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There are hundreds, if not thousands, of services offering betting picks and tips. These cover pretty much every sport imaginable although horse racing, US football, and soccer are easily the most prevalent.
Such services have been around for many years, but they have become vastly more common on the internet. This is because it’s really quite easy for anyone to get a website and start offering picks on it.
Many of these services are completely free, often run by betting enthusiasts who simply enjoy sharing their knowledge and opinions with a wider audience. Some of the free services are completely useless, but there are a few out there that are worth taking notice of.
You certainly have nothing to lose by taking a look at their picks, and their reasoning for them, even if you don’t decide to follow them.
There are also plenty of services that charge money for information, and there are many sports bettors that find themselves asking whether such services are worth the investment.
On this page we will attempt to answer this question. We’ve looked at the advantages and disadvantage of using paid services and assessed whether they are a good idea or not.
Advantages of Paying for Picks
Help you make a profit
The biggest advantage of paying for picks is somewhat obvious; they can help you make a profit from sports betting. Of course this relies entirely on using a service that actually provides good tips, but if you find one then you might as well make some money by following them.
Convenience Factor
Another sizable advantage is the convenience factor. If you like having a bet, but don’t really have the time to do the necessary research and evaluations, then following picks provided by someone else can be very appealing.
Take note:
There are some paid services out there that might have access to information that’s not widely available.
- They may have access to information that’s not widely available.
- They may have contacts to provide them with inside details about the sports books.
Some services do more than just provide tips, they actually explain the reasoning behind their selections and look at the various pros and cons of their recommendations. Sometimes this information itself can be very valuable, particularly if provided by a bona fide expert.
Disadvantages of Paying for Picks
Difficult to find trustworthy site
A major disadvantage of paying for picks, and perhaps what puts many people off doing so, is that it’s not that easy to find ones that represent genuinely good value.
There are so many services available, and a large percentage of them are either complete scams or just run by people that aren’t as good as they think.
If you have a recommendation from someone that has actually used, and been impressed with a service, then this may not be a problem. You may even get lucky and the first service you try ends up being very good. The chances are, though, that you’ll end up wasting a lot of money on useless services before finding one that’s any good.
Amount of money it costs
Another disadvantage is, rather obvious, the cost. You may find a service that consistently provides you with winning selections, but even the very best of them only get a certain percentage of their picks right.
That means that your overall return is unlikely to be massive and, unless you are betting for very high stakes, the costs of paying for picks could take up a significant chunk of your profits.
Takes the fun out of sports betting
Paying for picks also takes a lot of the fun out of sports betting. If you view betting purely as a way to try and make money, then this is probably not an issue for you, but in our opinion sports betting is a form of entertainment too.
It’s also about challenging yourself to beat the bookmakers. There’s a great sense of achievement if you manage to consistently make money from your betting based on your own judgments, and you simply don’t get that if you are paying for picks.
None of this means that you absolutely shouldn’t pay for picks of course, but it does illustrate that there are some drawbacks as well as some benefits. The big question is whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Are Paid Picks Worth it?
It’s not really possible to answer this question with a simple yes or no. Ultimately it depends on a number of factors:
Are you knowledgeable in sports?
If you are interested in the sport, or sports, that you like to bet on, and reasonably knowledgeable, then we would suggest that you’ll be better off choosing your own selections.
This is especially the case if you are happy to spend some time doing the necessary research and looking for value bets.
If you don’t have much sporting knowledge, or don’t have much spare time to spend on making your own selections, then a paid picks service might make more sense for you.
How does your budget look?
If you have a relatively small budget, then paying for picks is probably not a good way to spend your money. By spending some of your available funds on a paid service, then you obviously have less to bet with.
Even the best paid services go on losing streaks sometimes and you might end up having paid someone to help you wipe out your own bank account. If you have more spare money to play with, then this is less of an issue, although you should still take the costs into consideration.
How confident are you in your paid picks service?
You’ll find plenty that advertise high win rates and excellent returns, but the reality is there are very few that are truly worth using. If you are happy to follow a recommendation, or risk some time and money on trying a few out until you find a good one, then you should probably give it a chance and see how well you do.
Otherwise, you may be better off focusing on improving your own betting skills.
Remember, there are plenty of free services out there and some of these are just as good as the paid services, with the exception of the very best (and most expensive) paid services.
We should point out that at play-casino-games-now.com we have a whole section dedicated to picks and previews for matches and events in a wide variety of different sports.
These are written by knowledgeable and experienced sports bettors and, best of all, are provided completely for free.
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