Weekly Articles "Road to Riches" by Rich 'Tighty' Prew
The Road to Riches: Weekend 13th-14th September
Coming Up this weekend
- It is the second weekend of the NFL Season. After a successful first week, look out for Neil's selections on Sunday here.
- The Premier League resumes after the international break with the Saturday lunchtime game, Arsenal hosting Manchester City, a highlight
- The racing programme includes the St Leger at Doncaster and flat meetings at Chester, Bath and Lingfield
- Golf, on the European Tour the KLM Open in the Netherlands: and on the USPGA: the Coca Cola Tour Championship in Atlanta
- Aviva Premiership matches on the second weekend of the season
Free Tip of the Week
The Road to Riches features regular free tips from Betting Emporium writers. Today, Neil Channing takes a look at the final Classic of the flat racing season, the St Leger on Saturday afternoon (Doncaster 3.50):
"All week I've been wondering about the ground for the St Leger but not because I was hoping the would water for Kingston Hill. My interest was purely to see whether cut in the ground might come for Andrew Balding's Scotland, who could have done with some rain. Having backed this horse at Royal Ascot where it squeaked a profitable 3rd over 1m4f in the King Edward VII I definitely had the feeling that further and softer ground would help. I managed to swerve the beast at Goodwood where the ground was very fast and the track is not great for steady staying types but I'm delighted to get a massive price here and the bonus of 1/4 odds over a much more suitable trip.
Odeon was sweaty, pulled hard and generally seemed uninterested when 40/1 to win the best trial for this at York. Betting Emporium followers were relieved when, despite these antics, our horse got 3rd a few lengths behind Snow Sky. I'm hoping that with better behaviour Odeon can run a little better and even if he runs as last time he'll be pretty close to grabbing a place.
To me the race is pretty wide open and I'm glad to take two bigger-priced runners.
I'm having 11 points each-way Scotland at 20/1 with William Hill who are 1/4 1,2,3,4. Betfair Sportsbook or Sportingbet are 1/4 1,2,3.
I'm having 8 points each-way Odeon at 50/1 1/4 1,2,3 with Betfred , Betfair Sportsbook or Sportingbet.
Neil"
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
Pinnacle Sports closes to UK Customers
On thursday Pinnacle released a statement that you can see HERE stating that after September 30th, 2014, they will be unable to offer services to any players resident in Great Britain. This is obviously a disappointment for us, and no doubt our clients, given that Pinnacle ( and SBOBet who announced the same recently) take proper bets, betting to smaller margins and not closing accounts.
The background to this decision is the new Gambling, Licensing and Advertising Act being introduced on October 1st, under which overseas companies advertising remote gambling services to customers in the United Kingdom must hold a licence issued by the UK Gambling Commission. Companies can fill in applications for the licence starting in September.
Betting Emporium has two emails from Pinnacle, both in the last few months, stating that they are getting a UK licence and that it will be business as usual. Betting Emporium contacted Pinnacle after their announcement this week and we were told 'We plan on relaunching our application, but cannot provide a timeline.'
The Gambling Commission website shows 'PinnacleSports Application in progress for UK Gambling Licence'
We will update you further as news develops.
Also today a look at the Kelly Criterion
The Kelly Criterion is a money management focused betting system, it aims to perfectly size your bets based on the value offered. In turn, money management is all about optimising the potential for winning at the expense of excess risk. In essence the Kelly Criterion aims to find the optimal amount of your bankroll to wager on a bet.
The Basic Kelly Criterion formula
BR% = (P*B) – 1 / odds – 1, where we let P be the probability of us winning (in decimal format), B the odds offered and BR% is the percent of the bankroll we should stake according to the Kelly Criterion.
Applying Kelly
After applying this formula to your data you get a positive number for BR% that shows you how much of your bankroll to wager. If the number is negative, it simply means: No bet.
An Example
We are offered 1.91 or in fractional odds of 10/11 that Arsenal will beat Tottenham. You estimate that Arsenal have a 55% chance of winning. If you plug those numbers into the formula above you get BR% = (0.55*1.91) - 1 / (1.91 – 1). Working out the Kelly Criterion then instructs us to bet 5.5495% of our bankroll.
Problems..
They key to this is estimating the exact probability for the outcome you want to bet on, and of course that is subjective. Using the example above to illustrate: If the 55% estimate was slightly off, and the real probability for an Arsenal win was 52% (about 5.5% off the 55% first target) then the Kelly Criterion would tell us to skip the bet.
So, how easy is it to analyse sports events? First, analysing sports events is not a static exercise. It is highly dynamic. New factors bombard us from all angles at all times. To get to a spot-on perfect valuation is an immense task, and most humans have enough problems finding the said value.
Many people will tell you to bet less than the Kelly formula ( betting ½ Kelly, ¼ Kelly and so on )says to bet. Two reasons are generally given for this. The first is that gamblers tend to overestimate their odds of winning and so will naturally overbet. Betting less than the Kelly amount corrects for this. The other is that the Kelly formula leads to extreme volatility, and you should underbet to limit the chance of being badly down for unacceptably long stretches.
Questions on Betting Emporium methodology for bankrolls and staking plans including explanations of our staking plans which balance both risk and reward for customers are answered in the Frequently Asked Questions Section.What's new on Betting Emporium?
The NFL 2014-15 season began on 1st September. Ante-post season bets have been published through August and Neil Channing is providing his legendary write ups on all the games every week for the 17 weeks of regular games.
|
Seventeen Week Regular Season Package |
|
|
Week 2 Regular Season Write Up |
Ante-post articles for the Superbowl, conferences, divisions, team and player specials are here
English Football - Premier League Games Stuart analyses the week's games in the Premier League, free to access here
English Football - Championship Games Stuart analyses the week's games in the Championship, free to access here
English Non League Football - Conference Games - Alan analyses the week's games in the Conference, free to access here
Premier League Statistical Analysis – Three winning weeks from three for the Premier League Over 2.5 goals analysis. You can read them here still FREE to all registered users
Football by Brodders - across European leagues is available here
Look out for Ryder Cup Analysis - The 2014 Ryder Cup is at Gleneagles from September 23rd-28th. Coverage on Betting Emporium from Neil Channing
Betting Emporium results
Across every sport since inception can be found by clicking RESULTS
The Road to Riches: Weekend 6th-7th September
Coming Up this weekend
- It is the first weekend of the NFL Season. Neil Channing has written "NFL 'The New Season Approaches - What To Expect' (Free to read, registration or log in not required.) to coincide with this. You can read it HERE
- The Premier League is on International break with UEFA European Championship 2016 Qualifying matches commencing.
- The T20 cricket International takes place on Sunday between England and India at Egbaston, concluding the India Tour
- The US Open Tennis finals are this weekend at Flushing Meadow.
- The racing programme includes flat meetings at Haydock, including the Sprint Cup, Ascot, Kempton and Thirsk
- Golf, on the European Tour: The Omega European Masters in Switzerland and on the USPGA: the BMW Championship in Colorado
- Aviva Premiership matches as the domestic Rugby season begins
Free Tip of the Week
The Road to Riches features regular free tips from Betting Emporium writers. Today, with the start of the new NFL season upon us, Neil Channing and I have talked and cogitated and have a NFL first touchdown scorer tip in the match between the Minnesota Vikings and the St Louis Rams.
The Vikings have been a frustrating team to follow for several seasons. They've fielded the best running back in the NFL, Adrian Peterson, but had well below par quarterbacks and receivers. Once their defense began to have to be overhauled their results slipped and they have been in the basement of their division for several years.
This off-season, and in the past two drafts, there has been a change in philosophy (at last) to develop a more balanced roster. Off the field, the new offensive co-ordinator is Norv Turner, a former head coach and renowed offensive guru and on the field the first round draft pick from last year Cordarelle Patterson is going to be a star name in the seasons to come. Blisteringly quick, he was superb on kick off returns last year and this year his role expands. He is the number one receiver, in an offense that is opening out, finally, with the hope of consistent quarterback play from Matt Cassell and eventually Teddy Bridgewater.
The Vikings begin this season against the Rams. The Rams have one of the deepest and most talented defensive lines in football. Running on them is going to be tough all season. Their secondary is comparatively weaker and vulnerable to long plays. On the other side of the ball, they aren't the most dynamic offense, and we would be quite comfortable in expecting the Vikings to have a better than 50-50 chance of scoring the first touchdown as a team.
Add to this, the continued presence of Peterson skews the first touchdown scorer market. He's 5/1 favourite, but the match up this week doesn't favour him, and the quote is a bit historic because it reflects the Vikings of 2011-13 not the more multi-dimensional offense that this year should bring
So, looking down the market we see a couple of quotes for Cordarrelle Patterson in the 7/1 15/2 range. Fair enough. However Stan James offer 14/1. If we ignore that because none of us can get on we see Bet365 are up at 12-1 first touchdown scorer.
Patterson scored nine touchdowns in his rookie year. Four receiving (from only 45 receptions all season), three rushing, two on returns. There are many ways to skin the cat on this bet, if we can get 12-1+.
Good luck!
5 points Cordarrelle Patterson first touchdown scorer Minnesota Vikings v St Louis Rams 12/1 Bet365 (match is 6pm sunday UK time)
As you know, at Betting Emporium we only want to put up prices and bets in markets that we can avail ourselves of. First touchdown markets in NFL games can be tricky until the day of the game. We might only at this stage see markets from Bet365, skybet, stan James, possibly Betfred so we'll give a back up in case the Patterson price goes, as it might, before many of you see it
So, Monday night Football, the New York Giants at the Detroit Lions. This is a game that should go over the 47 total point quote, which is always a good starting point for touchdown bets. The Lions are the more explosive team with the best wide receiver in the NFL in Calvin "megatron" Johnson, the focal point of the team's offense and which all defenses struggle to stop scoring. 66 touchdowns in 106 career starts and 12 in 14 last season.
We had in our minds that Johnson should be a 4-1 favourite for first touchdown scorer in this game and indeed he is quoted as such at two places. Skybet have put up 11/2 Johnson in this market. This price should be taken, if you can
5 points Calvin Johnson first touchdown scorer Detroit Lions v New York Giants 11/2 Skybet (Monday night football, 1am Tuesday UK time)
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
This is the second of a series of articles on Betting Psychology:
Today: Irrational Escalation:
Irrational escalation is a term often used in psychology, philosophy, and economics. The common element in all these spheres is that irrational decisions about new investments are being made and justified on basis of previous investments, even if it is likely that the new investments are not worth it given the expected outcome. Quotes such as "in for a penny, in for a pound" and "throwing good money after bad" also derive from irrational escalation.
- Irrational escalation in betting
Very often you see bettors that start out placing disciplined bets, but after losing some bets they increase the stakes. Bet size and often also bet selection are then being justified on the basis of previous lost bets (sunk cost) instead of based on estimates of value and bankroll/staking considerations. A bet is not being considered on its own merits, as a discrete event but influenced by past bets that bear no relevance to the new bet, apart from in your own mindset.
Irrational escalation can play a role also for bettors that are winning, for instance if you continue betting or increase the stakes because you have been winning more than usual lately. Of course, there will be times when it is correct that you should continue betting and/or increase the stakes - but make sure you do it for the right reasons and not only because of previous bets.
Another example is when you spend a lot of time researching a match without finding a proper value bet. In many cases you would spend even more time looking at the match, because you had spent so much time already that it seemed like a waste to not have found a bet yet (the thought being that there must be a good bet here just as long as you spend enough time searching for it). In the end you will often place a bet, maybe feeling proud that all the research finally paid off, but subconsciously your bet value estimates have been influenced by the time investment made into research, and the value bet you found in the end was the type of bet you would have dismissed if you were only 30 minutess into the research.
As a general rule, before placing bets you should take a step back and really look at the big picture.
Is your bet and bet size in line with the staking system you are using?
Is your bet a value bet in its own right, based on the information you have available and without any justification of previous investments?
By asking these questions you should be able to avoid irrational escalation.
Betting Emporium writers offer consistent staking policies the methodology behind which are included in the Frequently Asked Questions Section.
One of the key tenets is that no one is forcing us to have a bet, and discipline is key. No chasing, and no irrational escalation......
What's new on Betting Emporium?
As mentioned above The NFL 2014-15 season began on 1st September. Ante-post season bets have been published through August and Neil Channing is providing his legendary write ups on all the games every week for the 17 weeks of regular games.
|
Seventeen Week Regular Season Package |
|
|
Week 1 Regular Season Write Up |
Ante-post articles for the Superbowl, conferences, divisions, team and player specials are here
English Non League Football - Conference Games - Alan analyses the week's games in the Conference, free to access here
Football by Brodders - across European leagues is available here
Look out for Ryder Cup Analysis - The 2014 Ryder Cup is at Gleneagles from September 23rd-28th. Coverage on Betting Emporium from Neil Channing
Betting Emporium results
Across every sport since inception can be found by clicking RESULTS .
The Road to Riches: Weekend 30th-31st August
Coming up this weekend
- The third weekend of the Premier League season and a full programme of League and non-league football
- The Third One Day cricket International takes place between England and India at Trent Bridge
- The US Open Tennis continues at Flushing Meadow.
- The racing programme includes flat meetings at Sandown, Chester, Bath and Beverley
- Golf sees the final two rounds of the Italian Open on the European tour and the USPGA Deutsche Bank open in Boston as the qualifying deadline for the Ryder Cup looms
Just two days left to enter our free Premier League competition. Closes Sunday August 31st.
$500 in prizes winner takes all. Simply email your prediction of the final Premier League table this year to us and closest wins. We've had about 20 entries so far so you have a great chance if you enter.
Full details here
Free Tip of the Week
The Road to Riches features regular free tips from Betting Emporium writers.
Today a look at the Colchester United v Peterborough United match in league one tomorrow.
Peterborough United lie second in the table at this early stage with three wins in four games. An exciting, attacking side they have under chairman Darragh MacAnthony and manager Darren Ferguson done very well recruiting players from non-league, helping them prosper and then selling them on to higher leagues. Lee Tomlin (Middlesborough) and Dwight Gayle (Crystal Palace) are the most recent examples.
Last November Peterborough signed Kyle Vassell from Bishops Stortford and it was expected that he would be a back-up striker this season until the club sold the prolific Britt Assombolonga to Nottingham Forest on the eve of the season. This thrust Vassell into the starting line up for the start of the season, after scoring four times in five pre-season games and he has scored four goals in four games in the league since, including the first goal twice and two against MK Dons.
Vassell is a "fox in the box" type, using speed against league one defenders his main weapon. Whilst we would expect Peterborough to strengthen up front before the end of the transfer window, Vassell will be up top at Colchester on Saturday. Colchester look to have a difficult season ahead, with one point in the opening four games.
With Vassell in this form, for this match, the first goalscorer market is interesting. Bet365 offer 13/2 Vassell first goalscorer with each way one-third the odds to score anytime. Betfred and BetVictor 6-1 win only is available.
I am going to recommend 4 points each way Kyle Vassell first goal-scorer Bet365 13/2 (one third odds, unlimited places)
But for the records, we will put down 4 points win at 6-1 Betfred or BetVictor as in all likelihood that is a price more of us will be able to avail ourselves of than the 13/2.
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
This is the first of a series of thoughts on Betting Psychology:
- Anchoring
The anchoring bias is one of the main causes why many bettors fail to objectively consider all relevant elements before placing their bets. Anchoring is a type of cognitive bias that describes the tendency we have to rely too heavily on just one factor or piece of information when making decisions. The anchor is often set early and is based on the first information we learn about a subject, and there is a bias toward adjusting or interpreting other information to reflect the “anchored” information, thus affecting future thought process and decisions-making.
- Anchoring as a betting bias
Take as an example a big football match. One side has a number of key absentees through injury and suspension and this sets the anchor and all the other information is then interpreted to reflect the anchor. So when the bookmakers change their prices we interpret this only as a confirmation of the anchor and that the team news is very important (instead of considering the updated prices in relation to all other factors).
A sports bettor will start with an implicitly suggested reference point (the “anchor”, such as the team news or the price on offer) and from this reference point make adjustments to reach his own estimate. It is, in other words, the anchor that becomes the starting point for the decision-making, and the bettor makes incremental adjustments based on additional information. This type of process will often create problems for the bettor in reaching the correct decision, because the anchor (whether it is the news that several star players are injured and the team weakened, the market price or a team's current form) is not necessarily the correct starting reference.
- How to avoid anchoring?
That is easier said than done. If you know you want to bet on a specific event, try to make up your own mind up ( helped by Betting Emporium! ) about winning probability and correct price before you check market prices and team news. Because once you know the market price and have read match previews with opinions about latest line-ups etc, the anchor has been set and it will be very difficult to make estimates that are 100% your own.
The above example of sports bettors relying too heavily on team news and neither objectively assessing the value of the news nor taking the updated prices into proper consideration, is something you see often when you read comments on facebook and twitter each weekend about individuals and their betting activity.. The anchoring bias is one of the main reasons why so many sports bettors, even though they mostly follow tips they read about, end up losing money while the tipsters they follow make money. If you see an article on here, with a selection at x and the price moves to y, it does not follow that what applies at price x applies at price y. Hence the focus on which prices are value and prices below which a selection is not a bet in a lot of the Betting Emporium recommendations. The focus is on "value" not short-term "noise".
- "Incredibly Important news!" As a punter you will be battered by “incredibly important” news (here's looking at you Sky Sports News...). One way of avoiding an excessive reliance on short term news and taking prices without value, is to look at when news became public and how the market prices have moved since then. Unless you are very quick (usually less than 15-30mins), the bookmakers will have reacted already and the relevant news included in the updated prices. Sometimes you will notice that the bookmakers first reacted to the news by changing their prices, but then later gradually reverted to their original prices. This can indicate that the importance of the news was hyped and that instead of following it you should re-evaluate all factors before placing your bet.
What's new on Betting Emporium?
US Open continued match analysis is available for £49.99 here
English Football - Premier League Games Stuart analyses the week's games in the Premier League, free to access here
Premier League Statistical Analysis – still FREE to all registered users and available weekly here
English Football - Championship Games Stuart analyses the week's games in the Championship, free to access here
English Non League Football - Conference Games - Alan analyses the week's games in the Conference, free to access here
Football by Brodders - across European leagues is available here
The NFL 2014-15 season begins on 1st September. Ante-post season bets and pre-season match selections have been published through August and Neil Channing will be providing his legendary write ups on all the games every week for the 17 weeks of regular games.
| Seventeen Week Regular Season Package | £199.99 Sign Up Here |
| Week 1 Regular Season Write Up | £25 Sign Up Here |
Ante-post articles for the Superbowl, conferences, divisions, team and player specials are here
Betting Emporium results
Across every sport since inception can be found by clicking RESULTS .
Please see the Frequently asked questions section for explanations of the methodology
The Road to Riches: Weekend 23rd-24th August
The Road to Riches
23rd-24th August 2014
Coming up this weekend
- The final day of the York Ebor meeting the highlight of the racing Saturday
- A full football programme, including the second weekend of the Premier League season
- The NatWest T20 Blast finals day Cricket at Edgbaston
- The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps
- The Rugby League Challenge Cup Final between Castleford and Leeds at Wembley
In addition
- US Open Tennis begins on Monday with coverage on Betting Emporium from Nigel Seeley. Recommendations are now available here
Free Tip of the Week
The Road to Riches features regular free tips from Betting Emporium writers. Today is T20 Finals day at Edgbaston, the most high profile day of the domestic English cricket season. Two semi-finals and a final on the same day, beginning at 11am live on Sky Sports.
In the first semi-final Surrey play Birmingham, in the second Hampshire meet Lancashire.
Current outright prices are
Surrey 9/4
Hampshire 5/2
Lancashire 3/1
Birmingham 4/1
T20 is a very short format and these are four strong teams. There is no real reason to have one team virtually half the price of another here. Any of the four teams can win it with an individual performance or two with bat or ball. This makes the format watchable but for the bettor smallish stakes only!
Birmingham have home advantage. This is relevant in two respects
a) Birmingham have the most miserly bowling attack of the four teams. Three of their five bowlers (Patel, Javed and Clarke) have economy rates below 6 runs per over in this year's competition. Patel in particular is a match-winning bowler at Edgbaston. In this year's competition he has 23 wickets (two thirds at Edgbaston) at under 12 runs each and has gone at 5.63.
Read more at: http://deepextracover.com/2014/08/20/finals-day-preview-birmingham-bears/#.U_RlMKPCovk | Deep Extra Cover
Read more at: http://deepextracover.com/2014/08/20/finals-day-preview-birmingham-bears/#.U_RlMKPCovk | Deep Extra Cover
b) Edgbaston wickets are typically slow and dry. T20 scores there average 150-160 and if the pitch is prepared as normal it does not tend to suit the extravagant strokemakers and you find these more in the other three teams as Birmingham's T20 team is atypical in that is is comprised of accumulators with the bat.
Birmingham are 6/5 underdogs to beat Surrey in the first game. If they win that game we can assume they'd be underdogs to either of the other teams in the final and and a 6/5 6/5 double pays less than 4/1
Birmingham and Lancashire are the two teams that benefit from the availability of England players (Bell and Woakes, Buttler and Anderson) and I can't help feeling that the Surrey price is too short. They are certainly less consistent than the other three and are vulnerable if their hitter at the top of the order Jason Roy doesn't come off. I regard Lancashire as the main dangers, a powerful and consistent T20 team (who are also underdogs in their semi-final, strangely).
Birmingham won their last three group games to make the quarters, beat Essex away in the semi's as bigger underdogs than they will be against any of today's opponents and are simply a decent value bet here.
4 points (Nat West T20 Blast Winner) Birmingham Bears at 4-1 Sportingbet, also at Betway, Winner
** Please note some bookmakers list the Birmingham Bears as Warwickshire **
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
This week a look at Pinnaclesports
In a recent Betting Emporium article Stuart Doyle wrote
"Just as a final note if you intend to follow the picks here at Betting Emporium for this NFL season you really have to sign up for an account with Pinnacle if you don’t already have one. They offer reduced margins on the NFL and won’t restrict or close you when you win.... Not having an account there will be simply burning money this NFL season and could really be the difference between a mediocre NFL season and very good one. Please open your Pinnacle account here "
Joe Beevers wrote the following recently
"I get the impression that many people lump all sports books into one big pot and most people here are used to dealing with the UK high street firms. Pinnacle is a very different animal altogether.
Pinnacle bet to much smaller margins than most firms a lot of you will be used to. On a pick'em most UK firms bet 10/11 each of two (104.8% book), some even bet 5/6 each of two (109.1%). Pinnaccle typically bet to about 102%. So every time you back a winner with them you win more money.
Chargebacks are always a problem with online gambling. If a firm can reduce this cost they can save money and become more competitive. The way that Pinnacle do this is to make sure that you are who you say you are. So when you open your account they ask you up front for scanned docs. Sure this is a hassle that you would rather not have but you only have to do it once and because everyone does it here Pinnacle don't have to make that extra bit of money in their margins. By sending in those docs YOU make more money.
One of the biggest costs for an online firm taking bets is the cost of processing money. If you use a UK VISA debit card to deposit £1000 with one of the big UK firms their processing cost, to the best of my knowledge, is about a flat 25p. Pinnacle get charged a percentage rather than a fixed amount and this is typically 4% of the deposit amount. It is a similar thing with taking money out.
Usually when you hear about a company charging for withdrawals and firms not just sending money back immediately, asking for ID or charging somehow everyone starts to worry about that firm and to dislike these things. I understand that.
You simply have to accept that Pinnacle is a totally different business model to all the UK high street firms.
When you deposit they don't want you to have one bet and withdraw immediately afterwards. It costs them money. It's not because they don't want you to withdraw, they just don't want to have to pay for it and lose money as a result.
As they are so often best price it makes sense to leave money on there.
You have the option, you can get paid £90 for a £100 winning bet and withdraw instantly everytime or get paid £95 for the same bet and not withdraw instantly. I know which I prefer. If you withdraw once a month they send the money by bank wire and my experience is that it typically takes about 2 days. There is no charge for that.
The other thing is that they won't close your account, they don't mind if you arb either.
Something that even some hardened sports bettors don't realise is that you can re-bet with Pinnacle. If you ask Ladbrokes for £550 at 10/11 and they lay you £220 that's it, no more action. If Pinnacle lay you £220 at 1.952 then they will either adjust the price a few ticks (or often leave it) and you can then bet the same amount again, and again and again. There is no real limit as there is with the UK firms.
- They are getting a UKGC license and are in the final stages of processing everything.
- They have a 5 time rollover requirement for withdrawals, however if a player wishes to withdraw sooner he may do so at a fee of 3%.
This last point seems to really bother some people and I can see why. If you get in the habit of using them though it doesn't matter in the slightest. If you are however someone that only bets on the World Cup final every four years then they are not really the firm for you."
What's new on Betting Emporium?
English Football - Premier League Games Stuart analyses the week's games in the Premier League, free to access here
Premier League Statistical Analysis – still FREE to all registered users and available here 2013/14 Season 120 bets, 65 winners (54.17%), +2.81% ROI
English Football - Championship Games Stuart analyses the week's games in the Championship, free to access here
English Non League Football - Conference Games - Alan analyses the week's games in the Conference, free to access here
Football by Brodders - across European leagues is available here
Pre-season Analysis:
English Football - Pre-season Analysis. Over a number of reports Stuart Doyle will be looking at all divisions from the Premier League through to League 2 and trying to find you the value in the outrights, promotion, relegation, goal scorers, groups and various other specials markets here.
English Non League Football – Pre-Season Analysis – by Alan Alger. Noted Non-league judge Alan is sharing his knowledge on the English Non-League – primarily the three Conference divisions, and this is FREE to all registered users here. His look at the ante-post markets is available now
The NFL 2014-15 season begins on 1st September. Look out for ante-post season bets and pre-season match selections published through August and then Neil’s weekly analysis throughout the season. Pre-season game tips are already available including week 3 here. Ante-post articles for the Superbowl, conferences, divisions, team and player specials are here
Betting Emporium results
Across every sport since inception can be found by clicking RESULTS .
Please see the Frequently asked questions section for explanations of the methodology
The Road to Riches: Weekend 16th-17th August
16th-17th August 2014
Premier League 2014/15 Free Competition -$500 in prizes – winner takes all - See HERE for how to enter
Simply use your skill to predict the final finishing position of all 20 teams in the Premier League. The person who is closest at the end of the season wins the $500...over to you!
Free Tip of the Week
The Road to Riches features regular free tips from Betting Emporium writers. Today Stuart "redarmi" Doyle takes a look at a goalscorer bet to coincide with the start of the Premier League season
"There appears to be a really good opportunity in the Liverpool game for a bet on the first goalscorer. Many people are wondering how Liverpool will do without Suarez but in terms of goalscoring we do have something of an idea from the start of last year when Suarez was suspended. In that period Liverpool scored 9 goals and 6 of them were scored by Daniel Sturridge and he went on to get 24 in 33 games last season. He is the real deal and this year I would really expect him to kick on.
According to the match prices (which look about right) Liverpool have roughly a 72% chance of scoring the first goal and I would expect Sturridge to score that goal at least 35% of the time now he is their main goalscoring threat. If we multiply those then 35% of 72% is 25.2%. Effectively a shade under a 3/1 shot and that seems about right to me yet you can bet 4/1 with Bet 365 and BetVictor. Not the best of books but they should lay a decent bet on this and I would have 15 points at 4/1 if they accommodated me. I can get on with a few firms that will lay 10/3 though and will have 8 points at that price.
Recommend 15 points Sturridge to score first in Liverpool - Southampton game @ 4/1 (Bet365, BetVictor) or 8 points @ 100/30 (Ladbrokes, Betfred)
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Free Bets:
How to use them best…
Whether you are opening an account or betting on major events, bookmakers offering free bets as part of their promotional offers are extremely common. Of course these are easy ways to both attract new customers and encourage existing customers to bet more. However many people fall down on a) actually using the free bets within the time limits and b) using them efficiently
The inclination of many is to stick the free bet on a “good thing” and at least ensure a return. This though is not the optimal way to use a free bet. Last week I looked at the "active" use of free bets. Today we will look at using free bets and ensuring at least part is returned as cash:
Take a £25 free bet where bet stake itself isn't returned. This calculation assumes backing and laying at the same price. Obviously the returns are greater where you can find a spot to back higher than laying on Betfair
A simple way of working out how much you can convert the free bet to cash is to take the free bet amount and divide by the (decimal price +1). Here are some examples below:
If you back an even money shot for £25 and lay £12.50 at evens the free bet will return £12.50 guaranteed win or lose. You win £12.50 if the bet wins (£25 from firm minus £12.50 lost on the lay or the free bet loses you win £12.50 from the lay)
If you back a 4/1 shot for £25 and lay £20 at 4/1 the free bet will return £20 guaranteed win or lose. You win £20 if the bet wins ((£25 x 4 winnings from the firm) £100) - (£20 4 from the losing exchange lay) £80). If the free bet loses you are guaranteed £20 only from the lay.
If you back a 9/1 shot for £25 and lay £22.50 at 9/1 the free bet will return £22.50 guaranteed win or lose. You win £22.50 if the bet wins ((£25x9 winning from the firm) £225) - (£22.50 x 9 from the losing exchange lay) £202.50. If the free bet loses you are guaranteed £22.50 from the losing lay.
If you back a 99/1 shot for £25 and lay £24.75 at 99/1 the free bet will return £24.75 guaranteed win or lose. You win £24.75 if the free bet wins ((£25x 99 winnings from the firm) £2475 - (£24.75 x99 from the losing exchange lay) £2450.25. If the free bet loses you are guaranteed £24.75 from the losing lay.
This example assumes no commission on Betfair.
This shows overall that the bigger the price you use for the free bet the better. The problem arises that it gets harder and harder to lay 100/1 shots at 100/1 on Betfair
What's new for the football season on Betting Emporium?
English Football - Premier League Games Stuart analyses the week's games in the Premier League, free to access here
Premier League Statistical Analysis – still FREE to all registered users and available here 2013/14 Season 120 bets, 65 winners (54.17%), +2.81% ROI
English Football - Championship Games Stuart analyses the week's games in the Championship, free to access here
English Football - Pre-season Analysis. Over a number of reports Stuart Doyle will be looking at all divisions from the Premier League through to League 2 and trying to find you the value in the outrights, promotion, relegation, goal scorers, groups and various other specials markets. You can sign up to the package for £49.99 here.
English Non League Football - Conference Games - Alan analyses the week's games in the Conference, free to access here
English Non League Football – Pre-Season Analysis – by Alan Alger. Noted Non-league judge Alan is sharing his knowledge on the English Non-League – primarily the three Conference divisions, and this is FREE to all registered users here. His look at the ante-post markets is available now
What else is on Betting Emporium?
Racing: York Ebor Festival Neil will be covering all four days of the York Ebor Meeting with his famous write ups and analysis. The cost for the four day package is £99.99 and is available here
The NFL 2014-15 season begins on 1st September. Look out for ante-post season bets and pre-season match selections published through August and then Neil’s weekly analysis throughout the season. Pre-season game tips are already available here. Ante-post articles for the Superbowl, conferences, divisions, team and player specials are here
Football by Brodders - across European leagues is available here
US Open Tennis takes place from August 25th to September 8th with coverage from Nigel Seeley
Cricket. The India Test Series in England concludes this week, coverage of the 5th Test, the upcoming one day and T20 international series and T20 finals day on 23rd August at Edgbaston here
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