Originally Posted by redietz View Post
Originally Posted by The Boz View Post
Funny the AC surveillance guy is named Kevin Duffey. It’s not spelled the same but RE knows who I’m talking about. Old time Scamdicapper from the late 80’s and 90’s.
Yes, I do. Good name catch, Boz.

For those who don't get my Draftkings/Fanduel denunciation, the NYTimes did an expose a few years back. Basically, people working at both companies (before they merged) swapped info on the demographics of players taken, and circumvented rules against playing where employed by simply having Fanduel employees play at Draftkings and vice versa. It was insider trading at its finest applied to fantasy betting.

In addition, the companies kind of kept under wraps how a few mega-partnerships were pumping thousands of coordinated entries into most contests, resulting in 1% of the players winning 50% of the available money. All of this stuff was exposed, and the companies were sued, and eventually they agreed to ban inter-company play and were forced to offer single-entry contests as an agreement to stay in business. The majority of the offered contests are still unlimited entries, which means mega-partnerships dominate them and the little guy has no chance, but at least SOME of the contests are single entry or have 10 to 20 entry limits.

So these guys claiming the moral high road is like the mob in the movie "Casino" throwing out cheats.


P.S. Speaking of old time handicappers, I stumbled across an old copy of "Who's Who in Sports Gambling" from 1984. Coach belly had remarked that people pay to be in "Who's Who," and frankly I did pay something very modest (like $75) to be in this Rick Hall publication, but the total amount he was paid was just a fraction of the cost of publishing it. I didn't want to defend the publication to belly or anyone without having a copy in front of me, but now that I have read parts of it again, I see why I was in it. Rick Hall had become fed up with high profile scamdicappers like Mike Warren at the time, and offered inclusion to just a few dozen people he knew had both good track records handicapping and business practice-wise. Most of the people in "Tipsters or Gypsters?" were offered a spot. Hall was not a real good writer, and probably a worse editor, but his heart was in the right place. I filled out a bio sheet and then fielded some additional questions via phone, and passed muster to be in the publication. When I get some down time, I'll take shots of the cover and Hall's intro and post them here.
Good ole Mike Warren. When I moved to Massachusetts in 1984 I did some serious sports gambling for four years. I had a few buddies in on the action for Warren and a tout sheet called Professor P (not affiliated with Warren). The tout sheet was excellent. The sheet would give the opinion of numerous games and if the betting spread was ultimately 6 points or more from his prediction, you bet it. Basically, you average three or four games per week. Never had a losing year with the sheet.

Mike Warren may have been the biggest name at that time with Jim Feist. Warren was not bad, but jeez, gold level, silver level, Monday Night picks, there were so many different options, it was a pain in the ass. Obviously, by mid season he would proudly advertise the system that was doing well. Heck, with 10 different options, something had to be above average.

Anyhow, his big claim was the Lock of the Year. When the pick came out it would change the line a minimum of three points. He nailed his first three locks when I had the service. His fourth lock lost by a point or so. He claimed victory as he used the spread that was given on Thursday’s before his pick changed the line.

The funny thing was in 1986 when he chose Boston College over Holy Cross, two local teams in my backyard. BC was favored by 17 to 21 points or so. Holy Cross was 10-0 with Geordie Lockbaun. The game was at Holy Cross and the field was a mud pit due to a snow storm a few days before. Anyhow, Holy Cross takes a 14-0 lead out of the gate. Unbelievable. Ultimately, BC won by 30 points. Yes, Warren won his Lock of the Year but he had the audacity to state that those customers that called him to bitch in the first quarter are meaningless and should just cancel from his service, he does not need them. There was no offer for a refund.

Thanks Red for mentioning a name that I can relate to.