Hi Guys… Rainman here, and you have just logged on to the best Sports Handicapping site on the whole Worldwide Web! Now, before I start sounding like all these so-called handicappers you see yelling and screaming on T.V., let me tell you I'm not like that at all. In fact, those guys are the reason I started All-Star Sports almost thirty-five years ago. Let me tell you a quick story about how I went from being a serious player to one of the best professional handicappers in the nation- and why. Then you'll understand what All-Star Sports, and The Rainman, is all about.
In The Seventies, I was a player, probably a lot like you. I took my sports wagering seriously…. I kept up with the teams, charted tons of numbers, listened to lots of people who professed to know everything anyone ever wanted to know about the games, made my final decisions on my own, and generally either won a little, or got my brains beat in, depending on the particular weekend. I played 10, 12, 14 games on a Saturday, threw in a couple of teasers, maybe a couple of parlays, and then worked hard the next week to pay my Bookie. Sound familiar so far? I finally succumbed to the non-stop phone calls and non-stop mail-outs that came from people I'd never heard of who all promised incredible win rates on "Lock" games, "Fixed" games, or games where they had "Inside Information" that only they had access to, if only I would a.) give them my credit card number, b.) send them a wire transfer for a few hundred bucks, or c.) pay them a certain amount for each winner they gave me. Since these guys could all sell ice cubes to Eskimos, I decided to give one a try. I'm not going to name names, but lets just say the guy I chose sounded credible, I had seen him on T.V., and I figured that if he did one-half as good as he said, I'd do O.K. Most of you already know the end of the story, but I'll continue. Not only did he not do one-half as good as he said, he was terrible. I did accomplish one thing by signing with him… I managed to mysteriously double the number of phone calls from other services I was getting, and I had to put a larger mailbox up to handle the junk mail!
In The Seventies, I was a player, probably a lot like you. I took my sports wagering seriously…. I kept up with the teams, charted tons of numbers, listened to lots of people who professed to know everything anyone ever wanted to know about the games, made my final decisions on my own, and generally either won a little, or got my brains beat in, depending on the particular weekend. I played 10, 12, 14 games on a Saturday, threw in a couple of teasers, maybe a couple of parlays, and then worked hard the next week to pay my Bookie. Sound familiar so far? I finally succumbed to the non-stop phone calls and non-stop mail-outs that came from people I'd never heard of who all promised incredible win rates on "Lock" games, "Fixed" games, or games where they had "Inside Information" that only they had access to, if only I would a.) give them my credit card number, b.) send them a wire transfer for a few hundred bucks, or c.) pay them a certain amount for each winner they gave me. Since these guys could all sell ice cubes to Eskimos, I decided to give one a try. I'm not going to name names, but lets just say the guy I chose sounded credible, I had seen him on T.V., and I figured that if he did one-half as good as he said, I'd do O.K. Most of you already know the end of the story, but I'll continue. Not only did he not do one-half as good as he said, he was terrible. I did accomplish one thing by signing with him… I managed to mysteriously double the number of phone calls from other services I was getting, and I had to put a larger mailbox up to handle the junk mail!
To make a long story short, I went thru seven different services, each one nationally known, each one promising to be better than the one before, and each one telling bigger lies than the one before. Let's get to the end of this… I decided to try one last time. After all this guy was the biggest, no names but his initials were J.F., and he was in Las Vegas, the sports betting capital of the world. I signed up for a two week trial period. I faithfully went to Western Union, wired my hard earned 0.00, and started planning my soon to be paid for trip to the Bahamas. At the end of the first week, my new found financial drain was 7 - 17, and when I called on a Sunday morning for my NFL plays, the guy who had been giving me my plays told me there was someone there who wanted to talk to me. He put another "gentleman" on the phone, who said the was the head man. Now, having been in the business for over three decades, I know it was just another salesman, but here's what I heard. " Hi John, it's been a rough week. You know, when we do well, everybody does great. When we do badly, everybody suffers along with us, and you know what, we've had the worst two weeks we've ever had. I know it's been a bad week, but we've got a game today that will take care of everything. We've got someone on the inside on this game and I can even tell you what the final score will be. You can bet your house on this one. All you have to do to get this game is send me another 0.00". If this had been my first experience with a handicapping service, he would have had a chance. Since I had become a veteran, having been ripped off several times before, I simply said something along the lines of "Just give me the plays for today. Your picks so far have been crap. I'm not sure that I want to pay anything else for your service- I'll make that decision when my two weeks are up". After ten minutes of arguing about the "big play", he refused to give me the rest of my plays that I had already paid for unless I sent him the 0.00. I literally hung up the phone, looked at my wife, and said "I can do this better than that". At that moment, I realized that if someone started a sports service, shot straight with everyone, said they lost when they lost, said they won only when they won, and treated everyone fairly, it would have to work because no one else was doing it! In my mind, All-Star Sports was born. Just one problem… How do you start a sports handicapping business?
Fortunately for me, my father had grown up with just the man I needed. Jackie Statler was the man with the answers. He and my dad had been friends for many, many years. After World War II, Jackie moved to Las Vegas and was actually part of the transformation of Las Vegas from a small desert town to the gambling mecca of the world. In 1977, I tracked Jackie down in Reno, and after two weeks of no, he finally said yes to helping me start my own handicapping service. Within a month, I had two 900 lines, I had set up a score phone in Memphis, and I set up Comp lines in several cities. We started advertising our service and score phone in all the normal places- score books, on other score phones, newspapers… and we were on our way. Jackie handled most of the handicapping while he taught me how to look at games through the eyes of a professional gambler. It took over five years before I made a nickel as a professional handicapper- as I found out, it takes a long time to build a reputation in this business, but over the years, I've been fortunate to have learned from the best- Jackie, Reed Harris, Big Duke Simmons, Larry Alllison, and many others, have shared their experience and expertise. I've developed a great group of contacts. Trainers, Coaches and former Coaches, ex-officials, radio broadcast teams across the Country, and other handicappers that I know and trust, all contribute information each week. I've also developed a "feel" for the game- the ability to assimilate all the information that comes in each week- sort out what's important and what's not- factor in the injuries, the coaching matchups, the weather, the scheduling, and fifteen to twenty other categories of information, and develop a card that gives my clients the best chance of winning. But through it all, I will always remember what it felt like to be absolutely cheated and played for a sucker by the dishonest services that I first signed with. Those experiences, ultimately responsible for my starting my own service, are the foundation of All-Star Sports.
We've worked hard for almost four decades- this will be my 40th football season- to develop a reputation as an honest sports service. We treat our customers with respect, we don't lie about our record, we teach money management and we never want anyone to play over their heads. The bottom line is there's no such thing as a "lock" or "inside information" or "fixed games". Those things simply don't exist- but they are great marketing tools used by dishonest services to separate you from your credit card number. We don't call people off phone lists from other services. We don't do mass mail-outs promising the game of the year six weeks in advance… think about that for a moment… the game of the year, picked six weeks in advance, without knowledge of injuries, the weather, or any one of several factors that are incredibly important each week. We also don't win every game. We don't win every day. In fact, we're going to throw a losing week at you once in a while- that's the nature of the business, and anyone who tells you otherwise is simply lying- period. What we will do is give you between 60% and 67% winners in football and basketball, and about 70% winners in baseball. Those are extremely respectable, and profitable, numbers. I've said this many times, and I'll say it again here- in the history of the Stardust Handicapping Contest in Las Vegas (now held at the Westgate)- a contest with a first prize of close to ,000,000- a contest that attracted the very best handicappers in the country- NO ONE EVER PICKED OVER 70% FOR THE SEASON. After the 2004 season- the season when I won the World Offshore Handicapping Challenge in BOTH COLLEGE AND PRO- I have to change that a little bit! It still holds true for the handicapping contest, but for the '04 - '05 season- and this is by no means normal and I'm not predicting that we'll duplicate it again this season- we were spectacular. We hit 71.3% in College Football, 69.3% in the NFL, and 70.5% overall against the spread for the season. It may never happen again, but I can now honestly say we did it once. So the next time you hear some jerk advertising that he has hit an "incredible 85% of his plays" don't pick up the phone to call him. If you're crazy enough to believe lies like that, you probably deserve to be taken for a ride- and they will be glad to give you one!
We also don't advertise "our top picks for a week- ABSOLUTELY FREE!" like you hear on the radio and T.V. every day. The next time you hear one of those ads, call them and ask for the free plays. First, you'll find that you can't just call and talk to someone. They have to take your number so they can call you back. (They are very busy, you know, probably talking to one of their "scouts") They just want your number so they can sell it to another service after they have called you fifty times trying to sell you the "real" plays that you really need. Then, can you believe it?...the top picks aren't really the top picks- they are the top "opinion" plays- or the top "computer" plays- or the top plays from their pet chicken who pecks out the winners- or whatever crap they come up with that day. The "real" plays- the ones they are going to try to convince you to buy- always cost a lot of money. If you stick to your guns and demand the free plays they advertised, I'll bet they give you a number to call for a recorded message that mysteriously cuts off after one, or maybe two plays. I use a lot of my time on the radio- on stations across the country- exposing these "scamdicappers" for what they really are- liars and cheats!
We also don't advertise "our top picks for a week- ABSOLUTELY FREE!" like you hear on the radio and T.V. every day. The next time you hear one of those ads, call them and ask for the free plays. First, you'll find that you can't just call and talk to someone. They have to take your number so they can call you back. (They are very busy, you know, probably talking to one of their "scouts") They just want your number so they can sell it to another service after they have called you fifty times trying to sell you the "real" plays that you really need. Then, can you believe it?...the top picks aren't really the top picks- they are the top "opinion" plays- or the top "computer" plays- or the top plays from their pet chicken who pecks out the winners- or whatever crap they come up with that day. The "real" plays- the ones they are going to try to convince you to buy- always cost a lot of money. If you stick to your guns and demand the free plays they advertised, I'll bet they give you a number to call for a recorded message that mysteriously cuts off after one, or maybe two plays. I use a lot of my time on the radio- on stations across the country- exposing these "scamdicappers" for what they really are- liars and cheats!
If you have any questions about All-Star Sports that aren't answered here on our web site, give us a call at 1-800-933-5308 or 901-683-1500. When you call, ask for The Rainman. I'll be glad to talk to you personally. If we're not here when you call, leave a message and our phone system will text me, and I'll call you back immediately. Your always welcome to call me on my cell phone. My cell number is 901-461-4600. Try getting that information from any other so-called handicapping service. It's amazing, but those guys never seem to be around when you need them. And by the way, the next time you get a call out of the blue from someone promising you a 6 - 0 day, pick any team in the country and ask them who the backup quarterback is. When they don't have any idea, and they won't, say thank you very much- and call The Rainman and All-Star Sports in Memphis, TN. You'll be glad you did.