ALMOST halfway through my year-long experiment into betting as a form of alternative
investment, I’m nearer to knowing if it’s possible to earn a second income from
subscription tipping services.
I’ve been monitoring the tips of three of the UK’s top tipping names – Sport
4 Profit, Steve Lewis Hamilton and internet-based racing stats guru The Mathematician.
I’ve seen my initial £200 pot swell to £937 with a cautious staking plan of
£20-£30 per selection. So far there’s been little to choose between the services
profitwise, but in September, the month tipsters fear as it marks the arrival
of unpredictable weather and an overlap between racing, golf and rugby seasons,
a new pattern has emerged.
In the six weeks to 20 October, Steve Lewis Hamilton has seen his Private Service
profits increased to £5,640.83 from £4,853.33 (based on £100 or £50 e/w per
selection) with a cautious strategy of disciplined betting. The Mathematician,
frustrated by the weather and a lack of clear-cut betting opportunities, has
seen his profits fall to £505.85 (from £1,505.85) because he’s been undone by
a number of unlucky ‘close things’. Sport 4 Profit’s rugby singles club is also
down this month, to £670.32 from £1,131.95, though Sport 4 Profit’s Trevor Oakland
will be most concerned about his golf results. With an ambitious strategy designed
to find tournament winners at between 33/1 and 100/1, Oakland finds himself
£3,604.58 in arrears.
To provide an everyday comparison to the pros I’ve enlisted the help of Eamonn
‘The Amateur’ McCloskey, a racing aficionado and my former boss. Despite a 28
per cent strike rate of finding winners, he is saddled with a £721.67 net loss.
Surprisingly, his strike rate is only 5 per cent less than Steve Lewis Hamilton’s,
yet he finds himself £6,362.50 behind ‘Britain’s foremost professional backer’
in our standings. ‘Picking short-priced winning favourites is one thing,’ he
says, ‘but you can’t argue with the cumulative effect of winners at between
7/2 and 25/1.’
Published in The Observer Newspaper 30th Oct 2005
