Do you mean the ODDS, or free handicapping PICKS? Odds can be seen at virtually every sports book, on Fox Sports, CBS Sports, and virtually every other service.
If you mean free picks, then many handicapping services have what I more correctly call "teasers" more than "picks." The main purpose of handicappers putting out free picks is to draw new people to purchase their premium picks. In the past, I've come across two betting sites owned by the same investment group. Many times, each group would put out odds on the same event, but pick the OPPOSITE of each other. This is done to guarantee either a 50% hit rate, or, which can be just as likely, a 56-58% rate on one of the sites, which they can promote the hell out of, while the other site they don't make any mention at ALL about their measly 42% win rate for their free picks.
I don't know if the services have cleaned up a bit in the past few years. I've been away from gambling for a few years since the congress ban, but have decided to get back into the swing of things. But one thing remains: free picks are more for marketing than for promoting actual acumen.
If you mean free picks, then many handicapping services have what I more correctly call "teasers" more than "picks." The main purpose of handicappers putting out free picks is to draw new people to purchase their premium picks. In the past, I've come across two betting sites owned by the same investment group. Many times, each group would put out odds on the same event, but pick the OPPOSITE of each other. This is done to guarantee either a 50% hit rate, or, which can be just as likely, a 56-58% rate on one of the sites, which they can promote the hell out of, while the other site they don't make any mention at ALL about their measly 42% win rate for their free picks.
I don't know if the services have cleaned up a bit in the past few years. I've been away from gambling for a few years since the congress ban, but have decided to get back into the swing of things. But one thing remains: free picks are more for marketing than for promoting actual acumen.
