In what is largely an unregulated industry, the sports handicapping industry has earned a reputation for engaging in unscrupulous business practices predicated upon fraud, deception and deceit. The vast majority of sports handicapping services on the internet today peddle get-rich-quick schemes to desperate and/or unsuspecting bettors looking to earn a return on their investment. Unfortunately, many of these bettors are exploited by relentless salesmen who engage in high-pressure sales tactics that can be best described as intimidating, fraudulent and even illegal.
Unfortunately, the reputation of the sports handicapping industry is well-deserved based upon the business practices described above. Handicapping services magically appear on the internet daily (if not hourly), and most of these services are nothing more than desperate schemes to defraud sports bettors. Here is what the sports handicapping industry does not want sports bettors to know:
1. The vast majority of sports handicappers have second jobs and turn to selling sports picks to supplement their income. Unbeknownst to many sports bettors, they are hiring sports handicappers who have full-time jobs unrelated to handicapping!
As President and CEO of Oskeim Sports Consulting, LLC, I can assure you that being the company’s leading handicapper is my full-time job as declared on my state and federal tax returns. I left a successful law practice in 2007 to provide sports bettors with a legitimate alternative to the garbage that is found on the internet today.
2. Upwards of 99% of sports handicappers make less than six figures in income annually. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of handicapping services that generate revenue exceeding $100,000 annually. However, the betting community maintains the long-held misperception that handicappers are making a fortune when, in fact, they are struggling to pay the bills and have full-time jobs outside of the industry (see #1 above).
As President and CEO of Oskeim Sports Consulting, I have been able to provide a comfortable living for my family. I am frequently asked by prospective clients, “how many members do you have?” and my response remains the same: “I have enough clients to provide my wife and 2-year-old son with the quality of life they deserve.” I am grateful for being one of the few legitimate sports handicappers who makes a good living doing something I love.
3. Sports handicapping services trade client’s personal information with one another in an attempt to generate new business. Privacy and confidentiality are two words that are non-existent in the sports handicapping industry. After a handicapper churns and burns his set of clients, he trades that customer list to another handicapping service in exchange for a new list of victims. The trading of customer lists is an endless cycle that ultimately puts sports bettors’ private information in the hands of hundreds (if not thousands) of handicapping services.
As an attorney, I understand and appreciate the importance of both privacy and confidentiality and, as such, I do not sell or provide clients’ personal information to third parties. Moreover, I do not cold call clients (or prospective clients), nor do I engage in high-pressure sales tactics. Rather, I have implemented an industry-first Code of Conduct that emphasizes honesty, transparency, accountability and unmatched customer service.
Whether you decide to retain Oskeim Sports or a different service, I urge you to do your to make sure you do your due diligence; the handicapping service must put your interests ahead of its own in order to earn your business.