Paying for sports betting picks essentially means paying a professional gambler or betting company to tell you how to bet. Thanks for the Internet and increasingly powerful analytic software as there’re lots of options.
But is buying sports picks really worth it? There is no straightforward answer to whether buying sports picks and advice is a good idea. There’re positives and negatives associated with it and deciding whether it’s right for you really comes down to your personal situation.
What Are Sports Capping and Picks Sites?
Sports capping sites or picks sites are services where a professional bettor or company charges a fee to give you “expert” sports betting predictions. The predictions can be based on statistical models, a group of people’s analysis, or simply one person’s opinion. Anyone can create a website and set themselves up as a sports picker. Because of this, it is very important to sort the worthwhile options out from the duds, as we will explain later.
You’ll often see sites like this called “capping” sites. It stands for handicapping which is the process of generating odds for different sports outcomes.
Most commonly, capping sites work on a subscription basis, meaning you pay for predictions for a predetermined period. It could be a round of games, a month or a full season. Some sites also have options for one-off purchases of special picks or data.
As well as indicating which teams you should bet on, picking services will let you know what odds you should look for before betting, and often how much you should bet. There are pick sites for all major sports including NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and many more. When you use a picks site, you’re playing for information and opinion, which you can then use to make bets if you choose.
Picks sites are designed to help casual bettors decide who to bet on, and help them make a profit. They are often marketed towards three types of bettors:
- New bettors who have limited knowledge about sports or gambling
- Bettors who don’t have time to research
- Bettors who want to bet big and earn a lot of money
Capping site owners always style themselves as professional and ultra-expert bettors with a hugely positive winning percentage over a long period of time. However, it’s worth repeating that anyone can claim themselves to be a ‘professional’ and set up a site. They said, there are many reputable options available.