Who is Ron Raymond?

Thank you for considering me (Ron Raymond) for your sports betting picks.

I’ve been in the sports handicapping industry since 1996 and during my career, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of the brightest minds in the game and I’ve learned many tricks of the trade and how to avoid those “trap games” you hear so much about. In fact, allow me to share with you one of my top 10 betting secrets, which you can get from my book “Ron Raymond’s 50 Greatest Sports Betting Secrets”. Here’s tip #3.

Tip # 3: First Game on the Las Vegas Schedule: Every week, the Las Vegas and offshore Sportsbooks release their official NFL and College football (CFB ) odds schedules. Keep an eye out on the first game at the top of the NFL and College Football schedule; this is usually the “sucker line of the week” game. The Sportsbooks will review the games going on that week and try to find the easiest game to trap the public. Then, they set their sucker lines, knowing Joe Public will hammer that team. Again, you need to have a sharp eye; the sucker line could be the total!

These are the little things you will not have to worry about when getting picks from me, because every sharp handicapper in the industry should have their radar on for these types of traps and getting picks from a veteran handicapper like myself, will give you the advantage when you’re stepping up to the plate to make your bet.

During my 15 years in this industry, I’ve developed some of the top handicapping tools to improve your chances of winning. Some of these sites include:

• www.atscalculator.com
• www.atsdatabase.com
• www.phoenixsports.com
• www.hockeypicks.com

Please get to know me a bit more by reading an interview I did last year.

Ron Raymond the Handicapper

When did you start betting on sports?

I started betting when I was 18 and most of my wagers were done at the racetrack. The rush of being at the racetrack and watching those horses turn around the ¾ pole and running down the stretch is second to none! One of my favorite ways to wager on horses is called “Double Dutching”! Here’s what you do; find an 8 or more horse race, you pick a horse that has good value and is anywhere from a medium to longshot to win the race. Wager on that horse to “Win and Place”, this way if the horse comes in second, good chance you will make a profit either way.

After spending 5 years in the Military, I went to college to learn computers and desktop publishing. In 1996, I got my first taste of the sports handicapping business, as I was brought in to sell my CFL Football and NHL Hockey picks on a big network at the time and after making a name for myself and winning some NFL Football contest, I went on my own and started the Phoenix Sports Ticket. Keep in mind; in 1996 the internet was at its infancy and next thing you knew I had Las Vegas Wise Guys calling my house for my selections. Plus, one day, Russ Culver was on internet radio giving selections on a site that use to be called Grid Iron Gold. After listening to Russ break down the NFL games and selling his selections, I felt I could do the exact same thing and from then on, the rest as they say is history.

Career highlights:

One of my biggest career highlight is being able to stay profitable in this business and still have a good reputation amongst my peers. In fact, I’m proud to say I’ve never sold out or felt I needed to associate myself with shady characters to improve my position in the industry. Truth be told, I’ve built my name on 2 important aspects; Loyalty and Integrity! Anybody who has ever dealt with me can tell you these are two important criteria I look for in friends or when building business relationships. Another great achievement in my sports handicapping career is writing a book called “Ron Raymond’s 50 Greatest Betting Secrets”.

Here are some of my Handicapping Achievements:

• Called the Penguins at 16-1 to win 2009 Stanley Cup

• Called the Steelers at 25-1 to win Super Bowl XL

• Finished with a 49-33-3 ATS record in the 2005 Las Vegas Hilton Contest. (22^nd out of 505 entries)

• Called the Calgary Flames to win the Stanley Cup in 2004 at 44-1. (Lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup)

• Year 2000 Winner of the Caribi Sportsbook $10,000 Handicapping Challenge with 19 of the Nations top handicappers.

• Winner of the 1998 $10,000 dollars “Top the Tout” Tournament (50-24-5 (68%) record ATS).

• Winner of the 1998 RGTonline “What’s the line” Football Handicapping contest “Trip to the Caribbean”

• Winner of the 1998 Austin Sportsbar Pro Football Contest (30-15 (66%) record ATS)

My longest winning streak was done last October and should be documented here at Phoenixsports.com, as I was releasing all of my selection at the site to my clients inside the members area.. I went 17-0 betting NBA totals using my Parity Value Index chart. The secret to betting into NBA OVER/UNDERS is to find value in a weak number and look for the percentages of the cover to be in your favor. Example: If two teams who are facing each other have a combined OVER record of 5-1-0 in their last 3 games, the percentages of the UNDER coming in will be in the high 80’s according to my Parity Value Index chart.

Most profitable season

During the early years of my career, I was making a great living betting on sports, especially during the 1998 and 1999 football seasons, when I won over $30,000 in contest winnings. My most profitable betting season has to be last year, going on that 17-0 run really gave me a chance to bank the units and by starting 12-1 in the CFL, as I was up +26.80 units by July 1! Now that handicappers have less marketing and advertising duties to worry about due to the recession and the lack of networking with the Sportsbook, I’ve had more time to handicap and bet on the games and it’s been a great profitable season.

Handicapping style?

Here’s the thing about handicapping sports, every bettor should have a grasp on the ATS Stats of a game, the situational handicapping spots and knowing the fundamentals are pretty much a given when handicapping sports, but I’m going to call it like I see it! If you haven’t adjusted to the new betting environment, namely “parity”, you are dead in the water. What use to work before the salary cap years, does not work anymore! I’ve focus most of my handicapping on finding balance, weak lines, value on teams and a major part of my decisions are based on my “Parity Value Index”. Plus, being able to play sports my whole life and I still stay active in coaching High School football, playing Mens recreational hockey and watching many sports, helps me with the competitive view of the game.

Sports you have the best feel for?

If you ask me, this is a loaded question, because I have a feel for all sports, but I have a better feel for weak numbers. However, if there’s one sport that has allowed me to really excel and make a nice profit, it’s no doubt betting on CFL Football games. The fact I’m a Canadian living in Ottawa and have access to all sort of news media that covers the CFL Football league, has allowed me to win at a high success rate. My 5* CFL Games of the Week are 99-57-2 at the time of this writing and my NHL Hockey picks come playoff times have made many people rich. In fact, I had the Pittsburgh Penguins winning the Stanley Cup at 16-1 odds before the playoff started and we cashed a nice ticket on that call. However, keep in mind I’ve won 4 NFL Handicapping contest and have done well in the Las Vegas Super Contest too!

Teams/Conference/Geographic area you have the best feel for/follow most closely

Living on the East Coast allows me to stay in tune with most of the sports team in this region. However, with the internet, satellite radio and access to every sports game on television, gives me a better grasp on teams such as the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Syracuse Orange and the Alouettes, Argonauts and Tiger Cats of the CFL. Plus, being able to handicap on sports such as the NHL and CFL which are not necessarily high on the oddsmaker’s radar, makes it even more profitable. Do you really think people in Las Vegas or California really care about a CFL game in Montreal? But bettors do!

What about Analysis?

I like to give “keys to success” reason with my selections, but when you’re betting into a number, it’s not about the situational stats or the fundamentals that will convince you to wager on that game. It’s all about the numbers and the percentages, but I do provide some analysis with my write ups. A wise handicapper once told me, never give away your secrets in your analysis, because once you teach people how to pick games, they don’t need you anymore.

When picks are typically released?

I normally like to get my picks out each day before Noon for Basketball, Baseball and Hockey. However, when it comes to football season, due to the late injury reports and other circumstances, I like to release my NFL, CFL and College Football picks on Thursday between 6pm and 10pm.

What’s your Motto?

I’m a deep thinker who overcame many obstacles in life, but life is not that hard to understand, as long as you put yourself in a “positive” environment. My grand mother use to tell me all the time: “when you hang around with losers, people will look at you as a loser, but when you hang around with winners; people will want to walk by your side.”

Ron Raymond's Service Rates and Contact Information

Ron Raymond's Rates and Services

Contact Ron Raymond: If you have additional questions, please contact me (Ron Raymond) at ronraymond@rogers.com.