A TALE OF TWO TOUTS - Marc Lawrence & Kelso Sturgeon

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We have now the interesting phenomenon of the offshore books paying touts to put out their preseason magazines.

Marc Lawrence is featured in several of them. And one, from Bookmaker, I see has Kelso Sturgeon writing a few articles.

This sounds like a clear case of "conflict of interest." Does Walmart publish a pamphlet on great shoplifting techniques?

It's not a new thing, tho. For years there has been rumors that touts who recommend particular offshore books to their clients have received a percentage of their client's losses.

That would give the term Conflict of Interest a whole new meaning!

(Also have been rumors of sports betting sites getting the same kind of cut when someone signs up from a banner ad on their page. Against that is the undisputed fact that losing bettors are professional paranoids.)

In any case, all the sportsbook preseason mags (tho some were mailed in early season, more on that below) seem to feature a tout or two.

One is Marc Lawrence. He actually has his stuff in several of the preseasons, most notably in one put out by Betonline.

I like this book, both NFL and college and arranged alphabetically. Good reference.

I don't tho, need Marc's trends, 99% of them totally meaningless.

Lawrence also specializes in offereing high percentage systems. I know something about those: I published many, mostly horse racing ones in the mags aimed at horse bettors.

Sometimes (as in the Bol mag) he will offer what he calls a "perfect egg."

A system so refined that it produced 100% wins - going say 18-0. He does not usually,tho, offer the timeframe in which the system produced such results.

A couple of years ago, when I had more time that I usually do now, I decieded to check out one of Marc's "perfect eggs."

As I did not know when he began, I worked backward from the current year.

And started to see some losers along with the winners. The egg was cracked in several places, with the yolk dripping out.

Almost as many losers as winners halfway through, so I just gave it up. A fraud.

Lawrence doubtless assumes - rightly - that not one person in 30,000 will actually backcheck any of his systems.

While I agree with Lawrence on the war (he mixed in some editorial comment on his systems page in the BoL book) I have to say that this is dishonest tout stuff. (But the last three words there are a redundancy.)

Let me get a cup of stinging nettles tea for my freakin' hay fever or allergies, and back with Kelso.

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Sturgeon used to be based in Maryland, where he wrote almost all the editorial matter for both College & Pro Fooball Weekly and also for Sportsform. (Both pubs now owned I think by the Daily Racing From.)]

He is knowledgable about both horse racing and sports betting. Tho I am doubtful that he was once, as he once claimed, a "scout" for the ACC.

Some years ago he re-located to Vegas. (Henderson, actually. Where I heard he sometimes holds court to a group of admirers at the Sam's Town book.)

Bookmaker has several of his articles in their current pre-season or early season magazine. In return for at least an ad from the guy named after a horse and a fish.

In the second half of the '90s Sturgeon appeared on the weekly horse racing radio show of a SoCal trainer. The show was heard throughout S. Californa and Nevada.

He was on Sat with 2 prime college picks, and Sun with 2 in the NFL.

He would give his picks to promote his service. He would also talk horses with the host, a trainer (since come down a bit in the world) named Roger Stein.

As the season wore on, Kelso's picks were becoming a joke. Both to Stein and to the listeners, some of whom would call in and ridicule, (I think he ended up hitting about 25% of his picks for that foots season.)

At one point it got so bad that he remarked: "It's very hard to pick two winners in a row ----- and I'm living proof of that."

Why is it that I have a feeling he never repeated that to those on his mailing list?

In any case, he Bookmaker magazine I receieved after Sept 10. I realize that any business may time-stagger mail-outs, to test the market at various times.

But I also know that once the editorial matter is set,and ready to go, that mag can be both printed and mailed in one or two days.

I mention that because I note that in one article on early season betting Sturgeon clearly picks Florida to easily cover vs Hawaii, game of Aug 30. And goes to great length to explain why. (Fla covered easily)

It may have been written in August, or earlier. Or, maybe not.
I'd of thought Kelso learned his lesson on the radio show a decade prior - better to blow smoke than to make bold predictions,

My suspicion is that Kelso wrote two articles on that topic, once mentioning the Fla/Hawaii game. The other not. And both were electonically set for publication,.

And that once the result was in, the first article appeared in the magazine, which was then printed and mailed out. Making brother Kelso look like a genius.

Fun 'n Games in the tout biz. When thosands of Americans with disposable income are conned by touts, is it any wonder so many of them believed the realtor when he told them it was no problem that their income was $3000 a month and the mortgage would be $2200.

Did this actually happen, that Kelso's article was "past-posted."? I have no way of knowing for sure, but having once been in the tout biz in a small way, and knowing that you can't be successful in it without lying, it would not surprise me.

(Please, all,refrain from posting that you too had Florida to cover vs Hawaii, so Sturgeon could easily have done it too. Picking one game is a 50-50 proposition, and touts don't like taking those kinds of chances. I think the article was "past-posted." But of course can't prove it objectively.)

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Touts are frauds.

[ritehook]

Touts are frauds.

100% of the best known ones.

80 % of the lesser ones

Boardie LT here is a tout. Not a fraud, I don't think