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Strategies
Betting strategies and the services we rate
Matched betting, value betting, arbitrage and tipsters. Here's how each approach works, and the services we rate for each one, scored out of 10.
Ratings
Services we rate
Ranked by our score out of 10.
Guides
How the strategies work
The maths behind each approach, tested with the same engine as our calculators.
The Martingale strategy: what really happens
Double after every loss and you'll always win it back. That's the theory. Run it thousands of times and see what happens.
StrategiesValue betting explained
What value means in betting, why it's so hard to do and why bookmakers limit people who manage it.
Matched bettingMatched betting explained
How matched betting turns bookmaker free bets into cash, what you need to start, and the risks the sign up pages leave out.
StrategiesArbitrage betting explained
How sure bets happen when bookmakers disagree, how to work out the stakes, and why bookmakers close arbers' accounts so fast.
StrategiesThe Kelly criterion explained
A formula for stake size that grows your bankroll fastest, and the one assumption that makes it dangerous in practice.
StrategiesHow to follow tipsters
How to read a tipster's record, how many tips it takes to prove anything, and whether a subscription can pay for itself.
Matched bettingMatched betting for beginners: a step by step checklist
Everything to sort out before your first matched bet, then the exact steps for a sign up offer, in order.
Matched bettingEach way matched betting and extra place offers
How to lay both halves of an each way bet, and why extra place offers can pay out on both sides at once.
Matched bettingRefund offers: how to match bet money back specials
How to lay a "money back if it loses" offer, and why laying a bit less than usual spreads the value across both outcomes.
StrategiesClosing line value: are you beating the market?
Why the price at the off is the best guide to the true chance, and how comparing your price with it shows skill long before results do.
StrategiesBankroll management for betting
How to size your stakes so a bad run doesn't end you, with the real odds of long losing runs.
StrategiesWhy bookmakers restrict accounts
Why winning, offer taking and value betting get accounts limited, the signs it's happened, and where you can still bet.