Gatespeed is a long standing horse racing tipster service which is being offered through the BetHub tipster group. We are told that Andy, the tipster behind the service, shows a lot of potential.
Introduction to Gatespeed
It’s always interesting looking at the different ways that tipsters approach betting. Recently, I saw a tipster service that would bet as many as 15 bets on a day. Did it make money? Sort of. It was massively dependent on kind of odds you were able to get. The service that I am looking at today takes a much more selective approach.
I will get to the details surrounding the volume of bets a little later on, but I can say for sure that Andy, the guy who actually provides BetHub with selections for Gatespeed, only bets when he feels certain. Obviously this is a huge departure from a lot of services which prefer to offer subscribers something every day.
Let’s not mince words. People like to feel like they are getting value for their money, and if this means a tipster sending them selections every day, so be it. But I see value in a different light. I would rather pay a lot of money for just a few tips that are profitable, than not a lot of money for lots that aren’t. Where does Gatespeed fit into this spectrum? Let’s have a look and see.
What Does Gatespeed Offer?
In terms of what you are getting from Gatespeed, this is a pretty straight forward affair. Especially in terms of the logistical side of things. BetHub aren’t the biggest name in tipster management, but they do seem to do a pretty decent job of staying on top of things. When it comes to other elements of Andy’s approach to betting, well, things do get a little more interesting.
So, first things first, that logistics element. As you would expect, when BetHub receive the selections for Gatespeed, they are sent out to subscribers, directly via to email. Much as you would expect. They are also made available in a member’s area on the website. Again, this is in line with what most services offer.
However, one of the areas where BetHub excel (and this is particularly pertinent to Gatespeed as I will discuss) lies in their app. This provides you with selections as they come through from a tipster.
Now, I want to start by talking a little bit about the quality element here. One of the things that stands out about Gatespeed is that Andy tells you exactly why he has selected a given horse. This “only” amounts to a small paragraph, but it is definitely a damn sight more than a lot of tipsters will offer you.
Selections are usually issued with more than enough time for you to get your bets placed, however these are somewhat sporadically spaced. As such, it also means that you may receive selections for Gatespeed just a couple of hours before the off. This is where the BetHub app really comes into its own. Getting the tips with as much notice as possible goes a long way.
This ties in rather nicely to a point that I want to make about the bets themselves. Namely that you should be aiming to squeeze the most out of the odds that you can. I know you can say this about anything, but the selective nature of Gatespeed, combined with the fact that it is a value service, means that every point really does matter.
The fact is that on average, Andy will find around 20 selections. No matter how you want to dress it up, that just isn’t a lot of bets. It is also worth keeping in mind that there can be multiple bets on a given day. This makes the bets even more spread out and highlights even more the need to ensure those best possible odds.
Sticking with the subject of bets, the bets that you will be placing are a combination of straight win bets, as well as each way bets. It should go without saying that the longer the odds, the more likely you are to be advised to back a horse each way.
And you will want to back some of those longer shots each way because honestly, the odds can get very high (which are of course a pretty reasonable representation of how likely a horse is to win). Whilst odds can be as low as around 2/1, they can also stretch as high as 200/1. Simply backing those horses to win at those odds would be disastrous.
This especially applies when you look at the staking plan for Gatespeed. BetHub’s proofing demonstrates that you will be staking anywhere from a single point, all the way up to 3 points on a given bet. Now based off the volume of bets, that isn’t necessarily a lot, but you also have to factor in how often you will be winning.
Which leads me nicely into the strike rate for Gatespeed. Because honestly, it isn’t necessarily the best thing in the world. The average strike rate comes in at 26.39% which isn’t a bad number. However, you aren’t winning 1 in 4 of those incredibly long shots, you are winning on those shorter odds bets. Something that is ultimately reflected in the profit and loss.
How Does Gatespeed Work?
One of the frustrating elements of Gatespeed is that you aren’t actually told… Well, a whole lot that is tangible, about how the service works. BetHub say that Andy is “a very talented young form reader”. So, there is an element of that in I’m sure, but that doesn’t necessarily allow you to make an informed decision (as it were).
We are also told that Andy will only issue selections to Gatespeed subscribers when there is “serious value to be had”. This is one of those things that seems insightful, but like the above statement, it doesn’t actually tell you anything either. Furthermore, value seems to be such an ingrained thing when it comes to tipsters these days, it almost means nothing to me.
All of this creates a situation whereby you know something and nothing about Gatespeed. And that makes it really quite hard to judge just how much faith you should put into that selection process. Especially when you start to factor in the results.
Which brings me to my final point about how Gatespeed works, which is the fact that BetHub do provide comprehensive proofing. Going all the way back to 2018, this provides you with large sample of data which you can at least use to get an understanding of what you are getting yourself into.
What is the Initial Investment?
BetHub offer two different options for those who are looking to sign up to Gatespeed. These are a quarterly subscription and a monthly subscription. As is often the case, there is much more value to be had in signing up for longer subscriptions.
First things first, there is a monthly subscription for Gatespeed which is priced at £33 per month plus VAT. This is roughly in line with what I would expect to pay for a monthly subscription. Representing the better value (despite the larger initial outlay) is the quarterly subscription. This is priced at £75 per quarter, again plus VAT.
There are a few more points that you should keep in mind when dealing with Gatespeed. First of all, whichever subscription you opt for, your first 14 days come as a free trial. This should give you some idea of what to expect.
As well as this, BetHub are selling both subscriptions through Clickbank. This means that there is a 60 day money back guarantee in place. This is mentioned on the Clickbank sale processing page, however it isn’t mentioned anywhere on the BetHub page for Gatespeed.
What is the Rate of Return?
Since July 2018, Gatespeed has produced a profit of 128.75 points. This doesn’t necessarily seem awful, however I have a number of points that I think really need to be discussed that put these figures into context.
First of all, that number comes off the back of 6 consecutive losing months. In May of this year, BetHub’s proofing shows that Gatespeed was sat at 195.8 points. This means that there has been a loss of some 11 points per month, for an entire 6 months. That is a very significant figure. The same principle is applicable to the ROI which has ranged from -12.04% all the way to -56.76% (at the time of writing). This is despite an average of 12.18%.
Furthermore, you also need to keep in mind that those numbers are built off multiple point stakes as well. Whilst I don’t believe that Andy has used this to artificially inflate the results for Gatespeed, there is no ignoring the fact that they do still have that effect.
Conclusion for Gatespeed
On the surface of things, Gatespeed doesn’t look too bad. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t necessarily a bad service. There is no getting past the fact that there has been a profit generated, and that isn’t something that is easy to do. But when you are running a tipster service, it is about much more than just making a bit extra for yourself.
You also have to consider whether or not you are making enough money to justify your subscription costs and that is where the waters are muddied when it comes to Gatespeed. Whilst there is definitely that long term profit on show, the more recent run of form is actually very concerning.
BetHub’s own proofing shows that over the last 6 months, there have been nothing but consistent losses. That is hugely concerning. The fact of the matter is that it doesn’t matter what those long term results look like when you haven’t had a profitable month for half a year.
And on top of this, it isn’t even like Gatespeed is particularly inexpensive. BetHub are asking £33 per month for the service. Now, that isn’t necessarily terribly expensive. In fact, if there was any semblance of a profit to be made here, I would possibly be inclined to say that it represents value. But that profit isn’t there.
And that is just the bottom line here. There are a lot of ways that you can look at a tipster service and find reasoning for it being, at least not bad. But I just can’t see that there. There is no way of dressing up the fact that there have been 6 losing months, and ultimately, that is the bottom line for me.
Sure, I suppose that it is always possible that Andy can turn things around eventually. But how long do you wait for that to happen? How much do you sink into losing bets waiting for a profit? And more importantly, why would you do that when there are actually tipster services out there that are making money today?
With all of that in mind, I just don’t think that I would really recommend this. It isn’t that I necessarily think that Andy is a bad tipster. He may have simply hit a bad run of form. It happens. And if you think long term, he is still ultimately in profit. But in real terms, there is no justification for paying £40 per month for a service that has failed to make money for half a year.
