A Brandon Lang Story

landers781 · 12-21-09, 04:36 PM

Let's explore documented facts and the odds of betting on the outcome of events.

In the film, Brandon Lang goes 12 for 12 in his first try at handicapping the weekend. Let's examine this. According to the Las Vegas Gaming Commission (whose job it is to keep an eye on such things), in the history of football parlay card betting, NOBODY has ever won 12 for 12 on a football parlay card! Imagine how many thousands has tried? The odds of going 12 for 12 is a staggering 4894-1 against the bettor. An interesting note that is also on the Gaming Commission's historical report is that nobody has ever hit 12 for 12 on a Keno card in the history of betting despite hundreds of millions trying. According to the LVGC, the real odds of hitting 15 for 15 on a Keno card is 0.0000000000023 and it pays off $100,000 although the real odds are more than 51 billion to one against the bettor!So, are you ever going to grab a Keno card again?

So, what exactly was going on at Stu Feiner's company, the firm that employed BLLLL?

According to a comprehensive Sports Illustrated Story titled, "1-900-RIPOFFS", Abusing customers is SOP among sports advisers. "Gamblers are desperate people," says Arnie Wexler, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey.

SI took a two-month test drive through the world of sports advisory services and found misleading ads, bait-and-switches, repeated claims of fixes coming down, misrepresentation of records, unforgivably high-pressured sales techniques, phone harassment, phone threats, phony guarantees, mail fraud, wire fraud and some perfectly dreadful manners. Even the pictures lied.

In investigating Feiner's tactics, an inspector for the Consumer Affairs Department called one of Feiner's 800 numbers to take him up on an offer of a free line on a game during the 1989 football season. The investigator spoke with a man known as Sonny Greco, also known as Phil Bonvino, a salesman for Stu Mitchell's Locker Room Report, still another service owned by Feiner. After a breathless, oath-laden pause-free speech, Greco went for the close. His pace was furious. The detective, posing as a customer named Stan, balked. Greco screamed louder.

Here is the audio taped conversation:
Stan: I'm being bombarded here. Lemme think on it. I got a lot of guarantees here.
Sonny: I'm not interested in anybody else you're call., Stan! The difference here is this, OK? We own this game tonight on over/under! We own this information. Now go get your credit card, and let's start making money! You don't need to deal with anybody but me!
Stan: Wait�
Sonny: I own this game in over/under! I have the winner! Tonight! No what's your credit card number?
Stan: OK, lemme get back to you.
Sonny: Stan, you're not going to call me back! You know it as well as I do, and if you think I'm going to let you off the phone with that ___, you're crazy! OK? I've got the winner tonight! I own this game in over-under, and I'm going to own your bookmaker's ass! So get your credit card out and let's get going!
Stan: Lemme tell you what we're gonna do. I'm gonna think about it. Sonny (louder still): Stan, there's nothing to think about! Click.
Greco is ruthless, loud and scary. No wonder Feiner has given him his own sports service-Phil Bonvino's Locker Room Report. Says a former phone tout for a large Long Island service, "There were plenty of times when we'd tell a guy, 'Look, if you don't come across, I'm gonna tell your wife you're gambling again.' Or we'd tell high school kids that we were going to tell their parents." Says the ex-salesman for Kevin Duffy, "We'd call up anybody, even guys we knew were going to Gamblers Anonymous. We'd stay on them." Question: How do sports advisers get away with it? Better question: Who are customers supposed to complain to? Gamblers don't want to turn anybody in because most of them are breaking the law themselves. As a result, the touts go unpoliced.
Soon clients got a clue and stopped paying. That's when the people from the Seasons Edge group "got heavy-handed," says Robert Schroeder of the office of the US Attorney in Atlanta. "They'd threaten to kill members of the family, burn down their homes." One victim was told if he didn't send more money, he'd be "chopped up into little tiny pieces with a chain saw." Gamblers were bilked out of $413,000 before a victim's parents finally called the FBI when their son, a college student, lost his tuition money and resorted to using his father's credit card to try to obtain his "refund." Schroeder nailed conspiracy, wire fraud and extortion convictions on 12 people. They got the full package sentences ranging up to 87 months in jail.

It is also a business in which profits can be enormous, some services are believed by at least one close observer of the industry to make as much as $1 million annually. Last year the people at the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs looked into the advertising practices of the sports adviser business and came away with their hair on end. "These have been among the most egregious, outrageous claims we've ever encountered," says a department attorney, Fred Cantor.

Get this story!

"I remember once a guy needed a bailout game real bad," says a former salesman for a major tout operating out of New York City. "He was buried, so he wanted to put two or three dimes [$2000 or $3000] down on something good. I said I had a lock for him. I put him on hold, and I went into my boss's office and I said, 'Who do you want to pick, the Jets or Minnesota?' And he said, 'Take Minnesota. My mom likes purple.' So I gave this poor sucker Minnesota based on some lady's favorite color. He lost."
Ripoffs Rule the Roost.: "The Source", a sports adviser service in Farmingdale, NY, owned by Stu Feiner, who also owns a few 900 call-in lines. Another exhibit is Feiner's brother-in-law, the aforementioned Kevin Duffy, perhaps the nation's most successful scamdicapper, who became famous for running ads that said, "I will go 7-0 for you today, absolutely free." Too bad "absolutely free" meant you first had to sign up for a month's service at $350. Then, if Duffy didn't go 7-0 in the first week, you got the next month free. Duffy, who operates out of Massapequa, Long Island, also claimed to be no worse than 75% right, ever. Yet when his picks were audited by the Sports Monitor of Oklahoma City, one of the rare legitimate monitors (among the dozens of such outfits that purport to keep tabs on the performance of tout services), he never fared better than 58.8% in any regular football season between 1985 and 1988, and he sank as low as 39.7% for his college picks in 1987. Eventually the Sports Monitor refused to monitor Duffy because of his "deceptive ad practices."
Stu Feiner agreed to be monitored by SI for four weeks in September. To his credit, he unfailingly gave us his choices. To his discredit, Feiner went 19-32, a 37% win rate, and lost us an imaginary $6,210 based on $100 per unit. During that same period, we were anonymously calling Feiner's 800 number, where, curiously, he claimed to be cleaning up. On Sept. 23, for instance, after Feiner had gone 3-11 for the week on his picks for SI, bringing his record for us to 11-25, one of his shills, Kenny Leeds, said in response to our anonymous call, "This week I [meaning the company] went 3-0, the week before, I was 3-1." On Oct. 3, after Feiner had gone 7-7 for the weekend, we again called anonymously and got another Feiner salesman, Larry Marco. "This past weekend, we swept the board," Marco said. Then Leeds called back. "This kid Feiner is making betting history," he said.

landers781 · 12-21-09, 04:37 PM

Yeah, so did Art Schlichter!

For you youngsters, Art Schlichter was a first round draft choice (DUDE HAD MAJOR SKILLS) as a quarterback coming out of Ohio State in 1982; what's more, he enjoyed an image so wholesome his biography was titled Straight Arrow. But Schlichter gambled away his $350,000 signing bonus during his rookie season with the Baltimore Colts. He was suspended and reinstated the next year, after declaring he had the disease of compulsive gambling for which he had gotten help. In 1985, he was cut by the Colts and never played football again. If success started Schlichter's addiction, failure really fueled it. In 1988 he declared bankruptcy, referring frequently to his disease. Schlichter's ex-wife, Mitzi Schlichter, helped found the Custer Gambling Treatment Center in Indianapolis after she left her husband in 1994. Schlichter, meanwhile, has spent four of the six years since then in prison. In 1997, he was pulled out of a court-ordered gambling treatment program and hauled back to jail when he was caught betting. Schlichter is currently awaiting trial on money laundering charges and stealing credit cards, all revolving around taking money, often from family members, in order to gamble. Schlichter takes no responsibility for his misbehavior — and, despite harping on his disease and although his wife created her own gambling treatment center, Schlichter has never shown any inclination to fly straight.

Feiner was fined $13,000 in February 1990 by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs for false and misleading advertising, yet he sent out a promotional brochure last month that reported a "1991 documented record college and pro: 9-3." Knowing Feiner's record as we did, we asked him how he could say this. "That's what I had the first week." he said, before you started documenting me." Fine. That would've been the weekend of Aug. 31-Sept. 2. The booklet, however, was dated Sept. 19-Oct. 7, 1991. During one of our anonymous calls, Leeds told us he had "strong information" on a game he wanted us to buy, so strong it was a dead mortal lock, so strong that he was putting $2000 of his own money on the game. We were dubious.

Here's the audio taped conversation:
Leeds: You don't believe me? I'll fly you out here [from Colorado].
SI: Fly me out there?
Leeds: I'll fly you to __ Long Island, and I'll have you take a ride with me!
SI: Why?
Leeds" To see how I pick it [his winnings] up and where I pick it up from.
SI: Can you fly me out this week?
Leeds: What I'm saying is�I'm using that's a little bit of a mild exaggeration. Don't get me wrong, but I've met a lot of my clients. I've met Dan Marino.
SI: You know Dan Marino? Leeds: Well, I stood next to him at the Super Bowl, and my friend took my picture with him.
Feiner says that if somebody calls his 800 number and doesn't sign up, "We'll call him every day for a couple months, because eventually they'll change their minds.

"Mike Warren (real name Mike Laskey - a degenerate horse bettor who was run out of business by the United States Attorney and fined heavily) is a former pathetic handicapper and a tremendous con artist," says Feiner. Says Warren, "Stu Feiner? He's got a big mouth, always talking big. He knows this hoodlum and that hoodlum-gonna break my legs. You know what? He can't break an egg. I gave him my address. He's so short, the only thing he can reach is my legs." Mike Warren was ordered by The United States District Attorney to run major advertisements in which he had to admit his frudulent claims of success.

If you think guys like Feiner and Warren will make you wish you have never installed your phone, Atlanta's John L. Edens, alias Johnny DeMarco, the Babe Ruth of 900 sales pitchers, will make you wish Alexander Graham Bell had never been born. According to published ads and SPORTS ILLUSTRATED taped phone calls, Edens:

Got on his 800 line and told listeners to call his 900 line for $25, "and if the game loses, there'll be no charge." That, of course, is a lie. Once a call is made on a 900 line, the charge is automatic.

* Told customers of one of his phone services that his special guest selector that day was "a former six-time NBA basketball All-Star who wishes to remain anonymous due to security matters." The anonymous "All-Star" then got on the line and offered his inside information on "three big plays, tonight."

* Told his customers on another occasion, "Sporting Illustrated magazine calls the Handicapping Hotline the Number One value in sports." Remarkably, there is no Sporting Illustrated.

* Wrote in a print ad, which appeared in the schedule of games he sent out to customers in early 1991, that his service was rated "the very best available by the Interstate Sports Commission, the nation's only legitimate monitoring service." The ad failed to mention that the ISC is owned by a company with which, DeMarco acknowledges, he is "affiliated."

* Got on his 800 line in March 1989 and said he had spoken with then N.C. State coach Jim Valvano and had "key" information on the Final Four. Valvano says he has never spoken to DeMarco.

Scripts at the a New York based sports service? Yep, The New York Consumer Affairs Commission got their hands on one! It will frighten you.

Here it is:

It read: "I'm glad I got ahold of you in time! We are releasing our biggest information game of the ____ (month/season) going off ___ (day of week). Now, ___ (name), listen carefully. Our inside sources have tipped us off to this game. We know exactly what's going to happen. We know the winner. (Lower voice) It's the kind of game I can't even talk about over the phone-you follow me, right? (Response) OK Good�All you gotta do is cover me with $___ How do you do it, **** or **********?"

The fix scam is essential to a tout's repertoire. "You'd lower your voice way down," says one employee who worked for this company for four years, "and you'd say, 'Is this line clean? No taps on it, right? OK Listen, we've got information on this game. you know what I'm saying? The winner of this game was already decided in a hotel room."

"You'd be talking with grown men who were crying on the phone," says one former tout Stu Feiner salesman "Guys who were losing everything but still betting. And I'd lie awake in the middle of the night hoping the guy would win. So I'd call the sports phone and get a late West Coast game at 4 a.m. and go, 'Damn, he lost again."

"It was like feeding drugs to an addict," says the ex-salesman. "We'd try to take whoever we got and make them bet more. We'd take college kids who were betting $25 and say, 'Hey, you got to bet $500 on this game. If you don't bet a nickel I'm not gonna give it to you.' If they won, they got a taste for big money. If they lost, they were desperate to get out [of the hole], and so they start chasing. How can anyone who works for Kevin and Stu have a conscience? Basically, I was just hurting people." And that, unfortunately, is the only absolute lock SPORTS ILLUSTRATED found.

Here's a recent publication about BLLLL:
We figured we'd check in with handicapping schizo Brandon Lang/Lane/Link/Long to see how he’s been doing since Two For The Money tanked at the box office, completely shattering any hopes for him elevating his career past that of an internet free pick hustler. Well, from the looks of it, the movie bombing may have rattled the golden boy's cage a bit as he stated in his open letter to his “clients” this month about his recent 1-12 (That’s ONE WIN AND TWELVE losses!
He wrote on his own site: “You see the records above. I can't be any more honest, any more truthful. I've never been a guy who hid his losers, because like I say, if I can brag about the winners, I've got to own up to the losers. I've owned college football in October. I absolutely sucked in the NFL. Can't be more direct than that. As you know, and as you've heard me say on hundreds of radio interviews and on national TV, I don’t win everyday. Cant and won’t. Simple as that. Some days you have to give back to your man some of the money you won off of him. It happens. Always has, always will.
The past two weeks I've been dreadful in the NFL. Not the first time, not the last.
It’s a long season. There will be ups and downs. And that's why you've got always stay within your limits and follow my money management advice.
Now, of course, for those of you that came aboard the past two Sundays or Mondays for the first time, what can I say other than I lost? I mean, I'm not going into your homes, ordering you to buy. And I have no control over when you buy for the first time. But, I certainly understand you're disappointed. And that's the nature of the business, and you know it as well as me.
We win together, we lose together. And whether winning or losing, you expect the truth, and that's what I'm giving you. The past two weeks in the NFL were awful, but as I always say, if you're with me for the long haul, you should make money.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint, to make money.”
Yes, those of you unfortunate enough to spend money on Brandon's services — $679 for 100 days — must be thrilled with that apology. Brandon Lang is the paid handicapping equivalent of Enron at this point. But those of us who are Brandon Lang fans can at least take solace in the fact that Two For The Money will most likely be seen on East Coast flights to Vegas in the next couple weeks.
ANOTHER DOCUMENTED STORY: "More of Brandon Lang’s Genius"
Finally, we've happened upon some information about our friend Brandon Lang/Lane/Link/Long and his curious background that we think should finally allow us to rest our weary heads about this. A classmate of Brandon's from high school e-mailed us to give us the whole rundown on what's real, what's not, and what's ridiculous about the mysterious Mr. Lane/Lang/Link:
Brandon Link: I went to high school with him; that's his real name. The Lane and Lang came later. He was a reserve player on his HS team, came off the bench, usually tried to do too much, fancy passes, etc. Could hit the outside shot, and was effective when he played under control, but he was no star. The claim in the article in his hometown paper that he was planning to walk on at UNLV after his stint in the Navy (before an injury sidelined him) led to a lot of chuckling. He couldn't start for a mediocre white boy HS team yet he was going to walk on at UNLV during the glory years? His pre-Internet gambling show was on PASS, a Detroit sports cable station. That's when he came up with the nickname “The King”. At his 10-year reunion he showed up in a car with the license “1-900-KING”. By the way, how's that for arrogance? At the reunion he drove up in that car, and one guy we know went up to him, pointed at the license, and said “1-900-KING? What is that, some +++ phone line?” Brandon was too shocked to respond. When I saw the movie trailer last week and saw a shot of that license, I cracked up. He wasn't a bad guy, just a blowhard who overestimated his abilities. It’s clear from his current PR blitz that that tendency is still there.

ANOTHER PUBLISHED STORY: "Brandon Lang/Lane/Link Fluffs McConaughey"
Crazy-ass toutster Brandon Lang/Lane/Link, the sports handicapper whose life is retold in the box office clunker Two For The Money, took some time out from his busy schedule of promoting himself and making crappy picks to talk about Matthew McConaughey’s portrayal of him in the movie for, well, we guess his own website:
“Matthew is a big sports fan and has been known to try his luck in the Vegas sportsbooks. In speaking to Matthew prior to shooting the movie, the dialogue in the script told him all he needed to know. The emotions that he had to draw to in order to play me were right there because he’s a sports bettor himself. I was thrilled to death with how Matthew played me in the movie and the roller coaster ride he takes viewers on properly portrays what I went through.
One of the greatest compliments I've ever received in my life came from Matthew, he said “Thank you for bringing me a character where I had to dig down and draw on the emotions that every actor dreams about. This was by far my most enjoyable role.”

Aw…who has warm fuzzies? We hope “Matthew” enjoyed the crap out of this role because we're pretty sure his leading man stock dropped around 30 points in the eyes of Hollywood after another stinker.

WANT ANOTHER PUBLISHED STORY?

Tout service guru and four-named evil genius Brandon Lane/Link/Lang/Long, whose story is being “retold” in Two For The Money has hooked up with omnipresent sportsbook Bodog for a special partnership and changed his name again in the span of 48 hours. In a press release Friday morning Bodog proudly gushes about their new partnership with Brandon LANG:

“Brandon Lang, the man who rocketed to fame as a sports handicapper, and Bodog.com, the company that revolutionized online entertainment, have teamed up. In an agreement signed earlier this week, Lang and Bodog will work in conjunction to build a dynamic Bodog presence on his website Brandon Lang . Lang is the subject of the Hollywood film Two for the Money, whose premiere was sponsored by Bodog.

“Teaming with Brandon Lang seemed like a natural for us,” says Bodog Founder and CEO Calvin Ayre. “We're very excited to be working with one of the most successful handicappers in the world.”
Obviously, Lang's not-so-impressive record suggests he probably should not be the subject of a sports handicapping film.
Apparently, superstud football picking phenom BLLLL has yet to recapture the magic touch of his youth which prompted the release of his life story on the big screen in the upcoming Two For the Money. So far this year, Lane's free picks have been rather ordinary to say the least. Brandon's free pick tally so far this year? 5-8-1. His pre-season picks? 0-3.

Could his poor record have anything to do with the time he's spending on a second career? A la Hollywood movie star?
Having Matthew McConaughey play you in a film will most certainly go to anybody's head we are sure.
........................................ ..................

But then I found this little thing on IMDB. Here's the link, (pun intended!).

Two for the Money (2005)

Here is the LINK with his cameo/five second acting career!

Two for the Money (2005) - Full cast and crew

Apparently our buddy Brandon is also an aspiring actor. Or he may have thought the small, uncredited cameo role he played in Two For the Money deserved an IMDB mention. And be sure to check out the photo page, which appears to show a picture of Lang/Lane/Link/Long dressed in some sort of pajama outfit standing in a family room with a deranged look on his face. We hope that's his family room and not some random family whose home he invaded.

And whose head hasn’t exploded yet? They ask. Jesus Christ. If this does not make blood squirt out of your eyes, what will?

First there was the unreserved excitement of Brandon “Lane” and his web page at Big Green Machine, which openly complains about the fact that the name was changed to “Lang” in the movie: “Funny thing - they changed by name to Brandon “Lang” for “artistic” purposes. Damn if I know what that means, but it’s still me no matter how they spell my last name!”

Then in the Lansing State Journal there is nice fluff piece about Midland, Michigan native Brandon “Link” and his experience about having a movie made about his life.

Then there was the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) page he made for himself under Brandon “Link” because of his stirring uncredited role in Two For The Money.

And now we have Bodog partnering with Brandon Lang, replete with a spanking new website for Brandon Lang with no acknowledgment anywhere of the fact that this man is out of his F##cking skull.

ANOTHER DOCUMENTED PUBLICATION WROTE - "Brandon Lane: Enjoying 15 Minutes More Intensely Than Most"

Friday marks the nationwide opening of the Matthew McConaughey, Al Pacino gambling drama Two For the Money, loosely based on the life of former superstud handicapper Brandon Lane. Lane was a former college football player who turned his freakish ability to pick football games into a lucrative career for a tout service. Well, Brandon has himself a website and from the looks of it, he’s really proud of himself and this movie coming out. He also appears to have a little problem with containing his own excitement, even in two paragraphs:
People, just had the Vegas premiere last night and it was fantastic. The Palms gave me a great suite and the photo ops were fantastic. This is what I worked hard for and now its my time to turn it on. The Chargers on Sunday, Green Bay on Monday and now “75 Dime” winner #2 in a row goes tonight. I like this MAC game and will deliver a nice winner. October thru January have always been my months. I have won more in those months than any other month. Not by accident but by design. I watch, I see, I adjust and I win. Your job is to jump on board, ride me and win money. It is in this run that you will see why they decided to make a movie about me. Nobody else, but me. Over the long haul, I will make you money. Sometimes in the midst of your losing streak, you don’t think so but this business is not about a day, a week or a month. It is about the year. You roll with me and you are not only a customer today, I want you for life. I want you part of my family. You give me that chance to earn you money and together, we will own your man. Lets own him tonight.
Well, that's a little F##cking insane. Anybody else want to bump chests or break a chair over somebody's head? But if you were wondering Two For the Money opens Friday. It’s based on Brandon's life. Jump on him and ride him to the money or something. It'll be fantastic.

And so it goes...There's a sucker born every minute.

One last point..A quote from BLLLL's website that will tell you all that you need to know.
"Listen, they only make movies about winners - and that's me!"

How many movies have you seen about losers? Gosh, just last night, I was watching Nick Cage's "Leaving Las Vegas". Was he a winner? The list could go on all day!

ANY QUESTIONS? No thanks. Please cease calling our office to have one hour conversations about this DOCUMENTED FRAUD. Soon, the hype will be forgotton and BLLLL will be washing men's
balls again.

Deuce · 12-21-09, 04:42 PM

Fade

Brock Landers · 12-21-09, 04:44 PM

WTF is all this crap?

j0hnnyv · 12-21-09, 04:52 PM

good info here

SRBI · 12-21-09, 04:53 PM

This is a great read. Thank you!

BadBeatBodog · 12-21-09, 05:09 PM

entertaining read ty. where is it from?

paco · 12-21-09, 05:17 PM

Could we get cliff notes please?

compaqDikk · 12-21-09, 05:22 PM

Originally posted by paco

Could we get cliff notes please?

will give 14.5 points if someone reads this off on an audio file for me so i can llisten during my commuuute

GiveMeaBJ · 12-21-09, 05:31 PM

We all knew he was a fraud already.

PingPong · 12-21-09, 05:40 PM

i knew he sucked, but didn't realize he only recently started "handicapping"

Hoja Verdes · 12-21-09, 05:46 PM

bookmark

dwaechte · 12-21-09, 06:48 PM

Nothing new.