Here ensues the fourth and final instalment of this not necessarily that thrilling adventure into the land of dutch horse racing (?).
I am writing this on the train; an infrequent mode of transport for me, but a preferable one when it comes to working in London. Trying to maintain a decent internet connection whilst meandering through the beautiful, yet electronically impenetrable, countryside has now been made somewhat easier courtesy of AmtrakConnect. So my final day of trialling can take place undisturbed.
I would say, right at the outset, that All By The Book 2 does receive a pass. This is purely because the potential to make money is definitely present – though to what extent and at what cost to one’s time are points worthy of consideration. Profits can be in the hands of the user to a certain extent inasmuch as the variations introduce different levels of risk/benefit.
The fact that the system is reliant upon so many bets being placed at the same time makes it, to my mind, very risky, even with the supposedly risk free variant. It is all too easy to miss the odds and end up having to quickly readjust stakes and, almost invariably, make a loss on that particular event. However, for those more used to multiple contemporaneous bet placement this might not be a problem. There is an argument for saying that one would become more adept over time. My concern is that people will possibly tire of the effort involved before actually acquiring the necessary skill.
Those receiving a free ‘upgrade’ from the original ABTB might find themselves somewhat disappointed. The addition is headed up as ‘Variation 4 Unleashed’. If you have not worked this one out for yourself from using the others then I would be exceedingly surprised. I had worked it out before I had finished reading through the first three. But as the upgrade is free then ‘gift horse’, ‘looking’ and ‘mouth’ spring to mind.
Performing a quick calculation after the final race tells me I have made a total net gain of £32.54 over the trial period. It is not actually helpful to translate that amount into points as the stakes per bet vary with the odds and the stakes per event vary with the field. The best I can do is work up an algorithm using average stake over the whole trial. This provides a figure of, oh dear, infinitesimal proportions. So let’s leave it at total net gain.
Unfortunately, that possibly equates to minimal sums gained per hour of time invested, thus making it a case of deciding how much one’s time is worth. Perhaps if I had spent more time using it then it is possible the gain would have increased exponentially rather than in a linear fashion. But this is not necessarily the case, and I can only report what actually happened. Looking at it from a practical viewpoint, time is generally a scarce resource that comes at a premium for most people.
Another resource aspect to bear in mind is that of funds. If you are looking at betting on more than one race in the same day you either have to have a fairly decent initial bank or you need to wait until some of the bets are settled before assessing the next race. Best odds for each race are not going to always be with the same bookies. I have not found a way of moving money between bookie accounts in the same day, even with Skrill. So you might find yourself restricted to using ones who are not necessarily giving the best odds merely by virtue of your current liquidity not being in the right place at the right time. So do note this practical limitation if you are not one of those people who have vast wads of cash strewn around betting sites – and, if you are, could you please let me have your phone number?
Anyway, enough of my fickle heart; back to the plot. Insufficient profit to bother investing perhaps, so I make the decision to indulge in some retail therapy. The train is approaching Exeter St David’s and there is a great shop which sells climbing gear only a few minutes’ walk away. No time like the present. With my money spent and my new pair of sticky shoes in hand I know I have All By The Book 2 to thank (albeit in small part) for those at least.
And it is at this point I realise that it is probably best to get off the train in the evening at the same station as you left your car that morning.
Carol
Carol,
Thank you for carrying out this review. It sounds like it’s involved a lot of effort for only a very small return, which I know from experience can make reviewing quite frustrating.
My main question is whether we really should be putting this system in the Passed category at all? It sounds severely neutral to me, and maybe we’re being overgenerous by awarding it a pass. Clearly, different people will put a different price on their time, and be more or less willing to work with a fiddly system. But profits of around £30 after all this time really aren’t very exciting, and it’s hard to imagine many people finding them so.
The only thing that tempts me to leave it in the Passed category is your comment about the potential for improvement over time. Presumably there is a growing skill element here that would allow the user to generate a greater ROI as they learned more?
Lx
Hi Lucy
Thanks for your comment. I completely agree with everything you say. The sticking point here is that there are no set criteria for a pass or, indeed, for a ‘neutral’. Therefore, because I like to look on the bright side of life, I would stand by my assessment of a very narrow pass. The caveat I would attach to that is this is only perhaps suitable for people who have a goodly deal of time on their hands, or who are already successfully using a portfolio of systems.
I am not sure if there is a lot of difference between neutral and a narrow pass or, indeed, if there needs to be. Provided people read the review before splashing out their hard earned pennies (and who buys a system without researching it?) they can make their own assessment as to whether or not the profile of the system fits their own.
Happy to hear any more views on the subject though of course.
Carol.
I suppose the ultimate test is whether you’d recommend it to a friend … And I don’t sense that you would.
However, happy to leave as a narrow pass. But as you imply, buyer beware!
Lx
Invested in abtb and conclude that the time/return equation does not fair very well at all. The marketing hype oversells the product. The rare occurrence of a profit after 70 (seventy) race bets and 50 hours of time for £40 profit meant the system was consigned to the waste bin at a loss on the purchase price. It is a painful betting approach and one that led me to have two of my very recently opened accounts closed!!
The provider of abtb has a recently sold a horse form guide which is a rating system that is not good for win or place bet picks after 40 days.
BUT…went for his laybet dominator product and so far after three weeks am up on a 3% liability staking basis showing 40% ROI. Going to try hiş paws backing service soon to give me two racing streams.
Ps as a first time visitor…love the site & advice/reviews. Your site is very well written.
Appreciate the tft review plus bonus bagging & going to try these as look to build up more avenues for income generation. Two questions:
1.is bonus bagging a potential long term income source in your opinion
2.why would bookies close a loss making account? BetVictor (%+*#% excuse my language)
3.what should I do to protect my bookie accounts?
Apologies for verbosity & thanks for your time & wisdom in advance.
Francisco
Francisco,
Thank you for your thoughtful contribution, and welcome to my site.
You have more or less convinced me this system should be in the Neutral category at best…. the absence of a refund policy is enough to relegate it from ‘Passed’. I have therefore re-categorized it!
In answer to your questions:
1. There is an ongoing dimension to Bonus Bagging, on account of reloads. Mike Cruickshank helpfully advises these to customers, so it saves you from having to hunt round for them. However, undoubtedly the biggest advantage of Bonus Bagging comes in the shape of an initial cash injection to build your betting bank. It really is a wonderful product.
2 / 3. Good questions! Who can fathom the weird things bookies do!? Especially as they will give people money to join them, then promptly, on occasion, see fit to get rid of the very customers they have just bought!
One thing we often forget is that bookmakers can lose money on losing accounts…. as they still have significant operating costs, such as funding those sign-up offers, banking charges, occasional ludicrous TV advertising, affiliate fees and so on… It’s a fiercely competitive business, and it’s not getting any easier.
You can read more about my views on how to keep your bookmaker happy here.
Lx
Thanks for responding Lucy.
I think your decision on ABTB is reasonable and justified simply due to the high price you pay in personal time for low reward. The post race admin to ensure my bookie accounts were reconciled to my own results ledgers was a time commitment many would not necessarily consider, but for me, being a numbers man, this is so important.
Objective fairness requires me to disclose that over the 76 races I staked, my maximum total at risk money was only £250 with ABTB and I returned £40. So yes, the ROI was not bad, but not on a per hour basis.
There were four races where I messed up the betting process, missing a horse in a race that won was painful, but overall those four mistakes also gave me some upside on two occasions, but the net impact on the above ROI was £11 to give more context to the potential for such mistakes to impact the bottom line. 4 mistakes in 76 races is not alot but it was 25% of my eventual profit earned when I decided to stop the game.
ABTB’s process may be something I decide to go back to for an occasional afternoon at the races but I will hopefully find a trading system with better returns per hour then ABTB.