Flat Masters is a new to market horse racing tipster service that is offered by one Eric Lipsett. He operates the service in conjunction with his partners Darren Goddard and Jack Turnbull. Supposedly, they have been incredibly profitable.
Introduction to Flat Masters
There is a Japanese proverb that three heads are better than one (all relating back to some Buddhist iconography). There is fundamentally truth in the notion that bringing together multiple people can really help when developing something. Differing fields of expertise allow you to compare and contrast ideas, and the end result should be stronger as a result of all of this. I genuinely believe in this principle. Which is at least a part of why today’s review subject intrigues me.
Original Link: http://flatmasters.co.uk/ Read this review first!…
Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull are seemingly a fantastic team as a result of bringing together their respective betting knowledge. If you believe the hype about Flat Masters, this is one of the most exciting tipster services to land this year. There are strong results that are apparently long term, Eric Lipsett says that the service is already. By a very considerable amount too. And whilst there are some restrictions that pertain to the service, this is something that you could easily see as a winner.
So, you might be thinking. We can wrap this one up then? Well, not quite. You see, whilst there is a lot that Eric Lipsett says that makes sense. That makes Flat Masters inherently appealing. I have a massive number of doubts about just how genuine all of this is. These aren’t idle thoughts either. When you start breaking down the whole thing, there are some massive holes in the claims that are made and in terms of what we can supposedly expect. So, let’s get into it and see what exactly is what here.
What Does Flat Masters Offer?
One of the things that I always find interesting when I sit down and start to look at a new service is what the approach entails. Some services are more complicated, others are incredibly simple. Even within that initial starting point there is so much nuance. Flat Masters is definitely a simple service.
This is applicable when you look at the bets that Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull provide, as well as the way that Flat Masters is managed as a service. Of course, with that said, simplicity doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In actual fact, I think there is a lot to be said for a betting system that can avoid over complicating something.
Ultimately, you see Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull doing this in almost everything pertaining to Flat Masters. As you’d probably expect from… well, any modern tipster service, selections are sent out directly via email. These are typically made available before 11am, and whilst Eric Lipsett does say that there are no bet days, this seems more of an exception than a rule.
Something that is quite important to take away from this is the fact that selections are sent out rather late in the day. Eric Lipsett recommends simply placing your bets with “any bookie you like”, whilst stating that they actually use Betfair (more on this later). That to me seems a little bit lacking. Especially because the information that Flat Masters provide with bets is really minimal.
If I were going to follow Flat Masters, I would definitely want to take advantage of an odds comparison site. It isn’t going to add much in the way of work because of the type of bets that are advised by Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull. What it will do however is ultimately maximise the returns you can supposedly expect.
This is because Flat Masters is just a win based service. All bets are simple back to win affairs. This is something that I would typically associate with a certain type of betting. Either incredibly consistent short odds. or actively pursuing value. Again, this kind of approach would be reflected in the results.
Instead, Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull seem to oddly be focused on a the lower middling end of odds. Whilst the incredibly limited evidence for Flat Masters shows that tips are sometimes as high as 7/1, this isn’t a common occurrence. The fact is that, from what I’ve seen, most bets are less than 3/1, hence maximising returns.
Whilst we’re talking about the bets, I want to touch on the volume of bets advised. Flat Masters can actually be quite high. Eric Lipsett says that you can expect to see anywhere from 1 bet per day all the way up to 6. That is really quite a substantial amount to be betting on over a week. Of course, all of that is set against a backdrop of the flat season (hence the name). As such, the numbers really will vary.
You might think that all of that carries the potential to get really quite expensive. That is certainly what my first thought was. We are however told that this shouldn’t be the case with Flat Masters. In part, this is down to recommended level stakes of just 1 point per bet. Of course, that adds to the simplicity that Eric Lipsett tries to leverage.
I am however much less convinced that everything has been worked out properly here. Because it is recommended that you need a betting bank of just 50 points to follow Flat Masters. That seems really quite low to me. With a claimed average of 3 or 4 tips per day, it would only take a few weeks of bad luck to wipe out a betting bank.
The thing is, this doesn’t seem to be outside of the realm of possibility either. Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull claim that the average strike rate comes in at about 35% and that the largest drawdown for Flat Masters to date is 14 points. I am however sceptical of these numbers. Which means that the best case scenario is that you’re still putting almost a third of your bank at risk.
How Does Flat Masters Work?
One of the single most important questions when you discuss how a service works is exactly that. In the case of Flat Masters, there are somewhat obvious things that we can look to. For example, the fact that Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull are focused on flat racing suggests that it is arguably easier for them to spend more time on the one discipline. It certainly makes sense.
Then there is the fact that there are of course 3 tipsters. Like I said in my introduction, it stands to reason that 3 people bringing together their knowledge should be better than just one guy. And there is something of a narrative that suggests that there is considerable experience from Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull and that this all benefits Flat Masters.
Unfortunately, whilst all of this might sound pretty decent, the unfortunate truth is that it doesn’t really tell us anything. Even the most rational statement that Flat Masters is focused on flat racing is simply educated conjecture on my behalf. When you really break it down, we aren’t told anything about how selections are being found here. Simply a vague mention that Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull have “talked strategy” before now.
Combine all of that with a really quite startling lack of evidence and things don’t look good for Flat Masters. Let’s not forget the fact that Eric Lipsett makes a claim that the Flat Masters team have been sharing tips for 3 years. They also say that this year has enjoyed a profitable start. This implies that there should be betting records, but we aren’t shown them at all. There may be a somewhat valid reason for this, but it isn’t one that is shared. A real point for concern.
What is the Initial Investment?
If you want to sign up to Flat Masters, there is only one option available. This is a one time payment of £49.95 (plus VAT, of course) for which you get access to selections for the remained of the flat season. Given that this runs to the end of October/early November it looks like fantastic value from Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull.
Something that Eric Lipsett fails to mention in the sales material for Flat Masters though is that there is actually a full 30 day money back guarantee in place for the service (yet another cause for concern in my book). This is backed up by the fact that it is being sold through Clickbank. As such, you shouldn’t really face problems if you needed to claim this.
What is the Rate of Return?
Over 3 years, Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull have supposedly made more than 800 points of profit between them. They have each seen profits in excess of £20,000. Naturally, you’re just taking their word for these claimed results. More recently, we are told that Flat Masters has seen a profit of 50 points since the end of March.
All of these claimed results are however backed up by some massively questionable evidence for Flat Masters. There are a number of betting slips that seemingly show some bets winning. I am however inclined to take these with a massive pinch of salt for a number of reasons.
Conclusion for Flat Masters
As is always the case when you look at a tipster service that makes some truly remarkable claims, it is incredibly easy to lose objectivity. Especially because what Eric Lipsett is claiming for Flat Masters isn’t entirely outside of the realm of possibility. 800 points over 3 years is some 266 points on average. I’ve certainly seen plenty of tipsters hit these kinds of results.
The fact of the matter though is that whilst this is plausible, those results are still substantially higher than most tipsters would deliver. Furthermore, when I have seen this delivered, it is with proofing. Or at the very least, some sort of evidence. Of course, this is incredibly lacking with Flat Masters.
So, let’s really break down what you have here into its most basic components. Flat Masters is a tipster service in which three guys are claiming that they are producing profits. To back this up, they show you betting slips. The exact same type of betting slip that I have seen on a huge number of massively questionable tipster services.
At best, you might look at that and say that those bets have been placed. But because Eric Lipsett doesn’t provide any real context for it, every horse in a race may have been backed. That way, guaranteed winner. Truthfully though, I suspect that the actual situation here isn’t even that generous.
When it comes to actually talking about horse racing, displaying any sort of understanding or knowledge of the sport… well, Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull don’t come up with anything. This is a curiosity given that there are supposedly 3 top tier bettors coming together for Flat Masters. And whilst there might be some argument that they don’t go into their selection process for a valid reason, that isn’t presented.
Honestly, it isn’t even like Flat Masters is particularly cheap. Sure, it might seem it if you break it down month by month. But what you’re really doing is paying out a quite considerable lump sum to a man who incredibly conveniently doesn’t tell you about your right to a refund, as a consume. It’s almost like there is something to hide…
Look, Flat Masters could be a great service. But that seems like a very slim hope. I’ve seen this same sort of thing time and again and I can’t recall a single example that delivers. I don’t really think that Eric Lipsett, Darren Goddard, and Jack Turnbull are the guys to break that streak either (that is of course if there are even three of them). All in all, this just really strikes me as the kind of service that is worth the investment at all. In fact, I believe it is definitely one to avoid.
