Q and A James Walsh Tipster Empire
Hi James, and many thanks for joining us this month, first off would you start by telling our readers a little about yourself and your background?
My name is James Walsh and my journey into the tipping game began nearly 12 years ago when I set up www.jpwracingtipster.com
I was making good profits on my own and always giving out my tips to my friends. I found that although making profit was a good thing, tipping winners to friends gave me greater satisfaction.
I suppose professional gambling can be quite lonely at times and I preferred the interaction with friends each day with the tipping side of the game, so decided to become a tipster rather than a lone gambler.
Over the next 8 years I made a decent name for myself as a tipster especially when it came to National Hunt Racing. We are now going into our 12th year of profit at JPW.
After 8 years at JPW Racing Tipster and because of the success we had, I wanted a new challenge of finding the best tipsters within the industry. So many individuals have amazing knowledge of the sport of kings but most go unrecognised. I learned a lot over the 8 years and I wanted to nurture the next breed of successful tipsters. I set up www.tipstersempire.co.uk where we now have some of the best tipsters in the UK.
Since then we have also set up www.jpwscoop6.com where we tackle the Scoop 6 each Saturday as a Syndicate.
Would you say that you have a “typical” working day, and how would you describe it?
My typical working day Monday – Friday is around 12 hours. 7am – 8:30am from home and then take kids to School. I am then off to the office to work between 9:30am – 6:30pm. An hour or two at night working from home.
With 3 websites to run I have to be on the ball with a lot of tasks and follow a daily list.
Being organised is the key to making it work and I am committed to try and provide the best customer service within the industry.
What do you think of the world of sports tipping in general and what do you think people are in search of when it comes to their hunt for a successful tipster?
The world of sports tipping is a tough industry to work as a tipster.
You have to have a certain mental attitude and without the right frame of mind, most tipsters are defeated.
Honesty has served me well in the 12 years I have been going along with transparency in results. I am always open and honest and that has helped me build an excellent rapport with our customers.
Ultimately they know where they stand then with myself or any of our tipsters.
Do you regularly bet yourself? What style of approach do you take to your betting? What do you think of staking plans, loss retrieval systems etc.?
I find it hard these days to strike bets or even when I can the stakes are reduced.
If there is enough liquidity in the market on Betfair, I will get involved but most of the time my betting is done at the bigger festivals. I find my stakes are not reduced as much at festivals and also the liquidity on Betfair is much stronger with better racing.
I mainly bet to level stakes but on the rare occasion I may increase stakes if I am massively confident. Slow and steady is the way I have always worked.
What attracted you to the world of horse racing and what do you enjoy most about the sport?
My Grandfather was a massive Horse Racing fan and asked me to pick a horse in Grand National. He asked all his Grand Children to pick a horse and where others said I like that colour or that name; I asked what he looks at.
He explained how he read the form and I took the paper and studied the race, following his instructions. Sure enough I found the winner in the form of Earth Summit and well the rest is history, as the saying goes, I was hooked.
What led you into the world of racing tipsters and what do you feel you can offer racing enthusiasts and punters that other tipsters can’t?
I can offer you a pick of many horse racing tipsters all who have a long term track record and results which is proofed and recorded over many years.
If it is not myself then we have another 6 tipsters.
We are as honest as they come and a limited company who pay taxes and VAT. If you want to reach us by telephone between 9am – 5pm then just ring the office phone.
Not many services out there run a smooth professional operation like ours and the team and you certainly can't just pick up the phone to most tipsters or platforms. The company is built on trust and honesty and as I said we thrive on Customer Service.
What traits do you think a good racing tipster should possess and what do you think the average punter is looking for from a tipping service?
As a Horse Racing Tipster you have to have confidence. I don't mean confidence in a cocky way but that self belief. The mind-set is also so important.
You will no doubt go on a losing run and I have seen many times, tipsters who struggle with the mind set through bad times.
You also need to have an instinct to spot value as this is a game between yourself and the trader. Find the mistakes consistently and the profits will soar.
Combine all the above with hard work and dedication and you will have a good racing tipster. I suppose an average punter wants to make profit but with so many cowboys in the tipping industry, they need to know they can trust you.
New and old punters alike can struggle to make a success of their betting. If you could give them just one piece of advice to improve their profitability what would it be?
Practice pricing up races and learn more about value betting.
As mentioned above it is you against the trader so a bit like a game of chess.
If you can master what the end user is doing (trader pricing up a race), you just need to be better than they are to find the value consistently.
Obviously you need a good work ethic and to be dedicated.
What would you consider to be a highlight of your racing experience to date? Do you have any personal racing / betting experiences which when reflecting back brings a smile, or for that matter any which bring a grimace; you can share with our readers?
My highlight and grimace could be combined into one.
I was having a terrible Cheltenham Festival, in fact the worst of my career back in 2011. All festival had been 2nds and 3rd and it is safe to say I was not in a good place.
The very last race was the Grand Annual and my E/W Nap of the festival was running in the form of Oiseau De Nuit. I think the evening before I had tipped him up at 25/1 as I made him a 14/1 shot. I could not believe my eyes that 2 minutes before the race he was 40/1 on course and a quick check on the Tote and he was 75.00.
I had my last £50 from my betting bank after losing a good few quid over 4 days and I raced over to the Tote, 30 seconds before the off and said £50 win.
That was something I would never do, £50 on the nose at the odds but given I had a horrific festival, and it wasn't the end of the world. I quickly got back to my dad and said this horse will win they have been up to something all season and now they have put a 7lb claimer on.
Classic Terry Warner plotting something here and had my eyes on it all week.
Sure enough he won by 4 lengths and when I went to collect he was 69.00 on the Tote.
It makes me grimace as that festival could have been terrible but it goes to show that you only need one winner at the Cheltenham Festival and you come away with big profits.
It truly is the place of dreams and what a cracking Gold Cup night we had after that.
What about the gambling industry, is there anything you like to see changed there? Many website forums are full of criticisms of the bookmakers and their treatment of their customers? Is this something you have an opinion on?
I would love to see tipping industry regulated.
So many wrong-uns in the industry who are basically con artists. They give genuine and honest companies like us, a bad name.
As long as bookmakers are allowed to get away with what they do then they will continue to treat customers how they want to.
I do think the FOBT (fixed odds betting terminals) has and will have a big effect on bookmakers so they will be much keener to take a bet if they are not making as much profit from FOBT.
Who knows though it has been a talking point for many years and it gets a bit boring.
What do you do to relax and unwind? What interests have you outside the world of horse racing?
I am a massive family man so other than Horse Racing you will find me with my kids and wife, mainly in our holiday home in Devon throughout the summer.