Sports betting

OK, I've learned that I have no chance of winning any table games, ever......blackjack maybe if counting and poker if skillful. Is it possible for a top sports handicapper to win 54-58% every single year? Yes, I know it's possible but anybody actually doing it....?

I would say no. Every single year is the problem. Even people with an advantage will have a lot volatility due to the fact that there aren't all that many bets you can make where your edge is great. Even a great handicapper will need to look for arbitrage opportunities to be successful.

When I was booking bets, I would usually have 1 to 3 bettors that would win money over an entire year.
In each case, it was just luck. These same players would eventually lose that money back to me, plus more.

Trading and arbitrage is where you will be able to make plenty. Forget about trying to find an edge straight out betting. It's very difficult and even of you do the margin is very small. You're far better of using low risk plays like scalping.

make sense....

All you have to do is pay a handicapper like Jim Fiest or Wayne Root a fee and they will pick 65 percent winners for you.

65% winners is that before or after the game

Just looked up Jim Feist.....couldn't find any dirt in the first twenty pages, gave up. He must have full time people cleaning up the search results.

Quote: MakingBook

When I was booking bets, I would usually have 1 to 3 bettors that would win money over an entire year.
In each case, it was just luck. These same players would eventually lose that money back to me, plus more.

How do you know you were their one and only bookie?

Quote: FleaStiff

How do you know you were their one and only bookie?

Good point. I definitely had players that had more than one bookie.
It was never anything secret. We would discuss it openly.

Quote: treetopbuddy

OK, I've learned that I have no chance of winning any table games, ever......blackjack maybe if counting and poker if skillful.

Things are not dismal. You have a chance of winning ANY table game no matter what the house edge is. That is what Variance is all about. Only the Casino guarantees to stand there playing night and day. You have the option of winning .... and walking away a winner even though its a negative expectation game. Short term actual results may conflict with the casino's "expectations" and you can do very well at any table game there is.

Counting will help extend your wins over time at Blackjack but even counters, good ones, can and do lose hands on a fairly regular basis. Its just that with counting and good rules and good bet spreads you are at such a low expectation that Variance is your only hope for impressive results over the short term.

Poker? Skillful. You have to be skillful in selecting where and when and how to play but the casino ain't the one losing the money so go for it.

>Is it possible for a top sports handicapper to win 54-58% every single year?

Of course. Else whats a Heaven for?
You play table games to make money and impress Bimbos. You play poker to make money and impress bimbos. You make sports bets for bragging rights at the water cooler... and that is what keeps the sports books open... they don't have to listen to the water cooler gossip, they just nick a bit from each side ... and send Christmas cards to every water cooler manufacturer in the country.
Forget this stuff about specializing first in one sport and then branching out... its always a question of dogs... run enough past data through a randomly spiked machine learning program and you will soon hit your 54 percent goal as to when to shift from underdog to top dog on your bets. Bragging rights are free... there are no known auditors. You either have a new car each year and a new bimbo each week or you don't.

your a Hunter Thompson fan.....

"A very expensive little twister rising up from the Great Red Shark"

I have a good buddy that does well sports betting, but he does parlay moneylines on football, basketball and tennis. This usually means laying down large amounts of money to make fractional returns but if you are consistently picking the winners it works out except for the occassional upset.