7 Things To Watch Out For Before Handing Money To A Tipster/Prediction Site

In case you are thinking about paying for predictions (which we at wikendbet.com think is unwise), take some time to carefully read this so you don’t get cajoled by a number of betting tips sites with big big talks and empty promises of “sure games” with little/no results to match up.

You see, at some point in your betting career as a newbie bettor or someone who is been in the game for awhile, you’re faced with this one dilemma – Should i pay/sign up for betting tips? Or should you trust and follow free tips from betting sites?

The short answer is yes and no.

Personally Speaking, you probably shouldn’t pay for betting tips. The records are clear that most people paying for betting tips take the worst of it with their betting bankrolls. The purchased selections don’t outperform the market expectation or the results you’d have gotten if you did it yourself. In fact, the betting tips industry is not one full of success stories in terms of pick performance. You’re more likely to hear horror stories than raves of fantastic results. Hence, the industry has gathered a bad reputation, and in many cases, it is a reputation that is well earned.

See eh, If you apply the power of simple analytics (plus a heavy dose of common sense), you’ll discover why the majority of betting tip services represent bad investments and how a handful of successful and truly profitable tipsters have managed to beat market.

But then, assuming you don’t take my advice and make your own analysis, or you’re the type of player that likes to be spoon-fed, or you don’t have the time to create your own success story, then here are a few tips that would put you on track when picking the next betting site or self proclaimed expert guru.

·    Watch Out! If they Don’t track all their Bets or show Profit/Loss

The key first thing to ask is, do they have detailed and verifiable records of their tips? If not then stay away. If they are declaring unrealistic win rates and profits, then again, stay away. For example, any “system” that claims a 90% win rate is likely to be a scam or at best, a back fitted system.

Haven’t you noticed?

Most Tipsters out there are more concerned with lauding about their latest winner rather than showing you how consistent they are over a period. If you start following a new Tipster always ask if you can see their track record and if they shy away they probably have something to hide and you should consider moving on. Don’t be deceived by a winning bet slip, any bettor can luckily get a winner, the big deal is churning out profits after a period.

Look for that – profit (not one big win).

The only way to judge a Tipster is over an extended timeline with verified results. Any Tipster that manages to produce profits over the course of a year should be trusted or say a quarter (4 months) is worth a consideration.

Even if a tipster does present detailed records of their tips, you should do some additional research, asking about the service or tipster on various sports betting forums and social media. You will usually find out pretty quickly the truth about the success rate of the service you are considering.

·       They don’t give you the biggest price (odds) available

Fact: If you don’t have multiple accounts and aren’t taking advantage of the best prices available, you’re leaving money on the table. That’s why Sites like Oddsportal.com and Oddschecker.com are an absolute must in any gamblers Arsenal.

Sure you can say a “Win is a Win” but over the course of the year your balance will look a lot healthier if you’re taking the best price (odds) each time. The difference might only be N1000 but they all add up at the end of the year. And if your tipster is not advising you on where to find the best odds for his selections, perhaps he may not be as pro as you thought.

·    Test the knowledge of your tipster?

Don’t be afraid to ask your Tipster why they’re taking a particular selection. After a while you’ll figure out if your guy knows what he’s doing or not.  If he is good enough, you get to learn and add your betting knowledge too and if he is awful or selects bets based on gut feeling you just have to think again about renewing your subscription. Believe it or not I’ve seen Tipsters relying solely on head to head stats or gut feelings for their Tips. Damn!

Are they talking strategy? Or, are they trying to impress people by saying as many player names as possible to create the illusion of insight? Are they aware of the uncertainty of value based on the market price? Or, are they saying something like “the odds-line doesn’t even matter here,” in a way that disrespects an informed market?

Analyze their presentation, get him on the phone and ask him questions directly. Once you start looking for these tells, you’ll see them everywhere

·       Don’t Be Impressed By winning bet slips and success rate.

Know this. Some tipsters just make up winning percentages, and fake documentation if it’s asked for. Have you heard of Photoshop? Oh yeah, I’m sure you have and likewise some of these tipsters who Photoshop winning tickets to attract you.

Why does this happen? Because it works! It works from the perspective of game sellers, because too many gamblers demand hearing about  big wins. They won’t pay unless they hear a high number. So, many betting tip services oblige them either through fraudulent means or “lies of omission.” It works very much against serious bettors trying to find legitimately successful betting tip services because there’s so little clean data to apply analytics to.

Don’t fall for tipsters who tell you about the good runs, while leaving out the bad runs.

If you want to follow and pay for access to a betting tips service, make sure their pick results are fully disclosed and, evaluate a meaningful sample size of at least a few hundred selections so you’re accounting for the highs and lows.

Transparency is the key here.

Don’t be a mark for places trying to sell illusions. There’s a reason why most tips sites don’t disclose their results. If you want to make genuine money by following picks, don’t be fooled by marketing. Do your research. Ask around on betting forums or social media to see what other bettors have to say about the picks service you are considering. You’ll soon discover if it is truly what it claims to be.

·    Markets with a high Over-round

There are some markets professional gamblers never touch and these include Correct-score, First/Last Goalscorer, Scorecasts and Half time/ Full Time Bets. You may be wondering why? First, an over-round is a funny name for the amount of in-built profit margin that betting companies put into their odds-line. Markets like the correct score, half-time/full time have ridiculously high over-round because they know uninformed bettors want to place these kinds of bets and take advantage of larger odds.

Thing is the higher the over-round, the more difficult it is to break even. Betting companies stay in business year in year out…reason is their profit margins protects and keeps them in business. So tipsters who encourage you to gamble on such markets are most of the time not interested in your long-term success. Because you’ll struggle to beat the books playing that way.

·    Constantly tipping whatever is on next

Don’t keep faith in someone that is constantly tipping the next match, this is classic gambling addict behaviour from someone who probably has based his decision on the teams last few results without doing any in-depth research.

If you notice they are Tipping something else as soon as the previous tip ends walk away. This is the quickest way to get wrecked.

·    Social validation 

 Most tipsters are on social media, either facebook or twitter. A quick google search should bring up some results and show you what others are saying. Don’t assume because they have a large following that they are good (it’s easy to buy followers) but more so look at peoples comments, the engagement etc.

Ultimately, the best tipster To Consider Seriously is yourself:  Teach yourself – The drive to improve yourself is the hallmark of successful betting.

To grow in your gaming, start acquiring useful betting skills and building up expertise in smaller and, more knowledgeable markets, learn what works from experienced bettors, seek expert guide and the money will follow. 

If you’ll like to learn some serious betting techniques experts use to make consistent profit from football betting then 

Hope this article helps you work intelligently through the process so you can make the best possible decision for your bankroll once you start considering purchasing a subscription for a betting tips service.

Cheers!

NOTE: Wikendbet.com does not offer prediction services or fixed match services, we don’t sell games (So pls don’t contact us about that). We provide relevant (paid & free) information via podcast, videos, blog post and social media to help improve your betting.