Unlocking Our Data's Potential

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There will always be surprise results when predicting the outcome of soccer matches, because that's the very nature of the Beautiful Game. However, there are many who believe that "unpredictability" is the very ingredient which makes the game so exciting to watch, and possibly the prime reason it has become the number one spectator sport across the globe.

Of course, if you are betting on the outcome - as millions of people around the world do each and every match day - then it can sometimes be a very frustrating sport, as well as being painful for the pocket!

Simply looking at other people's predictions isn't enough to give you confidence that they know what they are talking about and/or that they know more about the possible match outcome than you do. You first need to be able to compare your predictions to theirs over a realistic "test frame" (say 50+ matches minimum).

And even where you are getting information from someone you trust, you still owe it to yourself to do some research work before you put your bets on – whether or not you are paying for that information!

On this Website we cater for a wide range of different Clients, from those who want to dissect every piece of information to those in a hurry, and from the seasoned Bettor to the newly initiated. This could never be achieved with a “one-size-fits-all” solution, and that is the principal reason as to why there is a ton of data on our Website!

A further reason for the plethora of menu choices is that there is a vast array of different betting scenarios to choose from, such as: 1X2, Win Only (Draw = No Bet), Double Chance, Half-Time/Full-Time, Under/Over, Asian Handicap and Correct Scores betting.

In fact, the foregoing list just happens to represent what we deal with on this Website, but if you visit any major Bookie online you will be swamped with a vast array of other betting choices!

So, believe it or not, we try to limit the amount of data we post on this Website to only that stuff you need to take into consideration when making your betting decisions for the day.

Data by itself is meaningless, no matter how wonderfully compiled it all is. To be useful it has to be analysed in depth. A surface skimming of the material is pointless and just a complete waste of your time!

An in-depth analysis of data is absolutely essential if you want to get the most out of both the data itself and the time you spend doing any analysis work. In other words, hard graft on your part would normally be the only way for you to be able to unlock our data's potential.

However, we understand that the problem is that most people are just too busy with their "day jobs" to find time to do all the necessary data research to allow them to arrive at wise betting decisions. So we have tried to make it easier for you.

What we do - each and every week - is select 6 weekend matches that seem to offer the best chances of making good money. To do that, we analyse in detail all the past "prediction performance" and "analysis records" for the teams playing in those weekend matches.

We are generally very conservative in our approach and aim to find those matches where the chances of a 1-0 or 2-0 score-line seem to be the highest (although some weeks those options may not be available in the required numbers).

Having selected 6 matches we feel will do well for us, we then compile all the comparison data for each one into an Excel-based document we call the "EASE" spreadsheet (it is the shortened title for our weekly "Express Advisory Service"), and we present the information in such a way as to make it as easy as possible for you to decide for yourself if, overall, you like the look of what we have selected.

In fact, we ourselves have found the "EASE" spreadsheet so helpful, and are such believers in its usefulness to others, that we have decided to take all the strain on our own shoulders and compile a special "EASE" spreadsheet for every single one of the weekend matches in the English Premier Division, commencing in the 2008-2009 season!

We have devised the "EASE" spreadsheet so that you can also easily apply it to your own preferred match selections if you want to ignore our selections. However, we recognise that if you were to do it for another 6 matches it would take a great deal of time for you to complete all the necessary research and data transfer work that would be required to replicate the same level of detail we provide.

In fact, it takes us about 45-60 minutes per match to do everything necessary to complete the "EASE" spreadsheet input data properly, including identifying all the "ODDBALL" findings.

So if the principle 6 "EASE" matches and/or the English Premier Division matches aren't what you like to bet on, you might just be tempted to skip the hard work of carrying out all your own research.

Maybe that's because you don't know where to look on our Website or even what to do with the data once you have found it. Or perhaps it all seems like just too much hard work for you to bother with.

Either way, what follows explains why you really should take the time and make the effort to thoroughly research all the data available to you, not necessarily just on this particular Website but elsewhere, before making your betting decisions. And it will also point you in the right direction and show you how to get the best out of the data we ourselves post.

Because the Bookies are in business to take your money, you can be sure that they do everything they possibly can to get the biggest possible advantage over you. The "built-in" advantage is called the "house edge" in casinos and takes the form of a mark-up ("Over-Round") for soccer betting, which goes on top of the advantage they already have with their highly specialist soccer betting knowledge. So it is obvious that you need to do everything in your power to start clawing back some advantage to offset that enormous advantage the Bookie would otherwise automatically have over you!

The first thing you need to do is ask yourself what it is you prefer to bet on, and then check to see if our past performance is better than yours in those particular areas. If, over the long term, you are truly doing better than we are for your preferred betting scenarios, then you obviously don't need our Services!

To check out our past prediction performance, take a look at our comprehensive range of "Prediction Performance Records" (in the left-hand menu). We have in fact gone much further than just letting you know how the basic predictions fared by providing full information about where the actual results fell if they weren’t what we had predicted. That info is contained under the "Analysis of Top 12 Previous Predictions" section (also in the left-hand menu).

All this past history is accessible to anyone who visits the Website – you don’t need to be registered with us, as there is no need for you to log in first to view the content.

What you should look for is where our predictions are doing well, but even where they have performed badly there may well be a good opportunity for money-making there, because you can then try your luck by going the opposite way to which our Program is calling the match outcomes.

Putting it bluntly: If you want to win at betting you ABSOLUTELY MUST conduct your own proper research and check our Website’s postings to see what YOU think is the most likely match outcome for all those matches where you intend placing a bet of any sort!

If you are not prepared to put in that extra bit of effort you really can’t expect to get any advantage over the Bookie!

Please remember this:

On this Website we provide you with a short-cut way to finding out what ought to happen in each match, which would not be available to you if you don't have a worthwhile prediction system of your own. And, as we said, we go on to identify those particular matches which look most likely to produce the results predicted. But none of that means the predicted results will actually transpire!

The research work you need to do before you bet on any predictions displayed on this Website is not too difficult, although we agree that it does take time, even though we have tried to simplify the job wherever possible.

Firstly though, you need to check out how well our Program has performed to date in respect of both the following factors: (1) the category of betting you are interested in (as mentioned earlier), and (2) the specific teams playing in the particular matches you are thinking of betting on. Here's where you go to do that:

We have a completely separate and comprehensive article on how to use the PICs and their associated backup data, and that can be found here.

When looking at any of our predictions it is vital to remember this: Our Program does not attempt to adjust for the absence of key players in the line-up. We run the Program’s prediction module on the Monday of each week, having input the results of all the matches for the previous week. The Program then performs its calculations for the new week based on each team’s AVERAGE performance over the past 10 matches at the Home or Away venue (as appropriate).

So if, for example, you know that this week a particular team has one key player out with a broken leg and another key player out (red-carded, perhaps, because he head-butted the opponent who caused the leg-break to his colleague), then our Program’s prediction will definitely be more than a little optimistic! We would advise that the wisest move would be to avoid betting on the match where our Program is predicting that team as the winner! On the other hand, if it already seems that team is destined to lose then you could take advantage of that knowledge and bet heavily on the other team winning!

Please also consider that with “Correct Scores” betting you will almost certainly need to do some "hedge betting" too, because (i) there are so many "common" score-lines and (ii) your overall winning chances are also not helped by the extremely high Over-Rounds currently applying to Correct Scores.

Even if you opt for what you think would be the most obvious score-lines, if the Correct Score Odds are low (no more than decimal Odds of 6.00), then overall you won't stand much chance of making more than you lay out. As a tip, we have found it best to ignore the lower Odds "Correct Scores" calls and hedge on those matches where the decimal Odds being offered for 2 or 3 of the 1-0, 0-1, 2-0, 2-1 and 1-2 calls are around the 7.00-8.00 mark.

For the “Correct Scores” enthusiast we provide the following sets of reports (under the “Analysis of Top 12 Previous Predictions>” menu on the left-hand side of the screen) to let you see exactly what happened compared to our Program’s expectations of the most likely score-lines:

1. Correct Scores Ranked Outcome,
2. Correct Scores Hit/Miss Data,
3. 1X2 Score-Line Ranked Outcome, and
4. 1X2 Score-Line Hit/Miss Data.

One thing we wish you to be clear about is the distinction between the following in the above 4 reports:

1. “Correct Scores” reports relate to the 12 “Correct Scores” predictions we posted under the “Golden Guide”.
2. “1X2” reports relate to score-lines of the 12 “Result Type” (1X2) predictions we also posted under the “Golden Guide”.

The above 2 sets of reports are very similar but not at all the same thing. This is because, although a match “Result” (1X2) prediction may fall under “Short Odds”, the Anticipated Score-Line (ASL) predicted by our Program for that same match may fall under “Medium Odds” or even “Long Shots”. This happens more often than you might believe.

On the other hand, the "Correct Scores" prediction postings are categorised into "Short Odds", "Medium Odds" and "Long Shots", and the specific matches found there have been selected because, 'on average' and considered 'overall', the particular teams involved have proved more reliable in scoring the number of goals anticipated by our Program.

[If the above sounds complex, this is why we say that a modicum of research is essential if you want to gain an understanding of how useful (or otherwise) our predictions truly are. Even we ourselves triple analyse everything we post before we lay out our bets, and we are not afraid to do something that differs from the result our Program has predicted if our own deeper analysis reveals sound reason to do so.]

For those in a hurry, we offer a “Quik-Pik Specials” section with a range of 11 different betting choices. Some categories we consistently get more right than others, but there are those for which we don’t do so well (and we don't hide this from you – it's all there to see in our "Prediction Performance Records").

In between, there are those categories where we go from a good spell to a bad spell and back again (a cyclical swing of fortunes – so you have to time it right and get out before the losses start kicking in).

What this means is that even with the Quik-Pik Specials you must still do all the necessary groundwork of your own to check that our predictions for the current week appear sound (and even then there can be no guarantees that they will come good).

Taken together, our Prediction Performance Records, the PICs (and the explanation as to how to use the PICs properly) contain far more useful info and advice for betting purposes than you would ever imagine possible. It’s true that you need a good deal of self-discipline to apply yourself to thoroughly understanding it all, but we can assure you that it will be well worth the effort!

Even where you are quite happy to work with our 6 specially selected "EASE" weekend matches and/or the "EASE" spreadsheet info for the English Premier Division weekend matches, you should still do yourself a favour and make sure you understand all the background "bench mark" data and figures that we ourselves are relying on when making the decisions as to what our final recommendations ought to be within those "EASE" spreadsheets.

If you put in the effort and spend time to do even just a little of research before you lay out your bets, you will almost certainly be better off in the long run. This is simply because you will probably lay out less against predictions you see are weaker than the others, while at the same time have more confidence to increase the amount laid out on stronger predictions. But without doing YOUR OWN RESEARCH first, how could you possibly know what to do?

So if you haven’t done so already, go check out a PIC for yourself right now, then read our article “Utilising the PIC Backup Data” and, finally, go take a look at and familiarise yourself with the contents of an "EASE" spreadsheet (which itself contains and utilises all the PIC data)!

And after that, to see a big improvement in your betting success, you must then build on all that great info and data we provide you with, simply by PUTTING IN A LITTLE OF YOUR OWN EFFORT!

We hope you found the above useful, but do please let us have your feedback if you think we can be of further help to you in any way at all.

We welcome questions on any aspect of the content of our Website, not only questions about the PIC (although they are equally as welcome). Our intention is to ensure that this Website remains the foremost Soccer Prediction Service on the Internet, and your input is vital to help us achieve that aim.

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