VegasInsider

With the help of CBS Sportsline, Vegas Insider was certainly the first major player as far as sports betting information is concerned. They also had, shall we say, "cozy" relationship with Sportsbook.com and helped vault that entity as one of the first multinational sportsbooks.

Much like OffshoreInsiders.com has been since Day 1 and remains unchanged, for the first several years of its existence, VegasInsider.com hired handicappers based purely on credibility, led by the universally respected Russ Culver. All the original handicappers such as the late Mike Lee and Ken White,were considered credible by almost all industry insiders.

The problem was the commission rate that VegasInsider paid was pittance and all the top handicappers went elsewhere.

Vegas Insider then did an about face and developed partnerships with the likes of Stu Feiner and Wayne Root, touts better known for their marketing prowess than sports handicapping,

They even briefly tried a relationship with radio handicapping pioneer Dave "the Meatman" Scandaliato. Very few sports handicappers have had long-term relationships with Vegas Insider, essentially because the top tipsters are paid fish heads and rice and eventually seek employment elsewhere.

During our Freescoreboard.com and OffshoreInsiders.com, we've been contacted by several Vegas Insider alumni looking to make the move upwards. Mark Franco was the only Vegas Insider expatriate who displayed handicapping skills good enough to be brought on board, but his abilities fell short of Joe Duffy, Mike Godsey, Leo Shafto, AnimalSportsPicks, Stevie Vincent, the SuperLockLine (now MasterLockLine.com) and he was only a notch better than Oscar Charles Dooley, Jack Stroud, and the Maniac.