SBC Bet Butler Special & FAQ Table of contents: Bet Butler overview... 1 Placing bets... 2 Getting bets matched and the limits of bet butler.... 3 Do Bet Butler always offer the best odds?... 3 What about best odds guaranteed?... 4 Customer experience... 4 Security of funds... 5 How long does it take to withdraw funds?... 6 Won t Bet Butler simply experience the same problems with account restrictions?... 6 Is my money at risk?... 6 I have heard of other Bet Placement firms going bust, what is different about Bet Butler?... 7 Commission paid on stake or winnings?... 7 What about non UK customers?... 8 What sort of bets can you place?... 8 Does BetButler distinguish between winning and losing accounts?... 9 What are the stake limits?... 9 Can you give an example of a large bet you have placed recently?... 9 Useful resource, but handle with care... 9 How to get started... 9 SBC Bet Butler Special: SBC members are entitled to a special discounted commission rate of 1% for the first month. If interested, sign up at: www.betbutler.co.uk/ Once set up, email Natasha.harris@betbutler.co.ukconfirming your SBC membership to activate the discounted rate of 1%. Bet Butler overview Bet Butler is a bookmaker middle man, placing bets for you with bookmakers you do not have viable accounts with. Another potential key benefit is having a single account from which to place all your bets. Most of the time you will be getting the best odds or very close to it, so you won t have to log into dozens of 1 P a g e
bookmaker accounts to shop around so much. See below on our notes on Bet Butler s ability to get the best odds and taking into account commission. From the user s perspective, using Bet Butler is very similar to using a regular online bookmaker, with bets placed online or over the phone. In return for getting the bets on, Bet Butler take a commission which is currently 3% (though SBC members can get 1% for their first month). The main difference is what goes on behind the scenes to get the prices for you. We have visited Bet Butler s office in London so have a good idea of how the process works. Bet Butler don t want to reveal too much about the process for obvious reasons, but we can reveal that Bet Butler use a combination of corporate bookmaker accounts and other methods to get their bets on. Bet Butler employ many of the strategies we have written about in the past with regard to maintaining bookmaker accounts, but thanks to their technology they can do so on an industrial scale. If you would like further details on the process, email Natasha.harris@betbutler.co.uk Placing bets In the 12 months that we have been testing Bet Butler, they have worked with us and our testing team to improve the offering based on our feedback. Initially the online functionality wasn t fully operational and bets had to be placed over the phone. Now the online bet placement is making use of clever technology that automatically routes bets through the Bet Butler system. We have been using Bet Butler to place bets from tipsters as well as making our own bets on various sports at various times. The navigation menu is fairly similar to Betfair) so it s easy to find the bets you need. Once you have found the bet and selected the odds, now you have a choice of two options: No lower than means you only want the best price available. E.g. no lower than the best price of 8.0. The advantage is that you specify the price; the disadvantage is that you may not get your entire stake matched. If the system can t match you, the bet is cancelled. We suggest you use this option if you are more concerned about the exact price than getting your full stake matched. E.g. You want odds of 2.50 or nothing at all. Best Price means that BB will attempt to match your entire stake at the best price they can. The advantage is that you are likely to get your entire stake matched; the disadvantage is that you will be matched at the best possible price which may not be the top price. For example, you want 250 and the best odds the site is displaying is 2.50. Due to the relatively large stake, you might get matched fully at average odds of 2.45. Once you have placed your order, you can check the progress of the order within the account section. A bet will appear in the open orders section while they try to place the bet. You can use this to double check the bet is working as you requested. All being well, the bet then moves to confirmed bet status. 2 P a g e
You also receive email confirmation to let you know whether a bet was placed and the size of the stake. There is generally feedback on your bet progress within a minute, but it can take 10 minutes or longer if the traders have to manually route your bet. Getting bets matched and the limits of bet butler. Now that the online system is fully automating the bet matching process, our bet completion rate has been around 80% for the past few months i.e. most of the bets we have requested have been matched at the required odds and the required stake. However there are some clear caveats to manage expectations of this high bet completion rate. The system is absolutely ideal for someone who is finding their own bets, following their systems/ ratings or following a tipster which does not cause an immediate drop in odds. This is especially the case if taking late morning prices rather than the lower liquidity early morning first shows for horse racing. The system is also brilliant for football betting, especially if there is a bookmaker taking a standout price that you cannot get because you are restricted with them. In these circumstances, we have found that bets are highly likely to be matched at the odds you want and at medium stakes ( 25 to 100 per bet). Things are different if you are following a market moving tipster such as Equine Investments. If the price is crashing in quickly, then the system cannot work miracles. If the price has gone in the market, then it has gone. The service cannot get a price for you if it is no longer there. In this case, you may wish to increase your chances of getting a bet matched by taking the best odds the system can get you or setting the minimum odds as being slightly below the best odds available. One important point to bear in mind is that, there are currently just a handful of SBC members making use of the service, meaning we have not been competing with other members within the system to get the best prices. If 20 members all used Bet Butler to try to get the best price on the same tip from someone like Personal Info at the same, then the bet completion rate may drop to a level we haven t experienced thus far. It may have little impact, it may have a lot of impact, unfortunately it is something we will simply have to monitor for now. After using the system for a while, we have been using a mix of no lower than and best odds to gain a good balance of getting our full stake matched and getting the best odds. If you notice you are not getting matched in full too, much, consider using best available odds and closely monitor the odds you are matched at. Do Bet Butler always offer the best odds? Another important question for us was whether Bet Butler was picking up the best odds on their system, regardless of betting pressure. For example, if 5.0 is the best odds according to an odds comparison site such as oddschecker or oddsportal, does Bet Butler also offer 5.0? Most of the time, but not always we found that BB have the best odds on offer. However, around 20% of the time, BB didn t pick up the best odds despite higher odds being clearly available with 3 P a g e
multiple bookmakers. Sometimes this is simply because even their system cannot get the bet on with a minor bookmaker, while at other points there does seem to be some blind spots for their systems. Therefore, we recommend you double check the top prices with an odds comparison site such as Oddschecker or OddsPortal. You don t have to do this on every bet, perhaps only when you notice you cannot get advised odds with BB. Make sure you weigh up what gives you the better return after factoring in BetButler s commission. For some football bets, bookmaker friendly Pinnacle sports or 188 bet etc are often top odds. In this case you would be paying commission when you could easily get the best price yourself. You would of course have to weigh up the convenience factor of placing the bet within a single bookie account instead of shopping around like this. What advantages does Bet Butler offer over Betfair or Betdaq? The typical point of call for people suffering account restrictions is the betting exchanges Betfair or Betdaq. There are a number of advantages to using BB over the exchanges: Full Each Way betting for horse racing. A single account for your bets. BB commission is generally lower than Betfair, meaning you will often get prices slightly higher. Liquidity will be better on many markets, meaning you re more likely to get a decent sum on if taking an early price. Bet Butler won t entirely replace Betfair though. There might be occasions when Betfair offers better odds after commission. Betfair and Betdaq are also established entities while Bet Butler is relatively new to the market. We suggest you set www.oddsportal.com to your actual exchange commission levels for football betting so you can compare like for like. In many ways Bet Butler is similar to Betfair in that it won t be your sole channel for placing bets. What it will do is open up a very useful new channel for getting the best odds. We have continued to use a mix of bookmakers, Bet Butler and Betfair/ Betdaq in order to get the best odds. What about best odds guaranteed? Currently the Bet Butler system is focused on getting you on at a particular price. In doing so, it may have to split your bet across multiple bookmakers. Some of these may offer Best Odds Guaranteed, some may not. So unfortunately, Bet Butler does not offer Best Odds Guaranteed on any of its bets. Customer experience Our first point of call has been Natasha, who heads up the customer service for Bet Butler. We have found her to be very helpful in dealing with all our enquiries and has worked with the tech team to act on much of our feedback. Dealing with the traders directly has generally been positive, but there have been one or two glitches in the early period where we felt a more proactive approach could have been taken to 4 P a g e
solving any issues. If you do experience a problem or have any issues beyond regular bet placement, we suggest contacting Natasha who will be able to look into things in more detail for you. Natasha.harris@betbutler.co.uk Accuracy & errors Due to the complex process Bet Butler uses to route its bets, errors are rare but possible. Unfortunately we have to report that we have experienced errors with Bet Butler. These have to be put in the context of there being around 200 bets per week. However there have been a couple of fairly basic errors such as incorrect results which we have spotted. Even well established bookmakers can be prone to errors, especially on minor sports. Therefore we highly recommend that members keep an accurate record of their own bets and requested odds/ stakes for any bookmaker. key point is how quickly and accurately such errors are rectified and in this, we have found Bet Butler, especially Natasha to be excellent. Once again, we suggest you email Natasha in the first instance. Natasha.harris@betbutler.co.uk One thing that will certainly help your experience is to familiarise yourself with their system, especially the pros and cons of using no lower than or best available odds. Our biggest gripes when we first used the system were due to trying to force through bets that had a low probability of being matched in any case. So if using Bet Butler, you have to be mindful of potential errors and as we explained in our introduction, handle this service with caution. Double check all your results and keep separate records of your bets. In an ideal world, you would not have to do this, but in an ideal world there would be no bookmaker restrictions. Security of funds The two common questions we have heard from our testers are: 1) Is my money safe? 2) Won t Bet Butler have problems getting its bets on after a while? We have researched these points in more detail, but our general approach with Bet Butler so far has been to be mindful of the risks, but to not let that stop us using what has been useful way to increase our betting profits. There is the potential for any bookmaker to leave client funds high and dry, even with recommended offshore bookies such as Pinnacle. As a new entrant, Bet Butler potentially presents an even greater risk. You have a choice. You can either acknowledge these risks, taking sensible steps to manage your exposure and take advantage of the key benefits of the service. Or you can remain sceptical, not using the service, but therefore potentially missing out on what the service has to offer. 5 P a g e
An argument can be made for both stances. We hope this document helps you make the choice that is right for you. Bet Butler provide a weekly statement each Monday to your inbox to help you manage your account. They can request a withdrawal at any time simply by emailing accounts@betbutler.co.uk How do I deposit money? Payment is sent and accounts funded/ debited in a similar manner to an online bookmaker account via moneybookers. Deposits are usually instant. How long does it take to withdraw funds? It can take a few working days for funds to clear back into your moneybookers account. The slight delay may be due to the fact that Bet Butler themselves may have to wait to withdraw funds from various bookmaker accounts. Most refunds to your account are processed within 24 hours. Won t Bet Butler simply experience the same problems with account restrictions? Yes and no. We unfortunately cannot reveal what we know of how Bet Butler source their bets. Bet Butler have suggested any member wanting more details or reassurance to contact them directly. BB have corporate accounts with most bookmakers which means large bets can be negotiated directly in certain instances. This isn t their only avenue for placing bets though with the system using multiple streams to automatically route a bet. It is easier for bookmakers to manage the liability of single larger bets than lots of smaller bets. Bet Butler s accounts are also used on a variety of sports whereas an individual might stick to single sport or strategy, which allows bookmakers to spot any patterns quicker. However, we have no doubt that many will be sceptical of Bet Butler s long term viability, given that it is catering to the punters bookmakers do not want. We can understand this caution and are mindful of the longer term risks. All we can say is that we are willing to give it a chance to work, but we are still being cautious in limiting our exposure. Is my money at risk? Bet Butler are licenced and regulated by the gambling commission, unlike some other bet placement firms. In addition, all client funds are ring fenced, so if the company got into trouble your money should be safe. There are limits to ring fencing though even with the best of firms, so it would be prudent to act as you would with any bookmaker, especially offshore bookmakers such as Pinnacle Sports. Start small and deposit funds when needed. Deposits can be made instantly via moneybookers, so there is no need to let large amounts of money sit in the account. 6 P a g e
Bet Butler is a new company and had been in operation since 2009, they started marketing their services in August 2011 which is their official launch date. As a start up company we again stress that it is advisable not to leave large sums of money in your account as a general precaution. So far we have withdrawn three times our deposit amounts so are happy with the process. I have heard of other Bet Placement firms going bust, what is different about Bet Butler? Presently, Bet Butler will not place bets on your behalf automatically (e.g.automatically if following a tipster), they currently solely act on your individual instructions. Certain bet placement firms that got into trouble were placing bets directly from tipsters without the proper processes in place or access to technology. In addition, as mentioned above, BB are licenced and client funds are ring fenced unlike other placement firms that got into trouble. It should be noted though that ring fencing can only go so far and there are limitations to it from an accounting perspective, so do be mindful of our suggested precautions below. The primary advantage BB has over other bet placement firms is its technology. Previous bet placement firms had to manually place bets via the phone or online without the benefit of technology that source methods that would get bets matched. This process was time consuming and ultimately uneconomical. BB has this technology which means bets can often be placed instantly, allowing greater volume and placement reports. One such bet brokerage company was Bet Brokers Bet Butler say: I would also like to address the association with Bet Brokers, no one within our company is part of the old Bet Brokers. We did however purchase this company out of administration, hence there being a link. We saw the opportunity to obtain some of the software that they were previously using and a business model that could be improved on. They used a fairly manually process internally, since this purchase our own IT team have developed the software to allow for scanning the market automatically and the autobet technology allowing us to work in a far more efficient way. Once again though, we must point out the risks of Bet Butler not continuing as a business, just like any bookmaker might struggle at certain points. Bet Butler is yet to be tested with the full weight of many SBC users attempting to place the same bet at the same time. To reiterate, we suggest all members do not leave large sums of money in their account to guard against what should be an unlikely scenario and withdraw funds on a regular basis. This is a prudent step to take with any bookmaker, but with Bet Butler being a new entrant with a unique business model, this would be especially recommended. With the special offer of 1% commission levels for the first month and no minimum bet currently, we suggest members start small to test the services suitability for their betting. Commission paid on stake or winnings? Bet Butler take commission on stake, at account sign up the customer can opt to have this on winnings instead (like Betfair), but this cannot be switched between the two, if the customer opts for stake and wishes to change to winnings they need to give 1 weeks notice. 7 P a g e
Commission on winnings is currently operated manually on the system and is taken from the account weekly on a Monday on all winning bets. Whether it might be best to pay commission on winnings only (like Betfair) or on stakes depends on the average odds you take on. As a general rule, if you are betting bigger odds (4/1 or above) then having commission on stakes would be better. If you are betting below this, having commission on winnings only might be better. Take the following comparison 1 per bet: Average odds 2.50 Strike rate 50% Bets: 1000 Profit after commission on winnings only: 227.50 Profit after commission on stakes: 220.00 Average odds 5.25 Strike rate 20% Bets: 1000 Profit after commission on winnings only: 220.0 Profit after commission on stakes: 218.50. Essentially commission on stake eats into big winners less, but if you have a high strike rate, the commission on stake could be detrimental. Football betting would probably be better betting commission on winnings. There isn t too much in it though unless you compare extremes (Betting at very short odds vs betting at very large odds). What about non UK customers? Bet Butler are licenced by the UK gambling commission and so bound by their legislation. Contact Bet Butler directly to discuss the availability in your jurisdiction. What sort of bets can you place? You can place bets on most sports via the phone, though the website is currently only available for football, racing and rugby. Currently Bet Butler don t have Asian Handicaps available online. If you can t find your bet online, phone the traders on 0333 9002000. Will Bet Butler help me with the 4 Pronged Attack system or tips? To a point it will, but keep in mind our point about fast moving odds. 4PA works best when you use certain bookmaker s price promise to offer advertised odds on certain horses for a short period or certain stake. This is only available with phone betting though, with online betting working through a separate system. Bet Butler primarily uses online odds scraping so you would be better continuing to use the phone reversion approach first. 8 P a g e
Does BetButler distinguish between winning and losing accounts? BB say: We do not distinguish in this way and do not impose any limits on client accounts either, we actually want our clients to win! Are Bet Butler connected to the bookies? Bet Butler say: We do not share any of our customer information so they will not know who you are at any time. What are the stake limits? Bet Butler say: It really depends on the event and the liquidity. Football bets can easily be placed in the region of 500+, while racing bets will depend on the quality of the race and the odds. 250 should be manageable in most circumstances. There is currently no minimum bet size or minimum commission, though we can t see this continuing forever. Can you give an example of a large bet you have placed recently? Bet Butler say: 5,000 9/4 Hunt 30th Oct - Muldoons Picnic Useful resource, but handle with care The bottom line is that we have found Bet Butler to be a very useful service for our betting. However, we have to advise a handle with care notice. The service does improve every month, but we have encountered a few errors in our time using it. You must also consider that Bet Butler is a relatively new entrant, with a new model, having only gone fully live at the start of the football season. We would frame the service as a good, but not certainly not perfect solution to the problem of bookmaker restrictions. How to get started If interested, sign up at: www.betbutler.co.uk/ Once set up, email Natasha.harris@betbutler.co.ukconfirming your SBC membership to activate the discounted rate of 1%. If you have any questions on your account email enquiries@betbutler.co.uk or call one of the accounts team at 0333 900 8888 9 P a g e