I’ve recently had a subscriber ask me about the Equitrack VSR System from Equinex Ltd who are based in Cheshunt, Herts.
This is a horse racing betting system. You buy a licence to their system and then use it to create “no lose” betting opportunities on exchanges such as Betfair.
The email read:
“I am considering investing in Equinex Ltd’s Equitrack VSR system and have been invited to a live demonstration of the system. I am contacting you to see if you or any members have any experience of this system or have heard anything good or bad about the system, before i potentially waste my time.
The system is a software programe called Equitrack VSR which shows what to bet on in horse races.
The blurb states that they have been the UK’s leading sports software provider since 1998.
The cost of the system is at present £3,500 (Three Thousand Five hundred pounds) exc VAT until 31st January 2007. usually £4,500.
In the last mail (29th December 2006) they are increasing the cost of the program to £5,500 after the 31st January 2007.
They base the return figures on a 10% compounding bank starting each month with £100 invested.
Figures for 2003: £36,813.
2004: £37,411.
2005: £22,338.
2006 (so far): £24,622. (projected to be circa £32,622).The sales letter is a simple 1 A4 page where it details the returns made monthly, the cost of the system and an invitation to attend a live demonstration (all of the mailings have just been to try and get me to attend a live demonstration) I assume that it is then that the hard sell may come into play.
The figures appear to be on the too good to be true side and the cost has kept me away from this opportunity, until now. They haven’t shut up shop and done a runner and i havent reard any negative press on them, so im thinking there may be some validity in the figures.
I’v tried to do some research on them, but there is very little available. I recently joined the Home business Alliance and their magazine “The Boss” has back issues available, they have Equinex listed in the contents of 4 issues going back to Jan 2003. I have recently ordered all of the magazines where Equinex is listed and will foward any info on to you if you require it.
Website addresss is http://www.equinex.com/EquinexV2/Home.html
Also: http://www.equitrack.net/homepage.htm
equinex’s email contact is admin@equinex.com
The address details are Equinex limited, Riverdene House, 140 High Street, Cheshunt, Herts, EN8 0AW. Tel: 01992 628688.
I have been recieving posts from them for at least 3 years now and it’s always been the same address and this is the address that is listed for them on the Companies House website.
My next step is to speak to one of them on the phone and ask abit more about the system and if they have staged payment methods etc.
Your comments would be appreciated”
Unfortunately, I do not know very much about horse racing, tipsters or betting exchange software so I cannot help.
However, I do know that many people out in the biz opps world are experts in the horse racing field so I would like to throw open the request.
Can anyone help me out here? Do you know anything about the Equitrack VSR System?
If so, please leave a comment here or contact me via the BizOppsUK Support Desk.
Thanks in advance,
Ben
hi Im looking at VSR software as well and have spoken to Barry sheperd in decemder 06 he says they haveloads of testimonials at there office but I still am not sure £4500+vat is alot compared to all other software out there and how comes there are no reviews either good or bad ,if anyone can find out anything please help.thankyou.
Comment by andrew brown – January 15, 2007 @ 5:48 pm
Hi,
I am looking at the VSR Software as well. How are people getting on with this?. Andrew Brown….. Any comments at all?
Ant Atkins
Comment by Ant Atkins – April 19, 2007 @ 8:18 am
The system does work if you know how to work the system, its as simple as that! You have to look at this system as a business and invest as a smart investor using the system, don’t be a gambler or if you are a gambler then you will not follow the system and you will not get the results. I am have had the system for many years and if I ever need to make money its there as a back up.
Comment by George – December 5, 2007 @ 1:29 am
Email I received today:
Subject: equinex
Hi,
I have been using the system for 4 weeks, and although its early days, it works provided that you follow the format. Please feel free to get back to me as I would be interested to hear of others who have the system.
Regards
Jon
Comment by Ben – February 27, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
Hi
I have also been looking at this system and visited Barry Shepherd about 18 months ago, though I havent taken the system at present.
I am also looking to get feedback from people who have actual day to day experience with the system in order to judge whether its as simple to operate as Barry promises. It seems really difficult to contact anyone in what appears a secretive world of betting. If anyone can shed more light on this subject it would be appreciated.
Thanks
Alan
Comment by Alan – April 13, 2008 @ 10:35 am
Hi,
my partner is interested in this adn to be honest it leaves me feeling very nervous. Can anyone advise me how it can possibly be a cert to invest money in something esentially dependent on consistent performance of horses. It appears to me to be gambling by another name, and although Im not completely closed to it - appears extremely high risk unless you can afford to throw £5k + away? Grateful for any experiencial advice?
Comment by Angel – April 18, 2008 @ 1:41 pm
you do have alot of personal Equinex private company details spread accross your website, maybe you should inform the company they are that formed opinion of.
they do advertise their company themselves???????????
They are a tiny company in cheshunt, Herts, with only 4 staff members working there?????????
confused???????????
Comment by Equinex Ltd????? – May 19, 2008 @ 4:09 pm
Can you rephrase the question please as I do not understand what you mean.
Comment by Ben – May 19, 2008 @ 5:43 pm
Hi
I bought this system 5 years ago. Lost money consistently for a year then gave up.
I paid £5000, so the price has gone down!!
Jack
Comment by Jack – May 24, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Hi guys.
There seems to be few of you out there that have had the same idea as me on this equitrack system. I cannot find too many comments on the system good or any at all bad. Is it possible the people who have invested hard cash in this system are too embarassed to admit they screwed up. If so please help us to not make the same mistake . I am going to invest on this possibly great system if nobody gives any bad vibes to me.
The figs look good and seem to be achievable. I’m down there next week or so. So please give me some feedback……..
Comment by wilpy – May 24, 2008 @ 5:32 pm
Hi i went over to there offices this week and met Barry and got the presentation .It looks impressive ,something is nagging me though “if it looks to good to be true then it is ” i am still in 2 minds as to proceed or not .i think i would be more comfortable if i could speak to some of the people who gave testimonials .
Comment by Nick – May 29, 2008 @ 11:53 pm
I have left a message previously that I had been using the system for 4 weeks.
Well 6 months in and it has paid for itself. It’s taken a while for 2 reasons.
1. I haven’t had the courage to ‘invest’ at the level suggested to get the returns advertised.
2. I deviated from the system when I hit a losing streak trying to recoup my losses.
What I have found is that if you use the system as demonstrated by Barry then it does work. However, and I’m not stupid, the presentation day does leave you dazed as to the amount of information you take in, in a relatively short space of time. Barry is more then happy for you to go back though, for a refresher.
Also the backup through Sandra and Boulent is top class, and they are always happy to take any calls from you.
I have had the system since Jan 2008 and it has paid for itself and also a nice holiday for 3 of us. I did resist the temptation to take my laptop abroad to invest whilst on holiday though!
Comment by Jon – July 14, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
I am a single mother who has just been made redundant and am considering this Equitrack VSR system as a way of providing a good income for my family and working from home. I cannot afford to lose the £5k and would be interested to hear again from ‘Wilpy’ who was considering joining in May, as to whether he has been successful or not. I would really appreciate getting feedback from anyone who has been involved with this system - should I or should I not invest?? I was also intrigued by ‘George’s’ comment, that he uses this system as a ‘back-up’ when he needs to make money! Why not use the system all the time if it is a guaranteed money maker? Any comments/advise would be gratefully received.
Comment by Mags – August 13, 2008 @ 8:09 am
Mags, if your hope for independence is guaranteed money, courtesy of Equitrack VSR, I hope you succeed, but it eluded me. I lost consistently over 3 months and, two weeks ago, finally drew a line at £270.94, writing off £5.3k. Deferring decision about losses (e.g. by keeping the Program as a “back-up”) is easier than leaving no doubt about it.
The only real security is knowledge, which is the power to control outcomes. The Program puts you at the moving edge of what’s happening in a horse race, either (1) by hedging bets, which means predicting that odds will continue to fall or rise so as to make a small profit, or (2) by gambling like a pro for higher rewards and risks. But let’s not deceive ourselves - hedging gives you no gift of foresight so that you always place your counter-bet with the market going in your favour (it will dump your counter-bet and leave you backing a losing horse with alarming frequency, or mock you for your indecision); and, apart from good downloadable VSR advice, a handy Dutching Calculator and careful venue selection, the software leaves gamblers no other scope for control.
Planning is an attempt to control the future, but with Equinex the future controls you (by the power of hope). Their apparently strong financial performance using the system is a picture of how you hope it will pan out for you.
If does not pan out, they will never (after their extravagant claims) blame the inherent unpredictability of horse-racing or the naivety of their model. They will advise you to remedy shortfalls either by receiving more (unnecessary) training, or by betting only what you can afford to lose, or by carrying on regardless (hoping to recover losses by winning next time). In the first case, expect to pay a further £199 for two hours and a 26-page manual; in the second, prepare to be trapped in triviality; in the third, expect to freak out more and more. I experienced all these unplanned and unpleasant outcomes.
If you like to be in control, financially and emotionally, don’t be tempted - unless you are, or wish to be, a seasoned gambler with all that it implies.
Comment by George II – August 14, 2008 @ 1:35 am
I agree with Jon and George (Dec 2005) if you follow the system then it does work. I’ve had the system for about 10 months now and can say that I’m very pleased with it as it’s making me money and the backup service is excellent. I was skeptic to begin with but I had the free trial and see it for myself. Obviously if you’re a gambler then this may not be for you as you need to follow the system.
Replying to Mags… I used to work part time but now concentrate on the Equinex system working from home as there are many different aspects to the program including dutching, lays etc.
Ad
Comment by Adam Henderson – August 21, 2008 @ 10:15 am
I followed the system from the outset and still lost money.
On 20 May, I tried the Cover-To-Win Dutching Strategy in the 15.50 at Beverley. I staked £59.81, entering Yes One and Princess Cocoa in the table, then placing another stake on Nevada Desert to cover the first two. All three horses were VSR qualifiers, satisfied the dutching guidelines and I had covered over 90% of the book after including Nevada Desert. There was only one other horse in this race. A textbook Cover-To-Win Dutch and a dead cert you might think – yet the outsider won.
Win-Or-Don’t Lose should have been risk-free. On 31 July, in the 19.00 at Sandown, the forecast starting price for Marching Time was 4.0. Before the ‘off’ these odds has declined sharply to 2.06, the price level at which I decided to back Marching Time (£20 to win) and simultaneously place a £20 lay bet at odds of 1.6. The race did not start till 19.10 and I watched in dismay as the odds rose to 3.0 by 19.09. Despite revising my Lay bet upwards, it was unmatched, leaving a Back bet, which, if the horse had won, would have made me £26.66. In the event, Marching Time lost, and I forfeited £20.
“The basic rule for a successful hedge is that the odds you back at must be higher than the lay odds” (p.17). It looks straightforward; and it is - but only if you can see into the future. For how on earth does one picture which way the odds are going to move NEXT? In one race I place a lay bet at odds of 7.0 in a strongly rising market. The curve momentarily shoots up to 7.4. Time to place a back bet. A moment’s hesitation and the odds have dropped to 7.1. Too narrow a gap, best to leave it…see if it rises again. No, the odds continue to fall. ..down to 6.8, then, as the race begins, to 6.4. The further below 7.0 the more I stand to lose, so I place a back bet at once, hoping to minimise an even greater loss. But the odds start to rise again to about 7.1, when I could have made a profit. So I find that my initial hesitation has cost me – but trying to cut my losses has also cost me. Now if I had acted when the odds had reached 7.4, I would certainly have “locked in a guaranteed profit” - but only in that split-second. A second later and it’s locked out. There is no inevitability in the process of securing profits. One guesses the future, extrapolating from the gradient. It is easy to be wise after the event (“don’t take snap-decisions”, “have a get-out strategy” etc).
I also experimented with the method on p.22 of the Training Manual. On 25 July in the 14.25 at Wolverhampton I placed a Lay Bet on Chiffre since I’d seen the price suddenly treble to 10.00, suggesting that it was going to LOSE. Despite the Lay price surge, the horse went on to WIN and I lost £90. I also found the same data trends predictive of a horse going on to win associated with a losing horse.
My expenditure (£199) on the Instruction Manual and further training is proof that I was determined to follow the system in all its aspects.
I suspend judgment on Method 1, however, which I never tried, as it seemed too much like gambling. (What else can the terms ‘Win Bet’, ‘Place Bet’ mean, Adam?). I preferred to hedge.
George (heretic).
P.S. I’m going away for 3 weeks. The faithful can build their case, unchallenged.
P.P.S. Is “Ad” short for Adam or advertisement?
Comment by George II – August 21, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
As your enquirers expect and deserve a thoughtful contribution, allow me to add further postscripts to my blog yesterday.
Regarding the race (mentioned in the 4th paragraph) where the odds rise from 7.0 to 7.4, then dip to 6.4, then resume their normal trajectory, I would add that I lost money by following the advice in the Manual (i.e. “avoid knee-jerk responses” and “have a get-out strategy”). A knee-jerk response was precisely what was needed to realize the £5.43 profit I would have made (assuming I had laid £100 at 7.0) by seizing on the momentary price surge to 7.4 and backing at £94.57; and it would have been by ignoring the emergency-exit advice and holding on that I would have eventually made the princely sum of £1.41 at 7.1. Do you see, Adam, how the same advice can be useful or not, depending on the vicissitudes of a particular market trend?
Another point, regarding the important decision to give up one’s paid employment for this. A stake of £100 – a heart-stopping moment as the odds suddenly shorten – then a recovery, resulting in a net potential profit of £1.41. £1.41 for what could be an hour’s work! And try putting your worries about stress and irregular motions to your doctor in their true context of guessing games involving three-figure sums of money for such a small return!
Any ideas about what might have made the odds shorten and lengthen again? Imagine there are hundreds of punters and Equinexers all doing what you are doing, backing the horse you are backing in order to hedge their bets in a strongly rising market. Wouldn’t that suddenly cause the odds to shorten from 7.4 to 6.4 and then lengthen again to 7.1? What could have caused the odds on Marching Time to lengthen at Sandown (paragraph 3 in my previous blog), if not the fact that a late start gave more people a chance to hedge their back bets with lays? A late race start would not, in itself, alter a punter’s perceptions of a horse’s potential performance. The assumption of the WODL method is that lay bets, placed opportunistically just before the race is scheduled to begin, are too small to affect the resulting price level enough to reverse a downward odds-trend. But no one knows whether one’s colleagues might not be injecting such volatility and artificiality into the market (especially small ones) that they undermine the whole hedging enterprise.
So, Adam, you had a “free trial and saw it working for yourself”. Seeing it in a demonstration and receiving a copy of the staff’s performance figures (using Method 1) for a week on your behalf (so that you can avail yourself of a discount on the basis of what you believed would be your own profit-making efforts in the office) to take home is not the same as doing it. In their brochure (p.5) Equinex only offer a free trial of their VSR investment reports (“ratings”), which are delivered by email. In fact I got them “free” for 3 months, downloading them for much of this time. After that I had to pay £3 a day for the ratings. But most people understand by “free trial” that they can use the software at home themselves for a reasonable period, say three months, to test it and if they are unsatisfied they can return it for a full refund. Not true in my case. Barry said, “We don’t do refunds.” I don’t call that a free trial of the software – and it is the software that cost £4,700 or so, not the £3-a-day ratings.
Food for thought?
Comment by George II – August 22, 2008 @ 10:31 am
I am considering purchasing the system, Adam how have you got on since your last comment in August.
Comment by John – September 22, 2008 @ 11:32 am