Grew up in St. Charles, Missouri. Long-time Cardinals fan who grew up listening to Jack Buck on KMOX.
First job was working as a dish washer in a little greasy spoon right outside of St. Louis. Youngest guy by a mile; everyone else in their 30's or 40's in the kitchen. They exposed me to gambling. It started with poker and ponies and parlay cards weren't far behind.
Huge sports fan. Baseball, football, basketball - college or pro - love them all.
Hockey? A sport for the privileged who can afford to attend games and wear the replica jersey of their favorite player. Ass-wipes. You wouldn't catch me dead wearing something like that.
Moved to Vegas in the late 1970's, before Vegas got so plastic, commercial and corporate.
Started a small one-man phone tout service in the early 90's. Never had more than 60-70 clients at a time, but I made a damn good living over the years because my guys stayed with me forever because I produced winners.
And that's really the key to this business: You win for customers and they're happy.
Nothing wrong with a phone tout service if you're legit and a one-man operation. But TV ruined it for guys like me. I couldn't compete with those clowns on TV screaming about guaranteed plays or round robins or 5-team parlays being absolutely free on their 1-800 numbers. Those scumbags gave guys like me running a legit business a black eye because everyone thinks you're like them.
Two years ago (2009) I threw in the towel. Didn't stop betting, but stopped running my phone service. Last football season I met Anthony Redd over at the M. Told me what he was doing. Sounded interesting. Had known Sean Michaels for about two years too so I was familiar with this online stuff, but never really thought about getting into it.
They introduced me to the powers that be and here I am. Seems like a great way to get picks out to customers on an economical basis. Figured I'd give it a try.
Been doing this for a long, long time. Love to gamble. Love not just to win games, but to tell clients WHY I'm going to win them and then watch how they play out successfully.
For a guy who never went to college, I've made one helluva of a living by being honest and by winning over the long haul. Hope you give me a try and let me try to make you some money too.