Sports Handicapping : Avoid Being Scammed

Each year millions of dollars are spent on purchasing sports picks from the “experts.” The sports handicapping industry is filled to the brim with scam artists. I would estimate that 9 out of 10 sports handicappers are scam artists—by trying to pass themselves off as something they aren’t. The unsuspecting sports bettor can easily be taken and end up losing money on the transaction and the bet itself. False sports betting professionals are typically easy to spot.

When you are thinking of purchasing a sports pick from a sports handicapper, pay close attention to the wording. Is it 99% marketing and 1% meat? If the person or service is spending most of their time telling you that it’s the lock of the century, walk away. While real professionals do get excited about their sports picks, they don’t try to sell you solely on the emotion of the moment.

Marketing Spin

Should the person or service tell you that they have “inside information”, that’s another tip-off that you need to walk away. In today’s world, with information overload and the Internet, there’s really no such thing as inside information. Sure, some still exists, such as if a player will indeed play, but it is very minimal and a real pro can pick the winner based on the plethora of information that’s out there.

Is the person or service telling you they have a X unit play or they have won X units this week, month or year? If nothing else, pay close attention to what I am about to say. Professionals play one unit per play—this should include you too. That unit might be $10, $50, $100 or $10,000, but it’s one unit. If the sports pick is looking extra strong, perhaps betting 1.5 units might be an option and maybe once in a blue moon two units is possible. If someone is telling you they bet twenty units, they are misleading you.

Upon Further Review

Let’s say you bet four games this week with the following bet amounts: $10, $20, $15 and $30. You did not bet one unit on game one and three units on game four. Rather, you bet one unit on game three ($15) and two units on game four—plus a little less on game one and a little more on game two.

What the scam artists does is “say” their betting unit is $5 and therefore game one was two units, game two four units and so on. If you are going to evaluate a service, do it on wins and losses—period.

Game Selections

Another fact to remember is that no professional plays more than a couple games a day—sometimes there is call to go a little higher. I have seen many so-called professional services that release six, eight, ten and more plays each and every possible day. They do this to pad their numbers and create a greater opportunity to apply marketing spin and take your money.

There is nothing wrong with purchasing a sports play—especially if you are not good at picking winnings. You simply need to be wise when you do it. Never pay an arm and a leg for any play—unless the person/service is going to refund you all the money wagered if you lose, which will never happen. Be wise and win more.