Racing-Index Tipster Proofing - Test Site

This is a Test Site for the Racing-Index tipster proofing.

Latest Changes

The following changes are currently in test:

• New basis for ranking tipsters in the comparison tables
• New individual tipster performance summary pages
• Tipster comments included on results pages

To see the changes please access the Proofing Test Site.

It is intended for these changes to go live on 4th May (assuming no major problems reported before then).

New Basis For Comparing Tipsters Results

When comparing results of different tipsters it's not easy to assess which has achieved the best performance. Currently we use a method we term Estimated Staking Profit (ESP), however it has it's problems, not least, most people don't really understand it and if a tipster has a winning selection, not in keeping with their normal results, it can wildly distort the ESP figure (e.g. if a tipster predicts a 100/1 winner, when the price of their winners is usually in single figures).

For some time now we've been looking for an alternative basis to rank tipsters within the comparison tables and after much deliberation it's been decided the best way is to use variable stakes for each bet, which we'll term Variable Bet Profit (VBP).

We appreciate variable bets will not always show every service in it's best light and know their will be people who won't agree with the new basis of comparison (we're never going to satisfy everyone, no matter what basis is used), but when you have services that range from backing selections from oddson to over 100/1, we feel most people would not place the same bet amounts on each.

The new basis will use bet amounts up to 50 points, with the lower the odds the bigger the bet. The basis will differ slightly between backing and laying, but both will follow along the same basic principles.

Example bet amounts used for VBP:

	Back		Lay
Odds	Bet	Win	Bet	Liability
4/6	35	23.3	33	22
2/1	20	40	18	36
6/1	10	60	8	48
25/1	4	100	2	50
100/1	3	300	0.5	50

For back bets the bet amounts will be based upon the horse's SP, this will be used for both win and place bets. It is necessary to use the SP for place bets so that Each-way bets are treated the same as separate win and place bets. For lay bets Betfair SPs will be used, with the Betfair place SP being used for place only bets.

VBP is intended only as a way of ranking services within the comparison tables (as a direct replacement for the current ESP figures) we will still continue to show results based upon 1 point level stakes and advised stakes, as is currently the case. It's not intended to show a full list of individual results based on VBP stakes, unless there's significant interest to see such results.

New Individual Tipster Results Pages

In future by clicking on the name of the tipster, a new performance summary page will be displayed:

The full results page will still exist and can be accessd via the Bets column link.

Summary page will show month by month breakdown of performance. Click on the link in the bets column to see full results for an individual month or year. Included in the results tables will be proofed results from the years in the proofing archive.

Tipster Comments Included On Results Pages

Each tipster will have an opportunity to include a description of the service they offer, which will be displayed in the green box on the summary page for their service.

Tipsters : Please login here and add a description for your service (once logged in you'll see an extra menu option titled "Description of Service"). For tipsters with more than one proofing ID, please add a description for each of your services.

Comments

We welcome feedback from tipsters and punters regarding the proposed changes. Please either add a comment to the blog post, or send an email. As mentioned above it's intended for the changes to go live on 4th May, so please submit any comments prior to that date.