Laymatics is a new to market horse racing tipster service which is operated by one Jacob McDonald and managed by Best System Bets. As the name suggests, this is a lay betting tipster service.
Introduction to Laymatics
I feel like I have always taken steps to be pretty blunt when I write, and one of the things that I know that I’ve talked a lot about is trends in the betting services industry. Unfortunately, these are usually hopped on by the more questionable elements with a view to making a quick buck by promising the world. Now, when you’re talking about obscene recovery systems or ludicrous staking plans, well, I’m not that bothered. But every now and then, a genuinely decent approach to betting gets caught in the crossfire, and ends up with a bad rep.
What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Well, one of the things that got muddied in recent years is lay betting. A genuine approach that can have a high strike rate, and if managed well, low risk. Today’s subject review, Laymatics, leans on these lay bets. And seemingly, make a pretty respectable profit as well. Interestingly, this isn’t Jacob McDonald’s first rodeo as a tipster. In actual fact, he has actually put out another service through Best System Bets in the shape of Racematics.
My thoughts on the previous effort were that it was, arguably, a touch on the questionable side. However, I will keep a fully open mind for Laymatics. Despite some overlapping complaints (that I will highlight as I come to them), this is a different service and Jacob McDonald should be commended if he is in fact able to produce the results. Unfortunately, because of how Best System Bets operate, there are some questions about this. So, let’s get straight into it.
What Does Laymatics Offer?
The core offering of Laymatics isn’t anything particularly complicated, and, as I often like to point out that doesn’t have to be a bad thing at all. Something that I am always keen to point out to people is that when you add complications to things… well, you’re making them more complicated. Which sounds obvious, but the risk vs reward factor can increase exponentially, and we’re very good at tricking ourselves in this regard.
So, what does simple look like here? Let’s start with the logistics of it all. Laymatics is pretty much exactly as you would expect it to be from any modern tipster service. Jacob McDonald sends out his selections directly via email, and he does tend to send them out a bit later on in the morning. Typically between 10.30am and 11am.
Now, typically speaking, I would start looking at the information that is included with the selections. But because Laymatics is a lay betting tipster service, this is different. You don’t really need a lot of insight. I mean, it’s not like you’re having to seek out best odds and find value and whatnot.
Which of course brings me to the bet type that Laymatics involves. Because there is a little more to say when it comes to lay betting than most bet types. Now, the first thing that you will need if you want to follow Laymatics is an account with a betting exchange. There are a few on the market, however I personally like to use Betfair (which also seems to be the same exchange Jacob McDonald recommends).
You see, when you are laying a horse, what you are doing is betting on a horse to lose. And this changes the structure of a bet quite a lot. If you win, you will see your initial stake back as profit, along with a small percentage that is deducted as commission by a betting exchange. If you lose however, you have to pay out at the odds that you layed at. This potential liability is a big factor in a lot of lay betting systems.
The obvious point here is, of course, that if you are backing horses at long shots and one does come in, you lose a lot of money. A point Jacob McDonald and Best System Bets make in the sales material for Laymatics, albeit, not quite so eloquently. A few bad bets can burn through your betting bank in no time. But more than that, there also has to be consideration for how it works.
When you lay a bet on the exchange, you have to have enough in your account to cover the full liability of that bet. This just makes sense. What it means though is that if you are backing a horse at 100/1 with £10 stakes, you’d need to have £1,000 to bet with. And whilst that is an extreme, you would be surprised how a few smaller bets can quickly add up.
There is one main way that Jacob McDonald gets around this with Laymatics, and it actually has a twofold affect. What I am referring to is the fact that this is a service that is ultimately focused on laying lower odds horses. In fact, in the sales video for this, we are told that you won’t lay above 5.0 on flat or jump races. This means that on those higher volume days, you have the means to back all bets, it also means that your liability doesn’t ever get out of hand.
Of course, none of this should be a problem in theory. After all, as well as claiming a strike rate of some 95% “over the course of 2012”, Jacob McDonald also claims that Laymatics hasn’t encountered a losing bet between 15th of June and 6th of July 2021 (since then, live proofing has shown a losing bet). I wouldn’t be keen to take either of these as gospel though. One piece of information is so out of day as to barely be relevant, and the other is a very small sample size.
How Does Laymatics Work?
With all of that out of the way, we come to one of the more important elements of Laymatics. How exactly it works. And this is an area where… Well, I can’t help but feel like Jacob McDonald is frustratingly vague, if I’m really honest. Firstly, there is the fact that the sales material is rather lacking outside of a lengthy video. In this “Jacob McDonald” (but actually a paid actor from website Fiverr) talks about betting.
The only real insight that we are arguably given are a few key, but also frustratingly questionable, points. Firstly, Jacob McDonald makes the claim that he has a “superpower” when it comes to statistics and probability. Something he says that he attributes to a PhD in mathematics. He also says that he loves to “play with numbers and probability”. I mean, it’s fair enough, I suppose. It at least offers us something.
On top of this, we are old that Laymatics is based on “a lot of research, testing, and being in the right place at the right time” in order to deliver Jacob McDonald’s selections. And outside of this, a lot of the other information provided is about how betting on lower odds is better, and that this somehow elevates this.
Here’s the thing. Whilst it all sounds very impressive, neither Jacob McDonald nor Best System Bets actually provide any real evidence backing any of this up. You are solely taking their words on it all. They also just happen to be the people who stand to profit. Further adding to this frustration is the fact that there is explicit mention of winning tips going back to 2012. As such, you’d expect some substantial proofing backing this up. Unfortunately, it is incredibly conspicuous in its absence.
What is the Initial Investment?
If you want to sign up to Laymatics, Jacob McDonald and Best System Bets have a good few options available, each of which varies quite drastically in terms of the outlay and the value that is available. The cheapest option is a quarterly subscription which is priced at £29.95 (plus VAT), however, this is of course the worst value.
Drastically increasing the value available for Laymatics is a 12 month subscription which is priced at £59.95 per year (again, plus VAT). But blowing all of this out of the water is a one time cost of £99 (plus VAT). This signs you up for a “Lifetime License” for Jacob McDonald’s selections. However, how long this is actually going to last isn’t discussed. #
Of note is the fact that the sales video for Laymatics does say that you can try the service “risk free for the next 60 days”. However, this isn’t something that is put in writing anywhere. Furthermore, the payment platform seems to be proprietary. As such, you are relying on Best System Bets to provide this. All of this casts some doubt in my mind as to the value of this money back guarantee.
What is the Rate of Return?
In that period between the 16th of June and the 6th of July, Laymatics made a profit of 17.1 points according to Jacob McDonald. This is a respectable enough number, and in some respects, I don’t see too much reason to doubt that this run happened. After all, I’ve seen other laying services achieve similar results. Unfortunately, I also can’t put too much weight behind these results either.
As mentioned earlier, this could simply be a run of bets that was particularly exceptional. It could be bookended by losses which see that profit fall drastically. Furthermore, there isn’t really any evidence backing any of it up. Just because it could have happened, it doesn’t mean that it did.
Conclusion for Laymatics
Normally with a conclusion, I build up my arguments before explaining my thoughts on them. Today though, I really have to turn that on its head. You see, Laymatics is built on some fundamentally very sound principles. The core of what the service is about is beyond reproach. Something that I say with confidence, simply because of the number of people that I know are out there and making money through lay betting.
However, that doesn’t mean that Laymatics is necessarily what you might call a winner. You see, just because there is some merit to the approach, it doesn’t really count for much without evidence backing up the ability of the individual tipster, and unfortunately, I feel like Jacob McDonald lets it down a bit there.
You see, when this first landed on my desk, a very big deal was made out of the fact that this had a 100% strike rate. The implication in the emails I was receiving were that this is something that can be replicated. However, as I find happens all too often, once a tipster starts live proofing their tips and a service has launched, things change.
Now, at the moment, it isn’t catastrophic. Jacob McDonald has hit a single losing bet out of 22. It’s nothing really. Right? Maybe, but I’m a bit of a cynic with these things. Whilst it could just be chalked up as a coincidence, it does make me doubt the past results a little when you think that Best System Bets launched this entirely off historic results (let’s not forget that mention of tips winning back in 2012). Not because they’re unbelievable, but because they weren’t exactly public.
On top of this, it does frustrate me that whilst there is that sound principle behind Laymatics that I outlined before, there is no discussion on how Jacob McDonald really implements this. Which is a little bit of a concern to me, if I’m being really honest, because of that simple fact that once it has gone live, it has encountered its first loss.
So, there are definitely some questions about Laymatics, but is it enough that I would say you want to avoid it? It’s difficult. Personally, I feel that given the price that Best System Bets and Jacob McDonald have set, it might be worth giving this a bit more time to see how it plays out. It isn’t that £30 is a lot of money for 3 months of tips. Far from it. However, you are tying yourself down with no recourse if that first loss does turn out to be one of many.
Presuming that Jacob McDonald and Best System Bets keep up that live proofing, and Laymatics continues to perform in a similar vein (even allowing for a small drop in performance), I think that you could do much worse. Especially at the price. But this is a long way from being a cut and dry thing. For the sake of taking just a few extra weeks to get a much better picture of what is going on… well, it’s worth that in my book.
