Welcome to the Honest Betting Reviews news section. Here you can find the latest news and information on the betting industry, betting systems and tipsters.

footballer kicking ball

Making It Pay in The Premier League

The Premier League is arguably the biggest domestic football league in the world today. Bookmakers have hundreds of markets on every game in the league, while there is a plethora of outright markets available to you.

Having such choice is in your favour as a punter as you may have a strong opinion on how many bookings, corners or goals there will be in the game, rather than the traditional full-time result.

Here are some things to look out for in the 2021/22 campaign.

Newcastle Are Not Too Good to Be Relegated

Newcastle have been in the spotlight recently following their takeover. The future is definitely bright for the northeast club, as they are sure to receive a lot of investment over the next few years.

Unfortunately for Newcastle fans, their current team is really poor. They are 6/5 in the Premier League relegation odds from Betfair and on the evidence of what we have seen from them so far, they may end up in the bottom three.

The January transfer window is obviously the chance for Newcastle to add to their squad, however, it’s unlikely they will be securing any big-name players in that window. Good players will not want to join a team threatened by relegation. The club may have to wait until next summer to land the calibre of players they want.

Michail Antonio Will Keep on Scoring

The competition for the Premier League Golden Boot is very strong this season as Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the Premier League over the summer. Mo Salah has got off to a fast start and is the leading goalscorer so far in the 2021/22 campaign.

One player who is in the best form of his career and looks the best value in the leading goalscorer market, is Michail Antonio. The West Ham striker has scored six goals in his opening nine games this season. 

The Hammers are having another fantastic season under David Moyes. They should be pushing for a European finish once again. Antonio can be backed each way with four places available to you. If he continues at the pace he is going, he should be amongst the leaders at the end of the campaign.

City And Chelsea Locked in Title Bid

This year’s league championship race is going to be one of the closest we have seen in a long time. Last season’s title winners Manchester City, European champions Chelsea, and Liverpool have all got off to a fast start.

 

What is going to really help City and Chelsea is the depth they have in their squads, particularly around Christmas and February (when the Champions League knockout stages begin). Liverpool have a strong starting XI but if they pick up a few injuries, the quality of their side declines.

It is very hard to split City and Chelsea this season, however, they can be backed in a dual forecast. If they both finish in the top two, you will be paid out as a winner, regardless of the order.

Good luck with your Premier League bets!

 

 

Three Races To Look Forward To For The Rest Of 2021

The 2021 flat racing season is almost at an end, and we have witnessed truly outstanding performances over the course of the campaign.

Snowfall delivered one of the great performances at The Oaks to win the crown by a record-breaking margin. Poetic Flare was exceptional at the 2,000 Guineas to win the first British Classic of the term before being beaten at The Derby by a fine run from Adayar.

Fortunately for racing enthusiasts across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and beyond, there are top contests still on the docket for the flat season. We’ll now look at the best ones and give our tips for which horses could emerge on top.

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

This promises to be a duel between two brilliant competitors in the form of Palace Pier and Baaeed. Hopefully, both John & Thady Gosden and William Haggas put their respective charges into the race. Palace Pier is the leading contender in the horse racing betting odds for the meet in October at Ascot given his flawless record in the 2021 season.

 

However, you should be checking the horse racing predictions for the form of Baaeed for the race as he has been just as good over the course of the term. Palace Pier might have the slide edge after recording a victory at Ascot in the Queen Anne Stakes along with triumphs in the Lockinge Stakes and the Prix Jacques Le Marois. Baaeed will be a tough opponent, so we should be in for a cracker, but our money is on Palace Pier.

Champion Stakes

St Mark’s Basilica is the presumptive favourite for the contest, although he does have an injury scare after being withdrawn from the International Stakes at the Ebor Festival. Aiden O’Brien’s charge has been sensational this term in all three of his contests, including the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park. He has the pedigree to storm to success, but his fitness could place those hopes in jeopardy.

Mishriff was the horse to capitalise on his absence at York as he claimed the victory in the International Stakes, beating out Alenquer by six lengths. Mishriff is a talented horse, but not quite of the calibre of St Mark’s Basilica at the peak of his powers. The interesting pick could be Adayar, who won The Derby, the King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He has a good price in the ante-post, and might be worth a shout to end his season for Charlie Appleby on a high note.

Long Distance Cup

Stradivarius etched his place in history by winning the Lonsdale Cup for the third time. The great horse just had enough to beat out Spanish Mission on the line by a head. The question for John & Thady Gosden is whether Stradivarius has enough left in the tank for another run at glory in the Long Distance Cup. He won the event in 2018, but lost out by a nose in 2018 and was well off the pace last season, finishing in 12th out of 13 competitors.

 

The defending champion Trueshan was unavailable for the Lonsdale Cup, but he should be fit enough to return at Ascot. He was outstanding in the Goodwood Cup Stakes, and should be on form again in the Long Distance Cup. Princess Zoe and Search For A Song are alternative options. However, the battle will be between Trueshan and Stradivarius, which the former might just edge.

These three races will capture the attention more than most towards the end of the campaign. We should be treated to three special contests between the elite of the flat discipline.

 

 

 

How Does Finland Contribute So Much to the Global Casino Market?

Source: Pixabay

As the global casino market grows, so does the number of players. With a projected value of £120 billion by 2027, it’s tempting to assume that the likes of the UK, US, and China will play the most significant roles. While these nations are integral to the wealth of the sector, you shouldn’t ignore the impact of Finland.  

Over the years, Finland has transformed into a country that loves to gamble. For instance, it ranks fourth in the list of nations that bet the most. Therefore, its importance within the industry can’t be denied. What most people don’t understand is how it has gone from the bottom rung of the ladder to the top of the tree while flying under the radar.  

Public Entertainment  

You can argue that gambling is public entertainment. After all, online casinos are available via the internet in places like the UK and Australia, where consumption rates are high. The latter, for example, beats Finland in regards to the amount spent annually per person (£510 versus £290).  

However, travelling around Finland and checking out the infrastructure will show you why perceptions of the hobby are liberal. This is best seen in petrol stations and shops around the country where betting games are accessible.

In Britain, you can only find versions of the lottery and need to go to a specialist provider to place a wager. When the many online establishments are thrown into the mix, it’s clear that gambling isn’t looked down upon by Finns because the likes of live casino offerings and table games are popular at a Finnish casino not just because they are widely available, but because they are enjoyed among the population. Even countries regarded as liberal don’t have the same infrastructure, which means gambling isn’t as powerful a form of public entertainment as it is in Finland. 

To put this into perspective, the share of revenues within the Finnish betting industry is split across the board since 66% of the money is spent on everything from slot machines to sportsbooks and lotteries.  

Alternative Transactions Breaking the Mould

Source: Pixabay

Again, alternate payment methods aren’t revolutionary. They’ve been around for a while, ever since e-wallets like PayPal added another dimension to the safety protocol for customers and operators. Yet, Finland isn’t a country that takes the types of available formats lightly. Indeed, they are essential to the success of the industry.  

Have you ever heard of Trustly or Verkkopanki? You may not have, but Finnish people have because they are forms of bank transfers that let customers place money in their accounts. Considering that online banking makes up 63% of the Finnish sector, it’s imperative for users to access suitable platforms, something the market allows them to do. On top of this, lesser-known e-wallets such as Zimpler are common in Finland, too, since they account for 6% of transactions.  

Therefore, Finnish society not only has a different view on the pastime, unlike other European nations, but the payment options are varied enough to cater to most people’s needs. It’s this combination that allows Finland to contribute billions to the global online casino market. 

 

 

 

Tipster of the Month – July

This year we are running a new feature here at Honest Betting Reviews – our “Tipster of the Month” award.

This is where we look at the top tipsters – both those we have reviewed in the past and those we are currently reviewing – to see who has performed most strongly over the last month.

It’s a chance to find out who is in form and has been giving the bookies a good hiding over the last month and to note any stand-out performances.

Now it’s time to look at the top tipsters for July.

 

Tipster of the Month – July 2021

July was a big month for sport, with the Euros coming to an end – although sadly not in the fashion England fans hoped for. 

In tennis Novak Djokovic captured his sixth Wimbledon title, taking him level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on 20 grand slams and keeping him on course for the calendar grand slam in 2021. 

American Collin Morikawa captured golf’s Open Championship on his debut in the event, just as he had done at the USPGA last year, becoming the first male golfer ever to win two majors on debut.

Glorious Goodwood was the highlight of July’s horse racing calendar, with Wonderful Tonight proving one of the stars of the show winning the Lillie Langtry Stakes.

It was also a strong month for certain horse racing tipsters as we will see below.

 

3. Hidden Winners

In third spot in our Tipster of the Month awards for July was horse racing service Hidden Winners, which recently completed a successful trial here at Honest Betting Reviews, notching a profit of 61 points.

Well they had an excellent July as well, banking an impressive 52 points profit in total.

Winners over the month included Goodwood successes Imperial Fighter at 9/1, Suesa at 10/1 and Armour at 7/1 as well as other triumphs such as Bangkok at 20/1 at York and Maglev at 13/2 at Yarmouth.

Those helped take the total profit for the service since it started in 2019 to over 560 points.

Excellent stuff from the Hidden Winners service and well done on securing third spot in our tipster of the month awards.

 

2. Loves Racing

It was an incredibly close race for top spot in our awards this month and just missing out by less than one point was the formidable Loves Racing.

This is one of our highest rated horse racing services having passed a review with flying colours in 2019 and they have continued to churn out the profits since then, with another 61 points made across their main tips and festival selections in July.

They had an exceptionally strong Goodwood, with winners at 20/1, 11/4, 9/1, 12/1, 7/2 and 13/2, meaning they made just shy of 50 points profit on the week.

Add in an excellent 20/1 winner (went off at 40/1) in the shape of Stonific at Market Rasen and you have a pretty fantastic month.

Congrats to Loves Racing on a great effort in July and hard luck on just missing out on top spot for the month.

 

1. Premier Greyhound Tips

Just nudging out Loves Racing and grabbing the spoils this month was Premier Greyhound Tips.

This is a service we originally reviewed way back in 2016 and we have continued tracking their progress since then. In total they have now made over £20,000 profit at £25/point stakes at a return on investment of over 11%.

In July they had one of their best months ever, notching up a superb 62 points profit at a phenomenal ROI of 94%.

Winners came pouring in throughout the month at prices of up to 10/1 which secured monster returns for members.

Congratulations then to Premier Greyhound Tips for winning our Tipster of the Month award for July.

 

 

 

golfer swinging club

Get Your Free Open Betting Guide Here!

It’s the 149th Open Championship this week from Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent.

The tournament has been delayed by a year due to coronavirus and Shane Lowry defends his title from 2019 at Royal Portrush. 

Once again for a major championship the bookies are offering punters an excellent deal this week with top 9, top 10 – even top 12 for each-way bets, so it’s a great event to get stuck into from a betting point of view.

U.S. Open champion John Rahm heads into the championship as favourite at 8/1, with Americans Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth next in the betting at 18/1 and 20/1 respectively.

Martin Cowell over at GolfBetsGold (a service we are currently reviewing and that has been doing well) has put together a FREE GUIDE all about the Open Championship.

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Get Your Euro 2020 Betting & Trading Guide Here!

After a 12 month delay, the start of Euro 2020 is just two days away!

We have 51 matches to look forward to over the next month as the top European nations battle it out.

Whether you prefer ante-post betting or in-play trading, the Goal Profits team have you covered.

Click here to get £20 off Goal Profits membership

Last week, Kevin Laverick published his “Euro 2020 Betting & Trading Guide”.

It includes his best bets for:

• Group A straight/dual forecast
• Group B straight/dual forecast
• Group C straight/dual forecast
• Group D straight/dual forecast
• Group E straight/dual forecast
• Group F straight/dual forecast
• Highest Scoring Group
• Lowest Scoring Group
• Euro 2020 Semi Finalists
• Euro 2020 Finalists
• Euro 2020 Winner
• Player of the Tournament
• Young Player of the Tournament
• Euro 2020 Winner/Golden Boot double

Kevin is aiming to trade many of these once they get into profitable positions.

In addition, he will be trading most of the 51 Euro 2020 games live in the Goal Profits chat room.

If you have ever wanted to learn from a professional trader, this is a fantastic opportunity!

Kevin will be posting when he enters and exits trades so that you can copy his exact moves.

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Join Goal Profits today and access all of Kevin’s Euro 2020 bets and trades.

Click here to get £20 off Goal Profits membership

You’re also going to get 3 months access to all of this:

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Good luck with your Euro 2020 bets and trades.

May the best team win!

 

 

 

man winning bet

Tipster of the Month – May

This year we are running a new feature here at Honest Betting Reviews – our “Tipster of the Month” award.

This is where we look at the top tipsters – both those we have reviewed in the past and those we are currently reviewing – to see who’s performed most strongly over the last month.

It’s a chance to find out who is in form and has been giving the bookies a good hiding over the last month and to note any stand-out performances.

Now it’s time to look at the top tipsters from May.

 

Tipster of the Month – May 2021

May was a month of transition in the sporting world as the football season came to an end in Europe, whilst the flat racing season got underway. 

There was also a feeling of the changing of the guard in some European leagues as Inter Milan finally ended Juventus’ nine year winning streak in Serie A whilst Lille completed a huge upset in winning Ligue 1 ahead of the mighty PSG. In England Manchester City regained their Premier League crown in dominant fashion. 

May was capped off by Chelsea winning the Champions League in a dogged 1-0 defeat of Man City in Porto, whilst Villareal pulled off a shock defeat of Man Utd in the Europa League final after an epic penalty shoot-out. 

In the racing world, the month got off to a flying start with the Guineas meeting at Newmarket, where Poetic Flare won the 2,000 Guineas for Jim Bolger and Mother Earth won the 1000 Guineas for trainer Aidan O’Brien with the evergreen Frankie Dettori on board.

In terms of tipping, May was dominated by horse racing tipsters, a number of whom had a cracking month and put the bookies to the sword. Let’s take a look at the best tipsters for the month of May. 

 

4. Loves Racing

One of our top recommended horse racing services is Loves Racing and after a bit of a mixed year so far they got things back on track with a cracking month in May. 

The main selections brought home a profit of 40 points for the month, with the highlight being an 18/1 winner in the shape of Storting at Thirsk. 

Their festival selections also made a profit of 7 points for the month, with Primo Bacio landing the spoils at York’s Dante Festival at odds of 14/1. Loves Racing’s festival selections have now made 285 points profit in total, in addition to the 378 points profit made from their main selections.

An excellent month then and let’s see if they can build on that as the flat racing season really kicks into gear over the coming months.

 

3. Racing Intelligence

Another tipster who had a tricky start to the year but has now got right back into form is the excellent Racing Intelligence. 

After notching a solid profit in April, they went and smashed in over 50 points profit in May, getting back to the kind of bookie-bashing form we’ve come to expect from them over the past couple of years. 

Highlights for the month included a double success on the 17th at Leicester as Bit Of A Quirke won at 13/2 and Dora Penny triumphed at 14/1. There was a fairly steady stream of returns throughout the month with each-way shots and winners aplenty. 

Great to see Racing Intelligence back to their best and well done on an excellent month’s tipping. 

 

2. Flat Flyers

Taking the number two spot for the month is a service we are currently reviewing, from the Back Lucrative stable of betting services.

With the flat season getting going in earnest it was a perfect time for Flat Flyers to show their mettle and that is exactly what it did in May, racking up a hugely impressive 74 points profit. 

There were some big winners throughout the month, including Broken Spear at Chester at 25/1, Primo Bacio at York at 14/1, We Still Believe at Hamilton at 14/1 and The Organiser at York at 12/1.

We have come to expect high quality from Michael at Back Lucrative and that is exactly what he delivered last month. Congratulations to him and his Flat Flyers service for racking up some very healthy profits in May.

 

1. Hanbury Racing

Our apologies to this service for originally missing them off our list for May, but the number one service for the month was Hanbury Racing

With an excellent 137 points profit at advised prices, it was a great month for them. The real highlight of the month was 100/1 tip Danilo D’Airy at Warwick on the 8th May, which brought home a big portion of the month’s profits. They also had a 33/1 winner with Dawn Sunrise and a 14/1 winner with I Hope Star though so some impressive picks throughout the month.

As noted in our review update however, they actually made a loss at Betfair SP. That was because Danilo D’Airy went off at a BSP of just 12.53, returning under 14 points profit on the bet. So it looks like you really need access to bookie accounts to make the most of this service – or you did during May in any event. 

With such a huge profit made at advised prices though we think Hanbury Racing is worthy of high praise and to pick up the award of Tipster of the Month for May. 

 

 

 

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Sorare home

Sorare’s Fundamental Flaw – An “Unwinnable Game” – and What Needs to Change

UPDATE – please note Sorare have made a concerted effort to address the concerns raised in the article below through the introduction of changes announced in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on 6th May 2021. 

You can read more about those changes and our thoughts on them here (see 7th May 2021 update). 

In summary we believe the introduction of the Academy League and Progress Bar will go a long way to addressing our concerns regarding fairness, although we think a little more work is needed on the reward structure and entry requirements.

We look forward to seeing the changes in full and to continue working with Sorare on building the best product possible. 

 

 

 

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If you’ve been following our reviews lately you may have noticed we have been getting quite into Sorare, a new global fantasy football game based on digital trading cards. 

If you’re not familiar with what Sorare is, we would recommend reading our guide here. 

As we’ve mentioned in our review updates, we love the concept of Sorare and think it has huge potential. They recently raised $50m in Series A funding and have experienced significant growth in users and revenue this year. 

However, at the same time we believe the platform is fundamentally flawed in its current form. 

In short, this is because the game is becoming increasingly “unwinnable” for new users and those on a small budget. 

We have dealt with this in more detail in our review updates where we summarised the issue as follows:-

“Essentially the gap between the top few percent of users (the “big whales”) and the rest is getting wider and wider each week and it’s becoming almost impossible for a new user to compete with them unless they have a massive – and we mean really massive  – budget.

This is because the top users hold all the best cards and totally dominate the fantasy contests. These top cards now cost thousands of Euros each so are simply not affordable for the vast majority of users. 

This is acting like a vicious cycle, because in winning the fantasy contests the big whales also win the best cards as rewards, only serving to increase their advantage further – and so on. 

One user won £9,500 worth of cards this week for example! 

What this is doing is creating a huge gap between that small percentage of users who were either early adopters or have massive budgets (or both) and everyone else. 

So the rest are essentially left fighting for scraps at the bottom end and have little or no hope of ever catching those at the top – unless something changes.”

We feel this is becoming a huge issue for the platform and we know we are not the only ones who feel this, as some of you have contacted us raising the same concern. 

We wanted to delve into this issue in a little more detail to illustrate by way of example just what is happening at the moment. 

Let’s have a look at the gameweek that just passed, Gameweek #161. 

If we look at the results of Global All-Star Division 4, the biggest division on Sorare in terms of the number of entrants, the top 3 placings were as follows:-

  1. tecomah – joined Dec 2019, owns 178 rare cards and 38 super-rare cards. Current roster value 32 ETH ~ $92,800
  2. EBr777 – joined Sep 2020, owns 124 rare cards and 15 super-rare cards. Current roster value 42 ETH ~ $121,800
  3. timshram – joined Jan 2021, owns 129 rare cards and 12 super-rare cards. Current roster value 26 ETH ~ $75,400*

(*data taken from Soraredata.com)

As you can see, these managers all joined before the boom in prices in February 2021 and all have galleries worth substantial amounts of money. 

In coming in the top three in the Global All-Star Division 4, they won a Star rare card (e.g. Kimmich, Neymar, Lukaku, Courtois), which will substantially increase their chances of performing well in future SO5 contests. They also won 0.5 ETH, 0.3 ETH and 0.2 ETH respectively, which they could use to buy more cards if they wish. 

Now this is not to denigrate any of these managers – fair play to them for joining Sorare at an early stage and for doing well on the platform. 

But it does illustrate the point that it is now increasingly difficult for a new user or manager to compete with the likes of these managers unless they have a huge budget. 

Of course occasionally a new or lower-budget manager will do well in the SO5 contests, for example “Wfootballtips” won the Global All-Star Division 4 in the previous gameweek.

They joined the platform in January 2021 – so still before the February boom – but have a more modest gallery than those above with 38 rare cards and 1 super rare, with a roster value of 2.6 ETH, which is roughly $7,500 at today’s prices.

But going through the results, a win like this is unusual and becomes even more so when you move up into the higher divisions – where the rewards are more substantial with super-rares and unique cards being won as prizes and the chances of winning a card are higher in percentage terms. Familiar names like PawelTrader, Spicer and Zuraw tend to dominate proceedings. The latter for example has won over 500 cards in rewards, worth over 391 ETH, or $1m at today’s prices.

 

What’s the Point?

When you have a look at numbers like these, it can leave users wondering “what’s the point” in trying to compete with these managers and indeed we have felt the same ourselves at times. 

Other fantasy games like FanTeam, which we are reviewing at the moment, give each manager a fixed budget to use each week, meaning everyone starts out on an equal footing and it is down to skill, research, knowledge – and of course a little bit of luck – as to who wins each week. 

This just isn’t the case with Sorare and without significant changes to the structure, it will only get worse. That would leave the vast majority of managers a choice of whether to:

  1. Just grind it out for the ETH threshold each week (or whatever replaces it) – hardly the most enthralling long-term experience and misses out on a massive potential element of the game;
  2. Try and make a profit by trading cards (which is limited at the moment due to a lack of liquidity); or
  3. Leave the platform altogether. We know a few of you have considered the latter option and we have to say if we don’t see significant changes to the structure we may do the same. 

The problem for us is not just that it is very difficult to envisage ever competing with the top managers, but if that’s the case for the vast majority of new users who join in future, then the platform is going to struggle to grow and its potential may never be realised.

 

What Needs to Change

Sorare are in the process of reviewing the reward structure at the moment and announced an outline of their plans on 15th April in a medium post.

Whilst there were some welcome proposals in there, including helping managers with “progression” in the game, we were not convinced that any of the proposed changes will address the fundamental, structural issue discussed above. The Sorare medium post stated: 

“We are currently developing a new threshold feature that will allow all Managers on the platform to unlock cards by progressing and accumulating points across multiple Game Weeks.”

Whilst this is a good idea in itself, we are not sure it will do anything to address the inequity on the platform. The larger accounts will be able to accumulate points and unlock cards faster than lower-budget managers so this will just widen the gulf between managers, unless there are some restrictions placed on this progression, perhaps based on a starting point of how many rewards already won for example.

In addition, although they announced that the number of cards distributed as rewards will increase, this will be based on the number of matches in a gameweek, not the number of entries. 

So whilst this will be helpful to managers in the short-term in terms of helping them win cards, when the number of users on Sorare increases, we will just be back in the same position we are in now, where only a very small percentage of entrants win prizes in Division 4.

We are surprised Sorare didn’t choose to base the number of cards distributed on the number of gameweek entries, or even on cards in circulation, as we would have thought that would be a more sustainable and manageable model for them too. 

Overall we couldn’t see much evidence in Sorare’s medium post of changes to address the structural gulf between managers on the platform and we were really hoping for some action in that direction. 

However, it is a dynamic platform that is constantly evolving and they are always open to feedback from the community, so we hope there is some scope to address this.

In our most recent update we suggested three possible actions the team could take:

  1. Limit use of the top cards – e.g. only one Star Rare/Tier 1 per gameweek
  2. Spread rewards around more evenly – e.g. distribute ETH currently given to top 3 to more managers lower down
  3. Create new leagues and divisions – with certain criteria to make them winnable for low-medium budget managers.

Having been in touch with the team, it appears they are not inclined to place any “limitations” on the platform. So it looks like the first idea is unlikely to come to fruition at the moment.

In terms of the second, we hope the current review of the reward structure will mean rewards spread more evenly, not just with regard to cards but also monetary rewards. 

It is perhaps the third idea that is the most practical however and would do most to address the current flaws. If there was a separate league with only tier 2/3 cards being eligible to enter, it would give just about any manager the chance to compete for the top places. Taking out the likes of Mbappe, Neymar, Kimmich, Kroos and co would greatly negate the financial advantage the top few percent of managers have and make it much more about skill, levelling the playing field. 

Thus low-middle budget managers could conceivably win top rewards without requiring their tier 2/3 cards to beat the Mbappes and Neymars of this world. They would have a realistic way of moving up the ladder and competing with the top managers. It would also give more value to tier 2/3 cards because they would have much more chance of winning you a prize.

We are not suggesting this should replace the current leagues/divisions but would instead run alongside them. Thus you would not be punishing or “limiting” the top managers who could still compete in the free market that is the current league structure (and of course in the new league as well if they wished). But when the low-mid budget managers had won a few top rewards in the new league they might then feel more inclined to take on the top managers in the current leagues.

 

Conclusion – The Spirit of Égalité

As Sorare is a French company we thought we would end with a tribute to the French motto of Liberté, égalité, fraternité. At the moment there is certainly liberté on Sorare, in terms of freedom to play on the platform and fraternité, with a great community, but not quite so much égalité. 

We hope the team can address this by providing a genuine means for new and lower budget managers to compete with the larger-budget/early adopters. We stress this is not to denigrate the latter in any way and credit to them for taking a chance on the platform early on and doing well on it. 

But to make it an enjoyable experience and one where anyone who joins feels the game is actually winnable – not just on a given gameweek if they get incredibly lucky (in which case perhaps playing the lottery is a better idea) but in the long-term whereby they can compete based on skill and judgement and not their financial firepower or when they happened to join the platform. 

The current gulf is only going to get wider if there aren’t structural changes however and this could prove fatal to the platform. Users will just become frustrated and leave, which we are seeing hints of already. 

We have suggested some changes the team could make to address this issue and we hope they will give these and any other ideas the community puts forward to tackle this serious consideration. 

 

 

 

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How the Betting Industry has Capitalised on Technology

The betting industry has enjoyed a revolution due to the progression of technology over the last 15 years. Few businesses have benefited more outside of technology-based companies than the advances made online and through mobile devices.

Perhaps the most significant bonus for betting companies has been mobile betting. Bettors are now able to wager whenever and wherever they are in the United Kingdom, with access to a diverse range of sports betting markets and odds at their fingertips. No longer do bettors need to access their desktops or travel in person to the bookies to wager on their favourite sports. It has opened up the industry to millions and has certainly contributed to the diversification of the industry itself over the last decade or so.

With expansion, there also comes pressure to deliver a high-quality product. The leading operators in the industry have always made a priority of offering their customers the best site, whether it comes in the form of the markets they provide or the value of their odds. The innovation of technology has allowed them to improve the diversity of their offerings.

Source: Unsplash

Live betting or in-play markets have become arguably the most popular form of betting online. Odds are changed in real-time to allow bettors to wager on actions that happen during a match or event as it occurs. This has been a game-changer for many companies, allowing them to increase the odds and markets provided to their users – reaching beyond 100 in-game markets on certain contests.

The ability to provide cash-out features for their customers has also been a hit. If you’re not offering a function to allow bettors to remove partial winnings from a live bet, you’re being the eight ball. That trend has been continued with the option of live streaming. Now, users with registered accounts can watch live games through betting sites and apps, even when they’re not broadcasted or streamed on television. The top operators in the business provide these options, and are continually looking to branch out even further to stay ahead of the competition.

Areas of technology that were previously seen as a niche are beginning to enter the mainstream. Cryptocurrencies are now being accepted by some bookmakers rather than the traditional forms of payment. Betting companies are also benefiting from artificial intelligence (AI) to help build their markets and odds. Users are also optimising those products to aid their football wagers and horse racing predictions, allowing the technology to remove bias from the equation and base bets off statistical knowledge.

It appeals to the casual bettor, providing quality information to utilise on their wagers without the need for detailed and arduous research. These methods are fledgling at the moment, but, with greater understanding and success, they could become just as integral a feature as live betting and streaming.

Source: Unsplash

As technology continues to progress and new innovations come to the fore, the betting industry will no doubt aim to capitalise. At its core, there will remain a human element that will always relish placing a wager in person with cash in hand, especially when attending a day at the races. Betting operators have not been afraid to chance their arm with innovative technologies, and have been rewarded with increased activity across their platforms. It will be fascinating to see whether they can sustain this growth over a period of time or if there could be a lull in the future.