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I grew up in a gambling household, the son of a professional sports bettor. While my Dad did have a straight job, the real money came from sports betting.  I started learning the gambling business at an early age with my father teaching me the ropes of sports wagering in my teens. Our family frequently played cards, held the occasional casino night at my Mom's place in Beverly Hills, California, and I hustled bowling and poker whenever I could.

Some of my fondest memories growing up were the regular trips to Las Vegas with my family where we were treated like high rollers.  I saw every major entertainer of the late 60's and 70's, usually accompanied by a full orchestra all decked out in tuxedos.  We were treated to performances by Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Ann Margaret, Elvis, The Fifth Dimension, Diana Ross (with and without the Supremes), Glen Campbell, Lionel Hampton and many more.  I loved those shows and grew to love the Vegas high roller lifestyle that my Dad raised us in.

Of course my Dad was in Las Vegas to conduct his business and to visit with his friends in the sports betting world.  Many of these people are now considered legends in this arena, but I was just meeting them as a kid.  People like Lem Banker, Bob Martin, Lefty Rosenthal, Sonny Reizner, Pittsburgh Jack Franzi, Gene Mayday, Johnny Quinn and others.  Back home family friends included Morty Olshan of Gold Sheet fame and Jerry Kilgore of JK Sports.  These friends nicknamed my Dad "The Whiz", a name that stuck for decades, for his ability to continually beat the number in sports betting.

So needless to say my sports betting career started early.  As a youngster I committed all of the mistakes that young gamblers commit and many times over. I bet out of proportion to my bankroll, took shots when I didn’t have enough money to pay, made bets just to be in the action or because the game was on TV, bet on sports I didn't know anything about...and of course I wanted to do this all on my own.  For instance, during the NFL season (Lem Banker's best sport) my Dad would say “let me help you, let me give you the games Lem and I are playing".  But I wouldn't listen, I was stubborn.  It wasn't winning money that was the thrill; it was about being right and picking the winner myself.

So I was up and down the proverbial roller coaster like any out of control gambler.   My Dad knew I needed help so he got me work with one of the local bookmakers in town.  This was quite the experience and over the years I held several positions in bookmaking organizations, which gave me an invaluable inside view of how the sports betting business really works...as well as a couple of arrests!

Even after leaving that side of the business, my sports wagering and baseball betting strategy continued.  I can truly say that I did not become consistently successful until 15 years ago.  As I matured, winning money became more important to me than picking winners.  I let go of the ego and began focusing on what works.  I finally learned betting discipline and what it meant to be in control.  I learned the lessons of line value, money management and the edge in betting against the public.  Basically, after all those years, I finally embraced the invaluable lessons I learned from "The Whiz".  If only I would have listened to my Dad earlier on.

In looking back over my nearly 40 years of sports betting, there was always one consistent trend.  This was my skill of consistently making profits by betting on Major League Baseball.  I will be the first to admit being flush with cash and then broke many times, sometimes within the same betting season!  In studying my records over the years, the large swings from boom to bust were a result of winning and losing streaks in football and basketball.  This is when I realized that if it is simply about making profits, then I needed to only focus on my true gift, the ability to successfully handicap baseball.  I truly do not recall the last time that I had a losing baseball season.  Baseball's emphasis on statistics and the large number of games in the season plays to my strength, to my handicapping style, and therefore to my advantage.

After the urging of a close friend, and now my business partner in this venture, I decided to offer my Major League Baseball selections as Best Bets to the sports betting public starting in 2010.  We believe we are the only baseball handicapping service available today that specializes in generating profits by betting exclusively on Major League Baseball.

Please see our Handicapping Method and Money Management articles for our baseball wagering strategy.  The Past Performance page highlights my prior years' records.

Wishing you a profitable baseball season.

The Baseball Handicapper.

 

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