Check out SBR's revamped Sports Picks Page

[Swinging Johnson]

Hey boys,

Many of us are just used to clicking on Players Talk or our favorite sub-forum when we surf to SBR but at the top of the page, to the right of Live Odds (which is pretty cool), is the Sports Picks Page which has write-ups on all the games, all the time. The page just got retooled and looks great. The writers will now be posting their records to go along with their articles which should give us an indication of who's hot and who's not.

Good luck with all your bets.

[CanuckG]

No thanks

[SBR_John]

It's the busiest page on SBR followed by the forum and odds. Good job by many especially the writers and video department.

[RudyRuetigger]

[CanuckG]

It's the busiest page on SBR followed by the forum and odds. Good job by many especially the writers and video department.

Busiest my ass

[Sunde91]

that place is a foreign entity ive been to about twice
no fuks given about any of it especially swinging toolbag

[zoo youk]

did a great job with the re haul.

[zoo youk]

one thing I'll add, I've noticed in my articles the comment section has been gone for a week or so, figured it would be back after the new upgrade but still nada..

[zoo youk]

SJ

is your comment section still there?

[Swinging Johnson]

Yes Zoo, I see the comment section.

[Bill Dozer]

one thing I'll add, I've noticed in my articles the comment section has been gone for a week or so, figured it would be back after the new upgrade but still nada..

Zoo, Are you talking about the DisQus comments?

[Chi_archie]

nice work!

[zoo youk]

Zoo, Are you talking about the DisQus comments?

yes.

[RogueScholar]

Nice new look, but the content there might as well be printed on rolls of Charmin for all its value in winning over the long-term.

Have you guys ever Googled some of the names of these guys SBR gets to write content for them? Try Craig Tattan. The first Google result is his page as a featured SBR Handicapper, the second result reads as follows:

The head of a North Shore office cleanup crew testified yesterday he tried to repay a $30,000 gambling chit by appearing on podcasts promoting and handicapping games for the very Internet enterprise he was in hock to.


Craig Tattan, 47, of Beverly said the compromise to work his way out of the hole he was in at $500 a week was suggested by accused racketeer and money launderer Robert Eremian, the fugitive brother-in-law of U.S. Rep. John Tierney and owner of the now-defunct Sports Off Shore on Antigua.

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_1117gambler_i_tried_to_pay_off_30g_promoting_co

Gee, thanks SBR, for hiring a guy who lost $30,000 gambling then testified in court about every detail of the arrangement he'd made to repay his bookie. Could you try any harder to lead your "valued members" to the slaughter?

I'm sure that first $30,000 was just variance and the guy is a stone cold lock to hit 70% on NFL sides this year.

[zoo youk]

Nice new look, but the content there might as well be printed on rolls of Charmin for all its value in winning over the long-term.

Have you guys ever Googled some of the names of these guys SBR gets to write content for them? Try Craig Tattan. The first Google result is his page as a featured SBR Handicapper, the second result reads as follows:



Gee, thanks SBR, for hiring a guy who lost $30,000 gambling then testified in court about every detail of the arrangement he'd made to repay his bookie. Could you try any harder to lead your "valued members" to the slaughter?

I'm sure that first $30,000 was just variance and the guy is a stone cold lock to hit 70% on NFL sides this year.

I write for them so i see the homepage often and I don't think I have seen an article from Craig Tatten?

[zoo youk]

oh I see. he is a NFL writer. I am not in that department so don't venture there much. my apologies Craig.

good possibility it could be some one else with same name?

[RogueScholar]

oh I see. he is a NFL writer. I am not in that department so don't venture there much. my apologies Craig.

good possibility it could be some one else with same name?

Anything's possible, but it would surprise me to learn that there are two guys with the same obscure name both actively involved in offshore gambling and producing online content designed to get bettors to wager more.

In all candor, I was just busting SBR's (and the OP's) balls a little over the shameless self-promotion. The fact is that nobody with any genuine skill at winning is going to bother writing up their opinions for long unless they just love to write. SBR knows this and they know that they're not giving away anything of value on those Picks pages (nothing personal Zoo youk, but it's undeniable), they just need the original content to drive certain aspects of their marketing strategy.

[zoo youk]

Anything's possible, but it would surprise me to learn that there are two guys with the same obscure name both actively involved in offshore gambling and producing online content designed to get bettors to wager more.

In all candor, I was just busting SBR's (and the OP's) balls a little over the shameless self-promotion. The fact is that nobody with any genuine skill at winning is going to bother writing up their opinions for long unless they just love to write. SBR knows this and they know that they're not giving away anything of value on those Picks pages (nothing personal Zoo youk, but it's undeniable), they just need the original content to drive certain aspects of their marketing strategy.

i would agree with that 100%. but I do I disagree about not giving anything away of value.

[zoo youk]

I am not speaking for SBR here but IMO most people that are looking at that page are noobs to sports betting and our goal is to provide quality content and to help them be a more sufficient sports bettor more so than having huge winning records.

I mean winning is important don't get me wrong.

[RogueScholar]

I am not speaking for SBR here but IMO most people that are looking at that page are noobs to sports betting and our goal is to provide quality content and to help them be a more sufficient sports bettor more so than having huge winning records.

I mean winning is important don't get me wrong.

I think you would've been 100% accurate about the value in teaching bettors to handicap matches better about 15 years ago. Before the advent of computer databases and line services, it was absolutely critical to teach people to evaluate the information in front of them in the box score or on the television in order to be a winning sports bettor.

Since that time, however, there's nothing contained in even the best write-ups that wasn't factored into the line before the author even began writing it. The pace and breadth of information exchange these days is measured in milliseconds and gibibytes (yes, the word changed, that's not a typo), not hours and column-inches. The education people need has changed drastically since the advent of the computer age, and that goes the same for skills in sports betting as it does for the workplace in general.

If SBR wanted to truly provide valuable information to sports bettors, they'd offer video tutorials and webinars on programming in Perl and Python for scraping, how to express formulas and use Excel for data analysis, and database management in SQL. All the write-ups in the world won't help the average bettor now, unless they're written for games before any book has even opened on them, by people who are intellectual peers with the best linesmen in the industry. Everything else is the equivalent of smoke and mirrors, just a distraction while the bookie reaches into their pockets to take their money.

[zoo youk]

I am unable to come up with a response to that because of the shock I am in from watching Sons of Anarchy and Bobby not voting for Clay to meet Mr Mayhem. unreal.

lol. you watch Sons, Rogue?

[zoo youk]

I think you would've been 100% accurate about the value in teaching bettors to handicap matches better about 15 years ago. Before the advent of computer databases and line services, it was absolutely critical to teach people to evaluate the information in front of them in the box score or on the television in order to be a winning sports bettor.

Since that time, however, there's nothing contained in even the best write-ups that wasn't factored into the line before the author even began writing it. The pace and breadth of information exchange these days is measured in milliseconds and gibibytes (yes, the word changed, that's not a typo), not hours and column-inches. The education people need has changed drastically since the advent of the computer age, and that goes the same for skills in sports betting as it does for the workplace in general.

If SBR wanted to truly provide valuable information to sports bettors, they'd offer video tutorials and webinars on programming in Perl and Python for scraping, how to express formulas and use Excel for data analysis, and database management in SQL. All the write-ups in the world won't help the average bettor now, unless they're written for games before any book has even opened on them, by people who are intellectual peers with the best linesmen in the industry. Everything else is the equivalent of smoke and mirrors, just a distraction while the bookie reaches into their pockets to take their money.

I can't argue any of that but the fact is there are people out there who just don't have the time to handicap games themselves and will read our site to tail (i know that is hard for you to believe). Also there are a ton of people that factor in our write ups into their handicapping. Weather it be fading or tailing. I know you will laugh at this because of the non value factor you think the Picks Page is but the fact that it is FREE is a huge asset to the reader. 95% of the people that read the picks page have either followed touts, paid for touts or been around touts so the fact that our stuff is free (and it should be) is a huge draw to the readers.

[RogueScholar]

I am unable to come up with a response to that because of the shock I am in from watching Sons of Anarchy and Bobby not voting for Clay to meet Mr Mayhem. unreal.

lol. you watch Sons, Rogue?

Nope, never got into SOA like I did with Breaking Bad, Fringe and Glee. I have increasing difficulty making time for entertainment that doesn't lend itself well to multi-tasking, and so generally only follow two or three shows seriously and look around at what's out there only when one jumps the shark or goes off-air. I do have SOA in my Netflix queue though, so I can expose myself to it when more free time arises.

I appreciate your argument about giving away the write-ups for free, and it does indeed have merit. It's the same merit that candy given out for free to kids at Halloween appears +EV at first glance, only to reveal its true "value" once your kids have to go to the dentist to repair the cavities they got from the candy. As much as I hate to trample your seemingly earnest altruism in this endeavour, SBR simply wouldn't be engaging you to produce them unless it was ultimately useful to them in signing up more players with sponsor books, increasing player losses, and thus increasing their profits.

In the end, there will always be sheep, and the sheep will always find "value" in having a shepherd. What they're incapable of seeing is that the shepherd wouldn't keep them "safe" unless he got more value out of perpetually fleecing them and selling the wool than the sheep got out of his labors in feeding and protecting them. In this analogy, you and your fellow content producers are merely offering grazing land for the sheep while SBR waits for them to grow another coat to take to market.

[zoo youk]

your a smart man Rogue. hope your growing business is still going well.


ps. put Homeland in your queue. Breaking Bad is the only show I could get into as well, Dexter kinda lost its way with me but Homeland has now taken over Breaking Bad.

[fitguy67]

RS/ZY...a fascinating read...

thanks for turning me onto SOA...i'll give it a go
in that same long-story-arching TV-series department...i have three more standouts for your consideration...
"Game of Thrones", "Boardwalk Empire"...
and "Six Feet Under"...the five seasons watched from start to finish constitute the best "50-hour movie" I've ever seen
(if you like Science Fiction...Babylon5 is similarly consistently-outstanding and coherent for a full five seasons)

...good video is simply the best thing to have on the non-scoreboard monitor

[RudyRuetigger]

Can't blame sbr

people want picks with meaningless fluff

so that is what sbr gives them

[zoo youk]

RS/ZY...a fascinating read...

thanks for turning me onto SOA...i'll give it a go
in that same long-story-arching TV-series department...i have three more standouts for your consideration...
"Game of Thrones", "Boardwalk Empire"...
and "Six Feet Under"...the five seasons watched from start to finish constitute the best "50-hour movie" I've ever seen
(if you like Science Fiction...Babylon5 is similarly consistently-outstanding and coherent for a full five seasons)

...good video is simply the best thing to have on the non-scoreboard monitor

HUGE FAN of Game of Thrones. can't wait for it to come back. had to go out and by the book for the next season.

[Bill Dozer]

Nice new look, but the content there might as well be printed on rolls of Charmin for all its value in winning over the long-term.

I think the thing we do different at SBRforum is writers add an opinion. We don't just put up a pick from a guy in a suit with a photo from the 80s in front of something expensive. So, love all the writer/cappers or don't, we might have some you enjoy reading. It might be some Swinging humor, some straight stats from Reload or a strong NBA angle from LT Profits. There are some great reads.

I think inside you want to be a writer yourself, Scholar... "written on rolls of Charmin"? That is literary genius. You could have just said TP or ass paper but elegantly went with today's leading brand which you probably could write on. That stuff is what 3 ply? Your hand isn't going through that one even one New Year's day.

[RogueScholar]

I think the thing we do different at SBRforum is writers add an opinion. We don't just put up a pick from a guy in a suit with a photo from the 80s in front of something expensive. So, love all the writer/cappers or don't, we might have some you enjoy reading. It might be some Swinging humor, some straight stats from Reload or a strong NBA angle from LT Profits. There are some great reads.

I think inside you want to be a writer yourself, Scholar... "written on rolls of Charmin"? That is literary genius. You could have just said TP or ass paper but elegantly went with today's leading brand which you probably could write on. That stuff is what 3 ply? Your hand isn't going through that one even one New Year's day.

LOL, I like this side of you, Bill; you got me chuckling good there at the end.

The question still remains: how does any of what you say makes your writers different imbue their opinions with value? I'm sure we can both agree that an opinion's merit has nothing to do with its eloquence. If your goal is to entertain people, limiting the writers to the format of a sports write-up is a disservice to their talents. If your goal is to help them win, then you're not even pointing them in the right direction with Reload's stats or LT's "angles." I think that your goal is to make your readers feel better equipped to beat their bookie than they really are.

I know part of the recent upgrade is the addition of each writer's record to their content, but will you allow those to stand from season to season, allowing them to become more reflective of the person's skill as the sample size grows? Or will you be tempted to whitewash them if they get ugly? It's almost a statistical certainty that one or more of them already has a losing record of picks on your site, so will we see those when the records are added or will they mercifully (and deceptively) be allowed to start at 0-0? We can learn a lot about your motives with this aspect of the business by how much you care about the perceived skill of your contributors.

Thanks for the compliment, but I don't want to be a writer insomuch as I already am one. Luckily for me, it's a labor of love, as are many creative processes. I applaud your willingness to let me play devil's advocate around here lately, JJ's departure and the subsequent shining through of intelligence in many threads has been a delightful renaissance to be a part of.

[Cuse0323]

I've seen people mention a consensus page with the amount of money of games, but I don't see it anywhere. Am I mistaken, or can someone direct me to it.

[Bill Dozer]

I've seen people mention a consensus page with the amount of money of games, but I don't see it anywhere. Am I mistaken, or can someone direct me to it.

http://www.sbrforum.com/betting-odds/consensus/ If you click on the pie chart logo for NFL football on www.SBRodds.com it will also take you to this same page. We are putting the link up so it stands out on SBRodds in a few days.

BTW it is also in the dropdown on the League name above the forum.

[dj_destroyer]

I think you would've been 100% accurate about the value in teaching bettors to handicap matches better about 15 years ago. Before the advent of computer databases and line services, it was absolutely critical to teach people to evaluate the information in front of them in the box score or on the television in order to be a winning sports bettor.

Since that time, however, there's nothing contained in even the best write-ups that wasn't factored into the line before the author even began writing it. The pace and breadth of information exchange these days is measured in milliseconds and gibibytes (yes, the word changed, that's not a typo), not hours and column-inches. The education people need has changed drastically since the advent of the computer age, and that goes the same for skills in sports betting as it does for the workplace in general.

If SBR wanted to truly provide valuable information to sports bettors, they'd offer video tutorials and webinars on programming in Perl and Python for scraping, how to express formulas and use Excel for data analysis, and database management in SQL. All the write-ups in the world won't help the average bettor now, unless they're written for games before any book has even opened on them, by people who are intellectual peers with the best linesmen in the industry. Everything else is the equivalent of smoke and mirrors, just a distraction while the bookie reaches into their pockets to take their money.

This guy gets it!

[Cuse0323]

http://www.sbrforum.com/betting-odds/consensus/ If you click on the pie chart logo for NFL football on www.SBRodds.com it will also take you to this same page. We are putting the link up so it stands out on SBRodds in a few days.

BTW it is also in the dropdown on the League name above the forum.

Thanks Bill, knew it was something simple I was just overlooking.

[Bill Dozer]

LOL, I like this side of you, Bill; you got me chuckling good there at the end.

The question still remains: how does any of what you say makes your writers different imbue their opinions with value? I'm sure we can both agree that an opinion's merit has nothing to do with its eloquence. If your goal is to entertain people, limiting the writers to the format of a sports write-up is a disservice to their talents. If your goal is to help them win, then you're not even pointing them in the right direction with Reload's stats or LT's "angles." I think that your goal is to make your readers feel better equipped to beat their bookie than they really are.

I know part of the recent upgrade is the addition of each writer's record to their content, but will you allow those to stand from season to season, allowing them to become more reflective of the person's skill as the sample size grows? Or will you be tempted to whitewash them if they get ugly? It's almost a statistical certainty that one or more of them already has a losing record of picks on your site, so will we see those when the records are added or will they mercifully (and deceptively) be allowed to start at 0-0? We can learn a lot about your motives with this aspect of the business by how much you care about the perceived skill of your contributors.

I know you must never get this but...you maaaay be over thinking this. The requirement for the editors is that the writers bring something to the table for the reader, be it cutting down on legwork with matchup info or an opinion to that goes against what the reader may have had coming in. We don't care about their record. People write to us all the time that they are a tout and are 30-1 this season and want to post their picks but they don't think they can put enough good content in to fill 1000 words.

[dj_destroyer]

RS/ZY...a fascinating read...

thanks for turning me onto SOA...i'll give it a go
in that same long-story-arching TV-series department...i have three more standouts for your consideration...
"Game of Thrones", "Boardwalk Empire"...
and "Six Feet Under"...the five seasons watched from start to finish constitute the best "50-hour movie" I've ever seen
(if you like Science Fiction...Babylon5 is similarly consistently-outstanding and coherent for a full five seasons)

...good video is simply the best thing to have on the non-scoreboard monitor

Good to see you around fitguy... Definitely love Boardwalk Empire and SOA

You making crazy money yet or what fitguy?