BBC THREE - Can you beat the bookies

[weemac]

I watched it. The message was that almost all punters are clueless, some are out of control and helpless to alter their habits, everyone is being ripped off by those 'orrible bookies, and only very wealthy or dubious operations like starlizard or courtsiders have a chance. The host said at one point: "Ordinary people can't win." When you mix truth with lies like that in broad sweeping statements, people will tend to believe everything you say.

The guy was wandering around betting shops and sitting alone in pubs or in his kitchen betting nonsensically and then watching results come in on his phone or tablet, usually head in hands in horror or disbelief, but at no point did he seem aware that he could have given himself a slightly better chance of winning, or at least losing less, by using a betting exchange or by shopping around for best price or trying arbing or utilising statistics or by modelling markets or by trading price movements. No, it was just the old "It can't be done because I'm an idiot" chestnut.

I wonder if any broadcaster will ever cover the subject properly. I really do doubt it.

[brimson25]

Will always watch these types of programmes.

The one I remember for realism was the late Jonathan Rendall's -The Gambler on Channel 4. 6th December 2000. (3 Episodes @ 50 minutes each)

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-gambler

Poor bloke, no longer with us.

[PeterLe]

Interesting to watch
Why on earth would they use Bet365 and not betfair ?
Are bet365 typically that little bit slower to suspend the market?
Interested in anyone who has a view or experience
Thanks
Regards
Peter

[spreadbetting]

Yep I found it quite interesting to watch too , reckon they used 365 because they were up against the umpire rather than the hundreds of other courtsiders playing Betfair. Plus the smaller games aren't really that active on Betfair. If you can get enough supply of accounts you'd make more thru the bookies than Betfair as you avoid pc and with a pretty much 100% strike rate those lessened odds aren't a big deal.

[PeterLe]

Yep I found it quite interesting to watch too , reckon they used 365 because they were up against the umpire rather than the hundreds of other courtsiders playing Betfair. Plus the smaller games aren't really that active on Betfair. If you can get enough supply of accounts you'd make more thru the bookies than Betfair as you avoid pc and with a pretty much 100% strike rate those lessened odds aren't a big deal.

Thanks I see. They didn't seem to be short of student accounts!
Bet Denise Coates wont be too worried

[Archangel]

The whole courtsiding thing is a bit of a scummy business too. Just sneaking in and trying to get ahead of the market. It doesnt require countless hours of effort to try and find an edge like most traders have to. You just need to grow your hair or wear a hat !

[Kai]

The whole courtsiding thing is a bit of a scummy business too. Just sneaking in and trying to get ahead of the market. It doesnt require countless hours of effort to try and find an edge like most traders have to. You just need to grow your hair or wear a hat !

A bit scummy? It's literally cheating, betting on a result that is already known.

[Derek27]

The whole courtsiding thing is a bit of a scummy business too. Just sneaking in and trying to get ahead of the market. It doesnt require countless hours of effort to try and find an edge like most traders have to. You just need to grow your hair or wear a hat !

A bit scummy? It's literally cheating, betting on a result that is already known.

It's not betting on a result that's already known. It's betting today at yesterday's prices. Everybody's warned about picture delay so there's really no excuse these days for getting caught out.

[Archangel]

A bit scummy? It's literally cheating, betting on a result that is already known.

I wouldnt go so far as to say its cheating. Its certainly not very gentlemanly behaviour though

[PeterLe]

All's fair in love and war
You could extend that thinking to say,
- whoever has the fastest connection to the exchange
- has the best data set of past info
- etc etc
is cheating
I say good luck to them
Id be doing it if I had the time and inclination
Regards
Peter

[ThePieThrower]

Very suprised with how much they were getting on and how much they were winning before being restricted. Thought 365 would have a more advanced 'alert system ' than that!

[Kai]

All's fair in love and war
You could extend that thinking to say,
- whoever has the fastest connection to the exchange
- has the best data set of past info
- etc etc
is cheating
I say good luck to them
Id be doing it if I had the time and inclination
Regards
Peter

Can't really comment on the context of courtsiding in this video since I haven't seen it, but in general I consider betting on a known outcome to be straight up cheating and that's where I draw the line compared to actual trading Courtsiding aside, there are still markets on the exchange where it's sometimes possible to bet on known outcomes and be faster than the market, there are people who still depend on this so I don't want to go into details just for the sake of the argument, but they do so from the comfort of their homes without actually taking on any real risk. I'm sure there were incredible opportunities to abuse this many years ago, way before my time, it's not my place to namedrop but even some of the most known football traders publicly admitted to abusing these types of opportunities in certain leagues before Betfair sorted out their suspend mechanics. I would probably do the same given the opportunity, if Betfair didn't care about it then it's not technically against the rules so it can't even be called cheating

Meanwhile outside of the sports exchange people are getting jailed for insider trading (knowing certain outcomes by possessing confidential information) or even spoofing (market manipulation), but on Betfair I guess anything goes really as long as you're bringing liquidity to the exchange and paying your charges.

[Archangel]

Some people find this hard to believe but there are some traders out there who still trade on in-play horse racing markets from home, using commercially available pictures. Thats a different skill in itself, race reading, as opposed to betting on a known outcome

[ThePieThrower]

All's fair in love and war
You could extend that thinking to say,
- whoever has the fastest connection to the exchange
- has the best data set of past info
- etc etc
is cheating
I say good luck to them
Id be doing it if I had the time and inclination
Regards
Peter

Can't really comment on the context of courtsiding in this video since I haven't seen it, but in general I consider betting on a known outcome to be straight up cheating and that's where I draw the line compared to actual trading Courtsiding aside, there are still markets on the exchange where it's sometimes possible to bet on known outcomes and be faster than the market, there are people who still depend on this so I don't want to go into details just for the sake of the argument, but they do so from the comfort of their homes without actually taking on any real risk. I'm sure there were incredible opportunities to abuse this many years ago, way before my time, it's not my place to namedrop but even some of the most known football traders publicly admitted to abusing these types of opportunities in certain leagues before Betfair sorted out their suspend mechanics. I would probably do the same given the opportunity, if Betfair didn't care about it then it's not technically against the rules so it can't even be called cheating

Meanwhile outside of the sports exchange people are getting jailed for insider trading (knowing certain outcomes by possessing confidential information) or even spoofing (market manipulation), but on Betfair I guess anything goes really as long as you're bringing liquidity to the exchange and paying your charges.

Cheating or not anyone can do it so good look to those who can make it pay

[MemphisFlash]

what i'd like to know is this, 4 years ago i won £160,000 in two weeks starting from £5000 all on tennis.
My biggest bet was £105,000 on a 1/7 shot.
I have had my Bet 365 account since 2003.
I have never had any restrictions on my account on anything wether it is promotions, max bet, or anything else
In fact they give me money from time to time for being a loyal customer.
Why?