Touts Go to Games, Pro Bettors don't

Touts Go to Games, Pro Bettors don't I am AMAZED how many guys here in Vegas say "I went to the Orleans, checked out the WAC games, then over to Thomsas and Mack, for the Mountain West games". .........the betting pros I know don't have time to WATCH THESE ON TV, much less spend all those hours driving/parking/donking.

Well of course, but that is why touts are marketers. Who do you think is going to sell more picks, someone who says they were at the game or someone who says they crunched the numbers? Their customers watch the games they bet. They can take the "analysis" and see whether it bears out on screen. How many people watch a game with an Excel printout of stats? (Well, the winners, I guess.)

Pretty much. I have NFL season tickets and end up giving the majority away or selling them. Too much opportunity cost.

Attending Games Live Attending football and basketball games live aren't important at all if you don't know what your looking at. Sometimes I attend a basketball game and I see very little useful information I can use later in the season. Football is different because on TV you can't tell the size of the players and you can't see many of the blocking schemes or blitz packages. They just follow the ball. Breaking down stats on the game is the most important tool in winning in any sport but there are some things that can be very useful to winning in watching a game live. I'll be attending over 20 college spring games, practices and fall camps. I'll post a list of some of the teams I'll be visiting the week before. If you want to meet me after a scrimmage and see the work I do I think you'll agree that no one does anywhere close to the amount of preperation for the upcoming season as myself. Winning the first five weeks in the football season is easy if your prepared to spend 350-400 hours and travel all over the United States. It's not for everyone but for me it works and has paid off nicely.:)

One Mor Thought I'm AMAZED that so many so called professional gamblers brag about how ONLY professional gamblers who live in Las Vegas are winners and they brag about how they drive around Las Vegas all day and get a 1/2 point better on a few select games. Have they ever heard about sitting in front of a screen and getting those same numbers with a click of a mouse? Running a sports service requires time spent with clients that I could spend crunching more numbers but it is what is is. This forces me to spend many late nights and early morning studying numbers when the most other people are sleeping.

SPRING football a different story You aren't missing 13 good bets having a good time watching the game I agree 100% that it IS better to see 1 game in person, but give me 2 games on TV, AND be surfing the net any time vs. landlocked at the Thomas and Mack or gulp out of town @ SD. I think the disdain many pros have in Vegas is watching the dudes whacking out the SB UN 44.5 -110 online, while 45.5s are here, there, everywhere in Vegas. You would think after 3 or 4 of those, you would say "screw this" ! and Get on a plane.

I will agree with both sides. No affiliation with the guy whatsoever, but I will reveal one of my best kept secrets. One of the very few opinions I put a ton of stock in is a guy by the name of Chuck Oliver. He played at Auburn, does a radio show in Atlanta. He also does some Conference USA color commentary on Sports South or Comcast regional or something. He goes to a lot of the practices. His ATS picks in college football are as good as any IMHO. But in my own handicapping, I also use Scouts Inc, Ron Jaworski's game film notes, etc. In a sense, touts can now somewhat legitimately claim they have "scouts" working for them. It's well worth the ESPN Insider fee. Greg Cosell's film room notes, though a lot of fluff and obvious, have also proven valueable. So it's more than just numbers, but I will take all of the above.

Rexd and Fezzik both have some great points. I almost never go to any college football or NFL games live anymore unless they are on Thursday or Monday night. If your betting multiple dimes on football if you have the time, knowledge and money,traveling around to get a jump on everyone else will pay off. As far as Vegas having better numbers than everywhere else. I'm not so sure anymore. Betting offshore and through Reno has proven to be more successful for me. I find as good or better numbers than betting just Vegas numbers. There are a couple joints in Reno that open with numbers from the night before and are very slow to pick up changes. There are also a couple places offshore that are slow to move on numbers. The limits are smaller but they pay and haven't canceled a bet in a long time. Good luck to all.

[QUOTE=Lee Sterling;40678]it works and has paid off nicely.:)[/QUOTE] Lee, if you have such an outstanding ability, why can't I find any records documenting such on your website? Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, please help!

Monitoring I've been monitored by Vegas Insider and The Sports Monitor five of the last eight years. Check out my records by e mailingm going on their website or calling them. I did quite well each year I was monitored.I was top 10 and 15 in my two years overall for football at The Sports Monitor. I was was #1 and top 10 two of the three years with VegasInsider for basketball and placed top 12 all three years in football. I've heard there will be a new monitor out of Las Vegas starting up this fall that will allow handicappers to put in halftime plays which would probably get me to sign up with them. If it comes to fruition they would be the first ever monitor to allow you to put in halftime selections. I'll make sure to let everyone know about this new monitor if they start up this fall. I left Vegas Insider because I didn't have the time to post my selections and write ups and they were charging different prices than I charge on my website. This led to confusion for prospective clients. I left The Sports Monitor for many reasons. It's a business that's about 20 years behind the times. Ruth has horrible customer service. She took over two weeks to return calls or e mails. That's unnaceptable IMO. No one calls or buys your picks even if you do well there. She was selling picks five years ago for services besides monitoring them which is a clear conflict of interest. She also wouldn't count my selections if I called them in as a backup when we lost internet service twice because of Hurricanes.