VDW Maximiser Review: Horse Racing Ratings Software

The software is based on the VDW (Van Der Wheil) method, which is basically a ranking system that rates horses by their form, ability and class.

We decided to stop using the strategies and just use all of the stats available on the software to find our own selections and then as advised, check them against other free racing websites.

We saw a big improvement in our results with 2 out of 3 profitable months but unfortunately only made a small profit just under 1 point in the end.

Key Stats - Overall

Results - Update Four

VDW Maximiser is not the easiest service to rate as every person that uses it will most likely end up with different results, depending on how they choose to make use of the tool. We came to the conclusion that as a resource to help narrow down potential selections to bet on in a race, it was brilliant. 

It very quickly shows you a horses form and ability rating, as well as how relevant the race is to the VDW system based on past results.

We found that the strategies given in the video guides didn't perform very well, although we could perhaps have tested them for longer. The issue with that was that it was quite time-consuming to check for qualifiers for five different systems, which is why we decided to just focus on narrowing down bets race by race.

We have been informed by the vendor that they are planning on upgrading the documentation that goes with all of their services, so this may help in the future.

As a stand-alone tool, we did find it tough to make an overall profit after four months and that makes it difficult to recommend VDW Maximiser, especially to beginners. However, we do feel that the tool would certainly be useful for some people, perhaps for more experienced bettors, so we have decided that a neutral rating is fair.

VDW Maximiser Review: Update Three

21st May 2018

We have continued using the same methods as last month in our VDW Maximiser review and it is working out well with another profitable month. We have managed to make a total profit of 7.95 points at an ROI of 13.5% over the past two months. 

We have tried to be as selective as we can with our chosen bets and have researched each one by cross-referencing with the Racing Post and Timeform. Although the amount of profit we've made so far isn't exactly mindblowing, we're pleased to have made a gradual increase to our bank by adding in some lower risk bets in place markets.

Key Stats - Update Three

All results include a deduction of 5% Betfair commission.

Results - Update Three

We feel confident that there is money to be made from this software based on our experience so far, but we are going to continue testing it for a further month so that we have a full three months worth of results using our revised strategy.

VDW Maximiser Review: Update Two

22nd April 2018

During the first month of our VDW Maximiser review, we had started by testing out the strategies from the video guides and it hadn't gone so well. The vendor explained that they were really more of a starting point to learn how the software works, so we decided to change our tack for month two.

Instead of following any particular strategy we have been using the software to narrow races down, only looking at the most profitable races each day and have been a lot more selective.

Once we had a shortlist of promising horses, we cross-referenced them against the Racing Post and Timeform analysis before making a final decision on whether they would make a good bet.

This has been working out much better for us and we have finished the month with a profit of 5.22 points at an ROI of 20.9%. We did actually build up to a high of 13.36 points but unfortunately there was a losing run towards the end of the month that set us back.

Note: We have started with a fresh bank of 100 points to separate our results from using the strategies vs our new method.

Results - Update Two

The software is proving to be very useful in narrowing down races. We will continue using the same method for another month and will report back with how we get on.

VDW Maximiser Review: Update One

22nd March 2018

We've been testing the VDW Maximiser software for a month now and things haven't really been going to plan. We have lost 15 points so far from a total of 65 races, with 27 of them returning a profit. 

We have used all five strategies, but the results below exclude strategy 4 which uses a separate bank and staking system. Here is a breakdown of the profit/loss for each strategy:

There have only been 4 selections for strategy 4 this month and it has made a loss of 2.89 points so far.

Key Stats - Update One

Blindly following the strategies hasn't gone so well for us so far, so we decided to ask for some advice from the vendor.

They wrote back with quite a comprehensive reply, but the gist of it is the strategies were designed to help users learn to use the software and perhaps come up with their own angles. Although the software helps to narrow the field down to find the best horses, it's beneficial to use other sites, such as the Racing Post, alongside it to narrow selections down further.

So, the plan over the next month is to run some extra checks using some of the free resources around and be a bit more selective. We are also considering scrapping the dutching strategies (2 & 3) as we feel these races are bit trickier to analyse.

VDW Maximiser Review: Introduction

15th February 2018

The Van Der Wheil (VDW) method is a horse ratings system that originated in the 1980s and it works by scoring each horse based on its form, ability or class. The idea is that there are more factors to consider than simply backing horses based on their form alone, as they can still be beaten by those of a higher ability or class.

The VDW method focuses on the top five horses in the betting line-up, as statistically this is where 83% of winners are claimed to come from.

The strategy in it's original form was to rate each horse by their ability in the two most valuable races on the card, then back the horses with the most consistent form in the top five of the betting market.

The VDW Maximiser software uses the same principles but has been "turbo-charged", claiming to make the method more profitable than ever.

The software rates every horse in every race each day by VDW form and ability and also works out a custom VDW score.

The software interface is quite simple but underneath there are some powerful calculations being carried out. The sales page breaks it down into five steps:

It comes with five strategies that make use of various features, such as the VDW scores and the horses marked in green as you can see above. These are explained in details in video guides that walk you through the filters you need to look at and the best way to maximise profits. 

We have only checked out three of them so far and two of them involve dutching several horses, which is great if you prefer a low risk style of betting.

We are pleased to see that we don't need to use any bookies with this software as all bets can be placed at Betfair or another exchange as long as there is enough liquidity.

Access to the software is priced at £19.99 +VAT for the first 60 days and then £24.99 +VAT per month thereafter.

We have begun testing the first three strategies with 4/5 wins so far and we will be adding in strategies 4 + 5 once we have got more of a feel for how it works.

We will report back in a month's time with our first set of results.