I am always amazed at the number of sports bettors who pay for picks for online sports handicapping. True, the sports handicapper business is dying a slow death these past years, but nevertheless, they are still a multi-million dollar industry. I guess its true – there’s a sucker born every minute.
I still get the occasional Nigerian phishing scam email from time to time and wonder who the hell is stupid enough to fall for it? But it must work or they wouldn’t keep on trying, right? We’ll the same principal holds true for the sports handicapping service.
Believe it or not, dim witted sports bettors believe the bogus winning record claims and will drop anywhere from $25 to $500 or more for ‘guaranteed lock picks’ from the numerous sports handicappers sites online in hopes of hitting it big. Many of these handicappers portray themselves as legitimate football analysts who have a thorough understanding of sports. In reality, these handicappers are no better than your average NFL fan who posts free picks on Bleacher Report or sports blogs each week. We’ve outlined a few reasons why it’s just one big scam:
1. Handicappers Play Both Sides
A common practice of sports handicappers is called “Playing both sides.” While you think your sports pick is based on the touting service’s solid knowledge of both teams, these companies will divide their customer bases into two. They will feed one half of their customers a pick for one team while giving the other half of customers the pick for the other team. This guarantees that at least half of their customer base will be on the winning side. Then its ‘rinse and repeat’. They might also try this technique by running two different tout services that give predictions for different teams.
2. Sports Handicapping Should Not Exist
Think about it, why would any legitimate handicapper tout service bother to sell its picks to the public? They would just bet their own picks every week and get rich. Are they giving bettors the winning picks out of the goodness of their heart? In fact, if they were legit, they would want to keep it a secret so that the sportsbooks wouldn’t move the lines against them, right?
Vegas and every online betting website would go bankrupt overnight as the word spread that this touting service is legit. But last time I checked, Vegas is still open for business.
3. Handicappers Work With Sportbooks
Have you ever noticed that most handicapper service sites are littered with banner advertisements from online sportsbooks? Do you think that online sportsbooks would pay for ad space in hopes that they will attract customers that constantly win?
What’s even worse is that sports handicapper services will often have revenue share agreements with sportbooks whereby they get a percentage of the losses from the players they send. This alone should convince people that paying for a sports handicapping service goes against common sense.
You would be better off getting some free betting tips.
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