Why Paying For Pete Rose Betting Picks Is A Sucker Bet

History provides a litany of examples that just because someone plays sports well, that doesn’t mean they are decent people or even can do other things well. Pete Rose betting picks, soon for sale via an infamous tout service, might add another chapter to the legacy of former athletes being not so great in other arenas. On top of the fact that tout services are typically a poor use of funds, there’s zero publicly available evidence that Rose is actually sharp at betting baseball or any other sport. For bettors, that could make his work for UPickTrade a huge swing and miss.

Pete Rose betting picks bring Mexican tout service into the news again

If UPickTrade looks familiar, there’s a good reason. It’s the same sports betting tout service that the Vegas Golden Knights briefly partnered with in February. Less than a week after announcing the deal, the parties broke off the engagement. The Mexican company that promises to enable you to make money betting on sports has enlisted Rose. Rose, along with his son Tyler, will make one to six picks daily on the site. For a mere $89 per month per sport, you can get access to the Rose garden of picks from the man who claimed he would only bet on his own team to win. Outside of his lifetime ban from MLB for betting on games while managing them, there’s little record of Rose’s gambling activity. The 80-year-old doesn’t come to the service with a public reputation for being a savvy baseball bettor. While it’s hard to argue anyone else in the history of the game knew better how to hit the ball, that doesn’t mean betting picks by any other name wouldn’t smell as sweetly. Rose’s lack of verifiable credentials only makes an already bad idea even worse.

Why tout services are generally a waste of money

By and large, sports bettors are better off not paying for picks. There are a few reasons why. First off, there’s no guarantee that the people behind the services aren’t purposefully misguiding bettors. There’s nothing to stop a purported ‘sharp’ from intentionally pointing customers one way on an event so the service provider can make a contrarian play at better odds. Next, verified sharps usually aren’t in the business of selling picks. For one thing, they’re often too busy running their own algorithms and hunting for the odds they want to bother with feeding information to customers. Additionally, they prize their data models, and sharing them would dilute any edge they provide. Building on that, just because a bettor is sharp in one sport doesn’t mean they have the same success in all others. Even in the rare situation where a tout service ran by a legitimate and versatile sharp who is honestly dealing with customers becomes available, it just doesn’t make ‘cents’. Paying for picks adds to the cost of betting on sports. That means bettors have to win more money more often to break even or make a profit. UPickTrade’s service offers no verifiable data to prove its claims that it can “make you rich” or even that you will win at a higher rate than bettors who don’t use the service. Rose’s similar lack of authenticated sports betting success makes this deal look like little more than using his name to attract customers. Hopefully, most bettors will shake this offer off and do their own homework instead.