NBA Picks: Hornets vs. Heat

NBA betting has been a windfall for sharp bettors and that continues Monday. Of course the nation’s best handicappers have never been hotter.

Matt Rivers of OffshoreInsiders.com pick Monday is on the Hornets +11.5 against Miami.

Going against Miami in recent days has equaled suicide as LeBron, D Wade and Bosh have started to really gel and form the team that everybody thought they would be. The Heat are great and have now won eight in a row, covering their last seven. Therefore to say anything negative about Erik Spoelstra’s squad is rather silly as they should get another w today but I also do see Chris Paul and the visitors being able to do enough to cover the contest.

Miami is playing their first game back from the four game west coast swing that ended with back-to-back games in Golden State and Sacramento on Friday and Saturday night. One theory that I go by, which works a heck of a lot, is to fade any team that is back home in that first game after a three plus game road trip and that fits the Heat tonight. Then throw in how this is a tough cross country travel all the way from Sacramento down south to Miami and a third game in the last four days. You know that the flight home did not get in until Sunday morning, fairly late, and the players did not get a usual night of sleep making this almost feel like a back-to-back type of a situation. Fatigue has got to be an issue and when factored in with it being that first game back in South Beach how can I not grab this around double-digit number?

New Orleans is not great at all and the 8-0 start to the season was a semi mirage as proven by them dropping three of their last four both straight up and against that number. With that said though the Hornets do have a superstar point guard in Paul along with a few other pieces like David West and Emeka Okafor. New Orleans also hasn’t played since Friday and is without a shadow of a doubt the far fresher team on the court today and to get around double digits makes them just fine with me.

Look for the Heat to resort back to that earlier season form and in the end this thing to be a lot closer than the experts seem to think.

The pick: New Orleans +11

For more information: Matt Rivers is 5-2 the last seven. It’ll be growing after today.  You can take to the bank. Things have been really solid of late including the monster 400,000* on the Dolphins outright yesterday at the Meadowlands. Both NFL winners today led by a 300,000* between Baltimore and Houston plus a 200,000* New York and Minnesota in Detroit. 2-0 baby! Click now to purchase

NFL Week 14 Injuries Affect Fantasy Football

The injuries didn’t arrive in an avalanche like the one that caved in the Metrodome. But we did see a few in Week 14 that could significantly impact NFL betting.

Don’t worry about: Michael Vick (hand), Ben Roethlisberger (foot/ankle), Jason Campbell (stinger), Shonn Greene (neck), DeSean Jackson (hamstring)

Aaron Rodgers, Packers: CONCUSSION

The Packers’ star captured the Concussion of the Week award yesterday because of his stubborn unwillingness to slide. I suppose betting sharps could argue that Rodgers was gutting out extra yardage on his 18-yard scramble because no one else in the Packer running game was stepping up. He said he had a headache but a clear head after the game, meaning he at least has a shot to play against the Patriots next week. Without him, this sports betting blog will recommend you avoid the Packer line at all costs, as the Pats are demolishing everyone right now.

Chris Ivory, Saints: HAMSTRING

Fantasy football players who found this waiver-wire gem are probably pretty irked about this one. Ivory was running with purpose again, tallying 47 yards on seven carries, but left with a hamstring injury. No word yet on the severity but, with Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush both back from injury, the Saints won’t need to rush Ivory back.

Gerald McCoy and Quincy Black, Buccaneers: BICEPS, FOREARM

And we thought the Packer defense had it bad earlier this season. The Buccaneers have been absolutely devastated by season-ending injuries to their defense over the last few weeks. The latest casualties, out until 2011, are McCoy and Black. The Bucs ground out a win yesterday but will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs now.

Damien Woody, Jets: KNEE

We don’t know how serious it is but we do know that Woody, a key part of New York’s offensive line, aggravated a knee injury in Sunday’s loss to Miami. His loss would be a painful blow to the Jets’ rushing attack. Strong safety Eric Smith also may be out next week, as he may have suffered a concussion on Sunday.

Stewart Bradley, Eagles: ELBOW

Linebacker Stewart Bradley is done for the regular season at least. He dislocated his elbow in the Sunday nighter. Injuries are starting to pile up for the Eagles’ “D.”

For more information: Avoid the pitfalls of bowl betting and get exclusive bowl betting previews for the best sports picks on the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.

Steve Budin-Al DeMarco Videos, What Happened? Week 14 NFL Winners Posted

Lack of finances have derailed the Steve Budin and Al DeMarco Fox Sports infomercial but winning sports betting videos are up.  The sizzling LateInfo has the biggest of all week 14 NFL picks.

The Giants vs. Vikings game has been postponed because of weather and the Metrodome roof issues. The make-up details are being discussed at press time with a Monday Night Football at the University of Minnesota the likely option.

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Pats and Bears both look to extend winning streaks in Chicago, the Cowboys battle the Eagles, and the Nuggets take on the Knicks.

Colliding on the gridiron . . .

Coming off a huge Monday night win, the Patriots (10-2 SU, 7-4-1 ATS) will look to stay on a roll on Sunday afternoon when they play on the road against the Bears (9-3 SU, 6-5-1 ATS). New England pounded the rival Jets 45-3 at home last time out, with Tom Brady throwing for 326 yards with four touchdowns. BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 72 yards and two scores that day. Chicago got past the Lions 24-20 in Detroit last week, as Jay Cutler passed for 234 yards and a touchdown. Matt Forte and Chester Taylor both ran for scores for the Bears in that game. Oddsmakers have the Patriots pegged as 3-point road favorites for Sunday’s matchup, while the total for the contest is at 41 points.

“Big Red” is a major figure and pioneer in offshore betting. He has unique access to professional oddsmakers and gamblers. All his bets are based on consulting with elite handicappers, pro bettors and linesmakers. Despite some heartbreaking losses, LateInfo is 9-3 this year in the NFL and 19-6 the last two years. Big Red has the Buccaneers/Redskins. Click now to purchase

Other afternoon matchups around the NFL on Sunday: Tampa Bay (-2) at Washington, Cleveland at Buffalo (-1), Green Bay (-7) at Detroit, Oakland at Jacksonville (-4), Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (-8.5), Atlanta (-7.5) at Carolina, Seattle at San Francisco (-5.5), St. Louis at New Orleans (-9), Denver (-4.5) at Arizona, Miami at the Jets (-5), and Kansas City at San Diego (-7). As well, on Sunday night it’ll be Philadelphia (-3.5) at Dallas. The Eagles (8-4 SU, 6-6 ATS) and Cowboys (4-8 SU, 5-7 ATS) will be meeting for the first time this season, with Philadelphia coming off a 34-24 home win over the Texans, and Dallas coming off a 38-35 road win over Indianapolis.

Tipping off on the hardwood . . .

The NBA has six games on tap for Sunday, with New Orleans at Philadelphia, the Lakers at New Jersey, Cleveland at Oklahoma City, Orlando at the Clippers, Portland at San Antonio, and Denver at New York. The Knicks and Nuggets played a high-scoring game in Denver back on November 16, with the home side pulling out a 120-118 win as a 7.5-point favorite. Carmelo Anthony, who has been dealing with a sore knee lately, put up 26 points for the Nuggets in that win over the Knicks, while Al Harrington was good for 22 points. Amare Stoudemire led the Knicks’ attack with 24 points in that night’s loss.

As well, four games involve ranked teams on the college basketball schedule for Sunday: Appalachian State at No. 9 Georgetown, No. 12 Villanova at La Salle, Northern Colorado at No. 16 Illinois, and Western Carolina at No. 2 Ohio State. The second-ranked Buckeyes (7-0 SU, 3-3 ATS) got past IUPUI 75-64 at home last time out, with Jared Sullinger pouring in 40 points in the win. William Buford had 14 points on the day.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

Finally, the NHL offers up three games on Sunday, with Vancouver at Edmonton, Minnesota at Anaheim, and Washington at the Rangers. The Capitals played the Rangers in New York back on November 9, coming away with a 5-3 win as a -130 road favorite. Brooks Laich scored twice for Washington in that victory, while John Erskine, Mike Knuble, and Matt Hendricks all provided singles. Michal Neuvirth stopped 25 of 28 New York shots. Brian Boyle (with two) and Derek Boogaard had the markers for the Rangers in that losing cause, and Henrik Lundqvist surrendered four goals on 23 shots.

NFL Free Picks Week 14 From Elite Sports Handicappers

There is a loaded gun of week 14 NFL picks and nobody is hotter than the most inexpensive service in the world ScoresOddsPicks of OffshoreInsiders.com.

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets (-5.5) – Sunday at 4:15 p.m. ET

New York (9-3, 7-5 ATS) was embarrassed 45-3 by the Patriots on Monday night. Nothing went right; Mark Sanchez and the offense looked terrible while the defense had no hope at all of slowing Tom Brady. It’s one of those games you don’t dwell on—just forget it and move on.

Miami (6-6, 7-5 ATS) has rotated between wins and losses for nine straight games. Last week, it was a 13-10 loss to the Browns, which was sealed by an interception by Chad Henne with less than a minute to play. At least the defense is playing pretty well; Miami hasn’t allowed more than 17 points in its past four games.

Don’t overthink this one. Yes, the Jets looked awful last week, but they simply got crushed by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. After a few drives, the Jets mentally checked out. That won’t happen against Chad Henne and Tony Sparano. Look for New York to bring its typical array of exotic blitz packages, confusing Henne and forcing some turnovers—and easy points for the offense.

Take the Jets.

Oakland Raiders at Jacksonville Jaguars (-4) – Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET

If at the beginning of the season somebody told you the Raiders and Jaguars would be involved in a hugely important game in Week 14, you’d have called them a liar—yet here we are.

The Raiders (6-6, 6-6 AT) ended a two-game skid with last week’s 28-13 romp over San Diego. Oakland covered as a 13-point underdog and kept itself in the AFC West hunt. The ground game finally got back on track, with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush churning out 192 yards and a pair of scores.

Jacksonville (7-5, 8-4 ATS) is 4-1 in its past five games, including a 5-0 run against the spread. The Jags are playing much-improved defense; they’ve allowed just 288 yards per game over their last three outings.

Oakland’s offense lives and dies by the run, but Jacksonville has bottled up Chris Johnson, Peyton Hillis and Arian Foster in recent weeks.

The Jaguars will play some tough defense, run the ball and cover the spread.

For more information: It’s the greatest run ever in the midst of the greatest football betting season ever. ScoresOddsPicks is now 14-1 the last 15 in football including Navy last night. This included Miami Ohio +775 on the moneyline in the MAC Championship, Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship as the Best Bet of the Year, and Oakland December 5 as the Underdog Best Bet of the Year.

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Week 14 NFL Free Pick: Steelers -9 to Bengals

The real Matt Rivers of OffshoreInsiders.com has a Sunday winner is on the Pittsburgh Steelers-8.5 to Cincinnati. It’s among the week 14 NFL picks against the spread that are up.

Reasoning: I definitely do admit that the Bengals are a far more talented team than the dreadful 2-10 record indicates and a dangerous team at the drop of a hat with their personnel but in the end today I just can’t see them staying within single digits of the big bad Steelers.

Certainly this could be a semi letdown spot for Pittsburgh after the emotional comeback victory in Baltimore last week to seize control of the division. But with that said how can Marvin Lewis’ reeling squad be able to compete against possibly thee single best defense in all of football and an offense that has been cooking as well led by an absolute warrior in Ben Roethlisberger. What Big Ben did in that game against the Ravens was close to legendary and after seeing that Mike Tomlin’s boys have got to be flying high and ready to put a stranglehold on the division.

Ochocinco, Palmer, TO and Benson have an upside for sure and the defense is a bunch of former number one picks but this season has been an absolute disaster and now in the cold of Heinz Field and up against Polamalu and the Steelers how can this thing be close after 60 minutes? I just can’t see it. Teasing the Steelers is a great play because losing at home in this spot sees extremely remote and that’s what it more than likely entails but I see this south of 10 number as the right side and a must play as well.

The pick: Pittsburgh -8.5

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Humanitarian Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State

Can Northern Illinois put the exclamation mark on its 10-win season with a victory over Fresno State in the Humanitarian Bowl? The betting decision will come down to whether or not you think Fresno state can stop the Huskies’ prolific ground attack.

Northern Illinois Huskies (10-3) vs Fresno State Bulldogs (8-4)

Saturday, December 18, 5:30 p.m. ET

Bodog.com favorite: Northern Illinois -3

Over/Under: 60

Northern Illinois was a force against the spread this season. It went 9-3-1 ATS for the year and went 9-1-1 ATS over its final 11 games. It sometimes struggles to cover against tougher competition, however; the Huskies are 2-9 ATS over their last 11 against teams with winning records. Thanks to their solid offense, the OVER was 8-5 over Northern Illinois’ 13 games this season.

Fresno State wasn’t as strong from a sports betting perspective, going 5-6-1 ATS on the year. However, it enters the Humanitarian Bowl 4-0 ATS in its last four bowl games as an underdog. The Bulldogs are 5-2 ATS over their last seven non-conference affairs. However, though Fresno State closed its season with two straight victories, its offense sputtered; the Bulldogs are 1-7-1 ATS over their last nine games when failing to reach 100 rushing yards the previous game. The total trends toward the OVER for Fresno State as well; it’s 4-1 over the Bulldogs’ last five bowl games.

On paper, Northern Illinois looks superior across the board. Offensively, the Huskies are 21st in the country with 447.8 total yards per game. They field the league’s No. 7 rushing attack, averaging 266.7 yards per game. Their star runner, Chad Spann, leads the team with 1,293 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. It’s no wonder the Huskies are 13th in the country with 37.8 points per game. Quarterback Chandler Harnish was efficient this year, throwing 20 touchdown passes versus five picks, but this is a run-first team; Northern Illinois ranks 89th in the nation with 181.2 passing yards per contest.

Defensively, the Huskies are no slouches, ranking 28th overall (328.2 YPG), 35th against the pass (202.1 YPG), 29th against the run (126.2 YPG) and 16th in points allowed (19.1).

Fresno State’s numbers don’t look as impressive to NCAA football betting players but the Bulldogs arguably had a much tougher schedule this season, having faced offensive powerhouses like Boise State, Nevada and Hawaii. Their defense still clocks in at 41st with 342.7 yards allowed per game. They’re stronger against the pass (201.2) than the run (141.5). Fresno State struggled to keep opponents off the board this year, allowing 29.2 points per game and surrendering 49 or more points three times.

Fresno State’s underwhelming offense is 69th in the country (375 YPG), including 67th in passing (214.3) and 51st in rushing (160.7). The Bulldogs’ go-to offensive weapon is Robbie Rouse, who ran for 1,097 yards and eight scores this year.

Matt Rivers Free College Basketball Betting Pick

The real Matt Rivers of OffshoreInsiders.com has a free pick Saturday is on Texas A&M +2 to Washington.

Reason: Washington definitely is the more talented team when compared to the Aggies and probably has the better shot to go farther when all is said and done. I really like the offensive firepower that Thomas, Overton, Bryan-Amaning and Holiday bring to the table but and a bit but here, I just do not trust the Huskies traveling like this as Lorenzo Romar’s team never seems to be able to play nearly as well away from the state of Washington.

UDub is 6-2 thus far on the season and has been scoring like crazy. This team goes over the century mark routinely and has smacked everybody except for a pair of games in Maui when they did little in losses against Kentucky and Michigan State. Besides the win against Virginia on the big island the Huskies have been in their comfort zone throughout and now venture back out on the road down south to Aggieland against a pretty good A&M squad.

Mark Turgeon probably does not have his best team but Khris Middleton has been very good and at 8-1 along with being at home against a Washington squad that is sketchy at times on the road I can’t help but back the Aggies in this pretty much home dog spot.

This game may not turn out to be the instant classic that last season’s was but the Aggies in front of their fans are going to win this game more than they won’t and that statement means everything to me at this number.

The pick: Texas A&M +2.

For more information: Matt Rivers says pretty much the first college basketball only Saturday is here, save the Army-Navy game, and I’m more than ready. A pair of winners today led by this 400,000* from Mormon country involving Arizona and BYU. The Wildcats and Cougars are a pair of solid quality programs that are looking to bust through and make some noise once again in the college hoop landscape. One team will do just that. Bonus 200,000* in this in-state rivalry between VCU and Richmond.  Click now to purchase

NBA Free Picks: Lakers vs. Bulls

College bowl previews and breaking injury and suspension information as it comes in are updated 24/7. But to the Friday night winning with a pick from the real Matt Rivers  of OffshoreInsiders.com Friday is on the LA Lakers -2 at Chicago.

There are certainly reasons why somebody would back the talented Bulls in this near pick-em spot at home but I’m just not going for that. Sure the Lakers have struggled of late, Derrick Rose is awesome and Carlos Boozer was a great addition to a team that is the odds on favorite to win their division but the Bulls are still up against the two time defending NBA champions.

Phil Jackson’s squad has not been nearly as good since jumping out of the gate 8-0. They’re 4-4 overall and a terrible 1-7 against the number in their last eight. You know what I say to that, blah, blah, blah. This is still quite possibly the best team in the entire NBA with the superstar of all superstars at a pick against a good Chicago team, but still far from a great Chicago team. This is just a good solid play, not the lock of 87 generations as Pau Gasol has not been great of late and the Lake Show has struggled but all in all it’s still the Lakers, at a pick, against the inferior Bulls.

Kobe, Gasol, Fisher, Odom and Artest are the champs and a team that has now been playing with each other for awhile. If they continue to play poor ball and lose today than so be it but in my opinon the visitors from Los Angeles walk off this court as the victor more times than not making the Lakers are solid value and good enough for a play.

For more information: It doesn’t get much worse than that, truly says Matt Rivers. I won’t say it was the worst beat that I have ever suffered but having the Colts last night was certainly up there. No pontificating here as I’m sure you saw how that thing went down. Great job not kicking a FG earlier Jeff Fisher, way to let the clock run completely out, genius! 300,000* Oklahoma City-New Orleans plus a 200,000* Miami-Golden State as I erase that despicable nonsense. Click now to purchase

The pick: LA Lakers -2 at BetUs

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FAQ

Can you customize a package for me?

Sure, we often have for long-term packages. Examples are pro-rating specials for people who have a lot of days left in their current subscriptions. Many gamblers who have a long-term package for one of the Bet It Trinity services want us to design one for the remaining two. Please keep in mind that we normally customize packages of one week or longer, because there is some programming involved in setting them up. Just please use the “contact us” link at the top of the page.

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What is your winning percentage?

Over any long term period, we will hit near or above the 60 percentile. Our Wise Guy plays are 3-5 percent better than our Major plays. Note in baseball we pick predominantly dogs or small favorites, so our percentage will be lower, but our ROI will be even higher. We have the highest burden of proof and criterion before making a selection than anyone in the industry.

Where are your records documented?

Ah simple question, not a simple answer. Where the documenters documented? Please read this article for the not-so-short answer. No website in the history of the world has better vetted handicappers

I lost money betting your plays yesterday. Can I get a free day?

Anyone who wants a guarantee frankly should not be gambling. Gambling involves risk by definition and we eliminate long-term risk, while reducing short-term. We do not win every day or even every three day period.

In fact, handicappers who now “guarantee” plays sell their picks ala carte, charging $40-60 or more per pick and to purchase every pick they release will often cost $150-200 or more for the right to have the picks “guaranteed”.

We are about results, not the façade of security with so-called “guaranteed picks”. We redeem ourselves by having more winning days and picks than losing days and picks at a lower price.

We will openly admit what the scamdicappers do not: we do lose every now and then. However our work ethic, experience, software, contacts, etc will insure that we win more than anyone else and at a fraction of the cost! Just as we do not request extra money every time we win, we do not give refunds for occasional losing days.

Gambling by definition involves risk. Frankly the only guarantee that any LEGITIMATE handicapper can give is that his plays are extremely well researched and we can say in good sense of right and wrong that our plays have a much better chance at winning in the long-term than any plays that will get anywhere. “Make good” days to my knowledge are gimmicks used by services that charge 20 times what we do. We offer the best selections on the planet for one of the lowest prices anywhere. We are proud of the unprecedented value we offer.

It is by design that my plays are priced where you can try me for a week or even a month for LESS than it would cost you to get the selections from most inferior handicappers in a day. Other handicappers know that they must make as much money from you as quickly as possible. I believe that anyone who tries us for a long period will subscribe to my plays for their betting life. My prices are with that supreme confidence in mind. People who will try me for a day and it’s “one and gone” if I lose are unavoidable. Luckily I have a lot more “won and I’ll try you again” days. But for those kinds of clients timing is everything.

But I treat ever day as if it is my only chance to win someone for life. So far, so good.

Nobody has more to lose by a losing day than I do from both a personal investing and business standpoint. That is why I will work 16 hours a day to make sure the winning days greatly outnumber the losing ones to the benefit of us all!

Often the only difference between a client who uses me for only a day or so and one who will use me for many years is timing. My investors and I will after basketball season weigh all the pros and cons of many things including pricing. A possibility is raising prices and offering “make up days” as a gimmick as the more expensive (and inferior) handicappers do.

As we have been getting new clients literally every day, inevitably any time we lose for a day or two someone will have tried us for the first time and lost. We have many loyal clients who like me suffer through a few inevitable bumps in the road—that’s why it’s called gambling, but stick with us because there is a lot more thick than thin. To give free days after one losing day is frankly a slap in the face to clients with realistic betting goals.

We are still waiting for people to beg to pay double on our more frequent winning nights.

Investing with a quality handicapper is like betting the stock market. There are ebbs and flows but you will make money in the long run.

If I buy a package from you, do the days have to be consecutive?

Our program is designed only for consecutive day purchases, much like a newspaper subscription. However we have made exceptions for clients who buy at least a monthly package and are going out of town or cannot access for a few days.

It is impractical to do this for four-day packages etc as all work must be done manually. In fact they are designed for the weekend recreational bettor.

But if a long-term client wants to delay a subscription while out of town, we can arrange.

I have been thinking of using your plays as I visit your website every day. However you never talk about losers. Am I supposed to believe that you never lose?

I can say with a clear conscience that I believe that you will not get better selections anywhere. However the best products of any kind must not ignore the basic principles of Advertising 101.

Marketing is not defined as an objective rundown of the pros and cons of a product.  Movies and restaurants do not post bad reviews with the good ones. Automobiles do not promote anything negative said in Consumer Reports, just the positives. Mc Donald’s does not publicize the calories or cholesterol levels of their products and Firestone I am confident will never mention the world “recall” in their commercials nor will any of the thousands of products that are recalled every year.

I live and die my selections, but I also need to keep the basic principles of advertising in mind. There will be no inaccurate records posted. I could tell the entire world every time that I lost but in fairness I would have to ask all the Ph.D. professors that I had who taught me to focus on the positive when advertising a product to retroactively lower my grades for throwing those principles out the window. I believe I will win for you more than anyone on the planet will. I will also lose. But it would not be wise to advertise losing days. It does make me dishonest, as I am not. But it does make me a bit in tune with how marketing works.

Anyone could flip a coin, admit to picking heads when tails won. That takes about 30 seconds a day of “honest” handicapping.If you upgrade to wanting a QUALITY handicapper, we are here for you.

But if merely talking about losers is all you want, I can respect that. Let me know if you decide to have as few losers as possible to talk about, a handicapper who would rather learn from losers than merely clear his conscience by talking about them.

Personally I hate losing and telling the world about it really doesn’t lesson the pain. I’d prefer to have clients that feel the same way. I do.

It is not my policy to elevate myself by bringing down other handicappers. But I will try to say this as tactful as possible.

When we formed it, we knew that it was imperative to first spend a ton of money making sure we had the best handicappers to promote. We spent a lot of money purchasing plays and “scouting” a ton of handicappers, including a few on that list. We came up with a wish list and spent a lot of money turning that list into reality. Only the best made the cut. We didn’t recruit any of your “honest” handicappers. I hope that is as delicate as possible.

But then again, admitting to losers was not a criterion on our checklist. Bluntly, we set the bar much, much higher. I do mean much higher.

But to each his own.

Is your site secure?

We have not had one instance that we know of where a client’s security of privacy has been breached. We have as much to lose as anyone if that happens. Thus we have insured as realistically as possible at all costs no problems will happen. Our secured server is the best in the business.

If I buy a long term package and am away from my computer, how can I get your picks?

The only way to keep Internet costs down is allow those plays to be accessed on the the Internet.  In fact, we do not store any credit card info. That is all done by Paypal. Even if hypothetically somebody hacked our site, no personal information is on it beyond your email address! They’d have to hack Paypal to get your personal credit card info.

How many plays a day do you release?

We always allow the quality of the card to dictate how many plays we release. We’ve had complete Saturday college basketball cards in which we’ve released just two plays and we had a Thursday night football card with two games and we had plays on both sides and both totals including three Wise Guy plays. As a general rule of thumb, we usually release 3-6 plays.

What time do you release your plays?

On weekdays in which there are no night games, our plays are up usually by 1:00 EST, generally earlier. On days in which there are day games, we release much earlier but sometimes we will come back later with night plays.

Isn’t it a conflict of interest selling picks and promoting a sportsbook?

If it’s a conflict of interest, we are not doing a very good job as all our long-term records prove. It would in theory be a conflict if the only people we sent to a sportsbook were our clients and the clients were also our customers.

While I don’t know of any scientific number comparisons, the number of clients who bet at sportsbooks is enormously higher than the number that purchase sports service selections. The biggest sportsbooks are looking for volume. They can adjust the line to ensure that there is enough square money to balance the sharp money.

Ideally a sportsbook would love to have 50 percent action on each side in every game. Hence half the money wins every game. To be brutally honest, there are a lot more crap handicappers out there than good ones and the crap handicappers send clients to help sportsbooks get balanced action.

Furthermore we give plenty of free information for the do-it-yourself handicapper. A good faith estimate is 4-of-5 clients we send to sportsbooks never bought plays from us or any sports service. Frankly the main purpose of our free news and notes is to increase the number of do-it-yourself handicappers we send.

Finally we always urge line shopping, but we would only recommend a sportsbook that we personally place bets. Having a reliable sportsbook that pays, helps our business not hinders it.

Truthfully, the ethical reasons aside, I don’t think there are realistic benefits to putting out a lousy product. We have the largest number of repeat clients in the industry.

We also get this question when we run a promotion of free premium plays in return for a deposit to a sponsor. It’s very rare when our long-time customers take advantage of this anyway as our package prices represent a miniscule percentage of their winnings. However, we know there is a significant percentage of gamblers out there who distrust ALL sports services because of a bad experience with another or because of hearsay and painting all handicappers with a broad brush. Several of our long-term clients likely would never have tried us in the first place if not for no-risk promotion.

And finally if anyone really thinks we are giving away ruse plays to benefit the books, then just bet against our plays. It will be fool’s gold if you do, but ultimately we are only responsible for the plays we release, not how you bet them.

New Mexico Bowl Preview

Sure, 2010 wasn’t the same for BYU and NCAA football betting sharps who wagered on them. The glory days of Max Hall are a thing of the past. But the Cougars can’t complain, really. They had a nice run. And they get their 29th all-time bowl appearance when they battle the University of Texas-El Paso in the New Mexico Bowl. It’s not too early to make a betting pick!

BYU Cougars vs. UTEP Miners

Saturday, December 18, 2:00 p.m. ET

Sportsbook favorite: BYU -12

It’s not a huge surprise to see the spread at 12 points in BYU’s favor right now, as the Cougars definitely enter the New Mexico Bowl with more momentum. They closed out the season by winning four straight games and before coming within a hair of beating Utah on the road in their final game on November 27. The Cougars scored 40-plus points in three of those games; they also went 6-1 against the spread over their final seven games.

Defensively, BYU was respectable this season, ranking 38th in the nation and 21st against the pass with 187.8 yards allowed per game. The Cougars ran the ball pretty well with J.J. Di Luigi averaging 5.2 yards per carry and running for seven scores.

The Cougars’ passing attack was a liability early in the season when Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps split quarterbacking duties but Nelson’s season-ending injury was almost a blessing. Heaps seemed to find himself down the stretch, throwing 10 touchdown passes and just two interceptions over his final five starts. He hurt his shoulder against Utah but is expected to be ready for the New Mexico Bowl.

UTEP’s season was the inverse of BYU’s. The Miners won five of their first six games but lost five of their last six games. They struggled defensively, allowing 399.8 total yards of offense per game. Quarterback Trevor Vittatoe wasn’t horrible, throwing 19 touchdown passes versus 10 interceptions, but he’s simply not a difference maker. He topped 200 passing yards just once in UTEP’s last five games.

The Cougars may not have been too happy with their season but I still think they’re a class above UTEP. They’re a solid choice to cover the spread without much trouble.

Free pick: BYU -12