Sports Handicappers Big and Small

Sports handicappers, ya gotta love ‘em.

They come in all shapes, sizes, and legitimacy. Some are genuinely hard-working sports gurus (I know several personally), while others are complete cons bent on lining their pockets (and I know several of those personally, too!). I won’t name names of anyone I know. Sorry.

But I recently did some research on some of the sites spending the most money for online advertising, and I’ve included those below. What I came up with was not a list of the bigger and more legitimate sites, but of temporary gateway sites geared toward getting past the stringent Google limitations on gambling-related sites.

Notice how recently all of these were created. Several from the same city. None of the big players. I’ve included the Alexa ranking for each, which is accurate only as of this writing, on January 5, 2010. The sites below may be long gone by the time you read this.

ncaatournamentinfo.com
Email capture site for Charlie Wright Sports (mirrored at charliewrightsports.com), but without his name appearing in text anywhere.
Alexa Ranking: 2,243,488
Created 12/19/2007, Scottsdale AZ

hankwins.com
Decent looking site featuring Hank Petrello. Claims that CNN called him “the best one game Handicapper in America” and of course has no backing proof of this. Googling it turns up nothing. His quote from the “Vegas Journal” also has no citation. Was he referring to the “Las Vegas Review-Journal” or something else?
Alexa Ranking: 2,601,694
Created 8/17/2009.

vegaskillers.com
Amateur looking site with no significant cappers on it. Text goes from “I” to “we” which makes one wonder if it is just one guy using a couple different names.
Alexa Ranking: 4,766,364
Created 6/30/2009, Toronto

kickoffpicks.net
Features “expert handicapper and gamblers” Rick Davis Sr. and Jr… Who?
Lots of posted records. Of course the “Free” picks all hover around 50% while the paid picks are miraculously 72%-84% range.
Alexa Ranking: 1,115,526
Created 9/27/2008

tiredoflosing.net
Looks VERY familiar… See hankwins.com. This one features faceless capper David Banks.
Alexa Ranking: 1,201,825
Created 3/25/2009, Germar Productions

championssportspicks.com
How fitting that a handicapper, former linesmaker, and “Vegas insider” would be named “Mike Champion.”
Alexa Ranking: Unranked
Created 8/9/2009, Scottsdale AZ

footballfreepicks.info
Generic email signup site which is actually affiliated with Wunderdog Sports. No content at all.
Alexa Ranking: 753,492
Created 7/27/2007, Golden Colorado

todaysfreewinner.com
Another email signup page with no content in what appears to be a hastily tossed together page. There are a few links to radio shows on blowoutwinner.com, which does seem to have a legit broadcast.
Alexa Ranking: 1,038,854
Created 11/13/2007, Hicksville NY

dixiecappers.com
Email signup site with no named cappers I could see. At least includes a working odds page.
Alexa Ranking: 11,191,865
Created 11/19/2008, Scottsdale AZ

Now for sake of comparison, let’s list a few of the big names in the handicapping world.

JimFiest.com
Many named cappers. Odds, scores, articles. Professional site.
Alexa Ranking: 167,798
Created 6/27/1995

FreePlays.com
Many named cappers. Odds, scores, articles. Professional site.
Alexa Ranking: 152,380
Created 10/4/1999

There are others such as Covers.com, Vegasexperts.com, etc. But you see none of these advertising on Google. Why? Google won’t let them.

Do your homework and stick with a reputable sports handicapper, preferably one recommended by someone you know.