You’ve probably seen at least one of the news articles bouncing around about affiliate tipsters…
The Guardian recently published this one, which, after reading I thought was really quite unfair.
It’s a hot topic, so why not join the debate? You maybe be surprised by the following, but here are a few points from my perspective:
Recent Affiliate Controversy
Usually the Guardian produce relatively reasonable articles in my opinion, although I must say; in relation to betting they haven’t been so much recently.
The article linked above says:
“Revealed: tipsters deliberately recommend losing bets to punters”.
Well, isn’t that a statement and a half. They’ve really revealed something there haven’t they! Like a secret artefact, hidden in the sands of time.
Note: What they did NOT say was;
“Bookmakers consistently provide tips and losing bets to the general public to extort a profit. Every day, since; forever”.
Note: They also did NOT, and never do say;
“Revealed: why bookmakers are a complete ripoff in comparison to betting exchanges (the vast majority of the time)”
No. They certainly wouldn’t ever say that, ever. However, you are presented with this when reading that very same article:
An advertisement to sign up for a bookmaker. Priceless.
What else has happened?
I also noticed earlier in the week (via twitter) that Sky published this:
Ouch, the last line sounds pretty harsh.
I’m sure the affiliates that signed up new users under a 3 year revenue share agreement are thrilled to pieces with that.
So, facts aside; what do I make of this?…
What’s the Difference?
First and foremost I don’t particularly affiliate tipsters, as I clearly stated in this video years ago.
But I want to point out a few things here; the general industry is a sack of _____.
Following the articles mentioned I published this poll on twitter:
Not quite the angle the Guardian took of course. Or any of the mainstream media sources; why is that I wonder?
I was quite surprised at how many clearly see though it at 33% though.
In the defence of the affiliates that are clearly being targeted by the media; Such as @FootyAccums (they blocked me by the way, I have no idea why) or @AndyRobsonTips. What is the difference between them and the likes of the Racing Post or Racing UK? None of them want the punters to win, if that happens, they don’t get paid.
Since the controversy it seems the Racing Post aren’t doing it so much on twitter, but a quick look at their feed shows very similar behaviour to the aforementioned:
Definitely not got the punters best interests at heart. I’ve mentioned it before, but having emailed in to one of the racing channels about exchanges, I got a polite but kurt response from the producer saying that they would not discuss the exchanges. And a similar experience over a pint when talking to a RUK representative after a Sir Bobby Moore charity dinner.
Also; what about OddsChecker and OLBG? (OLBG are another that claims they are there to “beat the bookie” except they censor exchange trading talk on thier forums).
Why do they always get off so lightly?
To me it seems clear; just about all of the large news streams are in the bookmakers pocket one way or another.
A handful of them just provided a good excuse for Sky to save a monster expense fast too! Obviously Sky are doing it out of responsibility, and nothing to do with saving a fortune, Hence the reason they haven’t done it until this all got stirred up!
The best is yet to come though…
What a Laugh!
It’s not all doom and gloom though, most of us have a sense of humour. The following, is one hell of a joke…
What have the Guardian, OddsChecker, Racing UK and Dapper Laughs all got in common?
That’s right. Their Baaaaad Men! Look at this Facebook page:
I want to point out 5 things here (numbered in the image above)…
- This page is listed as ‘Comedian’ on Facebook. Presumably to get around the things posted and advertising, without a gambling licence.
- The Bad Man Tipster page wants you to sign up with Bet365.
- There are a lot of naive people out there; 369,438 of them.
- Your favourite turtle-neck wearing tit – for promotional purposes obviously.
- If you didn’t catch #3 – make sure you sign up to Bet365.
Maybe I’m being harsh. But at what point does all this become wrong or right? And who is responsible? Why does the gambling commission do so little?
The last of those 3 questions puzzles me on a regular basis. It’s like all the free bet stuff; is it not deliberately deceptive? (much like the guardian digs out). Why don’t they intervene? Surely as soon as you have to do something for it, it’s not free?! (like 20x rollover) But that’s another topic.
By the way – the bad man tipster page: I couldn’t find one joke.
Join the debate below…
14 thoughts on “[CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC] Affiliate Tipsters: Right or Wrong?”
Hahahaha brilliant. I cant take the guardian seriously anymore after they supported that mouthy bookmaker the other month he’s a complete fool!
I have no idea who you could be hinting at there Mikey…
20x wagering requirement is pretty good by their standards. It is often 30/50/99. I recently got £130 out of a 50x no deposit casino offer which I’m pretty happy about. But yeah, of course some of these tipsters are full of sh!t. Apart from the fact that racing is so hard to predict anyway. The people who make consistent money are the traders because they dont depend on the final outcome. Of course the tipsters make much more from sign ups/subscribers , if I was in that position I wouldnt even bet because that carries risk whereas subscriptions do not
Fair comment 🙂
To be honest I love to watch your blog , challenges , analysis etc ,, but I do not know why you keep getting frustrated with this BS when you can ´t do anything about it , it wong bring more people to exchange because the exchanges dont have those offers that stupid ” sorry” blind people like to follow .
THe gambling comission works like these , you can spend thousands in a casino ,or bookmaker , they do not want but they are oblige to ask you where the funds coming ,if theres some big money involved , you cannot admit you have a problem , they really do not want this. , but if u win in a consistent way you are not a desired customer anymore . so even betfair , which we all know applies those ridiculous premium charges , they do not like you , they like recreative customers who , and more and more customers who put those regulares 50 and 100 every week/month , not someone who is there to take recreative customers money like you or other professionals , and because of pros , many recreationals do not try it again .
Look at both sides …what would you do if you were the bookies . would you want winners ?
I work in a casino , so I kinda see both sides here .
It s a constant battle
Valid point Jo. Just don’t like the way the industry is to be honest, with the big effort to make a censored view of the exchanges.
I do not like affiliate tipsters and I appear to be inundated with emails from different ones all offering me certainties. Having been betting since the days of Desert Orchid (no trading then) I know there are no such things as certainties. However, there are others who purport to be on the side of the punter who offer services to help the punter gain an advantage. I purchased some Betting System Notes from B72 which proved pretty useless unless I purchased other items to compliment them. Despite Emails being sent, responses were not forthcoming. My point is that the punter is in somewhat of a mine field. Who do you trust, Bookmakers, Affiliate Tipsters or others offering “help and advice” at a price. I have tried trading (more recently) and conventional bets with Bookmakers and it urks me to say this Caan but I think I do better with Bookmakers even though I enjoy using an exchange.
Hi Nigel, thanks for taking the time to comment.
You must have been betting a hell of a long time! presumably not at a profit… I can’t comment on the item you mention as have never used it, but; I see arguments for and against for all you mention. With regards the emails thing, I get hundreds of emails each week, many of them are people just venting – which is fine of course. But at which point does support end? as, you’d be surprised at how often a reply receives another email, and another. This is why we now do our best to filter emails from paying customers. But that in itself becomes a problem when most people have more than one email now. If we were to respond to every email, there simply wouldn’t be time for anything else.. maybe its the same for the ones you mention, I don’t know.
I totally agree that a punter is in somewhat of a mine field. It’s likely that anyone that offers help and advice for free is either not going to do it long at all (particularly with some of the emails and demands). Or they don’t really have anything to offer… plus if they’re making money then why not charge? it has some value. And if they’re not… well that’s where we’re headed with this article.
Re: I think I do better with bookmakers. I struggle with that one for two reasons;
1. If you get a better price with a bookie (only way to do better) then you get closed or limited, just see my youtube clips.
2. Bookmakers offer far worse prices in general. Far far worse.
Either way, I hope it all turns out well for you Nigel!
Cheers,
Caan
Thank you for replying Caan, I appreciate the time you’ve taken. On the bookmaker issue of making more that is purely from my betting on Lucky15 and Patents (I rarely do more than 4 selections in a bet). I totally agree with you about some bookmakers who shut accounts for spurious reasons and you have highlighted many in your videos I wouldn’t touch with a barge poll. I also know trading on exchanges is a good value option but I need to learn more on that aspect and as you have highlighted mental attitude is a big factor in correct procedure. Thanks once again for responding and keep the videos coming, they are helpful.
Ahh that makes a little more sense! thanks for getting back to us 🙂
Only time l received any real benefit from the online bookies was when l stopped using them, they offered to double any deposit l gave them (max£100) when l looked at the T&C on turn over it was easy for me to do . I got my free £100 out 8 days later. That was a year ago they haven’t tried to tempt me back since.
Everyone l meet who bets I tell them go on the exchange. The extra value you get on horse’s which are not fancied on the exchange’s can be huge and doesn’t reflect their chance of winning. It pays to wait to near the off if you can.
Reading thru your blog up to Dec 2015 , reading your pre race guide (2nd time) and watching your YouTube videos great information. Thanks keep posting and keep winning.
I was once fooled by a company called BRIMARDON who were tipsters claiming big success however after following their advice and about £5000.00 later I started to ring them to find out why they were so bad …eventually I got through to a chatty assistant who admitted the guy goes to the racecourse and mostly picks the first and second favourite to back and that was the complete system ..To say I was annoyed is an understatement however after much trying I eventually got nowhere with them but noticed they still advertised their fantastic wins (not) so please people avoid them at all costs ….the name again is BRIMARDON
Even though I’ve only been using an exchange for less than a month, it’s fast become blindingly obvious to me they’re far fairer when comes down to value and treatment of it’s customers etc etc. Especially noticeable in the footie under/over goals markets that I played for years with Hill’s. There’s oceans of difference in odds offered and cashouts. I actually feel quite stupid for using a regular bookie all these years. A real eye-opener. I do miss being able to do the occasional double or treble though, but usually these were just pie-in-the-sky specualative bets for fun.
They used to have full-paged ads in the Racing Post. Enough said there.