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Handicapping Reviews has answered the call of sports enthusiasts by providing a vehicle for honest sports advisors to record their sports pick records. Our platform, monitored by the community, helps sports bettors find legitimate expert sports handicapping services.

• Instagram sports handicapping is big business. We signed up for four different handicapping services to find out whether there’s anything more to this burgeoning industry than new-age bravado.
• For example, if Book 1 considers Team A to be worth +200 (2 to 1 underdog), and Book 2 considers Team B to be worth +200, a bettor can bet Team A at Book 1, and Team B at Book 2, and guarantee a 100%.
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Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which the advantage is calculated. In principle, a more experienced participant is disadvantaged, or a less experienced or capable participant is advantaged, in order to make it possible for the less experienced participant to win whilst maintaining fairness. Handicapping is used in scoring many games and competitive sports, including go, shogi, chess, croquet, golf, bowling, polo, basketball, and track and field events. Handicap races are common in clubs which encourage all levels of participants, such as swimming or in cycling clubs and sailing clubs, or which allow participants with a variety of standards of equipment. Often races, contests or tournaments where this practice is competitively employed are known as Handicaps.

Handicapping also refers to the various methods by which spectators can predict and quantify the results of a sporting match. The term is applied to the practice of predicting the result of a competition, such as for purposes of betting against the point spread. A favored team that wins by less than the point spread still wins the game, but bets on that team lose.

In either case the handicapper is the person who sets the handicaps for the activity.

Etymology[edit]

The term handicap derives from hand-in-cap, referring to a system wherein players placed bets or money into the cap of a neutral arbiter to reach an agreement as to the relative values of items sought to be traded.^[1]

Competition handicapping[edit]

In a 'result adjustment' style handicap event, the outcome may be adjusted by some factor determined by the handicap. Some forms of car or yacht racing.^[2] In this case, the winner, on elapsed time, may differ from the fastest competitor when the times have been adjusted for the different competitors' handicaps.

In a 'pursuit' style handicap race, all participants are clocked in a time trial before the race. When this takes place at the same event as the main race, it is known as the handicap. In the race itself, the participants do not all start at the same 'Go'; the starts are staggered, based on the handicaps. The slowest swimmer, or cyclist, for example, starts first and the fastest starts last, making the end of the race (hopefully) close. An ideal handicap race is one in which all participants finish at the same time.^[3] The winner is the person who beats his or her own time.

Similarly, physically staggered starting positions can be used, for example, in greyhound racing a handicap race is where greyhounds (based on their ability) start from different starting traps set at different measurements from the finish line, and in human foot racing, for example, the Stawell Gift.

Some motorsport events, especially in sports car racing, demand teams to stop the vehicle in the pitbox a fixed period of time depending on the drivers' classification, thus giving advantage to less skilled drivers. An example of a championship using this system is the International GT Open. The advantage of this system over ballast weight systems is that vehicles have the normal performance on track, so better drivers will be able to recover time and overtake slower drivers.

Contrarily, horse race handicapping is implemented using extra weight.

Horse racing[edit]

A handicap race in horse racing is a race in which horses carry different weights, allocated by the handicapper. A better horse will carry a heavier weight, to give him or her a disadvantage when racing against slower horses. The handicapper's goal in assigning handicap weights is to enable all the horses to finish together (in a dead heat).

The skill in betting on a handicap horse race is in determining which horse can overcome its handicap.^[4]

In addition to the Daily Racing Form, other data sources include Brisnet, Equibase, The Ragozin Sheets, and Thoro-Graph.^[5]

Golf[edit]

Handicapping in the sport of golf enables players and teams of varying abilities to compete against one another. A golf handicap is a numerical measure of a golfer's potential or 'average best'. Better players are those with the lowest handicaps.

Chess[edit]

Types of chess handicaps include:

• the stronger player surrenders a certain piece or pieces
• the weaker player has extra moves at the beginning of the game
• the weaker player has extra time on the chess clock
• the odds-giver to deliver checkmate with a specified piece

Go[edit]

Handicapping in go includes the weaker player being given an advantage by placing a number of stones before the stronger player commences, and by final points adjustment.

Shogi[edit]

Handicapping in shogi is achieved by removing one or more pieces from the stronger player's side. Shogi (Japanese chess) and many of its variants have handicaps.

Gliding[edit]

Polo[edit]

The polo handicap is an estimation of the player's worth to his or her team. It is an overall rating of a player's horsemanship, team play, knowledge of the game, strategy and horses. The difference between the total of the polo handicaps for the players on each team is then used to determine the minimum score difference for the better team to score to enable them to win.

In polo, every player is awarded an individual handicap depending on performance. Handicap commissions of the national associations meet several times a year to decide players’ handicaps.^[6]
Argentina: 0 to 10
USA: C (-2), B (-1), B+ (-0.5), A (0), A+ (0.5), 1.0, 1.5, 2 to 10
England: -2 to 10

Sailing[edit]

Handicaps for sailing vessels in sailing races have varied throughout history, and they also vary by country, and by sailing organisation. Sailing handicap standards exist internationally, nationally, and within individual sailing clubs.

Sailing race handicaps may be based on vessel capability and-or crew experience, and today typically adjust the time a vessel takes to reach the finish point of the race.

Tennis[edit]

Motorcycle speedway[edit]

The Calculated Match Average is a handicap calculated for every motorcycle speedway rider.

Outcome prediction[edit]

Middle and arbitrage bets[edit]

There are strategies that involve differences in the lines on the same event at different books. One bet is called a 'middle', which when a player finds two books that offer different point spreads for the same event. They will bet the more favorable spread at both books, and if the final score falls between the two, the bettor will win both bets. On the other hand, if the total falls outside the range of the 'middle' the bettor only loses a small percentage of a bet (the 'juice' or 'vig' taken by the house).

For example, Book 1 has Team A as a 3-point favorite, and Book 2 has team B as a 3-point favorite. If a player bets Team B at Book 1, and Team A at Book 2, he will win both bets if either side wins by 2 or less points, and will win one bet and lose the other (known as a 'side') if either team wins by 3 points.

Another strategy, known as arbitrage, or an 'arb' or 'scalp', involves finding different moneylines for the same event. In this case, the bettor will bet the more favorable line at both books, and have a guaranteed profit. For example, if Book 1 considers Team A to be worth +200 (2 to 1 underdog), and Book 2 considers Team B to be worth +200, a bettor can bet Team A at Book 1, and Team B at Book 2, and guarantee a 100% profit. This is a no-risk bet, as the player is guaranteed a profit no matter the result of the game.^{[citation needed]}

Famous handicappers[edit]

The first very well known sports handicapper in American culture was Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder.^[7] During his career he worked for CBS on their Sunday morning show, The NFL Today. Because sports betting had a social taboo at the time, Snyder was not allowed to mention betting on games specifically. Instead, he would predict the score. Over the years the attitude towards sports betting, and handicapping in general, has changed. Billy Walters was profiled by 60 Minutes because of his handicapping abilities.^[8] Billy Walters, and other unknown members of the Computer Group, developed a system for handicapping games and beating Las Vegas sportsbooks. The Huffington Post covered Jon Price a reclusive sports bettor that hires Ph.D's and works off of algorithmic information for his predictions.^[9]ESPN wrote an article on Haralabos Voulgaris naming him as the one of the premier NBA handicappers in the world.^[10] He claims to have developed a system that uses advanced statistical analysis to predict the outcomes of games. In the past, very few people did any mathematical calculations when handicapping sporting events. Predictions were usually made from hunches or information not readily available to the public. However, with the advancement of technology computers powerful enough to run advanced simulation models now frequent homes and offices. Advanced statistics such as DVOA, Win Shares and Points per Possession are talked about in mainstream media. Brian Burke, author of The Fifth Down blog featured in the New York Times, wrote a formula using advanced statistical techniques that has shown consistency correctly predicting NFL winners.^[11] Handicapping, as a profession, is very similar to being a stock analyst. Like Wall Street did in the 1970s, the sports handicapping industry is undergoing a quantitative revolution. Many successful handicappers also use money management systems similar to financial investment professionals. The most popular, and mathematically superior, system is the Kelly criterion. It is a formula for maximizing profits and minimizing losses based on payout odds and win probability of the underlying asset.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'handicap, n.' The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 8 Oct. 2008 'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved 2008-10-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link).
2. ^'History of the PY'(PDF). Royal Yachting Association. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
3. ^[1]Archived 2011-01-31 at the Wayback Machine UK Horse Racing. Accessed 5 February 2011.
4. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2010-10-31. Retrieved 2011-02-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) British Horseracing Authority. Accessed 5 February 2011.
5. ^'Horse Racing Wagering'. Equine Info Exchange. 1 January 2020.
6. ^'The Polo Handicap'. Polo Plus Ten. 17 July 2015.
7. ^Pace, Eric. 'Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder; A Sports Oddsmaker'. New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 1996.Check date values in: access-date= (help)
8. ^Logan, Lara. 'Sports Betting: Billy Walters'. CBSNewsOnline. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
9. ^Jensen, David. 'Seeking PHD's Who Minor in Sports'. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
10. ^Eden, Scott. 'Meet The World's Top NBA Gambler'. ESPN The Magazine. ESPN. Retrieved 21 Feb 2013.
11. ^Burke, Brian. 'Game Probabilities Are Back'. New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2012.

• Beyer, Andrew (May 6, 1994). Picking Winners : A Horseplayer's Guide (Reissue ed.). Houghton Mifflin. ISBN0-395-70132-5.

External links[edit]

A question that often comes up on sports betting forums is “Should I purchase betting picks?”

Personally, I’ve always answered this question as no, because very few cappers selling picks are actually winners. The few that are winners often rely on line movement, multiple unit bets on small markets, buying hooks, etc. As a result, their records are often based on lines not available to all clients. While all of these are concerns, the bigger reason not to purchase picks is that there are far more cost effective methods to beat sports for larger profits than purchasing picks allows. I’ll cover these methods in this article, and then cover a marketing tactic used by pick sellers that you’ll want to be aware of.

Beat Sports Betting Without a Tout

Method #1: Our website provides numerous sports betting strategy articles. Read our article on teaser betting strategy where you’ll find enough information to profit immediately from football teasers. Next, read our article on NFL prop betting, and you’ll have the knowledge required to beat the “which team will score first?” prop. Once familiar with this data, you can learn new skills via books on sports betting.

Best Sports Betting Handicapping Services

1) Sharp Sports Betting by Stanford Wong

2) Weighing the Odds in Sports Betting by King Yao

These are great books to tune you to think more like a winning sports bettor, and less like a fan or recreational bettor. One thing I’ll warn, however, is that these books are slightly outdated. I strongly suggest that prior to reading these books, you also read our article on the current betting market. When you’ve mastered the information in the articles and books I’ve suggested, you might then want to dive into the book Conquering Risk: Attacking Vegas and Wall Street by Elihu D. Feustel.

To sum this up, the two articles I recommended are enough to get you on track winning as a sport bettor. When you’re ready to take it to the next levels, plenty of information exists. Spending a little time and effort on sports betting will make you far more profitable than purchasing picks will.

Method #2: Follow free picks on the internet. Here at TheSportsGeek.com, we run a picks blog, where you can get the same caliber betting picks that NFL expert pick sites sell. Why pay for picks when you can get picks for free?

Our picks blog is only one source of free picks. Bloggers, forum posters, twitter users, and others give out free picks daily. While I’m sure this will sound absurd to most readers, I actually know a guy who uses custom developed software to scour the internet and find picks. The software delivers to him via a feed where any detected picks are hyperlinked. To track the pick, he clicks the hyperlink, assigns it to a user and the software does the rest. He can then go back later and find all sorts of data about how forum posters, bloggers, and tweeters are doing. This helps him not only to follow picks, but to spot winners and start paying more attention to the info they share elsewhere. This is obviously way too advanced for most of us, but the point is that looking for winners and then tracking their picks going forward can help you greatly. Once again, I ask, why purchase picks, when you can get picks for free?

When Should I Buy Picks?

When purchasing picks you need to find services that are either low cost, proven and tracked with high win rate, or of course best of all – both. The more money you spend on a picks service the higher winning percentage the handicapper will need to hit in order for you to make a profit. Check out our sports betting systems page for a list of handicappers and systems that are affordable.

Starting Off Small

For recreational gamblers, sport betting is meant to be fun. There are tons of contests on the internet that you can enter for either free or low stakes. During the football season, anyone who wins a $5 staked 10-team parlay at Bovada.lv also receives a share of the $10,000 weekly jackpot which is split with all winners. If there is no winner, the jackpot rolls over to the next week. Meanwhile, an old sportsbook previously offered $100,000 free to anyone who picks a perfect parlay card. While these are long shots, there are also picks pools, survivor pools, etc. available at the start of the season. Starting in late August, begin Google searches for NFL contests, and starting in late February, search for March Madness contests and bracket buster challenges. This type of betting can be a lot more fun that purchasing picks, and it can help you grow a bankroll while learning.

Now, if you’re a serious sports bettor looking to do this as an investment, purchasing picks is not the way to go. Once you win enough, your opportunities to wager become less, as no one wants to take your bets. Getting around this requires creativity, and the more knowledge you actually have about sports betting, the more creative you can get.

Reason to Avoid Touts

Having already presented a solid argument on reasons not to purchase picks without attacking the pick selling industry, it’s time now to get a little more dirty. The first thing to understand is that the tout industry is based off hype and marketing that plays on desperate gamblers. In sports betting, there are a lot of degenerate gamblers absolutely buried in debt looking for a way out. Also in this group, you’ll find a lot of extremely naïve people, which is easily explained by the fact that this is the group who feels they can make a profit randomly picking, despite the bookies 4.55% house edge. While most bet responsibly and use sports betting for entertainment, many are much deeper than that, and this is who the touts target.

To give an example of an ad that plays on the naïve, I’ll share the details of a newsletter I recently got from one of the largest and most reputable expert picks site. The header is a large advertisement with a photo of one of the cappers, and the impressive text states “Going back to last year he is riding a STAGGERING 13-5 ATS (72.2%)”, and reading further into the text, this relates to his picks on Fridays – yes, only Fridays. Below this, to the side of the newsletter’s main content, there are three smaller ads which each have a photo of a capper. The first capper is 13-4 on NFL games this month, the second has 27 years in business and wants to sell me a pick (no stats), where the third won last night and thinks he’ll do the same tonight.

I’ve played down what the ads say a little, and the ad copy is great with many claims sure to get a casual sports bettor interested. However, as a professional gambler and someone who uses statistics on a daily basis, I have a much different opinion. The first thing that jumps out at me is the opening ad, and I say, “what the heck makes Friday special?” If this capper is winning long term, wouldn’t his overall record be much more relevant than some obscure stat. What are his records on other days of the week? Now don’t get me wrong; maybe he has a winning record all 7 days of the week, I have no idea, what I’m simply saying is that they dived into a huge pool of stats to come up with whichever statistic looked best. He could in fact be a massive career loser and have a stat run like this on “Fridays dating back to last season”.

Best Sports Handicapping Sites

I had similar feelings about the 13-4 in October advertisement. Out of curiosity, I went and checked this company’s main website and found they have 15 cappers marketed as NFL experts selling picks. Having some knowledge of statics, I ran the math. If 15 people flip a coin heads or tails a total of 17 times each, there is a 73% chance one of them hits heads at least 13 times. More or less, if I had 15 monkeys picking teams at random, I’d have a similar stat to share.

Sports Handicapping Picks

Expert pick sites are great marketers, I’ll give them that. However, these ads are rather deceiving, as most are just cherry picked ripples of variance. It’s good marketing and the company might be legit; I just encourage you to keep a level head and not to get drawn into purchasing picks based on tout marketing hype. These guys have tons and tons of data that they can pick from, and they can market their results in such a way that desperate gamblers want to buy.

Once again, rather than pay for picks, why not get them for free at a free picks blog such as our sports betting picks blog that provides winners weekly at no cost. Ultimately, though, buy betting picks or don’t buy betting picks. It’s your choice. Whatever you decide, we wish you the best of luck.