Tailing Twitter
We’ve all been in a pinch before, trying to cut corners for winning a bet when time was of the essence. During the 90’s we turned to posting forums for that information whereas now we lean on twitter to make ourselves a quick buck. You see it all the time, followers jump from hot hand to hot hand aiming to find the never ending winning streak leading to endless envelope collection. However, there is no shortcut to winning and it’s definitely not this simple. Recognizing talent with a proven track record of winning takes attention to detail, especially in an environment like twitter where putting up a website, fabricating a record, and posting BS information can easily mislead the masses. Just like handicapping games yourself, finding someone to follow for information (free or otherwise) takes due diligence especially when your bankroll is on the line. Here are a few do’s and don’ts when looking for someone to lead you to the promised land.
Do: Follow a handicapper for an adequate stretch of time before actually betting his or her information blindly. Anyone can get hot for days, weeks, or even a month but how do they respond when things start going south? Handling losses is a big part of winning long term so until you see someone respond to adversity be cautious. Remember the best entry point to tail is when a proven capper has hit rock bottom rather than when he’s in the middle of a 12 game win streak.
Don’t: Jump from handicapper to handicapper trying to capitalize on multiple hot streaks. No one is omniscient, normally by the time you find a new “emerging” capper he’s at the tail end of his streak. The last thing you want to do is be there when the other shoe drops
Do: Avoid handicappers that don’t seem to display an understanding for the game. I’m not saying they need to rattle off a list of players, stats, or trends but your instincts should tell you how much (or little) someone knows.
Don’t: Believe someone is an expert because they meet a certain follower threshold. Just because someone is popular on social media, it doesn’t give their information a free pass. As we saw with the Floyd Mayweather phantom ticket, mis-information predominates in our industry; knowing who you can trust is paramount.
Do: Identify someone who specializes in certain sports. There’s a lot to be said about identifying a “team” you trust to get information from on arena, cricket, darts, etc. You don’t shop for all your groceries at one store, why lean on just one handicapper’s advice across all sports?
Don’t: Fall in love with handicappers who spend too much time singing their own praise. Generally speaking if someone has to tell you how great they are all the time at handicapping (or in life for that matter), they’re typically trying to convince themselves as much as they’re selling others.
Do: Look for the guys that share information by ignoring the bullshit. The best handicappers in the world only need one thing to keep score and it’s their bankroll…nothing else.
Don’t: Follow a handicapper that posts lines not widely available. What benefit does it serve if the goal of twitter is to share information and they’re tweeting about prices that haven’t been on the open market for hours or even days? There’s a good chance they want to post winners to boost their ego but that won’t help you personally turn a profit at year’s end.
Do: Respect the guy that tells it like it is. He feels no need to remind you when he wins but he also won’t be moping on the twitter shrink’s couch bemoaning his losses.
Don’t: Follow someone for information that aims to confuse his audience through use of jargon or complex terminology. The greatest sign of genius is taking a complex concept and making it easy to understand for the masses; gambling business is no different.
Courtesy of @riccio14
Do: Understand there are no sure things, be appreciative of those sharing their information by putting themselves out there
Don’t: Troll when you lose. No one hits 100% so expecting a handicapper on twitter to do it is beyond naieve.
Have your own helpful tips for tailing on twitter? Email us and we’ll update the article with social feedback
