Losers Buy Picks

As a general rule, do not buy sports betting picks from touts.

I was genuinely glad to hear Las Vegas handicapper Steve Fezzik say on Gil Alexander’s VSiN show today that he is done selling picks, especially because the reason matters: it is a dirty business. That is the honest part, and it deserves respect.

I have worked in this industry for 25 years, and I am not going to pretend every single person selling opinions is a complete fraud. There are talented people in sports betting. There are sharp minds who understand numbers, markets, timing, and risk. So no, it is not all a scam.

But the vast majority of these so-called experts are genuine scumbags.

They are not primarily focused on beating the market. They are focused on marketing themselves, building an image, and selling certainty to naive people who want easy answers. That is the business model. It is a lot closer to modern political grifting than serious market work. The loudest voice wins attention. The slickest salesman builds the biggest following. And the people buying in are too often chasing confidence instead of competence.

Even if you somehow find one of the rare good ones, you still have a major problem: the fees. Once you start paying for picks, you immediately raise the percentage you need to win just to break even. That is a terrible starting point in 2026, when full-game markets are more efficient than ever and edges are smaller than most people realize.

That is why buying picks is usually a losing path.

If you want to get better at sports betting, spend your time learning how markets move, tracking your own work, understanding price sensitivity, and figuring out where your actual edge might be. That process is slower, less glamorous, and a lot harder than buying somebody’s “Best Bet.”

But it is also far more honest.

And in this business, honest already puts you ahead of most of the field.