These rules are effective from 1 October 2004.

Basic Game-play

At the start of the month you are given a bank of virtual money to make virtual bets ("tips") with.  You objective is to make the most profit during the month.   Which events form part of the competition and the timing of their availability is at the discretion on Online Betting Guide.  Typically we will aim to include

- UK horse racing meetings

- Premiership, Championship, Spanish, Scottish Prem, and Italian football matches

- Selected Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup, Carling Cup and International football matches

- Most major Tennis and Golf tournaments

- Selected other events for Rugby, Cricket, Formula 1, NFL & more

At the beginning of every month your bank will be reset to £1000 so as to give all players roughly equal opportunity for the forthcoming month (subject to open bets carried over).  Every day you will be credited with an additional £100.   All bets must be between £50 and £500.

At the end of the month, any open bets up to £1000 will be carried over "for free" such that you can have both £1000 and a certain amount of open bets at the beginning of a month.   Profits/Losses from these open bets will impact on the month in which they are settled.

Tip Settlement Rules

Tips are usually settled in exactly the same way that a bookmaker would sette a bet, however there are one or two slight simplications which are listed in the forum thread Tip Scoring Clarifications

Tip Complaints

If you feel that a tip has been processed incorrectly please report this to us. All complaints must include
1) the exact details of your tip
2) a link to a reputable source for the correct score

Please se sure to verify your claims carefully as we reserve the right to disqualify you from the current months competition prizes for making incorrect claims.

You should also be sure that you fully understand
1) which event you have bet on (can be confusing for baseball matches in particular)
2) how the bet payout works (can be confusing for Asian Handicaps and EW bets)
3) That you have read the forum rules and tipster FAQ

Editing Tips

We dont currently allow editing of tips so you need to be careful when making your selections, like you would with a real bet with a bookmaker. Full details on this policy can be found on the forum thread Editing Tips

Prize Money

The following prizes are awarded each month assuming their are sufficient tipsters that qualify for each prize.

	1st	2nd	3rd
Team Prizes
Team Performance	10 x £10	5 x £5	5 x £5
Individual Profit Prizes
Overall Profit	£20	£10	£5
Horse Racing Profit	£20	£10	£5
Football Profit	£20	£10	£5
NAPs Profit Points	£10	£5	£5
Lay Tips Profit	£10	£5	£5
Golf Profit	£10	£5	£5
Tennis Profit	£10	£5	£5
US Sports Profit	£10	£5	£5
Individual Quality Prizes
Tip Descriptions	£5	£5	£5
Forum Contribution	£5	£5	£5

Tipsters can (and in many cases probably will) win more than one prize.  For example it is particularly likely that the overall winner may get another prize.

Prizes will be credited to your "Real Cash" balance at the end of every month.  Cheques will be issued on application each month to any player having a total balance of £25 or more.  Balances below £25 are carried forward indefinitely.

We reserve the right to periodically change the prize money.

The maximum prize fund is £285 per month.  Where there are tied positions for 1st, 2nd or 3rd the prize money will be split at our discretion on an equitable basis.  There are no liabilities or obligations to any tipster other than to pay £285 prize money per month.

To Qualify for Individual Cash Prizes

Prizes are only awarded to Active Tipsters = someone who have placed at least 5 tips with a combined value of at least £500 in the month

Tipsters must be over 18

For profit prizes you must have made a profit in that category to qualify.  If you finish in the top 3 without making a profit then you do not qualify for a prize.

To Qualify for Team Prizes

Teams can be set up in your tipster area by selecting "My League" from the menu.  Here you can create your own private or public league or join other leagues.

To Qualify for the team competition your team must have at least 5 active tipsters in your team at the end of the month. 

An active tipster within a Team is someone who has been in the team for at least 20 days and made at least 5 tips that month

Team scores are based on the average profit of ALL active team members (changed 1 March 2006)

Team Prizes are paid to up to the top 10 members (for the first team) or 5 (for the 2nd and 3rd teams)  (changed 1 March 2006)

To remain eligiable, team members must remain in their team until after the prizes for that month are allocated (this is typically before12pm on the 1st of the following month)

Players are not permitted to switch teams after the 10th of the month (new 1 March 2006)

Cheating

Only one entry per household (except by special agreement with us).  In the case of multiple entries only the first active account qualifies for prizes and other tipster logins will be deleted.

Any cheating will mean ineligibility for the prize money and potentially cancellation of your account.  This includes running multiple accounts, placing tips after the event, inflating odds or any other activity we deem unsportsmanlike.  Individual tips may be voided or marked as losers at our discretion irrespective of the result.

An account suspended for cheating will fofeit any real money accrued but unclaimed

Determination of what we consider to be cheating is at our sole discretion.

Results Processing

Results of tips will wherever possible be updated daily on the day following the match/race.  We will endeavour to ensure that results are processed promptly and winnings credited to "banks" to allow sufficient time to reinvest these winnings prior to monthly resets, however this cannot be guaranteed, and any failures on our part in this respect are just bad luck. 

Any tips made with the wrong date, time, course, name or other details may be processed as a losing tips irrespective of whether the tip you meant won the event you meant.

Normal bookmaker rules apply to results where this is practical.  Otherwise a suitable and fair alternative will be applied.

Tips are void if race is not run or there is no official result - this will result in a refund of your tip stake.

From time to time results may be processed inaccurately.  Where this happens we will do our best to correct such errors when we are made aware of them, but we regret that we cannot always guarantee that this will be possible. 

Disputes and concerns should be emailed to us and we will endeavour to sort the matter out in the fairest way possible.  However our decision is final.

Other Rules

Any account set up which does not place any tips for a period of 3 months, or where the contact email bounces may be deleted.

Rules are subject to change at our discretion.  Updates will be posted on this page.

By taking part in the competition you agree to the rules and terms above.

Email Contact

By signing up to the competition you consent to us emailing you on a periodic basis (typically monthly) with news of the site and the tipster competition (typically the previous months results)