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If you’ve ever looked at a tipster’s results and seen figures such as +32 points, 0.5 pt each-way or 2 pts win, it can seem a little confusing at first.
The good news is that betting in points is actually very straightforward. A point is just a staking unit, and you decide how much that unit is worth in pounds.
Using points makes it much easier to follow tipster results and compare different services without everyone having to bet the same amount of money.
What Does a 1-Point Stake Mean?
A 1-point stake is simply the standard staking unit you are using.
The important thing is that a point doesn’t have a fixed cash value. One person might use £5 per point, while another uses £20 or £50.
For example, if you set your point value at £10:
- 0.25 pt = £2.50
- 0.5 pt = £5
- 1 pt = £10
- 2 pts = £20
The point system stays exactly the same regardless of the amount you’re betting. Only the cash value changes.
This is why a tipster can recommend a 1-point bet without needing to know the size of every subscriber’s betting bank.
How to Convert Points Into Money
Once you’ve decided how much 1 point is worth, converting points into pounds is easy:
Points × value per point = cash stake
So, if you’re using £20 per point:
| Points | Cash Stake |
| 0.25 pt | £5 |
| 0.5 pt | £10 |
| 1 pt | £20 |
| 1.5 pts | £30 |
| 2 pts | £40 |
The same works when converting profits and losses.
If a tipster makes +15 points and your point value is £20, that would equal £300 profit.
If the service loses 5 points, that would mean a £100 loss using the same point value.
This makes it easy to translate tipster results into figures that are relevant to your own stakes.
Why Tipsters Use Points Instead of Pounds
Points give tipsters a standard way to record stakes and results.
If a service simply said it had made £2,000 profit, that figure wouldn’t tell you very much without knowing how much was being staked on each bet.
A profit of £2,000 could be excellent if the average stake was £20, but far less impressive if the service was regularly risking several hundred pounds at a time.
Points remove that problem.
A result of +40 points means the same thing whether the follower is using £5 per point or £100 per point. The monetary return will obviously be different, but the underlying performance of the service is easier to compare.
It also means followers can scale the staking to suit their own circumstances rather than copying somebody else’s cash stakes.
How to Read Tipster Stakes in Points
Some tipsters use the same stake on every selection, while others vary the number of points depending on the bet.
You might see something like:
- 0.5 pt – smaller stake
- 1 pt – standard stake
- 2 pts – larger stake
A higher stake can indicate greater confidence, but that isn’t always the case. Some services use their own staking system based on factors such as price, perceived value or the type of bet, so it’s worth checking how the tipster explains it.
Each-way bets also need a little attention. If a horse racing tipster advises 1 pt each-way, this will usually mean 1 point on the win and 1 point on the place, making the total stake 2 points.
That’s why it’s always worth checking the staking rules before following a service, rather than assuming every tipster uses points in exactly the same way.
Points and Betting Banks
Your point value will usually be linked to the size of your betting bank.
For example, somebody with a £1,000 betting bank might choose to use £10 per point, meaning the bank contains 100 points.
Another bettor could use a different point value depending on the type of bets they place and how much variance they expect.
I’ve covered this in more detail in the guide to betting bank management, including how to think about bank size and staking without putting too much of your bankroll at risk.
What Does 1 Point Mean on a Lay Bet?
Things become slightly less obvious when you’re looking at lay betting.
With a normal back bet, the maximum amount you can lose is usually the stake itself.
Lay betting is different because the amount you could lose depends on the odds you lay at.
This means a service needs to be clear about whether its points refer to the lay stake or the liability.
Stake vs Liability on Lay Bets
Suppose you lay a horse at odds of 3.00 with a £10 lay stake.
Your liability would be:
(3.00 – 1) × £10 = £20
So, if your point value is £10:
- Lay stake = 1 point
- Liability = 2 points
This is an important distinction.
If one lay service records stakes in points while another records liability in points, comparing their results directly can give you the wrong impression about how much was actually being risked.
For that reason, I’d always check how a lay betting service calculates its points before judging its profit figures or following the recommended stakes.
What Is a Sensible Point Size?
There isn’t one point value that works for everyone.
A sensible point size should be small enough that a normal losing run doesn’t put your betting bank under too much pressure.
That might mean £5 per point for one person and £50 per point for another. The amount itself matters less than whether it fits the size of the bank and the type of bets being placed.
It’s also worth resisting the temptation to increase your point value after a few wins or reduce it every time you hit a losing spell. Constantly changing the cash value makes it much harder to track your results properly.
Final Thoughts
Betting in points gives you a simple way to standardise stakes and results.
Once you know what 1 point is worth in pounds, the figures used by a tipster become much easier to follow.
The main thing to watch for is how the service defines its points, particularly with each-way or lay bets where the total amount at risk might not be obvious from the headline stake.
Once that’s clear, points make it much easier to compare tipsters and understand what their results would actually mean for your own betting.
