Monday 21 February 2011

Take a bow, Football Elite!

Last week, regular contributor Alan (heh!), posted a comment that said...

"2 things can happen to service. They either make you money, hit a losing run then you give your profit back( plus some more) because you felt you owed it to the tipster to keep the faith. Or that tipster gets so consistantly good that they bump up their prices and want you to pay a year in advance!! Eventually they will have a bad year tho (equine investments). Just imagine if you are part of the latter, lets sey you have 100 clients who you charge 1300 a year. 130 000 grand wages before you have even tipped a horse. Do that for 2 or three years and you aint doing too badly thank you. I wonder if you would worry too much about spending all day form studying!!
Personally i very rarely pay a tipster for an extended period for that very reason."


There are a lot of good points in there, I think. Of course the comment was made in the context of our talking about getting the timing right when dropping a service from the portfolio, and it shows a different way of looking at things when making that particular judgement call.

I must say, having never been a member of Equine Investments, I have never experienced the price hikes, but I take the word of someone who obviously has. I think I covered this subject in an earlier post. The numbers of decent, profitable services (long-term) that charge a fraction of the sort of fee Alan mentions, means that to me anyway, there is rarely a valid reason to be paying a service any more than £500/yr, max. I would want profits to be guaranteed for a higher subs rate, and I guess until recently EI came about as close as any service to providing such a guarantee. But look what's happened since the beginning of last summer. I could have paid a much cheaper service to lose the sort of money they have! I know that's an attitude that is too simplistic - EI have a pedigree for a very good reason and of any, I'd be more confident that they will be able to pile the profit back on than most. But then my confidence is probably a reflection of the fact that I'm not a member, so haven't been losing with them whilst paying the best part of £1,300 per year! I have no doubt that had I been a member, I would have a different outlook entirely!

As for the intimation that perhaps the most successful services out there get a little lazy (and let's face it, it would be easy to become so), well, I'm not too sure. I can only draw upon my own experience, but to date I have never, from any service that I have used, gained that impression. I guess your outlook in that regard is dependent on how cynical you are or have become. I get the impression that I may have not been in this game for as long as Alan has. Perhaps I have plenty of time to develop that cynicism.:)

I'm fully behind Alan when he says that he doesn't tend to pay a tipster for an extended period of time. Regardless of the reason behind adopting such a policy, it is one I too would advocate. I tend to subscribe for periods of six months at a time. Longer, and you may find yourself tied into a deal that you would rather escape from early if given the chance. I look at it like I do when deciding what mortgage product to plump for, or which mobile 'phone to enter into a contract for. Subscribing to a service for six months is not, to me anyway, a sign of a lack of faith. More a hedging of my bets with the option to hedge some more in the future if necessary.

Anyway, it was a thought provoking comment, and it didn't end there. More on this tomorrow...

Today's Action

Winning Racing Tips were guilty of weighing down the racing performance today, making two selections that finished unplaced. The second of these though, a horse call Strophic (Wolverhampton - 9/1), traded at 1.04 in running, to win! Chasemaster and PJA NH each went for the same horse (Star Galaxy - Hereford), but it too, lost. Winners were found by Northern Monkey Punter (Restless Boy - Wolverhampton - 7/2) and On The Nose (Double Edge - Carlisle - 3/1).

PJA NH: Staked 1pt, -1pt.
Northern Monkey Punter: Staked 1pt, +1.25pts.
On The Nose: Staked 0.5pts, +1.5pts.
Winning Racing Tips: Staked 1.6pts, -1.6pts.
Chasemaster: Staked 0.25pts, -0.25pts.
Financial loss on the racing of £76.

Football Elite had their last selection of six this weekend and it proved to be a winner (Real Sociedad). Four out of six ain't bad.

Football Elite: Staked 1pt, +1.235pts.
Financial profit on the football of £123.50.

Monday 21st February: Staked £261, +£47.50.
Week to date: Staked £261, +£47.50.
Month to date: Staked £12,692.50, -£165.77, roi -1.3%.

Big night on the football tomorrow.

4 comments:

  1. Could you add my blog please starting this weekend.

    http://rugbytippingblog.blogspot.com/

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmm
    On reading my comments back i see how you must have seen me as "cynical" and i would add myself, i sound very bitter. That was never my intention.
    You were correct to assume that i have been using tipsters alot longer than you ( i believe you said this was your 2nd year.) I have been using them around 10 years now and very importantly, pre SBC.
    I would imagine that most users of tipsters pre SBC have been scammed or misled and had to take the word of the Tipster, that they were proofed to the Racing Press. ( now we know that is totally useless).
    Any proofing sites were usually involved in affiliate marketing and therefore unreliable.

    As a user of such services you were very much on your own as to how to use them to your best advantage and the learning curve was very steep. Basically you learned the ropes by losing money.
    The main thing i have learned is that only a few last much lomger than a year or two and the timing in joining is vital, but more so the timing in quitting a service is even more vital.
    If you can leave a service with a profit after subs that is all that matters. Have a look at some early sbc newsletters and look at the Hall Of Fame members. How many are still operating?!!
    You are so lucky that when you decided to get into betting that you found SBC early and so right at the beginning you had the benefit of the expertise that had been gained by the people running the site and also the other members ( i bet even they have been done over by an unscrupulous tipster at some time).

    So. When i talk of dropping a tipster such as Pro Bandit who i have 2 and a half years of good profit behind me and you may think of that as a bit off. Just remember that your profit with a tipster is never sealed untill you leave. For me its a good time to leave, for you it may not be. I hope he recovers, hes done it before
    Nice to see FE back on track. Hope to hit my profit target with him soon and then im out also.
    Alan

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Louse69,

    Not a problem at all.

    I don't know of a rugby tipster - is it league, union, or both that you'll be tipping in?

    Best of luck with it,

    Rowan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Alan,

    Don't get me wrong when I talk about being cynical. I'm not saying that being cynical is a bad thing. In fact, there are times where I know that I am not being cynical enough and perhaps a bit of cynicism in the past would have saved me money.

    The subject of your comment is something I've been thinking about and I'll post a few thoughts tonight and over the days ahead. I see a lot of sense in what you say, and genuinely feel that I (and everyone) can learn from your experience. I've not come across anybody before who has been following tipsters for the length of time that you have, and one thing I have learnt in life is that it pays to listen to experience.

    As I've said before, we may not have exactly the same lookout on everything, but what you say is very thought provoking, and I think that can only be a good thing for me and anyone reading the blog.

    Ever thought of blogging? You'd have me reading every night, that's for sure!

    All the best, mate.

    Rowan

    ReplyDelete