When did you start betting:
To be totally candid I actually started my betting career in 1971 while attending the 8th grade. I was always fascinated by it from listening to some of my little league coaches and my dad's poker buddy's discuss games and point spreads. In March of 1971 Muhammad Ali was fighting heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. Pretty much all the guys in my class and even my dads friends all thought Ali would handle Frazier. I had watched the earlier two fights with Quarry and Bonavena and had my doubts. I'd seen Frazier and admired his left hook and relentless style and even at that age did not feel Ali at that point was quite ready for that much pressure from a fighter with Fraziers syle. I basically saw an opportunity to seize the moment and announced in the school cafeteria that I was willing to cover action on the fight and posted Ali as a 3-1 favorite and was swamped with action, 90% of which came in on Ali as I suspected (and hoped) it would. Well we all know what happened and Frazier got the unnanimous decision and I collected all my winnings and the seed was now firmly planted. I was involved in bookmaking for many, many years to follow.
Handicapping Career Highlights:
I would say my highlights as a handicapper where the selections were all actually documented came kind of by accident. I came across a site while just killing time one day that allowed you to make selections and kept the statistics and involved all major sports. I got nothing for it but I have always loved competition and I was curious to see how I would fare against others. I won first place in both the NFL & the NBA a couple of times and also placed highly in all sports several times. This particular site evolved into a paid site and having observed my track record over a long stretch of years offered me my first position as a paid handicapper.
Biggest recent win streak:
I've has some truly sick winning streaks through the years but in keeping with documented records I would have to say 2009 season with my Triple Stars has been very gratifying and profitable (69% over 75 games). Of course before I was a paid and documented handicapper I had some streaks that were just as strong but obviously I cannot use those out of fairness and honesty.
Most profitable recent season:
My single most profitable season was in 2006 when I concluded the season at 60%.
Handicapping Style:
My handicapping style is a combination of trends and patterns coupled with comprehensive looks at current issues involving all the teams. In other words I study like hell and work very hard to make educated decisions.
Sports you have the best feel for:
I would have to say I have always hung my hat on my talent in the NFL and that is what brought me the attention more than anything that elevated me to my current position with pregame. I was once called by the Columbia Daily Tribune the #1 NFL Handicapper in the World and that was a feather in my cap to be sure. Except I cannot play a softball game now without getting asked constantly about the upcoming weekends action. Seems unless I am running or sliding I am getting hounded but that just goes with the territory.
Teams/Conferences you have the best feel for:
My best teams if I had to narrow it down would definately be the St Louis Cardinals, Missouri Tigers in both hoops and football and the Green Bay Packers. I've followed all these teams avidly since the 60's and am even a Packer shareholder and the stock is displayed prominently in my office. The day my grandson was born he went on the season ticket waiting list before he was 6 hours old and that's a fact.
When are the picks typically released:
I know full and well how critical to get my releases out to my clients asap, I usually have them up and loaded by early morning and always want them to check for a final update by 5:30pm Central Time.
Details of analysis with picks:
2 to 3 paragraphs on each pick.
Motto:
I don't really have a formal motto but my friends who know me best and have known what I do for many, many years often joke that I am like a bird dog on point. In other words I am constantly looking and probing for any piece of information I can use. This trait has always served me well as a gambler and that trait will certainly work to my clients advantage. I am ruthless in my quest for knowledge and edges, I will ALWAYS look for any edge, anytime and anywhere. I take pride in saying I've put my daughters through good colleges on my abilty to create success in the sports gambling field. If it involves playing the games or booking the action. I've done it, and done it well.