Elite Tipping Service (or to give it it’s full name, Colin Leafe’s Elite Tipping Service) is a relatively new horse racing tipster service from the Sportsworld Publishing stable of tipsters. The service has produced some mixed results to date, however shows potential.
Introduction to Elite Tipping Service
Longevity in the tipster world is a difficult thing to maintain. Honestly, we punters are a fickle bunch (and rightly so. If somebody wants you to pay for their tips, they better be bloody good in the long run), and if something is only losing us money we will rightly look elsewhere.
This leads me to Colin Leafe, who Sportsworld Publishing say has based his Elite Tipping Service on a system that he first started using over 20 years ago. Now, that is interesting to me, because I feel like whilst horse racing hasn’t really changed much (and I don’t see how it ever truly can. It’s not like you can fit a horse with a more streamlined outfit or better boots), the way we approach betting has.
With that having been said, some of the stronger services and betting systems that I have looked at before now have been ones that are based around long standing betting systems. So, older doesn’t necessarily mean that it is worse. But does this apply to Elite Tipping Service, or is Colin Leafe’s approach really just a dinosaur that should have one extinct a long time ago? Let’s see.
What Does Elite Tipping Service Offer?
Most of what you are getting when you sign up for Elite Tipping Service, you will be familiar with. Whilst Sportsworld Publishing are a pretty well known (and well established) publisher of tipster services, there doesn’t seem to be a huge amount of variety when it comes how they manage their tipsters. Honestly though, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
So, what does this mean for Colin Leafe’s selections? The short answer to this is a near daily horse racing tipster service with a seeming focus on quality rather than quantity. As such, you can expect to see a number of no bet days from Elite Tipping Service, however I don’t count this as a particular negative.
Selections are sent out directly via email with Sportsworld Publishing advising that you will typically receive them around 10am. This is a pretty big part of how Colin Leafe runs Elite Tipping Service (a rather pressing issue, but I will come to this a little later on).
The email comes with everything that you would need to place your bets including advised odds. These are generally achievable which is (rather unfortunately) a bit of a rarity. However, if you can use a BOG bookie then there is a chance to boost the profit potential of Elite Tipping Service.
Moving on to the bets themselves, everything is nice and straight forward. From what I have seen so far and Sportsworld Publishing’s proofing, you will exclusively be looking at straight win bets. There is a relatively low volume of bets advised as well which means that you shouldn’t be backing more than 4 horses on a given day.
It is also worth keeping in mind that Colin Leafe backs a wide range of odds with Elite Tipping Service. This can mean backing a horse at odds as low as 13/8, going all the way up to 20/1. This helps to keep things interesting and in theory, it means that you should get consistent winners as well as big wins to boost your betting bank.
Whether or not this is the case is somewhat debatable. Now, first things first, I find it interesting that Sportsworld Publishing do not provide any claim of a strike rate for Elite Tipping Service. On top of that, the proofing for the service is rather unique and as such, makes it difficult to actually calculate this number.
What I will say though is that you can expect quite aggressive losing streaks sometimes. Now, I know that this is typical of any tipster service. But, Sportsworld Publishing show in their proofing frequent streaks of 10 bets and higher. These losing streaks ultimately top out at an eye watering 33 losing bets over 11 days.
Fortunately, there does seem to be some awareness of the risk that is involved with Elite Tipping Service. All bets are advised to be backed to level stakes of just 1 point per bet. This is based off an initial betting bank of 50 point. Now, this hasn’t ever been a period with a 50 point loss, looking at Sportsworld Publishing’s proofing, but it has definitely been a bit tight sometimes.
Ultimately, how you feel about this is a bit of a personal choice, however Sportsworld Publishing and Colin Leafe suggest that you utilise a compounding staking plan with Elite Tipping Service. This involves increasing your stakes by an additional half a point for every 25 points of profit that you have generated.
How Does Elite Tipping Service Work?
Honestly, there isn’t a whole lot of information on how Colin Leafe finds his selections for Elite Tipping Service. This is more than a little disappointing in my book. Sure, I can appreciate that he doesn’t want to give away his 20 year old method of finding horses. I can get behind that sentiment, but as a consumer, I would also like to know that I am getting into something sustainable.
I feel that this applies doubly so when you take a look at the results which I feel are very much a mixed bag. Truth be told, the only thing that we are really told is that little bit about waiting for markets to settle.
Now, I can look at that and the odds that you are advised to back horses at and I can make an educated guess that Elite Tipping Service is a service that leans into finding value, but that is about all that I can figure out. Sure, that tells me something, but to use my favourite analogy, that’s like telling trying to sell me a TV based around the fact that it’s HD.
Just as every TV is HD these days, I think every tipster looks to exploit value. As such, I can’t help but feel that Sportsworld Publishing and Colin Leafe are asking you to take a bit of a blind leap of faith with Elite Tipping Service. In and of itself, that might not be problematic, but there are a number of additional factors to consider.
What is the Initial Investment?
In term of the costs, Sportsworld Publishing have priced Elite Tipping Service at the top end of what I would expect to pay for a tipster service nowadays. What this means in financial terms is a cost of £40 per month (which seems to be inclusive of VAT). Alternatively, you can get better value by signing up on a quarterly basis which is priced at £90.
Whichever option you opt for, your first month of Elite Tipping Service will cost you just £20 before that full subscription kicks in. You should note that there is no real money back guarantee mentioned by Sportsworld Publishing, and given that payment is handled directly though Paypal, there is unlikely to be any option.
What is the Rate of Return?
The potential income for Elite Tipping Service is something that is interesting to me. Sportsworld Publishing mention in their sales material for the service that there has been a “£4,850 profit in the last 30 days”. It should be noted however that this number is based off £100 stakes and as such, isn’t necessarily a reflection of how you will do.
Looking at the wider results, at the time of writing Elite Tipping Service stands on a profit of 170.94 points since January. By and large, this is as a result of somewhat mixed results ranging from a 22.67 point loss, going all the way up to a month that was 52.83 points in the black.
These mixed results are probably best reflected in the overall ROI which comes in at 40.25% for the year. This figure is quoted in Sportsworld Publishing’s proofing for Elite Tipping Service, however it should be noted that my calculations for the full months that have been proofed came in at a much lower (although still respectable) 29.85% average ROI.
Conclusion for Elite Tipping Service
It is always difficult weighing something like Elite Tipping Service up for a number of reasons, but the long and short of it is that this isn’t a service that is very definitively good. Don’t get me wrong, if you are solely about the profit and don’t care how much you spend to achieve this, then it speaks relatively well for itself. Even that lower ROI of just under 30% isn’t bad.
But where things start to get a bit cloudy for me is when it comes to the longer term sustainability of the service. There have been some very significant losing streaks. I hold my hands up and say that the 33 point losing streak mentioned earlier is an extreme. You might not hit anything that bad again.
With that said though, if you are realistically trying to get close to the points profits that Sportsworld Publishing say Colin Leafe has attained historically (think that 40-50 point mark), then you have to bet big to achieve it. And as long as you are betting big, your bank will get hit.
On an entirely personal level, I think that a lot of the problems that I see with Elite Tipping Service could be solved by doubling up on that betting bank. 100 points would comfortably cover any significant losing streaks, whereas 50 points feels like you could well cut it close on a bad run.
Now I will admit that these are all hypotheticals, but they are points. And countering those is that profit potential. Let’s not mince words here. 50 points of profit in a month without artificially inflating the numbers is massively impressive. And actually, the losses that have been incurred by Elite Tipping Service on a month by month basis are pretty minimal.
The price is very much towards the top end of my “average” for a tipster service, however it does fall into that category of average. Furthermore, the cost of VAT is included as well, so there is clear value for money to be had here. Even to £10 stakes, you could be looking at the business end of £400 plus per month. That is a lot of money.
If you have the discipline and bank to see Elite Tipping Service through in the longer term, then it is definitely a solid looking choice as far as horse racing services go. What I will say though is that I don’t really see Colin Leafe’s service being for everybody. I really do think that you have to be pretty battle hardened in order to see it through.
And I do believe that there is a real potential for those people to be rewarded. There have been enough high profit months to suggest that it will happen again.
I want to end by something that sounds incredibly obvious and should be applied to every betting system or service really. If you can afford to lose 50 points and it not affect your life, then Elite Tipping Service is worth some serious consideration. If on the other hand you are putting hard earned money aside to bet with, I can’t help but feel like there are better options out there.
