A common question people have about tipsters is “how do they make their money?” 

The life of a tipster is shrouded in mystery and it is one of these slightly grey areas where there is no “official” way for a tipster to be paid. At the same time, there has been some controversy in recent years regarding partnerships between bookies and tipsters, but as we discuss below this is not always as problematic as it may at first appear. 

It may sound like quite a glamorous and exciting lifestyle for a betting expert to earn money from issuing tips, but it is not always quite so straightforward and normally involves significant ups and downs and a lot of hard work to be successful at. 

There are various ways a tipster can earn money – whether that’s by being paid by a newspaper (or website) to provide tips, charging a subscription directly to members of their tipping service, through advertising or taking a percentage of any winnings made. 

Each of these options has its pros and cons for both punter and tipster and we will take a look at the implications of each one below. 

 

The Evolving Career of the Tipster

Since the earliest days of gambling, where there have been bets being placed on sports, invariably tipsters have followed. It makes sense for people to seek out experts in any field, who may have more in-depth knowledge and expertise that can be utilised to their advantage. When people are placing money on an event, it is logical they may want the advice of a professional rather than relying on their own guesswork or doing a little bit of form study. 

This is particularly the case in sports like horse racing, where there are a huge range of factors to consider and the sense that there is “inside information” that not all punters may be privy to. 

Back in the early days of racing, a tipster would typically attend the racecourse in person and hand out slips of paper with their tips on in exchange for a small fee. The tipster would often be someone connected to the stables or trainer with a claim to some “inside info.” 

This gradually evolved to a more formal service where tipsters would provide their selections in a newspaper column, together with write-ups explaining their reasoning. The newspaper would pay the tipster a salary if they were a regular contributor, or fees for individual articles if the advice was more occasional. 

As the popularity of betting grew over the course of the twentieth century, specific newspapers dedicated to betting, like the Racing Post and Sporting Life, sprang up. These had whole panels of tipsters devoted to particular sports or even disciplines within sports. 

Within such newspapers, there were also private tipsters who would take out adverts to promote their services to readers. These tipsters would normally provide their tips via a phone-line, for which they would charge a premium rate and earn a fee. 

All of this was of course turned on its head by the arrival of the internet in the late 1990s. The whole gambling world was changed dramatically by the internet and tipping was no exception. 

As bookmakers moved online, so did the majority of tipsters. It opened up the possibility for many more budding tipsters to offer their services to the public, which had previously been the reserve of a select few. 

How tipsters offered their services also changed, with tips being provided via a whole variety of channels including e-mail, text and more recently, apps like Telegram. 

Tipster platforms also sprung up, which are websites allowing people to offer their tips, whilst taking care of things like admin and marketing on behalf of the tipster to save them time. 

You would expect that in a general sense, any tipster would make some money from betting on their own tips first and foremost. However, some may have suffered bookie restrictions and their strategy might not be viable on the exchanges so that is not always possible – and in some cases not being able to bet themselves may even be the factor that drove them to becoming a tipster in the first place. 

Leaving that aside though, the options for how a tipster can make money today are quite varied. The option they go for can have quite a significant impact for them and for the punter however, which we will dive into further below. 

 

The Traditional Method – A Newspaper Tipster

The method through which a tipster was traditionally be paid was by having a job as a newspaper columnist and being paid a regular salary by that newspaper.

The tipster would normally produce a regular column, whether on a weekly or daily basis, providing tips for upcoming races. Those in the UK will probably be familiar with names such as Pricewise (Tom Segal) at the Racing Post or Templegate at the Sun newspaper. The advantage of this approach from the tipster’s perspective is that they get paid a regular income and do not have to worry about the ups and downs that can come with a subscription-based model (more on that below). 

The advantage of this approach from the punter’s point of view is that it is free (or cheap, as in the cost of the newspaper). However, the disadvantage is that often the newspapers don’t keep a record of the tipster’s results or seem to place much importance on the tipster’s performance.

Many newspaper tipsters for example actually have losing records. It is more about regularly churning out articles and being a good, knowledgeable writer, rather than producing a long-term profit per se. 

The other potential downside of the newspaper tipster is that it can be very hard to obtain the advised prices. With thousands – or even millions – of punters seeing the same tips posted in a popular newspaper (or site) at the same time, it can cause a price crash.

Those who have used Pricewise will probably be familiar with this and it was evident in our review of Hugh Taylor of At the Races, who whilst producing excellent results at advised prices struggled to produce a profit at prices that were actually obtainable.  

 

Today’s Method of Choice: A Subscription-based Model 

Since the advent of the internet in the late 1990s, the most common method for tipsters to be paid is via a subscription-based model. 

So for example a tipster will charge a monthly or quarterly subscription fee for people to receive their tips. Once signed up, tips are sent out via e-mail, text or Telegram app, or via logging in to a website. 

This method works well and is pretty simple and straightforward for both parties. The tipster and punter’s interests are very much aligned – the tipster knows that if they don’t produce the goods, people will stop subscribing. 

From the tipster’s point of view, on the downside that means if they go through a losing spell, their income can fall quite dramatically. If the drawdown drags on for a while, that can mean having to live off very little income for an extended period. 

The flipside of course is that if they have a really good run, subscriber numbers can soar and the tipster can receive a very tidy income. If for example a tipster charges £30 per month and hits a purple patch with lots of winners, they could see 200 subscribers joining their service, bringing in income of £6,000 per month. 

So operating a subscription model can be “feast or famine” for the tipster and if going down that route, a tipster probably has to be prepared for a wild ride in terms of their income level. Some months will be tough and some very lucrative, so learning to look at the average over a year is probably the best way to approach it. 

From the punter’s perspective, the subscription model is a favourable one as we say, as you know the tipster will be doing everything they can to produce a profit and keep the subscribers signed up. That doesn’t guarantee they will make a profit of course, but at least you know your and their interests are aligned. 

Most of the best tipsters we have reviewed on this site, such as The Bookies Enemy and Hanbury Racing, run on a subscription basis, which we think is the most sensible model overall. 

 

Taking A Cut – Profit Share Model

Another way for tipsters to get paid is a profit share model. This is a lot less common than a subscription model, but means the punter pays a share of profits made to the tipster over a given period. 

So for example a tipster might set a 20% profit share model over a month. If the tipster makes £1000 profit for the punter over that month, then the punter would pay £200 from that to the tipster.

A profit-sharing model was used by the (now-defunct) site Betmarkets and we have seen it a few other times over the years, but as we say it is not very common. 

One of the drawbacks to this model is that if in the example above, after making £1,000 profit the tipster then made a loss of £1,000 the next month, the punter is out of pocket by £200, whilst the tipster has actually broken even. Losses can be carried over to be counted against future profits, but there is no guarantee the tipster will make back enough profit to cover this. 

Additionally it can be complicated to set up and ensure that funds are collected and distributed in the correct way. 

A slight variation on this is the “pay as you win” model, whereby a punter does not pay a subscription but pays based on any profits made by the tipster. 

For example the tipster might charge £1 per point of profit made. If the tipster makes 50 points profit, you would then pay £50. 

This approach can suffer from the same issue as the profit share model if the tipster then goes and loses the previous profits made, but in a way it is not that different to paying a monthly subscription fee with the risk that the tipster makes a loss that month on top of the subscription fee you have paid. 

The pay as you go approach is also easier to administer than a profit sharing model, so is slightly preferred of the two.

 

Advertising 

The other principal way a tipster can make money is through advertising. This is perhaps the most controversial one and has provoked some lurid articles in the press regarding advertising deals struck between bookies and tipsters. 

Essentially in these scenarios, the tipster signs up as an affiliate of a bookmaker. They then promote that bookmaker on their tipping website and receive a share of the revenues from any person who signs up to that bookmaker from their site.

What this means in effect is that the tipster receives a share of any losses made by the customer. Often these deals are set at 20-30%. So if the punter were to lose £1,000 and the tipster was on a 30% affiliate deal, they would receive £300 from the bookie. 

You can see how quite easily this could lead to a conflict of interest, with the tipster incentivised to provide “bad tips” so the punter loses money and the tipster gets a cut of their losses. 

Whilst there do appear to have been some instances of this happening – particularly with social media tipsters – you can also see how quickly this approach would fall down. Punters would stop following a losing tipster very quickly and the tipster would not get any new customers. So it might work in the short term but would not be viable for very long. 

More common in this scenario is that the tipster will still try to provide winning tips and make a profit for their followers, thus retaining their punters and bringing new ones to their site, but the weight of statistics will play its part in the long run.

With studies showing over 98% of gamblers lose money overall, it is a sad fact that even if they were receiving some profitable tips, most punters will still go on to lose money from their betting overall. This could be through placing what could be termed “mug bets” such as at online casinos or on accumulators for example. 

So the advertising model in many instances is not as controversial as the press have tried to make out, as being a losing tipster is not viable for any length of time at all. In any event, with additional regulations that have been brought in, the bookies have largely stopped working with affiliate tipsters so this model is not very common anymore. 

Of course tipsters could just offer general advertising on their site not related to bookmakers, but the revenues from general advertising (pay-per-click) tend to be very low unless a website is attracting millions of visitors. So it would only really be viable for the big betting websites like At the Races and the Racing Post, which as described above already have their salaried in-house tipsters. 

In essence then advertising is rarely used as a means for tipsters to make money these days and in fact it’s a while since we have seen any tipsters operating this model. 

 

Conclusion – It’s A Tipster’s Life

The career of a tipster is one of those areas that is shrouded in mystery and attracts a fair amount of controversy. 

To be honest though, making money as a tipster is hard and other than those lucky enough to land a job as a salaried newspaper tipster, generally it involves a lot of ups and downs with wildly fluctuating income. 

Even those fortunate few who do land a job as a resident tipster at a newspaper are still – like all tipsters – under pressure to produce results. 

So it is perhaps not surprising to learn that many tipsters these days do it as a second income rather than their primary job, given the pressures and ups and downs of it. 

Those who have managed to do it professionally and successfully for a long period tend to be only the very best – for it is only they who can it make it viable ultimately. 

Some of those top tipsters you can check out here in our list of the Best Horse Racing Tipsters.

 

 

 

 

Football is undoubtedly one of the most popular sports in the world. Millions of fans tune in every week to watch their favorite teams play and cheer them on.

Making money from betting on football is hard though and very few people manage to do it the long run. 

One strategy that has been used by professional gamblers for years to beat the bookmakers and earn consistent profits however is value betting.

In this ultimate guide, we’ll take you through everything you need to know about football value betting, including the strategies, tips, and tools you need to get started.

What exactly is value betting and why do you need to focus on making sure you are a value bettor? Why might the bookies have got the odds wrong?

And what value betting strategies can you use to improve your footy betting? 

We’ll take a look at all of this below. 

Whether you’re a seasoned bettor or just starting out then, this guide will give you the edge you need to succeed in the world of football value betting.

So let’s dive in and start winning!

 

What is Value Betting?

Value betting is a betting strategy that involves identifying bets that have a higher probability of winning than the odds offered by the bookmaker.

In other words, value betting is all about finding bets where the odds are in your favour.

If, for example, the odds of Arsenal to win a match were 2.10, but the actual odds should be 2.00, then you have found yourself a value bet. 

In essence value betting is as simple as that. Trying to find as many of these opportunities as possible – and with as big an advantage over the bookies as possible – is the art of value betting.

This can be a difficult task however, as bookmakers are experts at setting odds that accurately reflect the probability of an event occurring.

They also have vast resources at their disposal including computer systems, software and professional odds compilers. 

With the right approach though it is possible to identify value bets in football.

There are many factors that can influence the odds of a football match, including injuries, form, and team news.

By analysing these factors and comparing them to the odds offered by the bookmaker, it is possible to identify bets that have a higher probability of winning than the odds suggest. 

One of the key advantages of value betting is that it allows you to make consistent profits over time.

While individual bets may not always win, over the long term, the strategy will generate positive returns.

This makes value betting a popular strategy among professional gamblers, who rely on consistent, long-term profits to make a living.

 

Why it is Essential to Find Value Football Bets

Ultimately if you are going to be successful in football betting long-term you need to find value. It is the only way to viably make a profit. 

If you are consistently taking bets where the odds are below the true chances of winning, you cannot expect to make a profit in the long run – it would be impossible. 

Even taking “fair value” – if the bookies offered odds that reflected the true chances of winning, you would only break even in the long run. 

Or using the exchanges, where you can often find fair value odds, you still have to pay commission (normally 2%), meaning you would still lose overall if you are not finding value bets. 

What you have to do is identify instances where the odds are wrong – and this can happen for a variety of reasons.  

Let’s take a look at some of those reasons now. 

 

Why the Bookies Might Have Got the Odds Wrong

Bookmakers can get the odds wrong in football for several reasons.

While they employ experts and use sophisticated algorithms to set odds, they are not infallible and can make mistakes.

Here are some factors that can lead to bookmakers getting the odds wrong:

1. Incomplete or inaccurate information: Bookmakers rely on a vast amount of information to set odds, including team news, player form, injuries, and historical data.

However, there may be instances where the bookmakers lack complete or accurate information, leading to misjudgments in their odds.

This can happen for example with obscure leagues in far-off parts of the world where information is difficult to access, or if there is late team news with a key player becoming injured in the warm-up. Being quick to pounce on this information can give you an edge over the bookies. 

2. Bias and public perception: Bookmakers consider public opinion and betting trends when setting odds. If there is a popular team or player, bookmakers may adjust the odds to balance their books and protect themselves from a significant loss.

In such cases, the odds may be overly generous on one side of the book as the bookies are expecting a deluge of money on the other side.

This can happen for example when a big-name team like Liverpool or Manchester Utd are out of form.

Even though they are playing badly, their odds will often be shorter than they should be because the bookies know punters will back them anyway with a flood of money, because they are big-name, popular clubs with huge followings around the world.

Here is an example from the 2022-23 Premier League season: 

Liverpool had started the season poorly, losing three and drawing four of their opening eleven games.

They were up against Leeds, who had a similar record – drawing three and wining two of their opening eleven games.

However, Liverpool were priced as low as 1.22 by the bookies for the match:

That is very similar to the sort of odds you would get if Liverpool had been in excellent form and had started the season strongly.

So the odds took no account of Liverpool’s poor start to the season – and in particular their leaky defence.

The bookies knew they would take a lot of money on Liverpool as they are a big club and are always backed heavily, so they offered only short odds on them, whilst the draw and Leeds were at attractive prices.

As it was, Leeds won the game 2-1, so those opposing Liverpool would have made a huge profit.

In instances such as these there can be value on opposing these big-name sides.   

3. Over-reliance on statistical models: Bookmakers often use statistical models to analyze historical data and predict outcomes.

However, these models may not account for certain intangible factors such as team morale, motivation, or tactical adjustments, which can influence match outcomes.

If the bookmakers overly rely on their models and neglect important qualitative factors, it can lead to inaccurate odds.

Imagine for example a team that has just won the league and has been out celebrating. They may be tired and not have the same motivation for the next game – with the players metaphorically “on the beach” already. 

If the bookies price that team up the same as usual however, it can present value to oppose them. 

4. Human error: Bookmaking is a complex process, and errors can occur.

Human errors, whether in data input, odds calculation, or other aspects of the bookmaking process, can result in incorrect odds being offered. These errors can present opportunities for value betting.

Normally you see these errors in-play rather than pre-match, as sudden unexpected events during a game can present opportunities. 

Beware however of huge errors in the odds – for example odds of 100/1 being quoted instead of 10/1.

The bookies will class this as a “palpable error” and will be entitled to void your bet. 

5. Market factors: The odds offered by bookmakers are influenced by market demand.

If there is a sudden surge in betting on a particular outcome, bookmakers may adjust the odds to balance their liabilities.

Sometimes these surges can be irrational or an over-reaction to a piece of news, creating discrepancies between the odds and the true probabilities of an outcome, allowing sharp bettors to find value.

It’s important to note that while bookmakers can make mistakes, they are generally efficient at setting odds and have a vested interest in maximizing their profits.

However, by carefully analysing the available information and identifying opportunities where the odds deviate from the true probabilities, astute bettors can exploit these discrepancies and find value in the market.

Let’s take a look now at some value football betting strategies. 

 

Value Football Betting Strategies

Okay let’s take a look at some strategies that have proved able to consistently find value and produce a profit over the long term. 

 

1. Betting on the Draw

One of the most effective ways to find value football bets is through backing the draw. 

Partly this is because when thinking about football betting, opting for the draw is not typically the initial choice that springs to most punters’ minds.

It may appear an uncertain choice, as if you are unsure which team will emerge victorious.

However, this perception leads to a smaller amount of money being wagered on the draw compared to the teams’ outright victories, resulting in inflated odds for the draw.

As explained above, the bookies weight their odds to ensure they are not over-exposed to one outcome and have a balanced book. With little money backed on the draw, this can lead to inflated odds for it.

A perceptive individual named JK Diego recognized this and devised an incredibly successful system to take advantage of the additional value often found in draw odds.

It is important to note that blindly backing the draw would inevitably result in losses in the long run. Instead, Diego identified the crucial factors that help identify the specific instances where the draw is a value bet. 

For example, certain leagues and teams demonstrate a higher frequency of draws, and specific match characteristics increase the chances of a draw outcome.

Armed with this valuable information, Mr. Diego constructed a draw betting system that achieved an impressive feat, generating over $100,000 profit overall according to his recommended staking..

We tested this system ourselves extensively for 15 months and witnessed outstanding results, producing a remarkable $10,000 profit with $100 flat stakes. The system has continued to perform admirably since then.

Undoubtedly then JK Diego’s Draw Betting Strategy has proven to be an effective approach to finding value football bets.

 

2. Exploit In-Play Betting Opportunities

Rather than supporting teams in pre-match betting markets, bettors are increasingly attracted to in-play betting.

In-play markets offer valuable opportunities as odds fluctuate during the game. Naturally, these odds changes can be unpredictable and occur rapidly.

This dynamic environment provides ample chances for knowledgeable bettors to capitalize and make a profit.

The majority of bookmakers now provide some form of in-play betting option and of course there are exchanges to use as well which can have excellent liquidity for in-play betting and tend to have better in-play odds. 

One way to find value on in-play bets is to look for instances where the in-play stats suggest a strong likelihood of a goal. 

This could be for example because one team is dominating, creating lots of chances and representing a value opportunity to back. 

Or it could be an open game where both sides are attacking, suggesting backing the overs is a good option. 

One service that has shown to be very effective at capitalising on in-play opportunities is Banker Bets Football Trading Clubs. 

They have a variety of in-play strategies focused on finding value and have proven very adept at doing so, making over 1,000 points profit in total. 

During our live trial they also performed very well, producing consistent profits throughout. 

You can of course also develop your own in-play strategies by following stats such as xG and goal attempts.

The key – as with pre-match bets – is to focus on instances where the stats and play indicate the odds are higher than they should be. 

 

3. Finding Value on Goalscorer Markets

Another good way to find value is to focus on a specific niche, getting to know it inside-out so you can spot any errors the bookies make. 

For example, you might want to concentrate on a particular market like over/unders, corners, or player passes.

Then you can study all the stats, angles and factors that go into making up the odds, making it your specialism. 

A service that has exemplified this approach is Anytime Goalscorer Bets, which concentrates solely on predicting whether players will score at any time during a game.

This particular market offers value opportunities by leveraging knowledge of team news, penalty and set-piece takers, as well as understanding player form.

Becoming a team’s penalty taker can make a huge difference to a player’s chances of scoring a goal for example, but the odds might not change to reflect that. 

Having expertise on such matters has yielded impressive results for Anytime Goalscorer Bets, with our trial showing over £1,200 in profit to date with £20 per point stakes.

The service boasts a return on investment (ROI) of over 10% and a commendable strike rate of 32%.

Additionally, it adds an extra layer of excitement to cheer for a player to score without the need to worry about the overall outcome of the game.

So whether you want to follow the tips of Anytime Goalscorer Bets or develop your own speciality, focusing on a niche and knowing the market inside-out can provide you with value betting opportunities. 

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, football value betting is a strategy that offers the potential for long-term profits by identifying bets with higher probabilities of winning than the odds offered by bookmakers.

It involves finding discrepancies between the true probabilities of outcomes and the odds provided by bookmakers.

While bookmakers are generally efficient at setting odds, there are instances where they can get it wrong due to incomplete information, bias and public perception, over-reliance on statistical models, human error, and market factors.

Value betting is essential for long-term success in football betting, as it is the only way to viably make a profit. Simply taking bets where the odds are below the true chances of winning or fair value will result in losses or break-even results.

By identifying instances where the odds are wrong, astute bettors can exploit these opportunities and find value in the market.

Several value football betting strategies have proven effective in consistently finding value and producing profits. These include betting on the draw, exploiting in-play betting opportunities, and focusing on niche markets like goalscorer markets. 

In summary, by understanding value betting principles, analysing factors that can influence odds, and utilizing effective strategies, bettors can gain an edge and increase their chances of success in the world of football value betting.