I always wondered the type that pays for this shit. I can't pick my own ass, but I sure as shit not paying for someone else to give me losers
well do you?
you tell us.
thanx
I wouldn't think many posters would at this point.
I think there's a life cycle of gamblers who do this: The type who would subscribe to a tout service are new gamblers. The buyers are the guys who have already lost a few hundred (or a few thousand) dollars and realize they suck, but buy into the tout's sales pitch and believe they can still make money. It's an appeal to authority. After they lose a few hundred or a few thousand more dollars by following the tout they learn another lesson, which is that they've been scammed. At that point the gamblers who continue to bet on sports return to picking for themselves. Consider it a learning curve for many.
So we gunna fade West Coast sports?
you wanna fade my baseball plays Benny? :+clueless
I would think that if a tout was really that good, we would hear about him/her on these boards and people would be willing to pay.
NO WAY Jman! You know how yer baseball and I get along. I am getting anxious.
You heard of these guys West Coast Sports? The guy that called me had NY accent. I thought it was scandalist. But he did pick the biggest winner on the board.
I think there's a life cycle of gamblers who do this: The type who would subscribe to a tout service are new gamblers. The buyers are the guys who have already lost a few hundred (or a few thousand) dollars and realize they suck, but buy into the tout's sales pitch and believe they can still make money. It's an appeal to authority. After they lose a few hundred or a few thousand more dollars by following the tout they learn another lesson, which is that they've been scammed. At that point the gamblers who continue to bet on sports return to picking for themselves. Consider it a learning curve for many.
idiots pay for picks
DUH!
To be honest - and I don't know if I can say this - but you can find almost all service plays for free online.
To be honest - and I don't know if I can say this - but you can find almost all service plays for free online.
I personally don't understand all the hate for touts.
As someone I think here put it perfectly, it's a service, just like plumbing or an electrician. Touts are simply selling a service that they feel they do better than most. Some touts I know of are very good and are worth the money. Some I know of are terrible and lose money overall in most sports.
I have no clue about prices for touts so I'll just throw out a number. Say they charge what, $1000 per season or so? At that number lets say you bet $100 per game. You only need to cash in 10 units off the persons picks to get your money back and then it's all profit. If the tout is actually good over 10 units really shouldn't be a problem at all and there will be times they make over 100+ units giving you a lot of extra profit for really doing nothing..
I personally don't understand all the hate for touts.
As someone I think here put it perfectly, it's a service, just like plumbing or an electrician. Touts are simply selling a service that they feel they do better than most. Some touts I know of are very good and are worth the money. Some I know of are terrible and lose money overall in most sports.
I have no clue about prices for touts so I'll just throw out a number. Say they charge what, $1000 per season or so? At that number lets say you bet $100 per game. You only need to cash in 10 units off the persons picks to get your money back and then it's all profit. If the tout is actually good over 10 units really shouldn't be a problem at all and there will be times they make over 100+ units giving you a lot of extra profit for really doing nothing.
Of coarse there are the liars and scams that will fake records or just put them in a way where it's deceiving, but if you honestly know a good tout that you think is reliable with his picks I don't see the problem in paying for his picks if you do not feel confident in your ability to pick winners yourself.
Just my opinion on the topic.
Regarding the bold text quoted above: Would you like an electrician or plumber, who you have faith in, to do work on your place of residence but who doesn't actually know shit from Shinola? Hey, the electrician burned your house down because of bad wiring, but he felt he did a good job so it's understandable, right?
I disagree. I would pay for picks if I knew the guy was a winner. Honestly, who wouldn't? That wouldn't be considered gambling at that point, that would be considered investing. As a matter of fact, that's exactly what sportsbook do when there is a "good pay service" - they pay for his picks to get them and adjust the line. See: Dr. Bob.
But that's the problem - whether it is a tout handicapper or a tout investment brokerage: they're fucken liars. They tell you everything you want to hear and then when your investment regresses, they have nothing but excuses.
The problem is, there is no honesty in that industry (not much honesty in the gambling industry in general, but I digress). Guys will tell you they win a ton when really, they are getting soaked and the only way to find out for yourself is to try it.
I tried Dave Malinsky. You wouldn't believe how solid this guy's info is when he goes on the radio on Sirius. The guy once talked about Air Force's basketball team being trapped in a Denver airport or some shit and Malinsky somehow knew that the kids had to sleep there, even though it wasn't reported in the media until tip-off the next day.
Air Force got smoked and me and my friend thought this guy was a genius. How can I guy who speaks so eloquently, who has access to that type of information, be a losing handicapper? Well he is. We bought his March Madness package and his picks could not have been worse. Afterwards, I kept tracking him online to see whether it was a bad run or a bad stretch in one sport, but he is just not a winning handicapper - straight up.
That brings us back to the original point. It's good marketing, not good handicapping. And that's what bothers me the most.
I agree that that is the only problem with the industry. That problem is in many industries though. Salesmen selling anything will lie, or if not lie just work their way around the truth to sell you the product. I definitely know touts do that a lot. They may be 123-117 on the year, nothing special, but will attract you with a headline like 78% run, or hitting 71% on Big East plays when really those only have small samples and the percentage would go down dramatically with one or two losses. I understand why people have a problem with that, but that is not the entire industry, that is just how the ones that are losing keep getting clients. They are relying on their marketing, not their actual capping to bring in the money.
There are some though that will just give you a fair, documented record in the sport that will let you decide whether they are reliable to pay for or not. That's when a judgment call needs to be made.
I personally will say right now there are probably around 5 guys on this forum that I think could go tout and I would recommend them to friends of mine that were looking for strong picks to follow. Not going to name names as that could upset some people, but I honestly believe that and believe that they would be successful doing so.
That's why you would only pay for picks from someone you are confident in though. If you are planning on paying for picks (people say those guys are dumb, but I think they are much smarter than the people that are stubborn and lose money with their own picks rather than winning with someone elses) than you don't just look for a tout service, and pick a name that looks cool. You go for a tout that you know is pretty reliable and will win you money longterm if you stay with them. Another problem people run into when using a tout is they stop following when they go into a cold run, miss winning picks, and then try to start following again after a hot run only to have the run end. To me if you're going the with a tout you pick one you feel is reliable and you follow them the entire year no matter what.
Disagree and I find your sympathy for touts as suspicious. No offense, but it why are you so high on touts?
tripp is sharp
Disagree and I find your sympathy for touts as suspicious. No offense, but it why are you so high on touts?
It's not really sympathy, just giving people a different way to see the topic rather than the normal "touts are scum" angle. People that have been burnt by touts, and I'm sure there are quite a few on the forums, are not going to see the topic the same way that I do, I understand that fully. I don't expect them too.
It's not about being high on touts either, I'm just stating my opinion on them. There are some that get by with tricky marketing, yes. I will not argue against that as it is true. My point was just that it is a service just like any other. Many touts are very good gamblers, they aren't all scammers. They offer a service they do better than most. My point was just that it isn't silly to pay for picks when you feel the picks you are getting are reliable and will win you much more money then you spent on them.
I just see a lot of people saying only idiots pay for picks, when I don't think that is true at all. One of my smartest friends pays for picks (not the smartest gambler, just a very smart person). He does so because he has tried winning money on his own and he usually doesn't win much, if at all. So his feelings are why not pay someone who is a lot better at this than me to win me more money than doing it on my own is? I think you can be sharp by paying for picks. It's not intelligence that stops some from paying touts for picks, it's ego.
..says the tout (who hasn't even bet on sports in years).
Exactly. Anyone who uses a tout is a moron. Period. End of discussion. Go sell your scam elsewhere Jstiff.
Exactly. Anyone who uses a tout is a moron. Period. End of discussion. Go sell your scam elsewhere Jstiff.