7 for 7: Know your tipsters better. Episode 3, ALCUNI

7 for 7: Know your tipsters better is an article-series developed by Betdistrict, focusing on profiling the tipsters that bring you daily picks on our website. We have a small snippet, personal info and interviews containing 7 questions. The first ‘season’ of the series will see 7 of our tipsters interviewed. If you find the articles useful and enjoyable, the series will continue with a second season.

Adrian, going by the nickname of Alcuni, is a 44 year old Romanian, a husband and the proud father of a daughter. But at the same time he’s also one of the better and most appreciated tipsters around the web – and obviously we`re very happy to have him writing his expert French Ligue 2 tips every week on Betdistrict. Today we try to get into his head, see his inputs about the betting industry and find out why he has over 100 units in profit and a 9% Yield from 150 tips (as of June 2015). Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for Alcuni!

How did you become involved in sports betting and when did you start earning constantly?
Funny story. I was at a bridge contest with my partner when he said “I’ll go place an accumulator on some hockey and tennis games”. I said “what”? And he told me all about it. It was back in September 2008. I asked him “ok, now give me some sure games to bet myself”. He told me 5 matches (I remember the precise date because between those games was a Germany – Romania friendly and I had it over 3.5). I went for the first time at a local bookie and played 25 Euros on those games. I won something like 200 euros and needless to say I was very content 🙂 Eh … call it beginner’s luck. You can imagine what was next, I discovered online sites with betting contest and also online bookies. For this I must say “thanks Bozo”.

What’s your most memorable win/loss in betting? Can you walk us through the experience?
A memorable win for me happened last year, when I played 100 Euro on Angers – Clermont 2 at odds of almost 7.50 at Pinnacle.

Memorable loss, it depends:
– if we refer at the biggest amount bet on a game this was 200 EURO on Inter- Cagliari over 0.5 at HT; of course it was 0-0 at half time and 2-2 in the end.
– if we refer to the biggest potential win, than this was also last year: Laval – Le Havre, 150 Euro bet on Le Havre @ 5.50 and lost over 600 Euro in potential profit; must mention Laval leveled it in the 94th minute at their single shoot on goal, from 35-40 meters; immediately the referee put an end to the game, as there were only 3 mins of injury time shown.
– the shameless loss of Switzerland against Luxembourg (1-2, odds around 1.05), but this was in my early betting days

Otherwise, I generally play between 30/50 EURO per game; when I am in crisis the amount is decreasing considerable (max 15 EURO/game).

Your tips are exclusively based on Ligue 2 football. Why do you think it’s such a good league to bet on and how did you become an expert in the French second division?
At the beginning I was playing 2-5 games accumulators. At that time I was betting a lot of games from England’s lower leagues, but in the last 4 years I played almost 90-95% of my bets on France 2. I decided to follow a single division considering it’s better than to swim in a large number of teams/championships. I made a test first time (I played “on paper” almost the entire 2nd half of the season 2011/2012 and surprisingly for me the results were quite good). Of course, I started to watch live a lot of matches, also highlights, to read French papers, stats … in one word to do my homework in a professional manner. There’s a lot of work to do ’till one can become an expert; now I am just a bit more serious than in my beginnings.

Clearly your betting style is going with underdogs. Why?
As you know, Ligue 2 includes quite leveled teams. It’s hard to bet sometimes but I can’t agree with your statement. NO, I don’t bet on underdogs. I try to find value in each game (maybe it’s an utopia but … I try). I like to play high odds (another thanks to a tipster named pescadorul) and when I see a pattern in the results of some teams, I follow this pattern (not always successfully). It’s true that these days I bet on underdogs more, but only because it’s the end of the season and we can see a lot of surprises at this stage.

You are writing for other websites as well and I noticed that wherever you go, you are one of the most appreciated tipsters – including on Betdistrict. You have very good stats everywhere, but not the best. Why do you think people like your picks so much?
It`s true, I am present on several websites. First of all, I’m tipping matches that I bet on. I explain why I chose a particular option, team news, strange results if any and so on. I bet (where I`m allowed to) on almost all games from Ligue 2. In this way some other bettors can read, judge and play what they consider safe. When you are winning of course everybody likes you (except maybe those you compete with). I guess these are the main reasons.

What`s your honest opinion about Betdistrict?
Here on Betdistrict is a small, but active community. You can find bets from a lot of sports and first of all I feel it is a peaceful climate. I wish you to grow continuously and to become one of the top 3 profile sites soon.

Thank you mate. A message for your followers and for Betdistrict’s readers?
First of all, we must always be disciplined – but this is the hardest part of betting, I think. Be moderate, not greedy. Always do your own homework no matters what Alcuni (or anybody) is saying. Think for yourself, it`s your own money you are betting. And take a breath of air, be patient … better days are coming soon!

Tipster personal info and gossip
Favorite bookie: Pinnacle
Country: Romania
Age: 44
Music genre: Almost all rock style (Pink Floyd – top of the list)
Favorite movie(s): House of cards, True Detective
Favorite person: Roger Federer
Favorite team: Dinamo Bucharest (ouch) / Guingamp
Tipster profile page

“Bet exactly the money you afford to lose ” – Alcuni