Some Handicapping 101 Truisms

Sports Handicappers such as myself spend countless hours sifting through information, crunching numbers, and searching for line value. The best of us go all out in hopes for a 55-60% season ( 52.38% is the breakeven point assuming a 10% vigorish or juice), with very few of us actually able to achieve the higher end of that range. Sports Handicapping is the ultimate GRIND, there is no magic, and the first hour of the movie "Two for the Money" is absolute BS. No matter how many times some of these scamdicappers tell you that a game is an absolute lock of a lifetime (by the way, ever realize that its the fifth lock of the lifetime this month, and they all just happen to be Monday Night games!), nothing is a lock, even for those of us who make a living handicapping sports. . I tell my customers that our goal is to make money in the long run each season, and that they have to prepare themselves for the emotional ups and downs. If you cannot stomach these highs and lows, go play fantasy football, or go enter a squares drawing at the local bar... sports betting is not for you. Also, I say those of "us" who handicap sports for a living, because I am a handicapper first (going on 12 years) and a service second. Many of my colleagues in this industry tell me I need to market more effectively, sell more plays on line, use bigger words, yada yada yada... and yes I try to make an effort. However, none of it will come at the expense of my handicapping, and none of it will ever mislead potential customers... Ethics and a respect for the grind of sports handicapping come first and foremost at ESI.

That being said, I will now go into four key points that can help you both as a sports bettor and also when choosing a service and a book. First and foremost, have realistic expectations for yourself and your service. As I said above, this is hard work, you should never be disappointed with a 55% season (at least not the end results, you should always be critical of your handicapping and attempt to improve). There are six figure computer programs being developed by betting syndicates in an attempt to grind out profit margins smaller than this. 55% is a very difficult feat to accomplish in the LONG RUN. Do not be swayed by dubious claims of 70-80% winners, those percentages are impossible to obtain in the long run, and considering their sources, probably never happened anyway. Secondly, manage your money correctly and do not risk more than you are comfortable on any single play, no matter how many units the service tells you to bet. Your base play should be somewhere between 1-4% of your bankroll. If you practice this second commandment, and you or your service wins at the 55% clip discussed initially, your bankroll will increase rapidly. Next, if you are choosing a sports service, make sure their results are documented by a reputable monitoring service. Sports Watch and The Sports Monitor are the two best around. Finally, shop around for line value. Have more than one betting out, and take advantage of any book you can with reduced juice, as a smaller vigorish reduces your breakeven point. This sounds like common sense, but so many sports bettors just blindly bet into the same book over and over again and never shop around. You will never maximize your profit that way. Today's lines are simply too tight to not look for the very best price.

Good Luck this season, be careful and I'd love to hear from you!