming is becoming increasingly popular than playing games from a fixed spot. Thus, consider developing a dedicated mobile application for your sports betting platform.

Besides, you can also use the mobile app to increase your sportsbook’s conversion rate. This can be done by:

Sending timely notifications to the users, on the latest updates on the sportsbook platform.
Sending customized betting offers to the users. This can be done after using built-in tracking and analytical systems to monitor the preferences of the users.
Consider integrating Social Gaming – a form of interactive gaming that allows the users to play against one another, compare their results, and share ideas on how to improve their gambling skills.

Make an Inroad to Offline Publicity

Now that you have solidified your sportsbook’s base online, it is time to make an inroad to the offline ecosystem. You can easily do this by finding a way of collaborating with retail outlets. The collaboration could be in the form of:

Placing your sportsbook’s QR codes at retail betting outlets, sports clothing stores, and sports arenas.
Offering coupons to fans of your sportsbook so they can shop at specific shopping outlets.

Final Thoughts: Start Making Plans to Expand Your Sportsbook Platform

Now is the right time to make plans on how to expand your sportsbook platform. Always make sure that the interest of the users is also considered in every step you take.

The integration of live odd software is the right move, as it would increase user engagement. By collaborating with others who are committed to the growth of your sportsbook platform, you can achieve all these in the shortest time.

Why Bookmakers Limit Or Close Accounts, Can You Stop It

You have received an email from your bookmaker, which goes something like this.

After reviewing your account we can no longer offer you promotions and your stakes may be subject to limitation.

On further inspection you log into your account, try to place a bet and…………………

Find that you are only allowed to bet a very small of money.

Have You Done Something Wrong!

Whereas before a bookmaker like Skybet/Bet365/William Hill would allow you to stake several hundred even thousands. Now they are saying that you are only allowed a paltry £4.55.

Bookmaker account closures and limitations are becoming more and more common!

Why Bookmakers Limit Or Close Accounts

Sometimes bookmakers do have legitimate reasons to close accounts. Perhaps you already have an account and are using trying to open multiple accounts in your own name. This is against most bookmakers terms and conditions which will result in them closing them down.

Another reason is they may suspect that someone is using stolen data or identity to open a betting account. Which again is a very legitimate reason to close someones account

However very often a bookmaker closes accounts to protect their business. In the case of bookmakers limiting accounts this is always the case.

Basically they are saying no more “no mas” we don’t want to lose any more money to you.

It’s an admission by them that you are beating them at their own game or that at least they think you will beat them at their own game in the long term.

So they either close your account completely or limit you to such small amounts that you can’t really hurt their bottom line.

Here are the main reasons bookmakers close or limit accounts.

Matched Betting ✔
Arbitrage ✔
Making Bets That Consistently Beat The Closing Odds ✔
Betting Like A Professional Gambler (Clear Profitable Pattern Of Bets) ✔
Your Account Is In Decent Profit ✔

Basically if you are in able to make consistent profits then they don’t want your business.

Are Bookmakers Allowed To Limit And Close Your Account?

Unfortunately in the majority of countries there is nothing you can do about a bookmaker closing your account.

One slight ray of hope has appeared out of Spain. Where Bet365 were ordered to restore the betting limits for a number of Spanish customers, after it they were taken to court.

(This happened in 2019, but unfortunately hasn’t effected bookmaker behaviour.)

Bookmkaer limits Bet365 — £4.55 limits seem to be a common theme?

However here in the UK this is certainly not the case and bookmakers are given free rule over who they can provide betting accounts for and who they cannot.

There is no law in place can that stop a bookmaker from closing your account and refusing to take a bet.

This means that bookmakers will continue to milk losing customers whilst turning away profitable ones.

How Can I Stop Bookmakers Limiting Or Closing My Account?

There is one clear way to stop bookmakers from limiting or closing your account.

Are you ready for it…………..

Don’t try to make a profit your betting and lose to the bookmakers over the long term.

Honestly with bookmakers such as Bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes etc that is the only way to keep your accounts healthy.

Another option is to use betting shops. Although eventually you will also get limited if you don’t bet too frequently and move around shops. Then you can usually get your bets on for a longer period of time in comparison to online bookmakers.

They won’t accept any winning bettors long term. It is not in their business interest and with no law to stop them, they are going to remove the biggest expenses from their business. Which is winning sports bettors

Obviously I wouldn’t expect anyone to actively try to lose but that’s the truth. If you are winning long term then there is no chance of keeping soft bookmaker accounts.

Want to learn how to extend the life of your betting accounts?

Read This Article – 5 Way To Prolong Your Betting Account

Bookmakers That Don’t Limit Or Close Accounts

Betting exchanges are websites that don’t limit or ban winning players. They use a different betting model to make a profit.

Instead of making money off losing bettors betting exchanges use a commission model where you are charged on winnings. This is generally 2% across the majority of betting exchanges.

It should be noted if you are very successful on the betting exchanges you may need to pay a higher percentage in commission.

The major betting exchanges are –

Betfair
Smarkets
Matchbook
Betdaq

There are a lot of similarities between the three with Betfair being the oldest and most popular. However in recent times it has had a lot of negativity for its frequent maintenance issues. Whilst liquidity is still good on the platform its unreliability is an issue.

Smarkets is next on the list. Used by the majority of matched bettors and arbitrage bettors. The platform itself is very stable with very little unplanned downtime.

Next up is Matchbook. Similar to Smarkets it is used in the UK by a lot of matched bettors/arbitrage bettors.

The amount of money to be matched seems to be lower then Smarkets on the majority of markets. Smarkets also tends to offering better market spreads with less gaps compared to Matchbook.

Betdaq doesn’t really seem to have much going for it. It is the least popular of the betting exchanges. Has changed ownership a few times and introduced a sportsbook. Occassionally they offer 0% commission for certain events which is worth keeping an eye out for.

Out of the four Betting Exchanges listed my personal preference would be Smarkets.

It is the betting exchange I use the most, have had very little issues with and currently seems to be much more stable then Betfair.

Conclusion

We have covered why bookmakers close or limit accounts throughout this article.

Overall unless there is a law that comes into place which forces bookmakers to take bets from everyone.

Then the winning sports bettor is always going to end up being closed or limited very small amounts by bookmakers. Ultimately if a business can remove its biggest expense and breaks no law doing it. Then they are going to exercise their right to do so.

The best option if you don’t want your account closing or being limited. Is to open an account with a betting exchange where being a successful bettor isn’t a reason to close your account.

(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 Pro Tips To Stop Bookmakers Limiting Your Account

One of the most frustrating aspects of the sports betting industry is that when you learn a method of making profit. The bookmaker can just turn around say “no thanks, we don’t want your business anymore.”

Sometimes a bookmaker will close your account completely.

Other times a bookmaker will put tiny limits on your account so that you can only stake pennies on a selection.

How can you stop bookmakers limiting your account?

5 Methods To Stop Bookmakers Limiting Your Account

The sad truth is that unless you are betting with betting exchanges such as Betfair, Smarkets etc or sharp bookmakers like Pinnacle.

Then you will be limited if you are a profitable sports bettor.

Hold on though, the good news is that after many years of betting successfully myself, there are a few strategies I have found which help prolong the life of a soft bookmaker account.
Allowing in some cases several extra years before the limitation hammer is swung!

These strategies I have found to work very well with Bet365.

Which in my opinion is the most valuable soft bookmaker account you can get.

Watch this video on YouTube

1. Prime Your Account

When you open a new betting account, that is often when it is looked at with the most scrutiny.

Bookmakers employ people to assess the risk level of their customers.

Customers are then basically categorized into being recreational bettors or sharp bettors.

If you want to extend the life of your betting account then your aim should be to initially look like a recreational bettor. This is why many successful sports bettors look to prime new betting accounts.

What do you mean by priming an account?

Priming an account means that you place bets in order to look like a recreational bettor rather then a sharp one. Instead of hammering an account with value bets, arbitrage bets and exploiting free bets to the maximum amount.

You want to look like a normal recreational bettor.

2. Pick A Favourite Team

This is a fairly simple method that helps make you look like a recreational bettor.

Pick a favourite team and look to bet them most weeks.

Recreational bettors don’t look at where they can get the best value or best odds.

They bet with emotion and picking a team that you bet week in week out makes you look exactly like the sort of customers a bookmaker wants to keep.

One of the longest running accounts I have, is one that I used to bet Tottenham with each week. I did this for the first few months laying off the bets on the betting exchange Smarkets.

Years later I still mix in the odd Tottenham bet amongst other sharp bets.

Initially you will lose some money. However with Bet365 in particular the losses that you make will be recouped somewhat by the loyalty bonus they throw out every few months.

3. Accumulators

Next up are accumulator bets. The bookmaker’s favourite type of customer is the one that chucks a load of accumulators on every week and doesn’t bet anything else.

For keeping your account pegged as recreational, placing one or two small accumulator bets each week is an excellent way of looking like a regular punter.

Using Oddsmonkey’s accumulator matcher. I found that taking the top treble would lose £0.67 in EV from a £10 stake.

Which isn’t a huge amount of EV to give up, given how valuable a Bet365 is over the long term.

Also if you combine this with the Bet365 2up promotion. Then you can reduce the amount of EV you give away even further.

Personally I have found throwing in small accumulator bets amongst my other “sharper” bets to be very beneficial.

It also helps to mix up my betting patterns which leads on to the next point.

4. Mix Up Your Betting Patterns

If you are arbitrage betting, taking large value bets or just exploiting free bets for the maximum amount it can be fairly easy to spot.

Recreational bettors (which is what we want to look like) are not disciplined.

They vary their stakes, bet different sports and try out different markets when things aren’t going right.

If someone profiling your accounts see’s you are only placing single bets on horse racing or lower league football and also making a profit. Then it is likely they will take a deeper look at your account.

Placing bets in different markets and mixing up your betting patterns can help your account look like a mug bettor.

Rather then placing a football accumulator each week, mix in a rugby accumulator from time to time or a esports accumulator, tennis accumulator etc.

5. Live Betting

Live betting is huge and again it is one of the bookmakers favourite area’s at the moment. You see it over and over again at half time in football games. Bookmakers love to advertise terrible value “boosted” bets.

They prey on the fear of missing out, emotion of a live game and the rush to get on the “boosted” bet before the game resumes.

“Back James Milner to score the next goal at the boosted price of 8.5!!!” (When the true odds are really 13.00)

Mixing in live bets amongst your other “sharper” action is again going to help you look more like a recreational bettor.

Another advantage of live betting is that if you can do it profitably. Then it is much harder for a bookmaker to compare its price to others.

Due to the ever changing nature of live betting and lack of a closing line.

Stop Bookmakers Limiting Your Account – Conclusion

So those are 5 methods that I have used in order to prolong the accounts of my soft bookmaker accounts.

Specifically I have found them to work well with Bet365 accounts. As those are the soft bookmaker accounts I value the most and make an effort to maintain for as long as possible.

Other strategies that may also help to stop bookmakers limiting your account include.

Not withdrawing too often .
Rounding up your betting stakes.
Avoid using ewallets.
Spreading larger stakes amongst different bookmakers if possible.
Avoid betting on horses the evening before races (unless its a major televised race.)

Until betting legislation changes the majority of bookmakers will always look to get rid of the customers that cost them money.

However using some of the methods described in this article will help you stay under the bookmakers radar for a longer period of time.

Over The Last 46 Months I Have Been Documenting My Attempt To Make A £1,000,000 In Profit From Sports Betting.

Click Here To Learn The Methods I Have Used To Make £106,340 So Far

The Biggest Sports Bettors In The World 2023 – 3 Men That Risk Millions Betting On Sport

Recently I was speaking to a friend about sports betting. He asked me who is the “Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo” of the sports betting world.

It was an interesting question as who are the biggest sports bettors in the world?

The Biggest Sports Bettors In The World

Successful sports bettors don’t tend to glamour for the limelight.

They have their edges in the sports betting markets and make money from it. If they were to reveal their methods and how they make money from sports betting, the markets would react and they would no longer be profitable.

So there is “no world series of sports betting” or “sports betting champions league.”

There are however a few high profile sports bettors that are known among the media.

Billy Walters

Billy Walters is a big name in American sports betting. It is estimated that Walters has made tens of millions of dollars perhaps even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Walters was originally for Kentucky. He moved to Las Vegas in the early 1980’s and formed his own betting syndicate.

Walters betting operation was first described in the book “The Smart Money” by Micheal Konik.

Within the book the author goes into detail about Walters (although a pseudonym is used) betting operation. How he used multiple people to get his bets on using multiple accounts.

Difficulties he faced in getting sports books to accept his bets. Alongside the lengths and planning he had to go through to be so successful.

Although he has been largely secretive about his betting operations. He has been covered on ESPN and had a small television segment made about him.

Billy Walters has long been known as one of the biggest sports bettors in Las Vegas. However has most recently been making headlines after being convicted of insider trading.

Tony Bloom And Starlizard

Tony Bloom is the owner of UK based betting syndicate “Starlizard.”

He is well known name among sharp sports bettors. It is estimated that Starlizard can have as much as £1 million staked on a single outcome of a football match.

Starlizard are known to run their betting operation with same devotion and analytics of a major hedge fund.

Officially Stalizard describe itself as a betting consultancy. Which uses complex statistical models to generate football odds that are sharper than those offered by the Asian bookmakers and betting exchanges.

Alongside profiting from their own bets Starlizard are also known to provide winning football bets to other high rollers.

Bloom isn’t just involved with sports betting and has many other business ventures.

In 2009 he became the chairman of his hometown club after purchasing 75% stake in the club. Also investing £93 million into developing a new ground.

According to Business Insider UK the bulk of the money used in Stalizard’s operation comes from Tony Bloom. Described as a maths whiz.

He is a veteran gambler and has competed in some of the highest stake poker tournaments around. In the early 2000’s he was estimated to have made millions from setting up online bookmaker and poker websites.

Much like Billy Walters, Tony Bloom is not one for the public limelight. With most articles containing second hand information about his betting activities.

Bloom only chooses to talk with the media about his involvement in Brighton And Hove Albion.

Zeljko Ranogajec

Zeljko Ranogajec is rumoured to be one of the biggest gamblers in the world. It is estimated that his global annual turnover is more then $1 billion.

Born in Australia in a family of Croatian immigrants. Zeljko first success in gambling came from the game of blackjack.

Allegedly Zeljko Ranogajec turned a bankroll of a few hundred dollars into millions through advantage play.

He has also had notable wins in the game of Keno winning $7.5 million and in 2011 was inducted into the blackjack hall of fame.

When it comes to sports betting Zeljko Ranogajec is rumoured to bet significant amounts of money on horse racing. It is reported that his turnover accounts for nearly a third of the total for Betfair in Australia.

Ranogajec does not give any interviews.

A lot of the speculation that surrounds him comes from second hand information. As with most large scale sports bettors there is not much for him to gain from revealing information about his betting activities.

Click Here To Receive Free Betting Tips From Proven Winning Tipsters

Who Are Biggest Sports Bettors In The World?

The three sports bettors above are thought to turnover hundreds of millions perhaps billions annually.

In truth though it is hard to know who the biggest sports bettors in the world are. As if you are profiting from sports betting on such a large scale it is in your interest to keep that knowledge to yourself.

Some of the biggest sports bettor in the world may also not even be winning ones!

I am sure there will a few rich oil merchants or Chinese businessman. Who bet huge amounts of money for thrills without the detailed analysis needed to be successful.

So whist little is known about the biggest sports bettors in the world.

There are at least a few individuals that rumoured to be beating the sports betting markets on a massive scale.

Interested in sports betting, matched betting, advantage play or trading?

Read my attempt at making £1,000,000 from sports betting.

Worst Bookmaker In The UK? – Bookmakers To Avoid In 2022

If you make money from sports betting. Then it’s likely you are not very fond of bookmakers.

Limitations, bans, being asked to supply the last 5 years of your bank statements. Along with a selfie ID in front of today’s newspaper.

In order to withdraw money that they let you deposit with no questions asked.

There are many shady and unethical practices that bookmakers employ to make life difficult for the regular sports bettor.

Which bookmaker stands out as the worst in the UK?
Who are the bookmakers that you want to avoid in 2022?

In today’s article we are going to take a look at the worst bookmaker currently on offer in the UK.

Highlighting the warning signs you should look out for when trusting your money with a bookmaker!

Watch this video on YouTube

Worst Bookmaker In The UK

High up on the worst bookmakers in the UK list is Betway.

As Caan Berry highlights in the video above. Betway have drawn a lot of negative attention for their unethical practices over the last few years.

My experience with Betway was opening an account. Placing one initial bet and then finding my account restricted from promotions, along with stake limitations the next day.

Recent Trustpilot reviews suggest that Betway haven’t improved as a bookmaker, since I last used them.

With several reports of Betway doing all they can to stop punters withdrawing their winnings. Blocking accounts, delaying withdrawals, settling winning bets as lost etc.

Their average review on Trust Pilot is 2 out of 5.

This is despite them running a free bet promotion, where Betway gave members who wrote a positive review free bets.

As the Times report, despite adding over 6000 positive reviews on Trustpilot through unethical measures. The average rating for Betway is still very low. Remove those 6000 five star reviews and its pretty obvious what a fair rating would be.

Unable To Withdraw Winnings

One of the most frustrating things a bookmaker can do is withhold your money!

A common theme among many shady bookmakers is they will let you deposit large amounts into an account with zero checks. However when it comes to withdrawal time woah woah woah!!!

Sir/madam can you explain where this money came from? Provide source of funds, multiple forms of ID, go through a phone interview etc

It’s a terrible practice that is unfortunately all too common with the worst bookmakers in the UK.

This Guardian article highlights Betways abuse of these verification measures.

Betway are notorious for doing this. I know multiple people that have had no problem depositing with Betway but once it came to withdrawing that money. Were met with all the resistance that Betway legally can get away with.

There are also numerous reports on Reddit of them doing this.

Grooming Losing Bettors And Accepting Stolen Money

We have gone over how Betway treat winning bettors and those that dare to withdraw a profit from their betting accounts.

Let’s take a look at how they treat losing bettors.

The Daily Mail reports in this article

That even after a high spending losing bettor had “self excluded” himself via gamstop. Betway offered him a £300 bonus bet to reel him back in.

The article really highlights the predatory nature of Betway.

There are multiple reports showing how they abuse verification and source of funds measures put in place to identify problem gamblers. Which were all used as a way to deter winning players and delay withdrawls.

However in this story we see a problem gambler of the highest order. Someone that ends up stealing to fund their betting addiction.

Being plowed with free bets and incentives. Having “VIP Managers” chatting to him regularly under the guise of being a friend. All done with the intention squeezing a father with a gambling addiction for all of the money they could get.

Where were these source of funds and affordability checks in this case?

Unfair Bonus Terms

The term bonus is usually defined in a positive way. It is something that is given as reward for good work or an additional incentive.

However something that has become more and more common practice with the worst bookmakers around is the worthless or -EV bonus.

This is something that appears at first to be appealing perhaps a £20 bonus for signing up. But when looking at the terms of conditions is actually worthless or of much smaller value.

It probably comes as no surprise that Betway use this tactic for their casino sign up.

On the face of it a £50 bonus sounds great.

You deposit £50 and then you get an additional £50.

The issue comes with the terms and conditions.

There is a 50x wagering on the deposit (£2500 wagering on £50.) With weighting requirements, which means some games won’t contribute fully to the wagering. There is also a term that states irregular game play may invalidate your bonus (Pretty much a get of jail card if they don’t want to pay out.)

If we dig into the maths of this offer. A regular bettor is probably going to try and wager through this offer on a slot.

A good slot would have a 97% return to player, meaning that for every £100 wagered on average £3 would be lost. Given that you have to wager £2500 to withdraw the bonus.

We can do the sum as -£3 (average lost wagering £100) x 25 (complete £2500 wagering) = -£75.

Showing that this £50 “bonus” offers no value at all.

Other Bookmakers To Avoid In The UK

High up on my personal list is Fansbet.

When I tried to withdraw £20 from the company. Suddenly a flurry of requests were made for ID, source of wealth etc. They would not accept my bank statements as I had blurred out personal transactions and demanded to see a full month’s worth of unedited statements.

Overall just a huge pain to deal with and a shoddy bookmaker with generally very poor odds.

Tonybet are another bookmaker with a pretty poor reputation.

Personally I have had very little to do with them. However they are are multiple reports of them using similar tactics to Betway in order to keep hold of money.

Is Betway The Worst Bookmaker In The UK?

Betway is in my opinion the worst bookmaker in the UK. Especially given its advertising presence online and the fact that its sponsors popular football teams such as West Ham.

Of the most well known bookmakers it is definitely the one to avoid.

From my experience with online betting for last ten years and running my betting as a business. I would advise caution when dealing with Betway. It is not a bookmaker I would want much money in my account with.

Given its history of holding on to withdrawals for as long as possible and making life hard for anyone that isn’t handing them over their wage slips every month.

Do you agree, who is your worst bookmaker in the UK?
Any bookmakers we missed that should be avoided?
Let me know in the comments!

How To Bet With Pinnacle Sports From The UK 2024

Pinnacle Sports are one of the most well respected bookmakers in the world.

Established in 1998. Pinnacle sports are known around the world for their policy of allowing winning sports bettors to continue betting at Pinnacle without the worry of limitations.

This makes Pinnacle an ideal place to bet for the professional bettor.

Bookmaker limitations are pretty common today which is why many UK based bettors are looking for a way to bet with Pinnacle.

How to bet with Pinnacle Sports from the UK?

If you access the Pinnacle site from within the United Kingdom and try to create an account you will be greeted with this message.

Using A Bet Broker

Pinnacle left the UK betting market in 2014 due to an increase in betting taxes.

Although there had been talk of a return. It was thought that the increase in tax meant that Pinnacle’s business model wouldn’t work.

The only option for UK based bettors looking to bet with Pinnacle in 2024 is to use a betting broker.

What is a bet broker?

A Bet Broker acts as a middleman between the client and a bookmaker.

Bet brokers are fairly common in Asia.

Many professional bettors choose to bet with a Bet Broker as they are unable to bet with most European bookmakers due to limitations.

What Is The Best Broker?

The Bet Broker that I use to access Pinnacle and other Asian bookmakers over the last few years is Asian Connect.

Bookmaker limitations was established in 2002 and is licensed in the Netherlands.

Through Asian Connect you can get access to accounts with multiple bookmakers.

Pinnacle
Singbet
PS3838
Orbit Exchange
Maxbet

The stand out service in my opinion however is the Asian Odds platform.

Asian Odds give you access to the best odds on the Asian markets.

Alongside Pinnacle you will also get odds from Penta88 and 3ET.

You can see the maximum amount that you are allowed to bet with each bookmaker before the odds will change.

This is the service that I use the most with Asian Connect.

When liquidity is poor on Betfair or the market hasn’t even been released yet. I often find I am able to get money down on an Asian book using Asian Odds.

Sports You Can Bet On Using Asian Odds

There are multiple sports that you can bet on using Asian Odds.

All of the above sports are available to bet on, with pre-match and also in-play odds available.

For me personally having access to early MMA odds is huge.

As liquidity on these early markets is pretty non existent on the exchanges.

So having access to the Pinnacle odds is great.

How Can I Open And Fund An Account?

Once you have signed up to Asian Connect.

You will get a access to a dashboard, where you can deposit, withdraw and transfer funds between between the different bookmakers available you.

If you are outside the UK deposits can be made via Bitcoin, Tether, Neteller, Skrill or Ecopayz.

Once you have chosen your deposit option. You can then choose which bookmaker you want to fund for example Singbet, Orbit or the Asian Odds platform.

Payment is pretty fast.

Normally it takes about 5-10 minutes for the money to be added to an account.

Funding an Account From The UK

Asian Connect recently changed the payment methods for funding an account if you are based in the UK. Currently you can only fund an account using three methods:

Bitcoin
TRC20
ERC20

(If you have a Skrill account which is registered outside the UK, you will also be able to deposit and withdraw with this method.)

Any Issues With Asian Connect

I used Asian Connect for a period of around 3 years and had no issues.

Personally I have have had no issues with the company. The reason I stopped using them was their switch to crypto currency only for deposit.

Verification was simple, I provided one form of ID and one form of proof of address.

Depositing money and withdrawing has been no problem.

One issue I am aware of is with one of the bookmakers Asian Connect provide.

That bookmaker is Singbet, who have a reputation of voiding bets.

Because of this I would advise that you be wary of using Singbet.

Due to this issue arising the option to bet with Singbet using the Asian Odds software was removed by default.

Overall Asian Connect has an excellent reputation as one of the best Bet Brokers available.

It should be noted however that there is no protection of your funds. Should Asian Connect fold you would not have any legal means to recover funds.

Why Bet With Pinnacle Sports And Other Asian Bookmakers?

Sick of being limited by European bookmakers?

Want to see how much you can bet before odds are moved?

Generally want to bet somewhere where winners are not heavily penalized and only allowed to bet tiny amounts.

Then Asian Connect is an good option.

Click Here To Join Asian Connect and Get a 25% Bonus!

(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.)

Can Sports Betting Be A Good Investment?

Sports Betting As An Investment

Is sports betting a viable way of investing money?
Let’s take a detailed look in this article.

It’s impossible to make money sports betting!

The bookmaker always win!

Sports betting is for mugs!

These are statements that you have probably heard time after time. Whether it’s from family members, a guy in the pub or even a close friend.

The majority of people hold the belief that it isn’t possible to make money from sports betting. However if you switched the term “sports betting” to “stock market” the majority of people would do a u turn.

Sports Betting As An Investment

Starting this blog my intention was to see if I could find multiple ways of making money from the sports betting markets.

When I started there was one strategy in my pocket that worked really well. Over the last few years I have added a few more and overall managed to make over six figures in profit from sports betting.

Starting with £10,000 investment, 57 months later that investment now stands at 138,487.
Equaling a 128,487 profit.

You can make money from sports betting it is very possible this is a fact!
Will everyone make money from sports betting?
Will everyone make money in the stock market?
If you handed 100 people £1,000,000 and came back a year later. Would they all still be millionaires?
The answer to all these questions is no.

Obviously there are a lot of variables in life and differing outcomes depending on lots of different factors.

Whilst reading this article won’t guarantee that you will make money from sports betting as an investment. What it will do is give you a solid idea of how to approach it.

(Below is a video discussing how to treat sports betting like a business)

Watch this video on YouTube

Why Sports Betting Can Be A Good Investment

First off why can sports betting be a good investment?

It’s Tax Free ✔
High Turnover ✔
Simple Low Risk Strategies To Get Started ✔

Here in the UK winning from sports betting are tax free.

Which is a huge bonus for anyone that wants to look at treating sports betting as a serious investment. Not having to give back any money in taxes at the end of financial year is a plus.

Secondly, there are sporting events every singles day. Whether its horse racing, football, boxing, mixed martial arts, tennis. There is always a sporting event going on which means with a proven strategy (which we will get onto soon) you turnover you money with ease.

Lastly, to get yourself started there are some very low risk proven methods that allow you to make profits with very little risk. Which allows you to get familiar with sports betting and also profit at the same time.

A Sports Betting Bankroll

The first thing you should really do if you want to treat sports betting properly is have a bankroll. This is money that is entirely separate from everything else in your life.

It exists purely for betting. It’s not to cover your mortgage payments, food bills or anything else. Like an investment it’s purpose is to be left to grow into something more.

Doesn’t have to be a lot, with the low risk strategies outlined in this article it could be as low as £100.

Low Risk Sports Betting Strategy

Let’s start off with the lowest risk strategy you can use.

Which is matched betting. Matched betting uses bookmaker bonuses to lock in a profit before the start of a sporting event.

In the above picture you can see Bet365 offer £50 in free bets if you bet £10.

By exploiting this offer you can guarantee around a £40 profit. This is done by covering all the outcomes of an event and is a very simple process.

Click Here For Our Guide To Matched Betting

The second low risk strategy that you can use is called arbitrage betting. This doesn’t involve bonuses however it is similar in that it allows us to cover all outcomes of an event to guarantee a profit is made. Arbitrage bets occur do the movement in bookmaker odds.

As indicated in the picture above. There times when backing all outcomes of an event can generate a profit. This is known as an arbitrage bet.

Click Here For Our Guide On Arbitrage Betting

Other Profitable Betting Strategies

Matched betting and arbitrage betting are great. However they are generally shorter term strategies that enable you to make some money and your feet in the betting markets.

Bookmaker’s will eventually realize what you are doing (exploiting promotions) and recognize that you are making arbitrage bets. When this happens they remove your promotions and limit your accounts.

Which means that unless you have an unlimited number of friends and family members that let you bet on their behalf. Your going to have to find a few more strategies to keep making money long term.

Once you have built up your bankroll from the low risk strategies, let’s take a look at what you can move onto.

Exploiting Casino Offers

The next step for me was exploiting casino offers. It is a proven way of making money, based on solid maths. When casino’s offer promotions/bonuses they often flip the mathematical edge they usually have over to player.

Whilst you are not guaranteed to make money on every singles offer. If you do these offers often enough then you will profit long term over a large sample size.

Click Here To Learn How To Exploiting Casino Offers

Value Betting

Another strategy that is backed up by solid numbers and proven to work long term is value betting.

Value betting involves exploiting the slower moving bookmakers, who don’t move their betting odds in line with the rest of the betting world.

This means when the sharper professional sports bettors start moving the odds with their money. We can take advantage of that by backing following these sharp moves and betting with slower bookmakers.

Using Tipsters

Next up is using betting tipsters that have shown to be profitable over a large sample size of bets. Finding good tipsters can be difficult but there are some that exist.

One of the best resources to find proven betting tipsters is the Smart Betting Club who provide in depth analysis to research the very best tipsters around.

Sports Betting Compared To Other Forms Of Investment?

Lets take a look sports betting compared to other forms of investment that are available.

Currently £1000 put in the best performing ISA according to money saving expert. Would return 1.3%. Giving a profit of £13 would be estimated.

Vanguard’s 60% medium risk bonds and stocks life strategy has returned around 8% annually over the last ten years. Meaning a £1000 invested over a year would be estimated to make around £80.

Taking a starting bankroll for sports betting of £1000. You can easily beat these returns just using matched betting and arbitrage.

For instance the total value of sign up offers on the matched betting service Oddsmonkey is over £500

Sports Betting Investment Risk?

It is true that sports betting is a higher risk investment then some of the lower yielding standard investments like ISA’s or savings accounts.

However this risk can be mitigated by using matched betting and arbitrage which enable you build a your initial capital.

This is the exact method used myself in order build up a starting bankroll. Before eventually adding casino offer and then focusing on value betting along with tipsters..

Sports betting has now become an extra source of income that has been slowly growing as time goes on. There are losing periods but over the long term my initial investment is growing at a rate that just isn’t possible with standard methods of savings.

If you approach it correctly sports betting is a very viable way of investing your money.

Make Money Sports Betting And Trading – 7 Methods For Finding An Edge

You need an edge in the sports betting markets to make money.

Finding An Edge – Sports Betting And Betfair Trading

First off what is an edge in sports betting and trading?

An edge is the reason that you make money from sports betting.

A simple example of an edge that is well documented and used by many is matched betting and arbitrage. Matched betting involves using bookmaker promotions to make frequent profits. Arbitrage capitalizes on bookmakers being slow to move their odds allowing profit to be made on all outcomes.

However the trouble with these edges is that it isn’t easily scalable and it relies on soft bookmakers. Who eventually won’t want your business and limit you to pennies.

That leaves a lot of people searching for an edge that is sustainable over the long term. An edge that offers more scalability and the potential for larger profit.

But what processes can you use to find an edge?

Lets have look at some potential ways to find an edge in both sports betting and sports trading.

Past Data

One way of looking at finding an edge is to analyse past data. This may reveal profitable trends that potentially still exist in the current markets. Which then can lead to a profitable betting strategy.

Two big advocates of this type of analysis are Cassini. The man behind the sports betting blog green all over, who frequently puts up betting systems based on past profitable trends.

Jon Roberts the man behind the software Predictology. Is also a fan of using past data to look at building profitable betting strategies for the current betting markets.

Is there a downside to using past data?

Well just because something has happened in the past doesn’t guarantee it is going to happen in the future.

However it is certainly a good indicator to use and might highlight some area’s that could be exploitable.

Modelling

If you have an interest in sports betting. Then you will have probably come across a few mathematical models that people use to try and find value in the betting markets.

For those that are mathematically minded. Developing a sports betting model might be the answer to developing an edge.

It is thought that many of the largest betting syndicates in the world use mathematical modelling for sports betting.

One such syndicate was the legendary brain trust headed by Billy Walters.

Lets take a look at a few models which have been used to try and find value in sports betting.

Elo Ratings

The idea of Elo ratings is that each team has a rating. Stronger sides will be given a higher rating compared to weaker sides. For example Manchester United would be given a higher rating then Brighton.

Elo ratings are constantly changing, they are calculated based upon the results of matches. When two sides play, the winner of a match will gain a certain number of points in their rating. The losing team loses the same amount.

The number of points won or lost in a match will depend on the difference in the Elo ratings of the teams. By beating stronger teams a side will increase there points by more then by beating a weaker side.

Applying Elo Ratings To Sports Betting

Poisson Distribution

Poisson distribution is a mathematical concept. Used for translating mean averages into a probability for variable outcomes across a distribution.

This is used in football betting for example to calculate on average how likely a team are to score a certain number of goals.

Here are some good articles on Poisson distribution in betting.

Poisson Distribution: Predict the score in soccer betting

Football Prediction Model: Poisson Distribution

Expected Goals

In football the expected goals model has risen in popularity lately. Being used quite often in post match analysis by television pundits.

Expected goals is a metric which assesses every chance, it is a way of assigning a value to every attempt at scoring a goal. Each attempt is given a value based based on the expectancy of how likely it is to be scored.

For example an effort from less than six yards out in front of goal was given a rating of 0.91xG. It was such a good chance it should be scored 91% of the time.

Using an expected goals model could indicate how “lucky” or “unlucky” a teams results have been. Which could indicate value on teams that may have been performing well on expected goals but not getting the results.

An analysis of expected goals models

Live Pictures

They say a picture paints a thousand words. Often live pictures can tell you much more about a game then the in play stats.

We live in an age where there are free streams of football games all around the world. On a given day you can watch the Japanese league in the morning, the Romanian league in the afternoon and finish off with La Liga at night.

There are quite a few football traders for example that swear by trading only with live pictures.

Psychoff may be one of the best known football traders in the world. He has stated on his twitter account that he makes his goal alert trading decisions based on watching live games. Surprisingly also stating that he doesn’t use statistics for these trades.

With live pictures you can pick up on adjustments in tactics. In football games you can read the tempo and flow of a game. See the weather conditions, body language of players. Having live pictures can often give you a lot of extra information when deciding to make a bet.

Combined with knowledge of the sports and teams. Live pictures might be enough to give you a profitable edge in the markets.

Beating The Closing Odds

In sports betting. If you can consistently beat the closing odds at sharp bookmakers. Then its likely that you are consistently finding value.

Major sports betting markets are pretty efficient. There has been quite a few studies which have shown this using Pinnacle’s closing odds as an example.

Because they are so efficient if you are able to constantly beat the closing odds (after the inclusion of vig). Then you will most likely have found yourself a profitable betting system.

In fact the profitable sports betting tool Trademate is based on this very concept.

Trademate scans for odds across a high number of bookmakers. When it finds odds that are higher then those at the sharp bookmakers it advises a bet.

This is also known as value betting.

It is perhaps one of the simplest ways of finding value in the sports betting markets.

If you are looking for high turnover and a proven method of making money. Value betting is probably one of the easiest ways to do this.

The drawback to this style of betting is that it again relies on soft bookmakers.

Experiencing The Markets

This could probably be classed as using past data.

However specifically relating to Betfair trading I think it deserves its own section.

Experiencing the markets over and over can really help you see potential opportunities for profit.

I will use football as an example as this is the sport I trade the most.

A lot of my own pre match trading strategies were created by watching lots of market movements. Noting odds days in advance for games. Tracking what the odds were leading up to game day and eventually noting the closing odds.

If you do this you start to see patterns and understand what moves a market pre match.

Team news is always going to have a big effect on the market. But by watching markets I also learnt that performances mid week for teams playing in Europe will effect prices for games at the weekend.

If there is a question mark on whether a key player is likely to start, early odds movement can often be a good indication on how likely they are to play or not. As people with this information already will get their bets on before its public knowledge.

Caan Berry has also stated that he records all the horse racing markets he trades. So that he can experience these markets again and build better judgments for future markets. Allowing him to react quicker if future markets trade in a similar way to one he has already experienced.

In Depth Knowledge

As noted earlier in this article. The markets with the most amount of money traded are usually the most efficient.

However odds makers don’t put a huge amount of attention on some of the sports/events that don’t attract the big money.

For example the odds in the Portuguese second division are not going to be as efficient as the Champions league. So for a hardcore fan of the Portuguese second division, value might be easy to spot at first glance.

In lesser known sports/leagues an in depth knowledge may be enough to give you a profitable edge.

Contrarian Betting

The sport of mixed martial arts is still fairly young. Betting on the UFC is growing and odds makers are getting better at pricing up fights.

However if you have an in depth knowledge of the sport then there is great value to be found.

Given that you don’t see fighters week in week out. Along with the promotion of UFC being akin to pro wrestling with a narrative often being written. Occassionally you see some lop sided odds as the betting public often follow the narrative being portrayed.

The best example of this is when Ronda Rousey fought Amanda Nunes.

Rousey was coming back after a year layoff on the back of vicious head kick loss. In a fight where she showed serious flaws in her fighting style.

Nunes was the new champion who had shown to be well rounded and was running through top level competition. On top of that she had shown she was an elite level striker, striking was Rousey’s biggest weakness.

All the media and promotion of the fight was behind Rousey comeback and somehow Nunes was odds of 2.8 as the defending champion come fight night.

The odds were way out of line due to the media being behind only one fighter.

Whenever the media are heavily behind one team/athlete. It is always worth looking at it from a contrarian point of view.

Summary

So we have looked at multiple approaches in finding an edge in the sports betting markets.

Depending on your personality and your own skill set some maybe more viable then others

Often a combination of the methods above will be used to find value.

Finding a long term edge in the Betfair trading or sports betting isn’t easy. But for those that do find them the rewards can be huge.

Looking to make money from the sports betting markets.

Get A Free Trial Of Our Number One Recommendations Below.

Why Social Media Tipsters Want You To Lose

If you like to bet on sports and are on social media you will have probably noticed there are a huge amount of tipsters and challenges going on.

One of the most common challenges is to take a relatively small amount of money say £10 and attempt to turn it into a £1000. This is done by rolling over your stake with each bet until a profit of £1000 is made.

Why Social Media Tipsters Want You To Lose

Challenges like these have become very popular with a number of these pages having hundreds of thousands of followers. Now I understand why these challenges are popular its like buying a lottery ticket. You have a small initial layout with the potential for a big win. One big thing a lot of these tipsters and pages fail to mention is they want you to lose.

This is how they make money. The business model for these twitter tipsters or facebook pages is to make an income as a bookmaker affiliate. Enticing new customers and being given a share of their losses is where their profit is made. Normally it will be between 10-30% of a referred players losses.

Whilst they might “boom” every winning tip and tell you they have made thousands in the past two weeks. Over the long term they only make money if you lose. Do you really want to follow betting tips from someone that profits only if you consistently lose? Seems like that would be a bad idea.

You will consistently see these types of tipsters pushing bookmaker sign ups. Claiming big profits whilst never recording past results and highlighting wins but barely acknowledging losses.

In conclusion following these types of challenges and tipsters is not going to make you money in the long term. Possibly you could get lucky and turn £25 into £1000 or you might go on to lose £2500 by following a 100 of these challenges that don’t come off. The only people that are making money from these challenges are the guys running these twitter accounts and facebook pages. Not the people following them.

Is it possible to make money from sports betting?

So can you actually make money from sports betting?

Yes you can but it isn’t as easy as following some dude who says he will turn £10 into a £1000 in 10 bets.

It is said that only 1% of people betting on sports make a profit. If you compare the popularity of these tipsters and pages to the small amount of people following websites/blogs that give out solid sports betting advice. It’s easy to why the overwhelming majority of people lose money betting.

Social Media Tipsters — Matched betting profits from April 2017

If actually making money from sports betting and trading does appeal to you. An effective and profitable approach to take is matched betting.

I have written an article detailing how to make money from matched betting here. This approach uses bookmaker promotions to guarantee a profit. There are hundreds of these offers available and if you are looking to make some extra money this is a great way to do it. It is probably the most consistent way to make money from sports betting.

Something else you may want to consider is looking into betting exchanges and sports trading. I have outlined how betting exchanges function is this article. In general they will offer you much better odds. They differ to bookmakers as they don’t make money on player losses. Rather they take a commission on winning bets or stakes which means that they also don’t ban winning accounts.

Please share this article if you know people that are following these shady social media tipsters. So at least they become aware they are betting on the advice of people that want them to lose.

If you want to start profiting from sports betting and trading. I recommend this service which currently contributing the biggest profit in my 50k in a year challenge.

Jonas Gjelstad – High Stakes Poker To High Stakes Sports Betting

Jonas Gjelstad – High Stakes Poker To High Stakes Sports Betting

Who Is Jonas Gjelstad?

Jonas Gjelstad is a high stakes poker player who turned his attention to sports betting. Originally from Norway Jonas started playing poker at a young age.

Starting at low stakes sit and go tournaments before transitioning to heads up games. Jonas Gjelstad eventually Specialised in the game of PLO and quickly made his way to some of the higher stakes games online.

At the age of 20 years old he was appointed as an instructor for well known poker training site CardRunners.

Finding Value In Sports Betting

In the last few years Jonas has turned his focus towards sports betting.

Value betting was the approach that Jonas used initially to become a profitable sports bettor. Jonas stated that he would manually compare the odds between the sharp Asian bookmakers and soft European ones.

When the soft bookmakers offered greater odds then the Asian markets they would often become value bets after market movement. Jonas would take these value bets whenever they appeared.

Automating the process of finding value bets was one of the next steps in Jonas’s sports betting journey.

Jonas Gjelstad and some of his colleagues created a value betting tool which was later released to the public as Edgebet (which then later became Trademate.)

Finding himself limited from the majority of the soft bookmakers Gjelstad turned his attention to beating the sharper Asian betting markets. Applying what he learnt from studying the markets whilst value betting Jonas developed a way to profit from the sharper bookmakers.

In a video series which profiles Jonas Gjelstad’s sports betting activities he states that he turned an initial bankroll of $10k into $1,000,000 over 12 months time.

Whilst little is known about the way Jonas approaches the betting markets and how has been so successful. The way he has quickly progressed in both the poker world and sports betting world are pretty unheard of.

It will be interesting to see what the future brings for Jonas Gjelstad.

One thing is for sure he is obviously somebody who has mastered the art of gambling.

Resources

Jonas Gjelstad profile – video series

Looking to make money from the sports betting markets.

Check out our recommendations below.

1. Get the Sportsbook Provider to Offer Post-Launch Services

2. Integrate Live Odds Software

3. Be Intentional About Promoting Your Sportsbook Brand

Hire Influencers in the Sports Niche

The Money is on the List: Use Email Marketing

Run Paid Adverts

Use Content Marketers

Create YouTube Videos

Take Advantage of Affiliate Marketing

Build a Mobile App for Your Sportsbook

Make an Inroad to Offline Publicity

Final Thoughts: Start Making Plans to Expand Your Sportsbook Platform

Why Bookmakers Limit Or Close Accounts

Are Bookmakers Allowed To Limit And Close Your Account?

How Can I Stop Bookmakers Limiting Or Closing My Account?

Bookmakers That Don’t Limit Or Close Accounts

Conclusion

5 Methods To Stop Bookmakers Limiting Your Account

1. Prime Your Account

2. Pick A Favourite Team

3. Accumulators

4. Mix Up Your Betting Patterns

5. Live Betting

Stop Bookmakers Limiting Your Account – Conclusion

The Biggest Sports Bettors In The World

Billy Walters

Tony Bloom And Starlizard

Zeljko Ranogajec

Who Are Biggest Sports Bettors In The World?

Further Reading

Worst Bookmaker In The UK

Unable To Withdraw Winnings

Grooming Losing Bettors And Accepting Stolen Money

Unfair Bonus Terms

Other Bookmakers To Avoid In The UK

Is Betway The Worst Bookmaker In The UK?

How to bet with Pinnacle Sports from the UK?

Using A Bet Broker

Sports You Can Bet On Using Asian Odds

How Can I Open And Fund An Account?

Funding an Account From The UK

Any Issues With Asian Connect

Why Bet With Pinnacle Sports And Other Asian Bookmakers?

Sports Betting As An Investment

Sports Betting As An Investment

Why Sports Betting Can Be A Good Investment

A Sports Betting Bankroll

Low Risk Sports Betting Strategy

Other Profitable Betting Strategies

Exploiting Casino Offers

Value Betting

Using Tipsters

Sports Betting Compared To Other Forms Of Investment?

Sports Betting Investment Risk?

Finding An Edge – Sports Betting And Betfair Trading

Past Data

Modelling

Elo Ratings

Poisson Distribution

Expected Goals

Live Pictures

Beating The Closing Odds

Experiencing The Markets

In Depth Knowledge

Contrarian Betting

Summary

Why Social Media Tipsters Want You To Lose

Is it possible to make money from sports betting?

Jonas Gjelstad – High Stakes Poker To High Stakes Sports Betting

Who Is Jonas Gjelstad?

Finding Value In Sports Betting

Resources