Edwards’ Tips is a sports betting tipster service that looks at the niche betting markets of snooker and golf. The service is operated by ex-snooker pro Craig Edwards.
Introduction to Edwards’ Tips
There are a lot of tall tales that you see surrounding the betting industry. People come and go making all kinds of claims about their past, ranging from supposed ex-jockeys, retired city traders, and even ex-spies (outlandish, but I have seen it before). Rarely though do you get somebody who is a verifiable and genuine ex-professional. This is however exactly what we get with today’s review subject. And before we even look at anything else, it is cause for some excitement.
But that is only a small part of the picture. Well, I say small… it’s actually pretty bloody big. This isn’t the only reason however that Edwards’ Tips is a service that is worth getting excited about though. In actual fact, what Craig Edwards is doing here is something that, whilst I am certain isn’t unique, isn’t something that you see very often. That is to say getting great value tips out of a niche sport. All at a cost that is genuinely reasonable. All of which doesn’t just make for an impressive tipster service, but comes with the addition of presenting a very interesting proposition for those who are looking to build a betting portfolio.
Here’s the thing. When people talk about tipster services, my mind usually goes a few different places. I think about horse racing, I think about football, I think about the dogs. If I stretch myself, I think of gold and tennis. Do you know where I don’t think I’ve ever ended up? Snooker. Yet this is what Edwards’ Tips is primarily concerned with (as well as golf). Specifically, looking to attain value in bets. And Craig Edwards is seemingly well placed to deliver on this. But does the fact that it’s a bit different justify a recommendation on its own?
What Does Edwards’ Tips Offer?
Sometimes there are tipster services that one can look at and quite easily sum them up. Edwards’ Tips is not such a service. In fact, in many respects, this is one of the more unique offerings that I Have seen for some time. Of course, this is all helped along by the fact that this is a distinctly niche tipster service that is ultimately made up of 3 different services. Something that I will probably refer back to quite a lot in this review.
First things first, let’s talk about the logistics of Edwards’ Tips. This is an area where I think that Craig Edwards really does excel. In fact, I would say that in terms of how things are operated, this may well be one of the most complete tipster services that I think I’ve seen for quite some time. Edwards’ Tips doesn’t technically hit that “gold standard” of full write ups, but it’s a close contender and in some ways arguably better.
One of the first things that I think is really worth noting here is that you aren’t dealing with a typical daily tipster service. The nature of the sports that Craig Edwards tips means that there aren’t necessarily events year round. Furthermore, the types of bets that he places don’t really lend themselves to this. None the less, you can expect around 40-50 selections most months. A manageable enough amount.
When you receive selections, they are set out directly via email, usually in the evenings. They are also sent anywhere from 24 hours before an event all the way up to 72 hours. Included with these emails are best odds, minimum odds, details of the bookie recommended, staking advice, and a link to Oddschecker for each bet. That last part is hugely welcome allowing you to ensure that you’re getting the best possible odds with no real effort on your part. Craig Edwards should be commended for using this approach with Edwards’ Tips.
Now, let’s talk about the bets themselves. Because this is where I think things start to become a little bit more interesting in my mind. Firstly, you have to come back to the fact that Edwards’ Tips is effectively 3 different services. These are snooker, golf outright, and a golf place model. Naturally, each of these have their own betting markets, but importantly, their own philosophy.
With the snooker there is a broader range of bets included. What is noteworthy however is that there does look to be a strong focus on betting early in order to maximise the value that is available. This is backed up by the fact that Craig Edwards does point out that the snooker betting tends to produce lower average odds, albeit with a higher strike rate (although the numbers aren’t discussed). It also has a staking plan that increases how much you bet over the year.
The golf outright bets focus on… well, picking outright and first round leader markets. There have been some big winners here historically with each way bets coming in at as much as 250/1. The first round leader bets follow a little later in the week. As you might expect these don’t have odds nearly as high as focusing on those outright bets. They are also a little more volatile, however, all of this does seem to be accounted for in the stakes.
Finally, Edwards’ Tips features a golf placing service. This is focused on the top 20 market with some top 10 and even top 5 selections. Craig Edwards refers to these as being “low variance”. It has a lower ROI than the golf outright bets. Something that is worth keeping in mind however is that the average weekly stakes do end up higher here than the outright betting. Seemingly because you’re dealing with lower odds and that lower variance.
How Does Edwards’ Tips Work?
At the core of most of what Craig Edwards is doing here is a very simple thing. He used to be a professional snooker player. Now, I know that there are plenty of tipster services out there who claim to have a background in the sport that they are betting on, but inf the case of Edwards’ Tips this is verifiable. He may not have been a superstar, but he did make his way to the first round of the 1991World Championship. He is undoubtedly the real deal.
Naturally, this gives him genuine insight into, and first-hand experience with the sport. What the numbers mean, the pressure on players, and it can only aid with the statistical analysis he says is an important part of Edwards’ Tips. All of this tracks and I really do have little doubt that he knows what he’s doing and respects sports betting (as a look at the blog on his site shows).
In terms of the golf betting, this is where things are a little more typical. Craig Edwards talks a lot about how he has a passion for golf (he also apparently played that quite well). This doesn’t quite give Edwards’ Tips the same advantage that the snooker betting does. With that said, I do believe him when he says that he engages in “rigorous quantitative research”. And if I’m really honest, I think this is ultimately reflected in the results and the winners that have come in.
All of this paints a pretty good picture of somebody who is genuine about their tipping and really wants Edwards’ Tips to succeed. I’ll concede that I’d have liked to have seen some more insight into how things work, but that is just part and parcel of the industry. The biggest frustration for me here is that Craig Edwards doesn’t give access to proofing until you’ve signed up. Something that I do think stops you making an overly informed decision here.
What is the Initial Investment?
With all of that out of the way, let’s talk about the costs. This is an area where things get a bit dicey. Not because I think Edwards’ Tips is necessarily expensive (I really don’t), but as is the case with anything niche the potential value to be had can be less apparent compared to other tipsters. What does help with this is a myriad of options.
Craig Edwards has 3 offerings in terms of subscriptions to Edwards’ Tips. The first of these is monthly, there is a 6 monthly option, and finally an annual subscription. There is a comprehensive all-inclusive price which covers everything. There are also individual offerings available for the three different services that ultimately make up the broader service.
The monthly costs for any individual service comes in at £14.99 whilst access to everything is priced at £29.99. Something of note that Craig Edwards doesn’t really mention is when you go to the PayPal payment screen, you are offered your first month for free. One can only presume he doesn’t mention this to stop an influx of tire kickers, but I will say that it’s a very welcome thing indeed.
As you might expect, the value does go up the longer you subscribe (sort of). An all inclusive 6 monthly subscription is £159.99. Individual subscriptions actually work out technically cheaper with a 6 month subscription costing £59.99 (about 5p more than monthly). Finally, the annual subscription comes in at £249.99 for the all inclusive. In the meantime, those individual subs finally offer you a discount costing £99.99 for the year.
What is the Rate of Return?
The sales material for Edwards’ Tips states that since March 2018, Craig Edwards has attained an ROI of 36% across his 3 services. By mid 2021, that had fallen to 29.16%. That isn’t necessarily a terrible result though. The fact is that whilst that number does seem to have dropped a little it was aided by a bad year (no doubt impacted drastically by Covid). 2020 saw and ROI of 16.81%, a huge drop, 2021 is roughly in line with that however, there is potential for this to turn around yet.
The biggest factor in considering the success of Edwards’ Tips in my mind though is the points profit. By the mid-point of the year, Craig Edwards had seen a profit of just 34.1 points. Not a huge amount by any stretch. This is also roughly in line with 2020 which saw an annual profit of just 78.7 points. Again, we aren’t talking big numbers here.
Conclusion for Edwards’ Tips
Honestly, it is incredibly unfortunate in my mind that Edwards’ Tips is struggling for performance right now. Because I do believe that there is a genuinely reasonable tipster service underneath all of this. In his first few years, Craig Edwards made an annual profit of some 612.5 points across all 3 services. That is a really solid result for something so niche. The more recent run is… well, it’s pretty disappointing. There is no way of framing that.
Straight away, I have to say that as it currently is, I don’t really think I can recommend Edwards’ Tips. I have to be blunt about that. There are however a huge number of caveats to this that I want to explore. But here’s the thing. Ultimately, the bottom line is the bottom line. Craig Edwards has produced a profit every year. Unfortunately, I can think of a number of services that have simply performed better. And that makes it difficult to say you should consider this over them.
Let’s move onto why I don’t think this should be written off though. First things first, the simple fact that Craig Edwards is genuinely all above board is a huge plus. This isn’t a service that is going to simply pack up and leave in a few months once you’ve splashed the cash. This means that you can think about the long term here, and that performance is where Edwards’ Tips looks at its best. Long term.
The truth of the matter is that the last few years have drastically changed sports betting. Away odds dropped hugely in football, form was effectively reset for most sports, everybody was (and is) re-entering the world with a different mindset. Because of this, I’m not really surprised that Edwards’ Tips hasn’t performed. What it doesn’t strike me as though is a huge problem.
The methods that Craig Edwards uses aren’t really discussed. That is a bit frustrating. But it seems quite apparent to me that ultimately, his approach works. That long term profit demonstrates that. Will it take a bit of time to build up a head of steam? Absolutely. But this is a tipster who doesn’t appear to be too phased. He’s still finding winners, sticking to his guns, and continuing to move forward.
In my experience, this kind of approach will ultimately yield results (and if you look at his Twitter account, you can see this starting to happen again). A look at his analysis on other sites shows somebody composed and is sticking to their analysis and desire to find value in bets. All of which are positives too.
When you frame it like that, Edwards’ Tips looks like something that, in my mind, is just waiting for everything to fall back into place. How long this will take… well, that’s the million dollar question. The fact that Craig Edwards has closed off his proofing makes it frustrating to monitor without signing up. Something that might ultimately bite him in the long term (and if he is reading this, I would implore you to make this available).
I would love to see Edwards’ Tips turn itself around. It would make me immensely happy to see Craig Edwards get on top of things and get back on course. Because the bones of the service seem to be solid. And with the flexibility of options and the relatively low costs, if this does get there, it would make a bloody good addition to any portfolio. But I have to live in the here and now, and here and now, it just isn’t there in my opinion.
