Are you looking for a handicapper? Well, just look at the mirror and you’ll find one. Yup, I’m serious: you are a handicapper. The very fact that you’ve stumbled upon this article means that you are very much into sports betting – and would like to see your numbers improve.
You are a handicapper. You probably have your favorite sport: football, basketball, baseball, hockey or whatever. And I am sure that you have a pile of information about your favorite sport: the teas, player line-ups, coaching staff, owners, and win-lost records for the past several seasons, etc. With all these data, you have enough information to guide you to make calculated wagers. To the tune of 40 to 45% winning percentage. Not bad. But definitely not good either. You end up losing some money. Multiply your losses by the weeks and months – and you’ll be saddened by the horrifying amount you’ve lost through sports betting.
Yes, you are a handicapper. But an amateur one. That’s why your winning percentage is only that high. What you are looking for is a professional handicapper.
A professional handicapper is like most professionals that you know: doctors, lawyers accountants, stock brokers, etc. Like other professionals, the sports handicapper has acquired a detailed body of information that makes him more knowledgeable in the field than the average layman. However, unlike the other professionals, the sports handicapper accumulated this amount of information through sheer hard work and by devoting himself full time to amassing that data. The other professionals that I mentioned acquired much of their knowledge and skill in school. They can show a diploma or certificate and a license to show to all that they are professionals in their chosen field.
A sports handicapper just became one because he has assiduously over the years gathered information on his favorite sport r sports. In other words, the biggest difference between a professional handicapper and you is that the former spends more time gathering information than you do. For example, you may spend an hour each day reading magazines and surfing the Net for the latest on the NFL or the NBA. But you have a day job and you have your other domestic concerns that are why one hour a day is all you can devote to your sports research. The professional sports handicapper does his research full-time because that is his occupation as well as his passion.
But still we get back to the same question: Who should you get to be your handicapper? The answer is simply you have to do your homework. Trying to get a handicapper for you is like trying to hire an employee. You start from a long-list of choices. Then you whittle down to a short-list. Then, you try to settle on your final choice the way human resources practitioners do it – by interviewing them.
Here is a step-by-step way of choosing the right handicapper for you:
1. Do your internet research.
Type in the keywords “sports handicappers” or “professional sports handicappers” and wait for the results. You will most likely see what is known as “sportsbooks.” These are organizations with
groups of handicappers. In the websites, you may find pages devoted to individual handicappers.
2. Do your initial short-list.
Your initial research will yield many search results. But you can easily cut the list down to size. You can limit your list by doing the following steps:
- Zero in on a particular sport. Many sports handicappers are experts only I a few sports. At most 3. If you have a sport or league in mind, say NFL, look for handicappers who are experts in NFL sports.
- Cross out any handicapper or sportsbook whose contact details are either vague, misleading, erroneous, or incomplete. The website must have contact information that you can easily access. If the site does not have a landline phone number, cross it out. It’s probably a scam.
- Cross out any handicapper / sports book that does not accept credit card payment. A company that does not have a credit card payment facility is probably a scam. Avoid such companies.
- Cross out any handicapper / sportsbook whose website is not being monitored by a sports monitoring body. The independent sports monitoring group gives you assurance that the claims made by the handicapper or sportsbook are true and have been verified
3. Read the write-ups of the short-listed handicappers and shorten your list further.
The write-ups will come across like the handicapper’s resume. If you like what you see, consider him for an interview. If you are not impressed, cut him out
4. Interview your final list of short-listed candidates.
As with hiring a new employee, the final step is the job interview. You have to interview your short-listed candidates. Yes, interview the person. As in talk to him on the phone or through Skype chat or webcam. It’s basically a getting-to-know-you process. You are not just looking for the “best” handicapper for your requirements; you are looking for the one you are most comfortable with.
In the interview, try to get the following information from your candidate
- Their background in sports betting. How did they get into sports betting?
- How often do they bet on this sport? If they doesn’t bet too often, cross them out.
- Their methodology or how they comes out with their forecasts.
Knowing his methodology is important. You must realize that forecasting the results of sports contests is not an exact science. However the serious handicapper may have his own formula or system in determining his forecasts. It may sound weird or strange. But if it makes sense and if previous wins bear him out, then he might be worth your money. On the other hand if he attributes his forecasts to a “secret” or inside information, strike him out. He’s probably having some luck with his guess work.
Finally, when you try to talk to the handicapper personally, you may yet uncover a scam. If the handicapper doesn’t talk to you and, instead, a sales agent is tasked to answer your calls, strike him off your list. The so-called handicapper probably does not exist.
The process in selecting your handicapper may seem to be elaborate. But it’s really easy. The important thing is you have to do your homework. Again, your diligent research can pay off in increased winning percentage for you. If you do not do your research, you may end up continuing your mediocre winning percentage – or you may even be ripped off.