Scoblete Book a Good Read

[redietz]

I guess I have to agree with you here. Like the guy said, there is a sucker born every minute. regnis and redietz probably watched with morbid fascination, as I did, when that show MONEY TALKS about Darin Notaro, known as Steve Stevens, the sports handicapper was on CNBC last year. This guy was a shyster tout and I couldn't believe CNBC did such a disservice by putting a show like that on the air.

The dude sucked people in and got 50% of their money on his winning picks. Talk about a freeroll! And the dude had a 50% chance to be right. But if he lost a game he talked his clients into martingaling the situation. There was NO WAY IN HELL his clients had a chance to win in the long run giving up that kind of juice.

And the guys he had working for him? They were running a boiler room telemarketing operation to find new clients. And they needed new clients all the time. BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY OLD CLIENTS!!! There was no way the clients could show a profit through even ten picks, much less a hundred.

CNBC should be ashamed of themselves for giving those guys publicity. A great disservice to the public.

That show was so bad. I had a friend record the season because I couldn't stomach watching it. I have to be in the correct frame of mind to stay calm while realizing that idiot network used that show as the first big-time interface between sports handicapping and the general public. This guy, "Steve Stevens (LOL)," was hooked up with Floyd Mayweather, who had the juice to get the show on the air. It was just horrible.

Alan, you have got to see it.

Also -- people don't put out both sides of the same game in quite so blatant a fashion these days. Rather you have a cluster of handicappers working separately but under one umbrella who have their various season records, then you can rotate your advertising dollar to those who posted the best records any given week/month/year.

Seriously, Alan, you have a rep for uncovering scams. The way this guy operated was such a series of scams, that the real scam is how did the show get on the air and why did the network run it? It was ridiculous. The gentleman in question had also been arrested for running cons on senior citizens, so how did the network vet him? Or did they? Did Mayweather have so much clout that an ostensibly serious television network just looked the other way?

[redietz]

Now, as you can tell, I'm all wound up. If CNBC put Money Talks on the air, and I, who know the stuff, realize it was a blatant scam being passed off as expertise, then what other crap has CNBC aired about topics with which I'm unfamiliar? That's the really scary thing.

[Alan Mendelson]

I don't know this program. Was it a CNBC production or a paid infomercial?

[slobdinger]

It was a reality show.

[FrankScoblete]

Let me jump in on the 25 percent thing. In Atlantic City there was a Russian who would actually approach players who were watching the game and would promise them a victory if they used his method and when they won he'd take 25 percent of the win. If they lost? Off he went. He selected players who had little or no knowledge of craps.

I have no idea who he was. I also don't remember seeing any ads.

[Alan Mendelson]

It was a reality show.

A reality show does not mean a news program. I'd like to see if there was a disclaimer or a statement that it was actually produced by CNBC. My show could be described as a reality show because it is not scripted but it's paid programming.

[redietz]

It wasn't a news show; it was a reality show in the most common sense, as in Duggars and Kate and her Eight, and all of that stuff. Undoubtedly produced independently -- that's where the Mayweather ties allegedly come in.

CNBC showing the thing was an abomination.

[Alan Mendelson]

Was it in a paid programming slot? If it was in a paid programming slot then CNBC news had no responsibility. Blame the advertising sales department. There is also a "standards and practices" department which clears paid programming to be sure it's not a ripoff. I didn't see the program so I can't comment on it. Is the show also on YouTube?

[jbjb]

There is also a "standards and practices" department which clears paid programming to be sure it's not a ripoff.

Then how do all of those real estate hucksters get on tv?

[slobdinger]

Was it in a paid programming slot? If it was in a paid programming slot then CNBC news had no responsibility. Blame the advertising sales department. There is also a "standards and practices" department which clears paid programming to be sure it's not a ripoff. I didn't see the program so I can't comment on it. Is the show also on YouTube?

If you mean paid programming like an infomerial, no. It was a prime time TV series. You can watch all nine episodes on youtube. Just enter "money talks cnbc" into the field.

Notaro and Mayweather met because Notaro's boiler room telemarketing operation was next to Mayweather's gym. It was Mayweathers production company that came up with the idea of making Notaro's operation a reality show. Somehow they sold CNBC on airing it.

This is what I figure about Notaro:

He had 3 convictions for telemarketing fraud. They were conning old people into believing they won sweeptakes but had to pay taxes and fees to collect it. The old people sent the money and got nothing in return. Notaro finally had to do a year in jail.

In the TV series you can see that Notaro is an excellent high pressure telemarketing salesman. That's his real skill in life. But he had to find a way to do it legitimately. So as a sports handicapping service what he is doing is completely legal....even though it's a scam.

It's a scam in the sense that the only people making any money is him and his other telemarketing handicapper's. The clients all go broke if they hang around long enough. Of course, you don't see that in the show. But it's a mathemtical certainty that if you give up 10% juice to the books along with giving up 25% to 50% of the winning bets to Notaro you have absolutely no chance to win in the long run.

Notaro was interviewed by Penthouse Magazine shortly before the series was scheduled to air. You can find it online. Whoever interviewed him had no clue about the mathematics of sports betting. So he didn't know the right questions to ask to put this guy on the hotseat. Notaro said he consistently picked 60% to 68% winners. But guess what, even if he could hit the 68% mark, which he can't even come close, no one can, his clients are still gonna lose money giving up that much to Notaro on the winning bets.

Many Vegas bookies and professional handicappers were asked in they knew Notaro. Nobody did. Which meant he had no reputation at all as a professional sports handicapper. In the series you can see him right there in the books next to his clients when they make bets. It's easy to tell that the sportsbook personnel were absolutely not afraid of Notaro's picks, like they would be of a Billy Walters type, and readily accepted his picks. .

But its easy enough for anyone with the knowledge to watch the TV show and pick Notaro apart as far as his handicapping skills go. He has none. He's just an excellent high pressure salesman selling snake oil to suckers. That's it.

And if he's still in operation today, then he is making a lot of money simply because there is a sucker born every minute.

[slobdinger]

Then how do all of those real estate hucksters get on tv?

Dr. Mike Murdoch is the real huckster on late night TV. He sells "seed faith" to all the lonely Christians trying to buy their way into heaven and keeps all the money for himself.

[redietz]

Excellent summary, slob. Alan, if you ever watch the thing, we can discuss sometime. I cannot believe CNBC put this on the air.

[Alan Mendelson]

Then how do all of those real estate hucksters get on tv?

Their infomercial meets regulations.

I did an infomercial for an attorney in Texas and it took six months to get approval from the Texas Bar Association.

I did an infomercial for lawyers here in LA and CBS took nearly two months to approve it and they had their lawyers review every case mentioned in the half hour program.

[dannyj]

CNBC showing the thing was an abomination.

Red,
I think you're giving too much credit to CNBC. They're part of NBC.....as in no scruples MSNBC.

[jbjb]

Red,
I think you're giving too much credit to CNBC. They're part of NBC.....as in no scruples MSNBC.

And owned by Comcast.