I grew up watching Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice and Freddy Lynn at Fenway and Bird, McHale and DJ at the Garden. But by high school my love of sports turned from collecting football and baseball cards to passing out parlay cards to my friends (and a few teachers).

I don’t know if many of you can understand this, but growing up where I did and as I did, gambling on sports was a way of life. I can remember when I was six-years-old my Dad and uncles discussing betting NFL games at Christmas dinner. I knew what a pointspread was and what it meant to cover the number long before I got to junior high. And trust me, “Uncle Billy” wasn’t one of my Mom or Dad’s brothers; he was my pop’s bookie for probably 15 years until he passed away.

I’m not going to lie to you, college wasn’t for me. After high school I went the trade school route and became a licensed HVAC technician. You want to talk about finding gamblers at every turn. My God, all the guys talked about was sports and betting and my opinion was solicited day after day.

So how did I turn into a professional handicapper? Well, you try to make it on $37,000 a year with a wife, two kids and a mortgage in Boston. I was betting – and winning – to supplement my income when it dawned on me that I could make money selling my selections to all the guys who had been hitting me up for all these years for free. I started small, charging $25 a week to about 10 guys. Those 10 turned into 150 within two years. And two years after that I was out of the HVAC biz and a full-time handicapper.

Here’s the interesting part and the reason I accepted Al DeMarco’s invitation to join this site. Eventually I had over 800 clients annually, but I never raised my prices, charging just $25 a week.

That’s right – despite my success, after eight years I was still charging $25 a week. So, when Al DeMarco -- whom I had met in New York back in 2007 after watching him on SNY’s Daily News Live -- told me about this website and how he wanted to bring top-notch handicappers at an affordable price to the masses. Needless to say, I was ready to make the jump.

Am I still a huge Red Sox fan? You can bet a Curt Schilling bloody sock I am. But I don’t bet based on my emotions. You must be emotionless when you’re a handicapper; no favoritism allowed. That’s the key to my success; my ability to separate myself as a fan versus a handicapper.

No ridiculous promises from me; I know as well as you do that no one wins everyday in this business. But you watch this page daily. Watch the winners far outpace the losers. Watch the net profit add up. And watch me make us both money because I’m a player, just like you.