“The Lock”- a concept so often heard in sports betting circles, is a bet that is supposed to be 100% sure. There are different theories about whether a Lock is possible at all or not. According to some of these theories a Lock is an impossible thing to start with, by the nature of sporting events. Many Handicapping agencies offer “ Locks “ on certain games, mostly out of a desire to make a few quick bucks on unsuspecting bettors. There are quite a few factors “ Lock- skeptics” could bring up in defending their opinion. The outcome of any one sporting game can be influenced by a myriad of variables, ( like players on the injured list, home or away games, the current streak the team is on, - to name only a few) out of which only a few are predictible and accountable. Even if a game is “fixed” one cannot be 100% sure of its outcome. There are known cases of players – who have taken bribe- unable to fulfill on their undertaken duties. I believe it is safe to state that “ the Lock” as such is a purely theoretical concept usable to describe that something is highly likely to happen, without the certainty of it actually happening though.

Many handicapping agencies use the term, and its meaning is widely accepted, but the wise bettor should always know that a “Lock” is something like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus, a concept that all children believe in , all adults know about, but in the same time everyone in their right mind knows not to take literally.

Some handicapping agencies ( from this point on referred to as Scamdicappers) use the term to their advantage more than others. Usually these scamdicappers have no business being in the sports betting industry, their sole goal and purpose to swindle the unsuspecting out of their hard earned money, oftentimes by taking advantage of the psychological situation the would be victim is in. Most of these agencies, with their outrageous offers, ( around 70% payback rate, 100% sure – 50 star- locks) aim to attract the bettor who's long been on the short end of the stick and trying to find new ways of getting out the hole he dug himself into. Naturally, a bettor who does well on his own would hardly ever feel the urge to go for what these agencies have to offer.

Such a handicapper will go to great lengths to make sure the person who called him would not be turned off, by speaking loudly and generally acting in a rather pushy manner. He'll entice the would be bettor with promises of unique, once in a year Locks, a practice that can easily find , in a loss-plagued person a fruit just ripe for the picking.

These “Locks” generally turn out to be untrue, and the luckless bettor once again left with the empty pockets, has no choice but to helplessly contemplate the not-even-so-clever trap he just walked into. He'll probably promise himself that he'll never take up on such too-good-to-be-true offers in the future, maybe curse himself a bit for not listening to the gambling instinct ringing in his head when he placed the ill fated bet, the one saying that if something looked too good to be true, that was probably because it was too good to be true. With that he'll forget about the scam artist that just robbed him and go on with his everyday gambling.

The same though, can't be said about the scamdicapper, greedy like a chipmunk , he has no intention whatsoever of letting an opportunity like the one he just reaped benefit of, pass by. By this time he has the victim's phone number well stashed away and in a couple of days he leaps into action again. He calls the victim – giving another name - and asks whether he's interested in some of the locks he has for the following day's games. The bettor, being totally disappointed , tells him about how he didn't look the gift horse in the mouth the first time, and how he cast his money away on such a Lock at this and that and the other sports. The “ handicapper” then asks him about what company he used for betting, and when told, starts to laugh and begins telling our man, how this and that and the other sports is really not the way to go, and how he keeps hearing such complaints about this and that and the other sports from other clients who turned to him instead.

Our man gets puzzled again. Could it be that he had the misfortune of jumping into bed with the only rotten handicapper around? Given his general misfortune and lack of inspiration that would not be an unlikely scenario at all, now would it? And thus he falls for the same trick again, and gets hassled by the same guy twice.

Other scamdicappers give out both sides of a game. The first person who calls gets Spurs over Suns, the next one gets Suns over Spurs. One of them is sure to nail it just right. The person who does will ultimately be satisfied and might even end up recommending our scamdicapper to his friends.

An average gambler should never take up on offers that look too hot to be true, and he should really mind how the word “ Lock “ is being used around him and what he understands by it.

Written by Online Casino