March 27, 2020by Betaminic in Betting Guide, Blog

Forget about Gambling: Make Money Investing in Sports Betting

Would you like to know what is the most profitable option to invest your money? This article analyzes in detail the main investment methods today. You will be able to know all the alternatives, compared to real data, so that you have all the information available and can make the best decision to grow your money. Keep reading and don’t miss any details!

Sports Betting’s Place in the Investment World

There are many forms of investment, from low risk cash deposits and fixed term bonds, to riskier investments where the capital is not guaranteed to increase, such as stocks and shares, or may even be lost completely, such as leveraged day trading, FOREX binary markets or venture capital funds. Investors are always looking for new ways to diversify their portfolios and that includes adding new financial investment vehicles such as cryptocurrencies and now sports betting with long term investment strategies (LTIS).

A very important thing to consider is the risk to reward ratio of each option, and then to work out if your investment strategy is going help you reach your financial targets. For example, if you want to achieve financial independence at a target age, simply putting 10% of your income into the bank account each month is not going to get you to the point where you can quit your day job anytime soon, especially if the account interest is only 0.5% per year. This is why we start to take risks with our money and use them in other ways.

Type of Investment	Target Yield per year	Risk	Comment
Bank Deposit	0%-2%	*	Safe; as long as the bank stays solvent. Even in developed nations there have been times when banks went into administration and have been bailed out by the tax payer.
Bonds	1%-6%	**	Higher rates (Brazil government 10-year bond 6%) are offered from countries with higher risks of default. Bond values can rise and fall as interest rates change, but are considered safer than stocks and shares. However, they can be affected by sudden geopolitical developments.
Stocks and Shares	4%-15%	****	Stocks, shares, index funds and mutual funds are all playing the same game. They are hoping for increases in value of the capital or to receive dividends by the economy doing well. When the economy does badly, or in a market crash, values can drop steeply. Shares that promise higher growth potential often come with higher risk and volatility to market conditions. You are basically gambling that the shares you buy will grow.
Sports Betting LTIS	100%-400% (?)	*** *	Using historical data, users research patterns in the odds markets where a consistent strategy has yielded profit. They then use a suitable staking plan with that pattern to increase their betting capital over the year. (www.betaminic.com)*
Day Trading	20%-150% (?)	*** *	Financial speculation through leveraged day trading, FOREX trading, binaries and other market based trading are viewed as accepted forms of investment. When someone turns 10,000 euros into 20,000 euros from FOREX markets, he is viewed as a skillful trader. That success often comes from researching the patterns in historical markets, creating a strategy based on those patterns and then investing based on that strategy. But it is possible to lose all your capital when doing this kind of trading, especially with leveraged accounts. It is another form of gambling, but on the financial markets. It also requires a lot of time and effort to be a part of this game. It is hard to say what will happen in the next hour of a market, but these traders look for patterns and try to take advantage of them. The target yield depends on the strategy chosen. Many traders aim for a 10% increase on capital per month. The results depend heavily on the skill and research quality of the trader.
Crypto-currencies	10%-50% (?)	*** ***	Bitcoin, Etherium and others have become famous for their dramatic increases in value and then sudden sell-offs at other times. Banks are already looking at how they can help their clients become more able to get involved in these high risk markets despite the lack of liquidity and a lack of any real accurate expectation of how much they might increase in value. It is at the high risk end of investing.

(*Betaminic.com is a website with a large database of football data and historical bookmaker odds. Users can find out what betting strategies have worked over the past 8 years and take advantage of those winning betting patterns. You can sign up here for free to use this unique online tool.)

Sports Betting Strategies are Better than Day Trading

Sports betting as part of a long term investment strategy can be placed at the same level as day trading. In fact, it can be argued that sports betting is superior to day trading since there are many fewer variables in football in comparison to the day trading. It is much easier to predict the patterns of a football strategy than the movements of the GBP/USD currency pair in the next hour. Binary pair traders may look at charts and bet that after a certain number of downward movements, an upward movement is due in correction. Their research tells them when to make that bet. But there are so many factors that affect that currency movement, it is closer to gambling than the long term approach Betaminic takes with its strategies.

With the Betaminic strategy Colossus 06 Scoring Away Overs, we have researched that in certain conditions, when the home and away teams have not scored in their previous games, that betting on the next game to have 3 goals or more (over 2.5 goals bet) over the long term (100+ bets at least) we will make profit. If this strategy was used over the long term, it generated a yield of 8.9% per bet over the last 500 bets. With the right staking plan, this yield can be leveraged to generate even more profit. Day traders also use a form of staking plans. They talk of their “1% risk rule” where you should never invest more than 1% of your trading capital in one trade. Due to the myriad of variables, day traders can find it hard to adjust their staking plans to different trading situations.

But with sports betting, we have so much data in a very regular, repeated market environment (90 minutes of football in league games between teams that often play each other and have relatively similar, known and consistent abilities.) so it is possible to adjust staking plans to match different strategies and get more out of our starting capital. In the case of Betaminic strategy Colossus 06 Scoring Away Overs, it has 29 bets per month on average, so with the right staking plan, we would reasonably aim to double the betting capital every 6-12 months, depending on expected statistical variance. We even know its maximum drawdown (worst losing run) was -14 points. Can day traders know with such certainty how big and how often their losses are likely to be? Sports betting strategies based on big data seem much less risky than day trading since the variables are much more known and definable. We can analyze our data even deeper with analytic tools such as The Staking Machine.

If you are considering getting into day trading, FOREX binaries, and leveraged broker accounts that risk your entire investment capital, then you should first consider Betaminic and its big data based sports betting strategies. Over the long term, with discipline and proper money management, similar or even better returns can be made with less time per day required; less effort, less screen watching, less need to be constantly up-to-date on market conditions and world news that can require a sudden position change. A properly run Betaminic portfolio can be managed with 10-30 minutes per day. The variables are much more knowable, definable, researchable and predictable.

How did €1,000 perform over the past year?

If we had invested 1,000 euros into each of those investment vehicles, which would have made the most profit over the past year? Let’s imagine we had 1,000 euros and invested in each option on March 1^st 2019, so we would have had just over 12 months with each method. Here are the results ranked from best to worst.

Rank	Initial Investment Capital	Investment Capital after 12 months	Increase	Yield	Investment Type (See explanation after table for a more detailed explanation of figures.)
#1	€1,000	€3,432	+€2,432.	+243%	Sports Betting Long-Term Investment Strategy with Betaminic.com “Colossus 6 Scoring Away Overs” (Using 10-30 minutes per day.)
#2	€1,000	€2,910	+€1,910	+191%	Day trading If optimistic target of 10% capital increase per month is reached every month. (Trading about 30-40 hours per week)
#3	€1,000	€1,469	+€469	+46.9%	Cryptocurrency Bitcoin
#4	€1,000	€1,018.5	+€18.5	+1.85%	Bonds Hampshire Trust Bank 1-year Fixed-Term Investment Bond (1.85% yield)
#5	€1,000	€1,005	+€0.5	+0.5%	Bank Deposit Barclays Bank “Blue Rewards” savings account (0.5% interest if no withdrawals)
#6	€1,000	€750	-€150	-15%	Shares Investec GS Global Equity Fund

*These figures are estimates based on historical data, minus costs and taxes that would affect a UK based investor from March 2019 through to March 2020.

#1 Sports Betting Long-Term Investment Strategy with Betaminic.com +243%

Betaminic has many different strategies available. One of the most popular is “Colossus 6 Scoring Away Overs”. Since March 2019 it has had 344 bets (about 27 per month), 59% of which won, that led to a profit of 33.62 points. That is a yield of 9.77%. We can see the profit progress graph and monthly profit/loss bar chart below. Not every month is in profit, but over the long term, it generated positive returns.

The 33 points profit is if we bet 1 point (1%) of our starting capital on each bet without increasing or decreasing stakes. This is called level stakes or flat betting. But one of the big advantages of Betaminic strategies is that we have 8 years of data on this strategy and can find staking plans that multiply the profits without increasing the risk. One such staking analysis tool is The Staking Machine software. By running the historical data through this software we can see how various staking plans can improve the results.

In this analysis we see Level Stakes made 33 points profit, Percentage Stakes made 267 points profit and the best result was 349 points profit with Bookies Bank Version 2 Stakes. From advice based on research in The Staking Plans Book, for this type of strategy, we recommend Percentage Stakes of 5% of the capital each time for simplicity and safety, Bookies Bank Version 2 Stakes are riskier and more complex. So the 267 points profit is the result we will use for our example. 1 point equals 1% of the initial capital, so 267 points means 2,670 euros profit. That is a very impressive 267% return on our 1,000 euros. As with other investment vehicles, there are costs, and in Betaminic’s case, each betting recommendation or “pick” has a cost depending on which package is purchased. (On the internet there are many “professional” tipster sites where they charge for their opinion on which games will win, but these results are subject to their hot and cold spells, with Betaminic, we follow a pattern, so there is more chance of consistency.) In this example we calculate using the Professional Pack so each pick costs €0.69. So our costs would be 0.69 x 344 picks which equals €237.6. Our €2,670 profit minus €237.6 costs leaves us with €2,432.64 net profit. For a UK resident, there are no taxes on betting profits, so this is our final profit. Our initial €1,000 capital has increased to €3,432 even after costs and taxes, an increase of 243%.

#2 Day trading +191%

This is a hard one to calculate, because day trading relies on the knowledge and skill of the person doing the trading. If we take a generous, optimistic view, then a day trader’s target (according to a popular day trading website) is 10% per month. However, the caveat that comes with that, in the words of those in the business “Less than 4.5 percent of day traders who try will be able to make a living from day trading. For the 4.5 percent that makes a living from the markets, it typically takes them six months to a year—dedicating full-time hours (about 30-40 hours per week) to education, practice, and trading—before they reach that level.” That is a quote from a day-trading website. I think that amount of time and those results are almost impossible for most people looking for ways to increase the profits on their investments, but it is included here to show that Betaminic strategies can beat the results of even the best day traders with their 30-40 hour week and all the stress that will come with it. Trading is also more complicated because of the costs and taxes associated with it. Every time you buy and sell shares there are costs between €10 – €20. The 191% profit figure was calculated by optimistically saying the trader reached their 10% increase target after fees every month without fail. Over 12 months that gives a 213% increase. But then we have to pay capital gains tax, and in some countries, if you buy and sell shares in a short space of time, the taxes are even higher as the trading is viewed as speculative rather than a long-term investment. For a UK resident, capital gains tax depends on your income bracket, it could be 10% or 20% of your profits. If, again, we are generous in our calculation and take the lower 10% tax bracket, then our profits are reduced to 191%. So our starting capital would have increased from €1,000 to €2,910 after a lot of time and effort, and only if you are among the top 5% of day traders who can hit their targets every month with 30-40 hours a week. In contrast, Betaminic only takes 10-30 minutes a day.

#3 Cryptocurrency +46.9%

If we had bought Bitcoin on March 1^st 2019, we would have got it at a price of 3,809 USD/BTC. By March 22^nd 2020 that price had gone up to 6,315 USD/BTC, an increase of 65%. But there are costs and taxes to think about here, too. If we bought our €1,000 of Bitcoin with a famous broker like CoinBase, we would first have to pay a commission of 4% to deposit money via debit or credit card, and then we would face a 2% spread on the price of the Bitcoin when exchanging. Then we face that 2% spread again when we sell our Bitcoin. In the UK, cryptocurrency profits are currently classed as capital gains, so again a UK resident would face 10%-20% taxes on their profits depending on their income bracket. So our €1,000 initial capital after costs and taxes would end up as €1,469 which is an increase of 46.9%. However, many countries are hostile to cryptocurrencies and they can use the tax system to discourage speculation on Bitcoin. Japan, for example, has classified cryptocurrency profits separately and their residents face up to a 55% tax depending on their income bracket, and there have been calls for a 75% tax on cryptocurrency profits to discourage speculation. China is known for periodically banning cryptocurrency brokers, so people are unable to exchange their Bitcoin. And even if there is no government interference, there are many unknown risks with cryptocurrency such as “hard-forks” where groups of programmers and Bitcoin miners decide changes to the underlying structure of the currency. There are also Bitcoin “whales” who own so much currency, they can cause a price drop by selling some of their coins and then buy them back at an artificially lower price that they engineered. It is not, in any sense, a transparent and open market. We don’t know how the legal status will change in the future and there are many news stories of cryptocurrency sites disappearing with people’s money. So you also need the technical knowledge of how to keep e-currencies offline and not left with a cryptocurrency broker. When we look at the risk to reward ratio, it does not seem worth it is an investment vehicle, but more of a lottery ticket.

#4 Bonds +1.85%

Bonds are often seen as the safest form of investment after bank savings accounts. The fixed-term bonds offered by banks are often inflexible and mean you cannot access your money for the period of the bond, but in return you will get a guaranteed return. Longer term bonds can earn higher returns than shorter term bonds. However, if inflation rises, then it could soon outpace the returns of a 10-year bond and make it worth less. In this example, we took the Hampshire Trust Bank 1-year Fixed-Term Investment Bond which promised and delivered a 1.85% yield. The risk to reward balance is obvious here with the much lower risks leading to much lower profit. Our €1,000 initial capital increase only €18.5 to €1,018.5. And during that time we cannot access our bond money if we suddenly need it. With Betaminic.com, if you need to use your betting funds for something else and want to take a break, it is easy and instant, you just pause your picks and stop betting.

#5 Bank Deposit +0.5%

Savings account with banks are considered the safest place to keep your money. You can also access your cash whenever you need it, however some savings accounts impose interest penalties if you do make a withdrawal. For this example, again looking at a UK resident with a Barclays Bank “Blue Rewards” savings account they could get a 0.5% interest rate if there were no withdrawals in a month. So if we made no withdrawals for the entire year, our €1,000 would have grown a mere €5 to €1,005. It would be quicker to skip one Starbucks coffee and cake. Again, we can see the risk-reward balance is clear. No risk means almost no reward.

#6 Shares -15%

The Stock Market is the often the first thought people have when they think of “investing” their money in something. But the reality is that stocks and shares are gambling on a bigger scale. Gambling that companies will hit sales targets and make profit as expected; betting that factories and logistic networks will run smoothly as hoped; but unexpected events can affect individuals, companies and countries with global consequences. The markets can crash and you can get left with shares worth much less than what you paid for them. You can sell for a loss or wait until the price goes back up, but that leaves your capital locked away, and that can be a problem if you need access to funds quickly. If you use a broker, there are even more levels of fees as they take their commissions. We also need to be aware of why a broker recommends a certain fund, because often they are getting payments for introductions to investment plans. If you use an online broker, you have to watch out for various fees associated with each trade, transferring money between accounts, exchanging money to buy stocks in different stock currencies, and so on. If you have an Independent Financial Advisor who does not charge you a fee for their advice, then you must find out where they are getting their cut.

Good advice for novice investors is to buy index funds with low annual fees that diversify their holdings as much as possible. The most famous of these being the Vanguard S&P500 Index Fund which has fund management fees of only 0.04% per year. But if we had bought that fund last year, we would be sitting on a -18% loss at the moment. Some people say actively managed funds fare better in bad times because their managers take steps to limit the damage to the investment fund. A well-respected, diversified fund is the Investec GS Global Equity Fund which has management fees of 1.8% per year. Despite their active management, they still made a -15% loss since March 2019. Since we made a loss, we don’t have any capital gains tax to pay, but we still have to pay fees when we buy and sell shares. For this calculation we use a €10 fee for buying/selling shares. So in the end, our €1,000 investment capital ended up as €730. A loss of 17%.

Best use of a €1,000 investment

Over the past year, Betaminic Sports Betting Long Term Investment Strategies have outperformed all the other investment methods. In particular, Sports Betting Investment Strategies have superior reward levels to other investments of similar risk levels.

If you have €1,000, investing in Betaminic Sports Betting Strategies is clearly a better choice than Cryptocurrencies, Day Trading or Stocks and Shares. Some people might say “Yes, but in betting you can lose all your money! With shares you won’t!” With simple betting, yes, you are likely to lose all of your money, but Betaminic Sports Betting Strategies are not just simple betting. Betaminic users use fundamental analysis in the same way investors do with the stock market. They look at historical data to find patterns and see potential for profit if a pattern continues. Betaminic does the same with over 8 years of football and bookmaker data going back to 2012. The free Betamin Builder tool allows access to over 100,000 matches worth of historical data. A big data analyst’s dream. Traders use Monte Carlo simulations to find the strength of their strategy and to check the likelihood of their results being chance or based on a true pattern. Betaminic also does this. Their “Betaminic Rating” calculates the strength of a pattern and ranks the strategies with the strongest patterns at the top. It is easy to find and follow them. You can also freely download the data yourself from the Betamin Builder and run your own advanced analysis with tools such as The Staking Machine to confirm the ratings yourself with the methods outlined in this article on how to use the software.

Transparency in the Market

Sports trading is even more transparent than the stock market. The factors that affect football matches are regular, repeating and predictable. The same cannot be said for the stock market. There are so many factors that can affect stocks and it is impossible to be aware of all of them unless you are plugged into market feeds and world news all the time. There are also factors that are not public and are unknowable until it is too late, such as insider trading, manipulated markets and financial mismanagement. And with football, when a crisis does arise, the football stops and your money does not go anywhere. You have instant access to your funds. The same is not true for stocks and shares. The markets do not stop.

Ideal for Fundamental Analysis

Since the factors affecting football are regular, repeating and limited, it is also much easier to do fundamental analysis on them. Players may change, but the quality and characteristics of leagues remain constant. The Dutch leagues tend to have more goals, the Premier League tends to have more draws, the lower leagues tend to have more upsets, and so on. These trends can be tested and analyzed with big data going back multiple seasons. 90 minutes of football repeated and repeated with similar levels of teams in each league. Every league has its dominant top teams, its newly promoted weaker teams and its mid-table teams. We can find the patterns in the results where the bookmakers have got their models wrong in certain leagues and value can be found in the bookmaker odds. When we follow those value patterns over the long term of 1 year or more, we have a better risk to reward ratio than other investment types. We can say with confidence that Betaminic Betting Strategies are worth adding to your investment portfolio as part of any long term strategy for capital growth.