Ahead of the Cheltenham Festival next week – the biggest meet in the horse-racing calendar – ‘expert’ tipsters will be emerging all over the country, but whose advice should you be taking?
We at Paddy Power have commissioned a study into our bettors from last year’s festival, and come up with the ‘perfect punter’ based on the best performing first names, surnames, areas and age ranges.
And this chap is a Kelvin Atherton, aged between 18 and 24, from Dagenham. If you know one, please put him in touch – we know someone who’d like to hire him…
Failing that, someone from Dagenham generally is likely to know their stuff – with customers from the area boasting a profit of 645%, on average, last Cheltenham.
Jump over to PaddyPower.com for all the best Cheltenham odds
And if you don’t know a Kelvin, but do know someone with the surname Atherton, they may be worth listening to. It was the top performing surname in the both the UK and Ireland during last year’s premier jumps event, with a profit of 362%.
Kelvins, meanwhile, made 216% – which is a very handy return.
We also came up with a ‘worst tipster’ profile from the least successful punters in 2016 – and that fella is Andre Horton from Windsor, aged over 65.
Asked about the report spokesperson Paddy Power said: “I’ve spent the last few hours on Facebook, desperately searching for a Kelvin Atherton from Dagenham – I could use a few of his tips before Tuesday.
“Typically, I know loads of Andre Hortons. OK, so that might not actually be their name, but they have the same success rate.”
The 5 most profitable major areas (UK and Ireland)
1. Dagenham, profit of 645%
2. Ross-on-Wye, up 372%
3. Waltham Cross, up 228%
4. Christchurch, up 226%
5. Dublin, up 186%
The 5 least profitable major areas (UK and Ireland)
1. Windsor, down 19.92%
2. Gravesend, down 14.56%
3. Bridgend, down 10.78%
4. Abingdon, down 10.06%
5. Dún Laoghaire, down 8.53%
The 5 most profitable first names
1. Kelvin, profit of 216%
2. Jodie, up 150%
3. Eimear, up 112%
4. Joel, up 103%
5. Damon, up 99%
The 5 least profitable first names
1. Andre, down 42.14%
2. Mervyn, down 34.7%
3. Ciaran, down 27.72%
4. Leanne, down 27.45%
5. Clifford, down 27.16%
The 5 most profitable surnames
1. Atherton, up 362%
2. Shannon, up 276%
3. Cody, up 260%
4. Claffey, up 235%
5. Cowman, up 176%
The 5 least profitable surnames
1. Horton, down 58.91%
2. Bolger, down 46.76%
3. Platt, down 40.87%
4. Johns, down 38.07%
5. Shanahan, down 32.51%
The 5 most profitable age ranges
1. 18 – 24, up 34
2. 25 – 29, up 29%
3. 30 – 34, up 27%
4. 35 – 39, up 21%
5. 45 – 49, up 20%
Best tipster
Kelvin Atherton, from Dagenham. Aged between 18 and 24.
Worst tipster
Andre Horton, from Windsor. Aged over 65.