The Judge Review

The Judge Review

Welcome to our The Judge review, where you will see us put this greyhound racing tipster service from Betfan under the microscope for 90 days.  Tips are delivered to our inbox each morning via email and are also available from the membership area within Betfan.  The Judge review will see results recorded at advised stakes and also at £10 level stakes.

Quick Summary

 The Judge review started on 17th August 2018, and is a service run by Betfan, and looking to past results since the service started in September 2015 has successfully managed to turn a respectable profit each year.

This three month review will reveal whether the results can live up to it's past history. It will be good to review a greyhound service with primarily horse racing and football services out there. I'll report back after one month.

Month 1 Summary

The first month of our ‘The Judge' review from Betfan, has now been completed.

Tips are sent by email every day, and even on the very few occasions that no bets are selected you receive notification that it is a blank day. Generally emails arrive around mid-late morning but can be as late as 6 pm. There are 2-3 tips per day on average. You are given a log in for the Betfan site and can also access the tips from there. The tips give the selection, with advised stake and odds at time of selection (with relevant bookmakers).

A starting bank of 200 points is recommended but, based on one month's experience, that seems far bigger than necessary – a strike rate of exactly 1 in 3 ensured that the longest losing run so far was 7 bets (maximum of 35 points if you follow the advised staking).

The crucial matter is being able to get the advised odds, prices of The Judge's tips almost always shorten during the day and the longer you leave it the shorter the price is likely to be (there were a few examples of the odds not shortening or in a couple of cases lengthening so placing your bet with a “BOG” bookie is sensible.)

I have presented the results on the spreadsheet in three ways. First, level stakes (1 point) at SP. Second, advised stakes (1-5 points) at SP and finally advised stakes at advised odds. This is to give you an idea to how each staking strategy works.

So for example staking to £10 level stakes to SP would have seen a £49.10 loss this month, advised stakes to SP an £18 loss, and finally a very nice £744.50 to advised odds at advised stakes.. So it's very clear that getting your bets on as soon as possible from when you receive the email with the selections is key.

Month 2 Summary

The second month of our review of the Betfan greyhound betting opportunity: “The Judge” has now been completed. Not quite the success of month one but still a very decent return of 48 points to advised odds and stakes, putting the service nearly 123 points up since the start of our review using advised stakes and advised odds.

There is a “but” however. Once again, when based on SP rather than advised odds, a loss is shown. I must therefore stress again the importance of being able to act quickly to secure the best available odds.

The Judge started the month in prime form including tipping the pillar to post winner of the Irish Greyhound Derby at 16/1 (SP was eventually 12/1 but 16's were available most of the day). However, his strike rate fell away as the month progressed with a number of barren patches including a run of 12 consecutive losses.

Month 3 Summary

The third and final month of our Betfan/Bet Kudos greyhound betting opportunity “The Judge” review has now been completed. It was similar in character to Month two.

The strike rate was not as impressive as the stellar Month one but the service still managed a modest profit of over five points at ‘advised stakes and odds.'

As with Month two the performance included one particularly lucrative winner, this time a straight forecast paying just under 20-1.

The Judge Conclusion

The service recorded an overall profit of 128.3 (1283.30 to £10 level stakes) points at advised odds and stakes (RoI 15.6%) , but made a loss of 11.3 points at level stakes and SP (-5.7%).

Although there was a small loss at level stakes/SP I would have no hesitation in recommending this service, provided you have a degree of patience and commitment..

Plus points

A simple method:- Selections are given in a daily email, you can also access them through the Betfan website. There’s rarely more than four selections per day. There are blank days- but you are notified so you’re not left hanging on waiting for selections, You are given advised odds, stakes and bookmakers with the selections. Most of the bookmakers are mainstream, though to consistently take advantage of best early prices you’ll need accounts with several of the main players. Nearly all the bookies concerned offer “Best Odds Guaranteed” which is useful on the (very rare) occasions that SP exceeds the early price. The great majority of tips are straight wins. Occasionally there is a Straight Forecast, an each way (most bookies offer 3 places on greyhound open races- check before you place your bet) or a double.

Minus points

It can be quite time consuming placing bets. Often the advised odds are not available by the time you’re able to place your bet so you then have to check around manually (you can use the likes of Odds Checker to help but even that can be hit and miss). In fact many of the selections get backed down quite substantially from the opening odds and to maximise profit it’s essential to get your bets on as soon as possible. You don’t normally have the failsafe of backing via the exchanges as liquidity is rarely strong enough.
You need patience and to accept that there will inevitably be losing runs. There were a few longish losing patches…up to a dozen running. Often the wins come in clusters. In fact overall the service was in profit from the opening day, and – at least at advised odds and stakes- never got close to falling into loss.

Despite a pricey looking £48 per month for full access (£96 per quarter) this can be a profitable opportunity. The “Judge” has been around for a long time and has a historic strike rate of 30%, 29.6% was achieved in this review. And it’s fun. Nearly all of the races are available to watch online and or Sky TV. Great stuff when your dog bolts home (especially when it gives the favourite a crafty nudge on the way!)

Overall we give this a service a pass as long as you bet to advised odds along with advised stakes.