Can you beat the bookies?

[bfccrazy]

Just watching this on IPlayer about Lloyd Griffith speaking to people about gambling and if it’s possible to beat the bookies and what different ways people are trying it.

He puts on different bets with £7,500 with just a gut instinct and with professional gamblers (where he loses). Speaks to people who have suffered from problem gambling.

It’s definitely an interesting watch.

[Rick_Muller]

Some people can beat the bookies some of the time, most people lose. The bookies always win overall.

[Pstotto]

I gave up on trying to predict 8 score draws on the pools and instead went for 10 home wins. Surely, given the discrepancies of opposition and form, one could guess easily 10. No luck.

I decided last season to try 5 home wins at the bookies, regardless of odds. If one puts a £2 stake on 5 against odds i.e. Liverpool 2-5 to win at home to Huddersfield, the return on a £2 stake is about £15.

If one had the financial resources, that's quite a big return on an investment.

However, whenever I tried it, no luck at all. Luton and Celtic surely would win today but not etc.

[bfccrazy]

Some people can beat the bookies some of the time, most people lose. The bookies always win overall.

The only person on the show who would consistently win with no risk ...... got their accounts banned/restricted massively within a few bets.

The answer of the question of the title was ..... “unless you ‘cheat’ then no you won’t”

[Pstotto]

I have an aquaintace in one of the local pubs who buys and sells bets. I don't know how he does it, but he makes good money on it. However he's a qualified doctor, I imagine he's a lot brighter than I am, case proven.

[Quickenthetempo]

You would have to beat mathematics. That's all it is to them.
They work out the odds heavily in their favour, get three outcomes for the result and get other punters to bet against you.

Win win win for them.

[South West Claret.]

No.

[Swizzlestick]

Matched betting is still the only real way to make a guaranteed profit - i.e. laying off bets to take advantage of free bet offers usually on sign up to a betting site. But these are getting increasingly stingy and it's easy to get hooked when you've had the buzz of making a bit of money. There's also arbing, which is a little beyond my comprehension. Bookies are obviously hot on all this so easy for them to pull the plug.

Far too easy to bet these days particularly when it's just numbers on a screen and you're not having to physically hand money over to a bookie. The 'casinos' are even worse and prey on the most vulnerable.

[Notsosuperstevedavis]

I've managed to double my money so far

[dsr]

The only way to beat the bookies is by knowing things that they don't, so you can see when the odds they are offering are overstated. Not many people have enough specialised knowledge to do that, and many of those who do know stuff (eg. players and managers) are banned from using it.

[FactualFrank]

It depends on the game. Which game is it?

[Right_winger]

Very difficult to beat the bookies. The best chance you have is by betting odds-on singles, even then you must research and it’s a painstakingly slow and calculated process.

Betting to make money doesn’t work, having a bet for a bit of fun/interest is fine just keep the stakes low and enjoy.

[Tall Paul]

Very difficult to beat the bookies. The best chance you have is by betting odds-on singles, even then you must research and it’s a painstakingly slow and calculated process.

Betting to make money doesn’t work, having a bet for a bit of fun/interest is fine just keep the stakes low and enjoy.

Tell that to the thousands of professional sports bettors who beat the bookies on a regular basis.

[Carport]

Loads of gamblers have turned instead to Football Index.
https://www.footballindex.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://youtu.be/Ozhi6ZUYmYo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[up_the_clarets_1989]

Started using Football Index myself about 6 months ago and really enjoying it. Made 15% profit on my initial investment and a good chunk of that has been from buying Dwight McNeil. Can only see it increasing this season.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Started using Football Index myself about 6 months ago and really enjoying it. Made 15% profit on my initial investment and a good chunk of that has been from buying Dwight McNeil. Can only see it increasing this season.

Been looking at this, what was your initial outlay and how much profit if you don’t mind me asking?

[up_the_clarets_1989]

You’ve got to put a fair amount in if you want some good money back I’d say, but they were offering a sign up offer where you got £500 risk free for a month to start off. Well worth doing that if it’s still available. I got Dwight when he was 83p a share and he’s now £1.54. If he has a good season, scored a few goals and gets call ups for England U21s then he’ll definitely shoot up.

It is a gamble and you can definitely lose money too, but you’re never going to lose your entire investment on a player unless you’re silly enough to buy someone who is on the verge of retiring.

[Carport]

You’ve got to put a fair amount in if you want some good money back I’d say, but they were offering a sign up offer where you got £500 risk free for a month to start off. Well worth doing that if it’s still available. I got Dwight when he was 83p a share and he’s now £1.54. If he has a good season, scored a few goals and gets call ups for England U21s then he’ll definitely shoot up.

It is a gamble and you can definitely lose money too, but you’re never going to lose your entire investment on a player unless you’re silly enough to buy someone who is on the verge of retiring.

It’s now £1000 risk free

[Carnsmerry12]

I only bet on the horses and I tend to follow a few trainers and a small number of their horses. I do not bet on every race the horses run, I try to be selective and take into account their future entries etc. For me each way bets are more profitable.
When I go racing I focus on the first and last race, hoping to pay for my bets and then take home some winnings In the long run the bookies may well win but its good fun trying to beat them as long as you only bet what you can afford to lose.

[tim_noone]

I only bet on the horses and I tend to follow a few trainers and a small number of their horses. I do not bet on every race the horses run, I try to be selective and take into account their future entries etc. For me each way bets are more profitable.
When I go racing I focus on the first and last race, hoping to pay for my bets and then take home some winnings In the long run the bookies may well win but its good fun trying to beat them as long as you only bet what you can afford to lose.

Interesting programme of the Thread title on BBC 1 now. As per title.

[Dyched]

I need to get on this court siding malarky

[Belial]

Matched betting is still the only real way to make a guaranteed profit - i.e. laying off bets to take advantage of free bet offers usually on sign up to a betting site. But these are getting increasingly stingy and it's easy to get hooked when you've had the buzz of making a bit of money. There's also arbing, which is a little beyond my comprehension. Bookies are obviously hot on all this so easy for them to pull the plug.

Far too easy to bet these days particularly when it's just numbers on a screen and you're not having to physically hand money over to a bookie. The 'casinos' are even worse and prey on the most vulnerable.

I made a modest few £k in the first year of MB, however bookies are savvy and keeping accounts alive is tedious. Arb'ing is a sure fire way to have them closed very quickly