Bookie-bashing business preparing for busiest week of the year
A Nottingham business that helps punters bash the bookmakers is preparing for its busiest week of the year.
Profit Accumulator, based in Friar Lane, city centre, is a matched betting company that helps members take advantage of betting bonuses to generate money.
Next week brings the Cheltenham Festival – the most profitable time of the year for matched bettors.
Profit Accumulator has close to 20,000 members and many of them will be targeting Cheltenham.
Some members even take time off work and the Festival is known as “Cheltmas” in matched betting circles.
Profit Accumulator spokesman James McMath said: “The Cheltenham Festival is the most important event of the year in our industry and many of our members have already got their plans in place.
“Millions of pounds are gambled over the course of the week and bookies are all vying for a share of the action.
“This means there’s plenty of promotions and bonuses around and that’s how our members make their money.
“A straw poll of members after last year’s festival showed 185 made a total of £173,182. That’s an average of £936.12 per person – £39 an hour based on a six-hour day.”
Matched betting involves placing multiple bets on opposite outcomes to cut the risk and trigger a bookmaker bonus.
For example, if a bookmaker offers a £10 bonus if a £10 bet is place it possible to ‘back’ and ‘lay’ with £10 to release the bonus.
McMath says it is particularly popular among students and stay-at-home parents but that Profit Accumulator’s membership base is diverse, including company directors, and civil servants, while some match bet full-time.
Profit Accumulator charges a monthly subscription fee to guide members through the process, using video tutorials and bespoke software. There is also a thriving forum in which thousands of users share advice, help and celebrate success.
The firm was founded in 2014 by Sam Stoffel, a 26-year-old Nottingham entrepreneur, after he used matched betting to pay his way through university.
The company is among the fastest-growing firms in the East Midlands and employs 19 people.
Its revenue last year was £4.4m, up from a first-year revenue of £2.4m.
