The Smart Betting Club Podcast Smart Betting Club

In episode 66 I was joined by Chris Poole, currently the Director of Trading for Bet Victor and someone with a vast amount of experience working in the betting industry.
Rising up the ranks from betting shop cashier to his current role, he spoke candidly about the reality of trading in the modern betting world and dealing with issues like affordability checks and his dislike of concessions like Best Odds Guaranteed.
He also expanded on what happened with the Guaranteed Bet market that Bet Victor tried out a few years back, why it was introduced and the issues it attracted for Bet Victor, specifically with large scale betting syndicates who took advantage of it and ruined it for others. For those of you frustrated by account restrictions and closures, it provides rare insight from a bookmaking perspective on why such ventures can be a real struggle and why as yet, a Minimum Bet Guarantee has not been a workable concept.
As an experienced trader on horse racing, Chris discussed the role of inside information, including the very big coup 2 years ago, which nearly claimed a huge win at Bet Victor's expense and saw him front and centre discussing it with the national media.
Chris is perhaps best known by many of you for his amusing Tweets, including his Trumpet Emoji calling out those who 'Aftertime' and put up winners after the event. He also was happy to talk about one quite famous 'Aftertiming' Twitter account he was involved in and which caused quite a stir a few years back.
Chris was a fantastic, talkative and insightful guest - happy to discuss frankly the reality of bookmaking in 2023 and its ups and downs. My thanks go to him for speaking so openly and frankly! Make sure you follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisPoole___
Discover More:
Learn more on the Smart Betting Club and how we help winning bettors at https://smartbettingclub.com/ Chris Poole on Twitter: @ChrisPoole__Podcast feedback - contact SBC on twitter @sbcinfoRead more about each SBC Podcast episode: https://smartbettingclub.com/the-smart-betting-club-podcast/

In this new Betting Clever episode, Pete and Josh from the Smart Betting Club unpack a whole host of topics of note for those of us who enjoy betting, kicking off with the latest on the affordability nonsense that is dominating matters currently. The knock on effect of that has been growth in the black market, which we explore and just how betting is going further underground at the moment.
They also unpack the motivations and flaws from many popular free tipsters and betting experts such as Tony Calvin from Betfair, who has come in for criticism recently about his form, yet for them the issues with him and others of his ilk lie elsewhere.
With the launch of a new bookmaker in BetMGM recently, they also discuss just why they have opened in the UK, who's behind it all and how to take advantage of some of the profit boosts they are offering to customers. They are ideal for bankroll growth for those of you looking to generate some easy wins.
They also tackle the crazy profit figures they have seen first-hand from a tipster purporting to have inside information. An ROI of 88% from 700 bets backs that up and despite both Pete and Josh being entirely cynical on this concept of such insider bets, they have had to put their hands up and say - there could be something here. Alongside that they also outline the more straightforward profits being made by service such as Chasing Steamers, Winner Odds and the free expert, HeadStart Racing.
The goal of this podcast is to help you with your betting and provide opinions, insight and expertise you might not get elsewhere.

(00:00) Intro - the return of the Betting Clever podcast
(01:40) Josh goes too far after golf wins & we discuss our betting routines?
(04:05) Politics & Betting - Affordability & The Gambling Commission
(11:56) Pete's experience of the Black Market
(16:05) Industry Big Wigs, Naive Regulations & Useless Beaureaucrats
(19:80) Bet MGM
(23:42) Tony Calvin, tipping early & free tipsters
(29:00) Making money on European Basketball on Pinnacle
(33:20) Inside Information- Pete & Josh's cynicism & being pleasantly surprised
(39:47) Chasing Steamers - the perfect bank builder
(48:45) Getting ahead of the bookies with a new Free Tipster
Discover More:
Gamblers Consumer Forum: https://gamblersconsumerforum.com/BetMGM Profit Boosts: https://www.betmgm.co.uk/promotionsChasing Steamers: https://smartbettingclub.com/blog/chasing-steamers-review/Winner Odds: https://smartbettingclub.com/blog/winner-odds-sbc-betting-record-and-guide/Headstart Racing: https://smartbettingclub.com/headstart-racing/To sign up for a SBC Membership click here: https://smartbettingclub.com/subscribe/Podcast feedback - contact SBC on twitter @sbcinfoRead more about each SBC Podcast episode: https://smartbettingclub.com/the-smart-betting-club-podcast/

I have a fascinating guest in Episode 64 in the form of Nick Goff who has been a professional football bettor for the past 7 years. Nick works as part of a football betting syndicate and is one of a group of experts who bet and win extensively on the beautiful game.
Now it's really rare to get the kind of insight that Nick reveals in today's pod as big football bettors and groups tend to be quite secretive in their nature - Think Tony Bloom's Starlizard syndicate as just one example of this.
So what Nick shares is really insightful and a rare peek behind the curtain of what it's like to be in the top echelon of football punting including the leagues and markets they target, when they bet, how often and just how they get on.
Nick also explains his own angle as regards Antepost betting and just how he maximises value and manages his bankroll throughout a football season to find very big edges to exploit.
As someone with a extensive history in the industry - Nick previously was the head of Football Trading at Coral, he also shares plenty on other topics of note from the current state of betting such as affordability checks, the Black market & the Minimum Bet Law concept.
I really enjoyed chatting with Nick and learning about his work at the sharp end of the betting world and I think you will too. My thanks to Nick for being so candid and for sharing his time with me.
Discover More:
Learn more on the Smart Betting Club and how we help winning bettors at https://smartbettingclub.com/ Nick Goff on Twitter: @nickgoff79Podcast feedback - contact SBC on twitter @sbcinfoRead more about each SBC Podcast episode: https://smartbettingclub.com/the-smart-betting-club-podcast/

In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Stephen Harris, a vastly experienced bettor and bookmaker with a speciality on both greyhounds and jumps racing.

Starting out life as a bookmaker at the age of 20 taking bets on dogs, Stephen walks me through his early years on track, through to his time working at Sporting Index with some of the sharpest minds going, before his current role providing content and tips for Betting Expert.

Along the way Stephen has learnt plenty on how the betting world works including who makes it pay and how, whether it be punting on course or online with both bookies and exchanges. Its through the latter where Stephen bets exclusively these days and he has plenty to share on how the betting markets now operate and the importance of adapting and evolving as a punter to survive.

He also has some strong thoughts on the current mess surrounding affordability, the motivations of those at the Gambling Commission, through to how easy it is these days to bet into the black market.

We also touch on his work at Betting Expert and his superb Free Value Angle column and its edge and educational approach.

Discover More:
Learn more on the Smart Betting Club and how we help winning bettors at https://smartbettingclub.com/ Betting Expert Horse Racing: https://www.bettingexpert.com/news/horse-racingStephen Harris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stephenh61Podcast feedback - contact SBC on twitter @sbcinfoRead more about each SBC Podcast episode: https://smartbettingclub.com/the-smart-betting-club-podcast/

Jason Trost is the founder and CEO of both the Betting Exchange, Smarkets and the up-and-coming bookmaker, SBK and he joined me in Episode 62 to talk about his time running both companies and the many challenges in the industry right now.
Jason talks candidly throughout about his work first of all in setting up Smarkets, including taking on Betfair, the challenges of attracting customers and their goal to be different in terms of simplifying and improving the exchange experience.
He also explains their approach to commission rates and liquidity, including the setup and usage of their own trading arm to provide betting volume across the range of markets on Smarkets.


Not one to rest on his laurels, in 2019, Jason setup the bookmaker, SBK as a way of appealing to those who prefer a more traditional bookmaking setup, but with the advantage of better odds based on those available from the Smarkets exchange.
He explains the challenges of this including advertising restrictions and their quest to replicate many of the more exotic bets that many regular punters look for such as multiples, yankees & lucky 15s.


Jason also tackles the thorny topic of affordability limits and the various checks and balances forced upon all operators at the moment to comply with current rules. He has some strong opinions on why gambling is being singled out when other 'sin industries' are not and why banks should be more involved when it comes to these checks. He also rails against the double standards that has seen some bookmakers benefit from operating in offshore jurisdictions where betting is not legal and the unfair financial advantage that gives them elsewhere, including in regulated markets such as the UK.


I really enjoyed my chat with Jason as someone happy to speak openly and honestly about not only running both an exchange and a sportsbook, but also the various challenges facing the betting industry as a whole.
And for those of you on the fence, we do recommend checking out both Smarkets as a Betfair alternative and also SBK for the often best-value odds you can find in several markets.


Discover More:
Learn more on the Smart Betting Club and how we help winning bettors at https://smartbettingclub.com/ Smarkets: https://smarkets.com/SBK: https://getsbk.com/Contact Jason: jason.trost@smarkets.comPodcast feedback - contact SBC on twitter @sbcinfoRead more about each SBC Podcast episode: https://smartbettingclub.com/the-smart-betting-club-podcast/

Due to the popularity of SBC Podcast Episode #59, we decided to follow up with another special podcast to answer questions from listeners on the '5 Stages Of Profitable Betting'. 
Dozens of you got in touch and after replying to some more specific questions directly, we settled down to answer everything else that came in. 
In this podcast, Rowan, Josh and I answer questions relating to:
Our past year of punting – highs, lows and what is working bestHow to start out following tipsters or using +EV strategiesBet Brokers – logistics, limits, recommendations and accessibility in different jurisdictionsBankroll management at different stages of the betting journeyTracking bets in a varied portfolioHow to get the best of the wide range of non-Oddschecker bookmakersAs you will gather from this chat, we all got something positive from it by discussing angles and resources that haven’t come up in our conversations before – we hope that you find it just as useful! 
The previous podcast which I referenced at the start is Episode #59; that is available to listen to in all podcast libraries and we would advise starting there if you haven’t heard it yet.
 Many of the resources that we discuss are available on our website at www.smartbettingclub.com, with extra detail and various other benefits offered to our members. 
Discover More:
Explore our new 5 Stages of Profitable Betting resource here: https://smartbettingclub.com/5-stages-of-profitable-betting/We now have a specific resource for Exchange & Sharp Bookmaker services; that is available here: https://smartbettingclub.com/betting-exchange-sharp-bookmakers-tipsters/To sign up for a SBC Membership and access Part 2, click here: https://smartbettingclub.com/subscribe/Podcast feedback - contact SBC on twitter @sbcinfoRead more about each SBC Podcast episode: https://smartbettingclub.com/the-smart-betting-club-podcast/