The Alternative Punters Syndicate
The Alternative Punters Syndicate, or TAPS for short, is a sports tipping service that has been in existence since 1996 with the aim of providing the everyday punter with access to top quality information at sensible prices. The fact that they have retained customers who signed up in their very first year is testament to the information they provide.
Unlike other tipping services, they do not make any wild claims of insane fortunes overnight, but do promise to provide you with the best possible information that must pass their own stringent examinations. They do point out, however, that this information does not mean the horse is guaranteed to win but it is likely to give a good showing.
Also, unlike other services, they provide you with a 24 page ‘Operations Manual’ that gives you a wealth of information, from the history of TAPS, through to how they get their information, and how best to use it. They also provide you with recommended staking plans and advice on how to split your bank based on the main services they offer. In addition to the main services, they also provide ‘Warm Horses’ which are selections that are not as strong as the other selections they provide but may still make a small profit, however these do not constitute part of the business and are to be treated as such.
The main advice services TAPS provide are Horse Racing Best Bets, Sports Information, Horse Racing System Bets, Football Singles and Football Fixed Odds Forecasts, so there’s plenty information to keep you entertained.
They advise splitting your bank into three, 50% for the the Best Bets and Sports Information, 25% for the System Bets and 25% for the Football Fixed Odds Forecasts.
For the purpose of this test, I will use a £2000 starting bank, that will then be split into £1000 for the Best Bets and Sports Information, £500 for the System Bets and £500 for the Football Fixed Odds Forecast.
Updates will be posted daily in the System Testing area of the site.
Online Betting Exposed
Legacy And Saver 04/05/08
A quiet day’s betting for The Legacy And Saver System today with just the two to be had. Although we lost the first, we won the second to take home a small profit.
14:20 Ham - Metroland - Lost
15:20 Newm - Natagora - WON
Day 17 P/L = £35
Total P/L = £32.34
Bank = £1032.34
Alternative Punters Syndicate - Final Review
After around six weeks of testing, we decided to call time on our trial of The Alternative Punters Syndicate. Regular readers will know that we generally test things out for approximately four weeks, and we did have an email or two asking why we’d continued with TAPS when the results were so poor. The answer was two fold: Firstly, being a subscriber I am well aware of how good they actually are and I was hopeful it was just a shaky period they were going through and secondly, they had just started a new laying service that in it’s month prior to release had done some amazing things…like more than double your starting bank!
Unfortunately for TAPS it soon became clear that Mr Sod and his Law were going to be involved right from the start. TAPS offer a variety of bets when you subscribe to their service. Not only do they send out horse racing bets, but also football, golf and occasionally other sports bets too. In the six weeks we tested them out, they performed poorly with their horse racing bets, with both the Best Bets and System Bets failing to return any sort of profit. The System Bets were particularly disappointing as they are all odds on and at those prices the strike rate really does need to be exceptional, which during our month’s test it certainly wasn’t. Many of the Best Bets were good priced each way selections, but again, disappointed with only a couple of winners interspersed with far too many poor runs.
The Sports Bets, while not providing a profit, did provide some nail biting moments, particularly the golf bets. More than once were TAPS unlucky to miss either the win, or the place part which could’ve turned the loss into a very respectable profit.
The Fixed Odds Forecasts never got going and we didn’t have a week where we managed a profit, which just leaves us with the lays. TAPS began free proofing the lays for 10 days or so before going ‘live’. During the free trial they produced a fantastic profit in the region of 12 points and in the month produced over 50 points profit, however, when they went live, Sod made sure he was right in there and in the couple of weeks we tested they produced a loss of around 10 points.
The month seemed to be a catalogue of bad luck, but bad luck isn’t what people want to hear, they want cold hard cash and TAPS simply didn’t deliver that during our trial.
I guess the million dollar question is would I recommend TAPS? Well, based on the P&L columns in the test I’d be hard pushed to, however, they do offer a free one month trial, and I’d recommend taking a look at that before making any decision. After all you’ve nothing to lose and it would give you more time to weigh up the service they provide. If the poor run continues, you’ve lost nothing and can walk away, no harm done, and if they show the form I know they’re capable of….well, you may well come back and thank me for this 
So from a purely OBE point of view, the score would be a paltry one out of five, however, from a personal point of view, I’d recommend taking TAPS month’s free trial, just in case.
If you do decide to try TAPS for the next month, please keep a note of your P/L and report back here with your findings. We’d be interested in hearing your views about this one….
Alternative Punters Syndicate 12/04/08
Things really aren’t going TAPS’ way just now. Since we started the trial, it seems we’ve put a curse on them! There was a bit of variety in today’s bets, we had a best bet, two lays and a footie single to play with….we lost them all (well, won one lay, but lost overall).
Best Bet: 17:05 Kemp - Feisty Royal (EW) - Lost
Sports Bet - Recreativo Huelva v Barcelona - Lost
Lays:
16:20 Uttox - Tamadot & Heir To Be - LOST
17:05 Kemp - Wigram’s Turn & Meydan Princess - Meydan Princess Won
Bank 1 (Best Bets & Sports Info)
Day 27 P/L = -£50
Total P/L = -£181.39
Bank = £818.61
Bank 2 (System Bets & Football Singles)
Day 27 P/L = £0
Total P/L = -£79.25
Bank = £420.75
Bank 3 (Football Fixed Odds Forecasts)
Total P/L = -£71.63
Bank = £428.37
Lay Bank
Day 9 P/L = -£24.20
Total P/L = -£201.68
Bank = £798.32
Alternative Punters Syndicate 11/04/08
A quiet day on the backing front for TAPS again today but a golf bet from yesterday and six lays to report on. The golf bet unfortunately went astray with the fancied choice, Geoff Ogilvy, going down in the 3 ball opener. It was another 50% strike rate on the lays today but, surprisingly, I still turned a profit!
Lays:
14:30 Muss - Grizebeck & Danzatrice - Grizebeck Won
15:30 Asc - Tamimi’s History & Doubly Guest - LOST
16:50 Muss - Bajan Pride & Regal Parade - LOST
17:25 Muss - Alexander Hurricane & Rebel Duke - Rebel Duke Won
19:50 Wolves - Obe Royal & Star Strider - LOST
21:20 Wolves - Charmel’s Lad & Nice Wee Girl - Nice Wee Girl Won
Bank 1 (Best Bets & Sports Info)
Day 26 P/L = -£25
Total P/L = -£131.39
Bank = £868.61
Bank 2 (System Bets & Football Singles)
Day 26 P/L = £0
Total P/L = -£79.25
Bank = £420.75
Bank 3 (Football Fixed Odds Forecasts)
Total P/L = -£71.63
Bank = £428.37
Lay Bank
Day 8 P/L = £2.82
Total P/L = -£177.48
Bank = £822.52
Alternative Punters Syndicate 10/04/08
No back bets for TAPS today but six races were given for the lays. I said earlier in the week that this may end up a good backing system and it’s beginning to look that way 
To be fair, the lay system only started last month and made over 50 points profit and TAPS themselves said they’d expect an average of 25 points a month so even a break even month this month would bare that out. Fingers crossed for better than break even though.
14:15 Carl - Royal Mackintosh & Russian Sky - Royal Mackintosh Won
14:40 Folkes - Baunagain & Blue Jack - LOST
16:05 Font - Cavalry Twill & Sea Cap - LOST
16:25 Folkes - Princewallywogan & Amical Risks - Princewallywogan Won
16:40 Font - Cleymour House & Count Kristo - Count Kristo Won
17:15 Font - Wild Ground & Hermano Cordobes - LOST
Lay Bank
Day 8 P/L = -£63.64
Total P/L = -£243.94
Bank = £756.06
All results include 5% commission and are shown at Betfair’s enhanced odds.
Alternative Punters Syndicate 09/04/08
I’m sorry to report that it’s been another day to forget for TAPS. They sent out a system bet today along with two races to lay in, unfortunately they couldn’t have got it any more wrong with their odds on system bet (coincidentally a Four The Win selection) going down to the 2nd favourite, and finding the winner in both lay races!
We have a golf bet going on at the moment and finding the winner there would make all the difference, but time is ticking.
System Bet: 16:30 Towc - Dancing Dasi - Lost
Lays:
15:00 Towc - Top Dawn & Arceye - Arceye Won
20:50 Kemp - Greystoke Prince & Little Toto - Greystoke Prince Won
Bank 1 (Best Bets & Sports Info)
Day 25 P/L = £0
Total P/L = -£106.39
Bank = £893.71
Bank 2 (System Bets & Football Singles)
Day 25 P/L = -£37.80
Total P/L = -£79.25
Bank = £420.75
Bank 3 (Football Fixed Odds Forecasts)
Total P/L = -£71.63
Bank = £428.37
Lay Bank
Day 7 P/L = -£64.30
Total P/L = -£180.30
Bank = £819.70
Alternative Punters Syndicate 08/04/08
I’m beginning to feel for TAPS, another quiet day with only lays to play with - four in total - and only returning a 50% strike rate again. It would appear that Sod is sitting back and having a good chuckle at his Law!
15:30 South - Irish Conection & Welcome Releaf - Welcome Releaf Won
16:00 South - Playtotheaudience & Solicitude - LOST
16:30 South - Diriculous & Toms Laughter - Diriculous Won
17:00 South - Shandelight & Royal Auditon - LOST
Lay Bank
Day 6 P/L = -£12.08
Total P/L = -£116
Bank = £884
All results include 5% commission and are shown at Betfair’s enhanced odds.
Alternative Punters Syndicate 07/04/08
TAPS sent out no less than six races to lay in today and, after a promising start, they unfortunately found the winner in no less than three of them! Perhaps this will become a good backing system
14:20 Plump - Funny Fellow & Barodine - LOST
15:20 Plump - Marshalls Run & Explosive Fox - LOST
15:50 Plump - Wondersobright & Darkshape - Wondersobright Won
16:10 Kemp - Lady Dedlock & Starstruck Peter - Lady Dedlock Won
16:40 Kemp - Peas In A Pod & Sarah’s First - LOST
17:10 Kemp - Straight Face & Fun In The Sun - Straight Face Won
Lay Bank
Day 5 P/L = -£81
Total P/L = -£103.92
Bank = £896.08
All results include 5% commission and are shown at Betfair’s enhanced odds.
Alternative Punters Syndicate 06/04/08
It was another day of mixed fortunes for TAPS today, but I’m happy to say they returned a profit overall, although it could have been so much more! There was only one lay for the horse racing today, but that went as Hexham was abandoned, leaving a bet on Man Utd to breeze past Middlesbrough (which, surprisingly they didn’t).
Then there was a golf bet that had been given out earlier in the week - Alastair Webster EW @ 33/1 - it was looking good for us as he sunk a great birdie putt on the 18th to go into a 3 way play off in which he lost, we still get a return on the bet but it was looking like being a hell of a lot more for a while there!
The fixed odds forecasts unfortunately returned a small loss although we did profit in the ‘homes’ with five out of six.
Bank 1 (Best Bets & Sports Info)
Day 24 P/L = £115.63 (so close to being £540.63!)
Total P/L = -£106.39
Bank = £893.71
Bank 2 (System Selections & Football Singles)
Day 24 P/L = -£37.80
Total P/L = -£41.45
Bank = £458.55
Bank 3 (Football Fixed Odds Forecasts)
Total P/L = -£71.63
Bank = £428.37
Lay Bank
Day 4 P/L = £0
Total P/L = -£22.92
Bank = £977.08
