In order to be a pro bettor, you can’t just follow other people’s picks, right? Well, …kinda.
A common misconception in the betting industry is that successful or pro bettors originate all of their plays – meaning they are researching and deciding if they have an edge to place the bet. The reality is that there are too many leagues, too many games, and too much info to sift through in order to originate successfully in all sports leagues.
For your Average Joe who wants to win, most will not have the time to handicap, model, and research throughout the work week, so finding reliable bettors is important. There are plenty of smart people out there providing great content, picks, and information. The key is using one – or all of those things – to become a winning bettor yourself.
On this week’s episode of 90 Degrees, host Kevin Davis has a conversation with retired professional gambler and member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame, Richard Munchkin.
How to Find Profitable Bettors
- #GamblingTwitter. There are plenty of good bettors on Twitter, but there are even more scammers. Do your due diligence. Once you find a reliable bettor, you’ll notice a lot of the people they follow or interact with will be just as reliable.
- Covers. Covers.com is the OG for publishing picks. It’s an old forum system that has any and all sports. Most people have migrated to Twitter, but there are still very sharp people posting on Covers.
- betStamp. The betStamp app has a Marketplace of users which shows their ROI, CLV, and units won. What differentiates betStamp from the other apps is that all lines are verified directly from the sportsbook the user placed the bet at – at that exact time. If someone edits their play, you can see that it is not betStamp verified. This is a great way to see if someone is transparent with their bookkeeping.
To Tail or Not To Tail
You found some winning bettors, now what? Use their information to your advantage. I rarely blindly tail anyone, but following smart people and seeing plays they make can draw your attention to a game you may have missed or an angle that you overlooked. With all of the different news during the week – injuries, weather, coaches being fired, etc. – it’s much easier to crowdsource that info and you can do that by following plenty of reliable bettors.
I recommend handicapping your own plays and diving deep into those specific games. If a respected bettor posts a bet that piques your interest, do your own research into the matchup and see if it’s a play worth making. Sometimes you may have a lean on a game, but just need a little extra push and seeing a winning bettor on the same side as you can give you the confidence to make the play.
Don’t be an a**hole
This may be the most important part about following someone’s picks. Don’t be an a**hole if the game loses. Whether you blindly tail or not, you are still responsible for the final decision of placing the bet, so don’t get on Twitter bashing the person who posted it.
Other Important Info
I know people just want winning bets, but what is key is finding dependable betting content that you can learn from. Understanding people’s capping process or how to create a model will help you become a winning bettor on your own. There are plenty of podcasts, articles, or tweets out there that will educate you on sports betting. It’s not as sexy as free picks, but in the long run, it’s much more important.
Betting Partnerships
Earlier I mentioned that I don’t blindly tail others, but one of the times you do is with a betting partnership. With a betting partnership, you hand your account over to a group of pro bettors who bet on your behalf, so you’re not technically tailing their bets, in a sense of placing your own bet after seeing theirs, but you do have a financial incentive to root for their plays. This group will have originators for all of the top leagues and even some of the niche markets. You’ll open your account and see thousands of dollars bet on anything from college football games to Formula 1 Racing.
Those who run the “betting syndicate” groups are essentially tailing their fellow partners as well. You will have one person who originates NFL, while another focuses on college basketball. It’s a little more complex than tailing someone from #GamblingTwitter, but it’s the same concept.
The Hammer’s Brad Powers mentioned on his podcast, Hit The Books, how one of the groups he works for originates college basketball for him and he doesn’t even watch the games. He handles the college football plays and tails someone else’s college basketball plays.
Conclusion
Tailing picks is extremely common in the sports betting world - even for the pro’s, but make sure to do your due diligence on who you trust. The info and picks these bettors post can help your personal handicap process and allow you to become a winning bettor on your own. #GamblingTwitter gets a bad rap, but you can find intelligent people within the sports betting community who are willing to provide knowledgeable information.