Opinion: The Ultimate Guide to Betting Portfolios: Part 3 – Pros and Cons
So far in this series of guides, I have focused on how to start up a betting portfolio, outlined why you should diversify, offered suggestions on markets to follow, analysed bankroll and a preferred staking plan, and explained why leveraging is a bad idea. To date, the tone has been overwhelmingly positive, and while I will be explaining the benefits of a diversified portfolio, it is only fair to include the downsides.
Why You Should Use a Betting Portfolio
Levels Out Risk & Volatility
By splitting your investment into multiple assets, you reduce the risk of bankruptcy. If one of your high-risk assets performs abysmally, you could be bailed out by the superb performance of another asset.
It is even better if you have unrelated assets. For example, using horse racing and football markets is helpful if you are having a torrid time trying to pick Premier League winners, or if every horse you pick runs like it has three legs. You can create a portfolio according to your preferred sports, and your aversion to risk.
If you don’t mind a very low ROI, as long as it is profit overall, you can back odds-on selections with high win percentages, and short losing streaks. Alternatively, you can go ‘Vegas’ style and look for low percentage ‘Jackpot’ bets.
It's a Professional Approach to Betting
When you dedicate yourself to the creation of a portfolio, a funny thing happens. You stop throwing money away on foolish accumulators and in-play fancies. Instead, you knuckle down, perform due diligence on each potential wager, and weigh the pros and cons of each bet. Soon, you’ll find yourself betting less and winning more often.
Longevity
As long as you have a few hundred units to play with, your bankroll should last for a very long time; assuming you diversify your portfolio and have low and medium risk wagers to go along with your 20/1 shots! You also learn to avoid massive bets because your portfolio has already determined the size of each stake.
Increased Knowledge
If a betting portfolio doesn’t increase your overall sports betting knowledge, then there is no hope for you. It is important to keep detailed records so you can analyse your accounts and find out which assets are worth keeping, and which ones should be consigned to the scrapheap. As it stands, too many punters are losing money without realising why.
A Second Income
In part 2, I outlined how you could earn around £500 a month tax-free from investing in Football Advisor’s Full Portfolio. Although returns depend on your unit size, and the risk carried by your portfolio, there no reason why you can’t churn out a profit of a couple of hundred pounds a month. If you increase stakes according to the size of your growing bank, your rate of return will be greater than if you stick rigidly to the same sized stakes for the duration of your portfolio’s life.
Disadvantages of a Betting Portfolio
It is Time Consuming
Unless you pay a monthly fee and get an expert betting company to provide you with a readymade portfolio, it takes a lot of time and effort to get it right. Remember, you need at least five different assets to be properly insulated.
This means analysing the markets you’re interested in, deciding on your bankroll and unit size, not to mention keeping records. At a bare minimum, you’ll need an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of every bet. Otherwise, you won’t be able to spot your mistakes or continue to pounce on bookmaker errors.
Don't Expect Huge Returns
The benefit of diversification is that you’re not putting all your eggs into one basket. However, you are still relying on a majority of your assets to perform well. Let’s say you have a 10-asset portfolio, three of them could be performing beautifully, but if there are a few bad or average assets, your overall return on investment will be far less than you think.
I plan to cover the kind of returns you can expect, but if you’re hoping for an ROI of around 10% or more, you’re going to be VERY disappointed.
Fees
This downside is only applicable to readers who are considering investing in a company’s portfolio. I have already spoken about Football Advisor’s returns in Part 2, and you can visit the website to learn more.
It is a sad truth that the entire betting tipster industry is essentially the Wild West due to the lack of regulation. There is no law against someone setting up a tipping company that provides awful tips. Likewise, it is not illegal to provide tips while getting fees from betting companies, presumably for steering punters wrong.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of firms that fall into both categories AND charge you for the privilege of losing! Even if they have a sliver of profit, and can prove it, their monthly or annual fees usually exceed any profit you earn. While good services are worth their weight in platinum because of the time they save you, it is important to determine if it is worth your while to use them.
I know of one horse racing tipster that offers exceptional looking profit figures per month. The catch is that the figures are based on £200 wagers!
Final Thoughts
There are a few downsides to betting portfolios, mainly the time and financial investment. If you’re the kind of person who likes an occasional ‘fun’ wager, this type of betting is not for you. If you believe sports betting can help you retire to Hawaii, you’re in for a rude awakening.
However, if you’re of the belief that hard work, dedication, and discipline, are core tenets of sports trading, a betting portfolio can help bring your game to the next level. Remember, a portfolio is designed to provide you with long-term investment; don’t be too quick to abandon a solid portfolio.
In the final part of the series, I will discuss the likely ROI your portfolio can attain, along with a warning about possible losing streaks.
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Jon is the Founder and Chief Tipster at Football Advisor and Predictoloy. He started life as data analyst in the digital marketing field before find his true calling in the world of Football and Horse Racing Betting.
Jon has been sharing his professional expertise since 2009 and specialises in using objective data analysis and subjective experience of betting built up over more than a decade of professional betting.
In 2014, Jon also launched (and continues to run) the trusted Football Advisor service service which provides a variety of football and horse racing betting models and portfolios. A few years later, Jon launched the Predictology platform which is the worlds first betting system builder and analyser covering a wealth of football betting related statistics covering more than 200,000 matches.
Jon has also lent his knowledge and expertise to several of the trusted Premium Services offered by the respected Secret Betting Club, including Football Lay Profits. Racing Bet Profits and, most recently, Racing Lay Profits.