Yeh well I think that was the problem - people were using 'bots' to essentially play the game for them, always making plays based on odds. Pretty sure most of these are illegal now though.

I can't see anything wrong with having a spreadsheet up and running whilst playing though. The only issue may be the amount of variables that would need to be input - would there be enough time?

Well I'm real grown up now with a job and everything so I've got money to spare lol so going to give this a go (and matched betting, that shit sounds awesome :-P).