I will be straight with you. I am a punter, not a trader. Half the fun for me is not knowing what happens next, so software that lets you lock in a profit before the tapes go up was always going to feel like turning up to a party and leaving before the music starts.

Credit where it is due though. Bet Angel has been going longer than most things on this site, and people do not keep paying for software that does not work. The automation side, the Guardian tool, is the bit that genuinely impresses me. You set your rules and let it get on with things while you are at work pretending to look at spreadsheets.

The pricing is where you want to pay attention. Twelve pounds fifty a month sounds very reasonable until you notice that is the annual price. Month to month it is £29.99 for exactly the same software, which is quite a jump. There is a Trader version at a fiver that looks like a steal, although their own site and the reviews cannot agree on what you actually get for it, so check first.

The practice mode is the real selling point for me. You can trade with fake money until you work out which buttons do what, which beats learning the expensive way on a Tuesday night at Wolverhampton.

Two honest warnings. It is Windows only and the interface looks like it was designed a fair while back. And no piece of software has ever made anyone money on its own, whatever the forum tells you.

Used it yourself? Got on with it or found it baffling? Leave your review below and let the rest of us know.