Touts 2026 Version

Today's topic has been argued about for so long that it has felt mundane to me forever. It's a boring subject in my biased opinion. My point of view was always this...

If you do anything to make money off of your work that you would be doing for yourself or others then you're selling a product. Your hoping to make a profit or additional profit off of your work.

I know plenty of sharps in the arena that don't want anything to do with the public. They don't tweet, they don't do anything to promote themselves. They really enjoy winning or losing without any added pressure.

Back in 2010 I bought a RAS CFB package and I want to say a NBA Dr. Bobs package. I was closing my laptops every night after black Friday fairly lost and knew a few winners in sports from poker and I wanted to be part of that world.

I wasn't necessarily looking for them to make me rich and I didn't really know where to find someone who I could just get picks from. I had one local and I think a abc or 5dimes account. The men above were the most recommended by someone I trusted.

I didn't want the plays in the beginning as much as I was looking to see what they liked and from there I was going to make my own plays.

Being glued to games was something I was very familiar with as I worked for a local for a few months and I suddenly had so much more time than the next man.

They won and I would go onto win and form my own little group, work with others and continue to win a little until it becomes enough to live on.

My boredom of the subject of selling plays and the rhetoric that has never ended and circulates fairly constantly changed and a few weeks ago when something piqued my interest and it came from a place I never suspected... Steve Fezzick

I look at updates from bet bash every year. It's not my cup of tea but I think there's a good concept there and absolutely enjoy hearing about it.

However this years bet bash they had a tout seminar which is hilarious on many fronts. Either you buy plays or you don't. You either sell plays or you don't. Let's get a crew of people to discuss the merit of a subject that matters to no one other than buyer and seller. It's like having a police car auction seminar located at the police seminar.

Maybe Steve thought he would outwit the 3 or 4 guys who are very anti tout with their questions and sell some packages, I really have no idea.

This is in no way a knock on Fezz but he's been getting into losing arguments since 2013 regarding himself and touts. I also think the guest selection was intentional. They accomplished what has been done on forums dating back a decade, kudos.

Let's take a step back and talk clearly here. You're at a event that costs money in a casino who's sponsoring the event and everyone is paying in hopes of finding someone to help them make more money or sell themselves to someone that will help them increase their net worth?

This one stop shop touting.

Another event caught my eye directly after that. I was watching the WSOP main event last week and every single player had hired a coach. Almost every single poker player that's high level player has a coach of some kind nowadays once they reach a certain level and threshold. Are the coaches touts? Are the players fools for hiring them?

Why was I a fool for hiring the most recommended source to win all those years ago?

I'm a CFB nut. I watch games in July that were played 20 years and I watch every podcast on YouTube I can find that covers the sport, except.. when they start talking bets.

Every week all 3 of my shows start talking bets and that's when the FanDuel, draftkings and kalshi links pop up.

I don't care that they are taking money from these companies but I do care that I can tell by their demeanor that they do not care if they win or lose. That's unrelatable and pisses me off some.

Let's do a recap of last week's selections. Donnie went 4-10 and Donnie is smiling and laughing as he gets prepared to try to bounce back from apparently having a blast all week.

Those channels on YouTube who love their sport to no end have no interest in whether you make a profit or not. 30k viewers combined who trusted Donny, Josh and Jake... The consumer paid nothing to him directly but they did though.

If everyone is promoting a gambling company to avoid just working your ass off and making sure you have the best of it then in my mind they are just lousy touts.

So here's to the guys with a small following that you are trying desperately to grow so you can show them that you have the goods. However there's not a end goal of profit from of some king outside of your own work... That's okay!

Here's a paragraph message to you directly if you're in that space.

I know the pressure you feel every time that ball is in the air at kick, the insecurity you feel doing a ten minute spot, the concern of others for approval and their bankroll. The worry you feel for everyone who bet something based on something you said. I've read that DM after a bad week and noticed when it never appeared after a good one. Keep going.

In 2026 I am not capable of taking food out of anyone's mouth under any circumstances in this industry. The government told us we aren't shit and decided to tax us to hell, the Draftkings CEO told us we aren't shit and laughed at us who had been limited or banned. Kalshi told us we deserve more fees... You're worried about pick selling??

The loudest on the blast a tout subject are verified accounts on Twitter. You're trying to monetize your opinion that all touts are bad when in my eyes that is... Tout on tout crime.

I've never not accepted a DM and have never held back a opinion from someone who asked what I thought about a bet. You go get those 3 dudes on that panel chastising Fezz and get Spanky in on it and just ask them what they think about a bet. Report back to me on how that panned out.

My advice is if your buying plays or considering working with a service make sure they have third party tracking. Go out of your way to ask questions of whom you're buying from. Do a few hours work. Use Google, AI etc do whatever makes you feel comfortable.

I'm not here to tell anyone what to buy, what to sell. I'm not telling you to buy picks... You've been doing that forever.

I hope you are incredible well and that all of your preseason futures are halfway to cashed because you are drunk on confidence.

Thank you as always for the space, Eddie