The Cricket Advisor is a new to market sports betting tipster service that, not surprisingly, is focused on cricket betting. Selections come courtesy of Paul Mahoney whilst the service is managed by Bet Social.
Introduction to The Cricket Advisor
When I think of big money betting, I think of a lot of things. I think of the near £100 million that is bet on horse racing every year. I think of people playing big hands of Blackjack or sticking it all on Red. What I don’t tend to think of is cricket. Cricket in my mind (probably because I don’t watch it) is cucumber sandwiches, pleasant summer afternoons, and lots of people using phrases like “Good Show”, “Old Bean”, and calling everybody Chum or Chap.
Of course, I know full well that this isn’t the reality of things. Cricket is modernising rapidly and with that comes a lot of potential for betting. Which brings me to The Cricket Advisor. Bet Social have put this forwards as a thoroughly modern tipster service. And I will admit that so far, Paul Mahoney seems to be doing some very impressive things here. It could well be that I’ve only looked at 2 other cricket tipsters before now, but this is a unique looking creature.
Of course, as great as The Cricket Advisor looks (and I can’t stress enough that it really does look good), it is still early days. The fact is though that Paul Mahoney shows bags of promise and Bet Social seem intent on backing him in the long term. But does this mean this is a service that is worth following for the long haul or not? Let’s have a look and see what we might expect.
What Does The Cricket Advisor Offer?
Straight out of the gate, there are a few things that I really want to address with The Cricket Advisor. These are things that are very important to keep in mind. And they are also things that ultimately influence huge elements of the service. They are also things that Paul Mahoney can’t influence simply because they appear to be down to the nature of the game.
Firstly, The Cricket Advisor is a very long way from a daily tipster service. Bet Social make this perfectly clear from the get go (which is appreciated), but it’s also something that is worth hammering home. I’ve looked at services before now where people have really complained about the fact that a tipster focusing on a niche isn’t providing “value” by tipping often.
The other key consideration is the pace. Cricket takes a bloody long time to play out. A test lasts 5 days. This means that you will often be dealing with Ante type bets, as well as bets being advised potentially throughout a game. Personally, I don’t see this as a problem, but it is worth keeping in mind.
Now, onto the bets. Looking at Bet Social’s proofing for The Cricket Advisor, if there is value in a market, Paul Mahoney is on it. His bets include, but aren’t limited to, backing a team to win, backing a player to be top run scorer for a given team, backing a player to be the leading wicket taker for the 1st innings, and so on and so forth. There is no shortage of bet types.
I’ll admit. At first glance, it was all incredibly overwhelming. But the fact is that when you start to boil it down, getting the bets placed isn’t a difficult thing. It’s just knowing where to look, and if you’re half way to experienced as a bettor, you’ll be on top of this in no time.
And with this huge range of bet types come a very substantial range of odds. When Paul Mahoney is advising on things like over/under markets and backing a team to win, you’re looking at much shorter odds. But as the bet types change, there is much more value. Backing individual players across innings tends to yield more middling results, but the real value in The Cricket Advisor seems to be the ante bets.
This is where Paul Mahoney recommends backing a player as top scorer or to be man of the match. And it is here that The Cricket Advisor has a deluge of double figure odds. Inevitably, these ante bets don’t win often, but when they do, they can potentially produce some massive returns.
As you would expect, selections are sent out directly via email with the content being decent enough with plenty of information available. This ensures that you are well positioned to get those bets placed. On top of this, Bet Social and Paul Mahoney usually give you plenty of time to get your bets placed etc. All of this is of course no bad thing, especially if you’re new to cricket betting.
In terms of the volume of bets, by and large, Paul Mahoney seems to be quite selective. Even on the bigger test games, there are rarely more than 4 bets per game. What should be noted however is that when there are multiple games on, The Cricket Advisor can get a bit frantic.
For some context on this, between starting proofing with Bet Social on the 24th of July and the 16th of August, there were just 16 bets placed. Between the 18th of August and the 23rd of August, there were 15 bets placed. The fact is that The Cricket Advisor can be a bit chaotic, but it is rarely unmanageable, especially in terms of the bigger picture.
Whilst I am on the subject of chaotic, it is worth talking a little bit about the staking plan that is in place. By and large, your ante bets are advised to be backed to just 0.5 points per bet. Something that is a reasonable and prudent move. In other bets, you can stake up to 3 points per bet. But I will begrudgingly admit that this is a bit necessary given the low odds that can be involved.
And finally, we come to the strike rate for The Cricket Advisor. At the time of writing, this sits at about 46% which honestly, is very respectable. However, I do think it is worth keeping in mind the fact that because of the disparity between the bets, that this isn’t an entirely reflective number and it is a long way from the averages involved.
How Does The Cricket Advisor Work?
Bet Social say that Paul Mahoney is very knowledgeable about cricket. They talk about his insight into things that don’t seem to be factored into bookies calculations such as the surface of the ground (apparently this massively impacts how the ball handles, which makes sense). This is a classic approach. I will generally rate any tipster who sets out to know more than the bookies in their chosen niche, and looking at these smaller things can make a difference.
As well as that, we are told that Paul Mahoney looks at pre match markets in order to see what the most efficient ways of betting are, as well as considering the value that is available in those submarkets and ante bets. Now this all could be waffle, but it has a ring of truth to it and I am quite inclined to believe t hat The Cricket Advisor really is built on these things.
Honestly, what this suggests to me is that you have somebody who knows the sport very well. And on top of this, they have taken the time to understand how the betting markets surrounding it move. Presuming that is all true, it really sets The Cricket Advisor up on some solid foundations and Paul Mahoney should be commended on this.
And the icing on the cake is that Bet Social provide comprehensive proofing as well. Now it is very noteworthy that this is rather limited. After all, The Cricket Advisor hasn’t been around for that long. But it does mean that you can look at everything and get a pretty reasonable idea of what you can potentially expect for the future.
What is the Initial Investment?
There are three options available if you want to sign up to The Cricket Advisor, and all of them are relatively pricey. The first of these is a monthly subscription which is priced at £37 per month (plus VAT).
Representing substantially better value is a quarterly subscription which is priced at £70 every 3 months (again, there is VAT on top of this). The best value comes from signing up for 6 months, but this also comes with the highest outlay with an initial payment of £97 (plus VAT).
With these longer subscriptions, it is worth keeping in mind that there is no money back guarantee in place for any Bet Social services, including The Cricket Advisor. This means that you have to have some willingness to commit if you are looking to get that improved value.
What is the Rate of Return?
In just a few months, Paul Mahoney has guided The Cricket Advisor to a profit of 73.91 points according to Paul Mahoney’s proofing. That is pretty bloody good. But it also doesn’t necessarily represent the full picture. The fact is that of that profit, a whopping 53.72 points of it has been attained just in August. This leaves 13.96 points for about a week in July (very good) and just 6.23 points for about 3 weeks in September (not so good).
The problem when you have this kind of disparity in results is it means that even the average ROI isn’t necessarily a reliable number. Because it also ranges from 155.11% in July to 99.48% for August and a somewhat meagre 13.54% for September. The fact is that the rather small sample size makes it very difficult to get a real idea of what to expect.
Conclusion for The Cricket Advisor
There is a lot about The Cricket Advisor that concerns me. And that isn’t something that I say lightly, because I really do want to like this service. Furthermore, there is a lot to like. But ultimately, it’s just all a bit everywhere. And there is one reason for this more than any other, and that is what I want to start out by addressing.
Because The Cricket Advisor is a very young tipster service in the grand scheme of things. 2 months is nothing compared to the 10 years plus I’ve seen from some tipster services. And because of this, it makes it quite hard to judge. It’s like being asked to guess whether or not a baby will be a good person.
But here’s the thing, whilst The Cricket Advisor may only be a “young” service, it is undoubtedly one that shows potential. Sure, the results are perhaps a little mixed so far, but let’s not forget that Paul Mahoney made 53 points in a month. Now that kind of result could be a fluke. But when you look at the descriptions of how the service works, I’m genuinely quite inclined to believe that it isn’t.
Which presents a bit of a predicament really. Because the thing with The Cricket Advisor is that whilst it isn’t the most expensive tipster service I’ve looked at, it isn’t exactly cheap either. As such, you end up wit h a bit of a risk vs reward scenario. The fact is that there is a lot of potential for say, one of the ante bets coming in, or a 3 point bet landing. Which of course, significantly boosts the profit potential.
Which begs the million dollar question. Would I recommend The Cricket Advisor? Honestly, as it is, I don’t think that I would. Not because I think that it’s bad. Or necessarily overpriced. Neither of those would be fair accusations to level against Paul Mahoney’s service. But I always prefer to err on the side of caution with betting.
The fact is that if you decide to give The Cricket Advisor a few months, it isn’t likely to be going anywhere. Bet Social seem to be pretty “all in” on it. Which really does lead me to believe that this is pretty genuine. If it is, there is no harm in sitting back and seeing how things develop. If Paul Mahoney shows that those bigger months are genuine possibilities, you’re laughing. By the same token, if there is a disappointing further run, you aren’t out of pocket.
