2 months into matched betting - am I doing this right?

[opeth42]

Hi, just after a bit of advice about whether I'm taking the right approach from those with more experience with matched betting.
Thanks to reading about MB here, I signed up with PA around mid-December.
Worked slowly thought the first sign-up offers, had a bit of a lull over Xmas then was lucky enough to get a bonus from work, so I have a bank of £1500 now, which is mostly split 50/50 between Smarkets and Matchbook.
I've made about £500 profit so far and I keep a detailed spreadsheet which tells me I've staked over £6,300 through the system with about 500 bets (including the free bets). Obviously there's a few newbie mistakes in there that have knocked the profit a bit
I've got accounts with 888, BetFred, Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy (gubbed already!) SkyBet and William Hill.
I seem to have to spend a lot of time on this to get anywhere, a couple of hours or more on a Saturday, and several hours in the weekday evenings, the profit is welcome though!
Should I be concentrating on getting through the rest of the bookie sign ups instead of hitting the accounts I already have with 3,4 or 5 bets each on a Saturday (for example).
Thanks for reading this far!
Mick

 

[Jon]

Crikey you lost your paddy account early! Were you just returning to them endlessly for offers and not mug betting or something?

What is it on Saturday that’s taking you hours? I do about 20-30 minutes TOPS!

 

[opeth42]

Crikey you lost your paddy account early! Were you just returning to them endlessly for offers and not mug betting or something?

What is it on Saturday that’s taking you hours? I do about 20-30 minutes TOPS!

I think I was just unlucky with PP. I did the weekly stake 5 x £10 for £10 free bet offer, but always staked more than the minimum; total of 50 bets over 3 weeks, 17 were mugs (although some came good with BOG!). I suppose I did a lot of offers, but they seemed to positively encourage it with their promotions ("Loyalty's dead, live for rewards" etc.) I had wins and losses but had an overall loss on the account, so its not as if they suffered a massive loss from a lucky punter.

Last Saturday I placed 20 bets across the six accounts, I guess I'm just being cautious and not rushing as this has caught me out before, for example, forgetting to change the stake in the PA calculator between bets, so you end up laying 2 or 3 times as much. I do also record every bet in a spreadsheet which takes time too.

 

[Jon]

If you are laying 2 to 3 times as much then you need to slow down with everything.

We follow the rules for each offer for a reason!

As for doing 50 bets with paddy power over 3 weeks were you betting on midweek horses or somenting? I don’t think I even do 50 bets with paddy power over a couple of months!!

 

[opeth42]

Agreed, I do try and follow the rules and keep it straight.
Only made the mistake a few times, just forgot that the last stake was £30 for example, then the next one is only £10 (due to less liquidity or whatever).
Seems I was over-egging it with PP, and probably the others too. Yes mid-week horses were a big part of it, maybe I got a bit carried away?
It seems I should increase the number of bookies I have accounts with and spread it all out more.
I normally stake between £10 and £40, perhaps I should be putting in fewer bets but for larger stakes?
Thanks for taking the time Jon

 

[rninja]

Despite what some might say, there is no rush to complete All of the offers in the quickest possible time.

Maybe with Cheltenham around the corner, now is the time to hit things hard. But have you mastered horse racing - rule 4 deductions and what to do when a non-runner is declared? And the different extra place offers etc.

 

[opeth42]

Thanks Rninja, perhaps I'll sign up for a few more to make the most of Cheltenham.
I'm still on the learning curve with horse racing; I look at the odds movements in the morning and try to catch the likely BOG runners and I'm just starting to look at the extra places method. So far non-runners have just resulted in a returned bookie stake and no exposure on the exchange. Similarly rule 4 doesn't seem to have had a negative effect, but I'll take another look at the PA guides to make sure I understand fully.
I'm aware that it's still early days for me and I have a lot to learn, but I thought I'd post the question to see if I was going about it in the wrong way.
Seems I need to change things a little.
Am I right in thinking I £10 to £40 stakes are too small?

 

[homie]

Am I right in thinking I £10 to £40 stakes are too small?

I don't think so. Lots of offers limit you to a £10 or £20 free bet anyway, so that's the amount you want to be putting on those. Lots of the best boosts also limit you to £10 too. I usually do £20 bets, occasionally up to £50 depending on the odds.

There are some people over at oddsmonkey throwing £500 around on 2up and horse offers but that seems excessive in the extreme and you would need a big exchange balance and be happy to take some high qualifying losses doing that. I'm happy with the slow and steady approach. Plus if you make a cock up its usually recoverable without too much pain.

 

[rninja]

I'd say that £10-40 stakes aren't too small at all. The question is: do you wanna be BOOMing!!! away with £hundreds stakes and getting gubbed quickly, or taking a longer term view with more sensible stakes?

With regards rule 4, my biggest headache previously was: Place back bet at bookie...go to place lay bet at exchange - but there's a non-runner in the meantime. PANIC!
Not anymore.
Now I just check the odds of the non-runner, check the relevant rule 4 deduction amount, then adjust my lay stake accordingly. For example, the non-runner is 8/1 (10 pence in the pound rule 4 deduction) then I deduct 10% from my original lay stake and place the new correct lay bet.