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By Sonny Palermo
Every once in a while, I surf - for amusement. And the scamdicappers their shills, and followers, never cease to provide the same. Here are some examples . . .
A thread title: "Anyone got (scammer name deleted so as to not provide publicity)'s GAME OF THE YEAR?"
I was tempted reply, "No, but I saw his game of the year from last week posted here somewhere."
In a post: "Hey, anybody got (name deleted)'s NBA plays for today? This guy is HOT! I bought a season subscription and I am getting ready to buy a new corvette with my profits. He has a discount on a full NBA season that lets you save $250 of the regular season price!! I think it ends on Sunday though, so better hurry and get in now!!
These are always too easy - "If you bought his season package, why are you posting to ask if anyone has his plays?" The shillers are at least one rung lower on the IQ ladder.
Here's a classic from last week's game. It comes from one of ‘07's "This Year's Girl" (This Year's Girl, so named after a Costello song about being the current flavor of the month.)
Jags - 2 ½ - I want you to spend a little extra coin and buy down the 1/2 point. This line is floating between 2 1/2 and 3 depending on where you shop. So if you've got Jacksonville at -3 I want you to buy the Jaguars down to -2 1/2 so you still win if they prevail by a field goal. And if you get stuck with Jacksonville at -3 1/2, buy down to -3 so you get a push with a field goal.
Naturally, do not buy down from 2 1/2; there is no need to.
Final score - Jags 31, Steelers 29! Best part? The scammer sold it as his $100,000 dollar play of the year. And as sure as I am that he is a scumbag, I am just as sure that a bunch of suckers out there fell for it and actually believed the guy bet that much - and paid him for the pick. Me? I bet ya $10 he didn't even have $10 on it!
Then there's the guy who puts his bankroll for the season at the top of every post - +$45,885!!! (Not too hard to achieve if you A) give yourself an imaginary bankroll of $50,000 to start the season; B) don't keep an accurate tracking of your plays, and C) the so-called-moderators at the site turn a blind eye when other posters point this out because they have an interest in his tout service.
And scams aren't just relegated to the internet, either. One of the popular sports book chains in Vegas is currently running a radio ad that states, "There are two kind of bettors - squares, and wise guys. I'm talking only to the wise guys here. It's game day - you got your (rag name deleted) and your (other rag name deleted) and you're studying hard, getting ready to get your action down." Etc, etc.
A couple things I want to point out here - first, when it starts off "I'm only talking to wise guys here" they mean the opposite. It is a marketing ploy designed to get squares to listen, because, hey, no one wants to think they are a square, right? Second, the rags the guy mentions are tout sheets that are sold at their sports books (probably no tie-in, there, right?) They are two publications specifically geared to squares - real wise guys don't read that crap. I know plenty of wise guys and I have never seen either of these rags in their hands. I HAVE seen it in the hands of plenty of Joe Tourist types, though, as they consult it at the ticket counter looking for direction on which games to lose their money on. Finally, and the funniest thing about the ads (if ya know the real skinny in Vegas) is this chain is hardly visited by Wise guys because their limits are so low, set that way to discourage wise guys. It is a well known squares and locals joint. I get a good laugh every time I hear this commercial run.
I often say that our forum at www.everyedge.com, when compared to other forums, is a shining beacon of hope in a sea of sewer sludge. Let me show you a few real life examples. Here are some Everyedge.com thread titles from last week:
NBA Trends
Two STRONG Hoop Plays for Sunday
Hedging question for the forum
NCAA HOOPS - seven for Saturday, with write-ups
Here's a sample of a few titles from elsewhere on the 'net:
FOR ALL THE BIG FAT LOSERS ON INDY AND DALLAS
It's a shame Philip Rivers sucks
GET ON MY BANDWAGON!
DAMN I'M GOOD, 51-3 !!!
THE WORST FART EVER!!
HOT CHICKS ON TOILET
And those are some of the ones that weren't too sleazy/corny/immature to print here.
Like I said, a beacon . . .
Selection/Review - hit with the Over on the game between the Packers and those other guys. This week, we have two overachievers playing in the championship round, and neither will survive. The line on the NY/GB game is exactly what I was hoping for. The stellar play of NY - all season long on the road, and especially in the playoffs, sporting a smoking hot 9-1 record and 9 straight wins - has kept this line to a TD. I'm laying it. The Packers were unstoppable last week - their offense scored at will against a defense that is similar to the Giants. It is asking too much of a team to get up emotionally for a third straight week on the road, and GB easily handled this same team at home in NY earlier this season, 35-13. More of the same in this one as Favre marches on to do battle vs. Brady. (And by the way, what happened to all the "Favre is washed up and should retire" talk we heard so much of last season?)
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