Tout Services and Their Outrageous Claims (by Randall the Handle).

After spending a lot of years in this business, we haven’t a clue why anyone over 21, make that 18. buys into those wild advertising claims boasting results that don’t exist and never did.

Yes, we’re familiar with P.T. Barnum’s belief, “there is a sucker born every minute.” But the promises, guarantees and winning percentages advertised are just too incredulous. They are actually insulting. Many years ago, one noted publication had a standing proposition paying 100-1 to anyone who could pick 70% winners over a 100-game period. The few who took up the challenge were eliminated after just a handful of weeks. There has never been a single instance that we personally know of, where 70% has been achieved in the NFL over a 100-game span. Further evidence is shown by the long history of handicapping contests in Nevada, where not a single winner has accomplished the 70% mark!

Meanwhile, the pitchmen become more outrageous every season. Sadly, publications like the USA Today and most local newspapers are willing to give them exposure, lending credibility but at the same time leaving gullible readers at the mercy of these unscrupulous characters. Particularly amusing are those “50,000 Star Lock” releases. We don’t even know exactly what a “50,000 Star Lock” indicates, but in our experience, we’ve never seen a single football game worth more than twice your average bet. Anyone that follows football, even just moderately, knows there are probably between 10 and 20 plays per game that can potentially change both the game and pointspread outcome. These plays can rarely be projected beforehand.

Let this not be perceived as negativity on our part. The challenge of handicapping pits the handicapper against the linemaker. The latter is far from infallible. Notwithstanding the luck factor and the basic nature of sport, where performances constantly vary, there are spots where an astute handicapper can have an advantage. If he does this with some consistency, he can become more than a match for his adversary, the linemaker. There is a real difference between the ‘educated guess’ and ‘pure luck’ approach, however. The ‘educated guess’ requires intelligence, hard work and dedication, not a bunch of BS.

Remember this…

These games are not scripted. Those who claim to be in possession of some exclusive classified information that will absolutely and positively decide the outcome of a game are simply looking to scam you. Also, no matter what label is given to any one game, i.e. ‘Lock of the Year’, ‘Game of the Month’, ‘Million Dollar Star’—the unpredictable factors of sports—are inherent in every game. The people that claim differently are not legitimate. They are unconscionable charlatans, parasites and predators. Plain and simple!