Bovada Sportsbook JustBET BetOnline Sportsbook.com Bovada Poker

What was the hype all about? Who was buying the picks? Whatwas the big deal? Let me explain, it was the fanatic baby boomerswho were at that the age of doing what they could to make money.The baby boomers were a money hungry group of people, stocks,bonds, the beginning of the internet, the baby boomers were thekey to all the growth. The economy was solid, people were makingmoney, and they had that excess money to gamble with. The babyboomers were buying the sports betting information any way theycould, 976 numbers, 800 numbers, and later 900 numbers.

The money was there for them to spend, and thelocal bookies were turning people away who wanted to bet, thebookies were loaded but could only handle so much. Everyone wasmaking money, the books, the smart players, the smart handicappers,everyone! The big deal was the NFL was at its peak, people lovedthe 49ers, they loved the Cowboys, they loved to beton football .

Sports betting made the NFL in the 80's. Whathappened between the 80's and 90's? And current day? Why are thereless and less people betting sports? The Answer? The growth ofthe internet. More and more people were going to the internet,they didn't need scorephones any more, they didn't need informationfrom the sports handicappers, because they could get anythingthey wanted on the internet. The access and abundancy of informationmade the sports bettors try to do it all on their own. Thus thedecline of using sports handicappers and the rise in people doingit all on their own. They thought they were brighter because ofall this excess information. Of course it made some people brighter,but it also made the linesmakers brighter as they received moreinformation than they could get in the 80's.

All in all, the lines became tighter, the playerscouldn't beat it, and eventually they quit and went to gamblersanonymous or the likes and went on and did something different.The baby bookers are now 45-60 years old, they are wiser, as theygot older and figured they couldn't beat the bookmakers.

The children of the baby boomers never reallycaught on to the sports betting angle, as they learned watchingtheir parents mistakes, betting on sports was a losing proposition.They did their own thing. Dot.com was their world, the economyexploded, then died as the dot.com market busted out.

And now the children of the baby boomers', children?Well they are all in their own world the echo boomers as we callit, are growing up on cell phones, DVD players, Ipod, Palm Pilotsand the likes. They could care less about watching a footballgame, let a lone betting it. The echo boomers will stay away fromthe sports betting angles, like their parents did, thus the deprivationand slow down of the sports betting world.

Offshore sportsbooks had a run and now that run is over, or at least declining rapidly.There are no more of those guys betting $2,000 per game or 10dimes per game, those were the baby boomers, not today's generationof sports bettors. The offshores are filled with $50 dollar bettorsand an occasional guy here or there that bets dimes. Dime playersare far and few between. So let's recap why there are less andless people betting sports today than in the 80's:

(1) The baby boomers are 45-60 years old, theydon't bet no more as they prepare for their social security andretirement life.
(2) The baby boomers children, made their money in the dot.comindustry and were less inspired to gamble on sports as their parentsdid.
(3) The echo boomers, the baby boomers grandchildren are comingof age, the echo boomers are 7 years old to 22 years old, theygrow up on IPODS, and Electronic stuff, they don't have the timeto bet on sports as they are too busy text messaging to theirfriends and such.
(4) The offshore sportsbook fever has dwindled, dramatically.More and more of the older sportsbooks owners (the baby boomers),have made their money, sold their sportsbooks and have moved on.While the rest of the sportsbook owners decide to change namesevery other week. More and more books open and close in CostaRica, they open a shop, take peoples money, stiff the ones whowin, and close after they make their killing. Out of the 400 sportbooksworldwide, only a handful have a solid reputation of paying theirpeople. That handful is less than 10%, don't believe me? Go toany sportsbook watchdog site and check out their blacklistings!There are more books receiving bad reviews than there are onesthat have developed the good reputations. The offshore sportsbooksare having more and more problems, doing Western Unions, creditcards and the likes, it seems like nowadays there is so much problemtrying to open an account, people who want to open an accountget frustrated. People don't trust the offshore sportsbooks anylonger, and the majority of the local books, use offshores totake their bets on a per head basis. So you really can't evenbet with the local go any longer.

(5) The salary caps in sports have killed thebusiness and made parity in all sports. We as baby boomers lovedthe dominance of teams, not the way it is now, where anyone canwin on a given Saturday or Sunday. Take a look and see how manyteams are favored by 25 points and not only don't cover the spreadbut some lose outright in college football. Why does it seem everygame in the NFL, the home team is favored by 3 points, becauseof parity! I liked the old days when the Cowboys were favoredby 14 and would kick the shit out of someone. That doesn't happentoday as teams get big leads and coaches quit coaching, preventdefenses take over and such.

What will it take to get the interest back insports betting? The industry thrived, believe it or not when theirwere dominant teams. Today's NFL and College Football has so muchparity it confuses people, thus the ineptability of trying topick winners. The prevent defense killed the NFL, and made eventhe worst NFL teams, excellent against the spread, because theworst teams, never quit playing, while the upper echelon of theteams, quit playing, pull players, and sip their wine from themillions they make from being overpaid.

I say let's bring back the old days, get ridof the salary caps that prevent owners from getting the playersthey want. Quit drafting 18 year olds, and make the kids stayin school. When a kid commits to a college, the coach wants thekid to stay there, thus he has a 4 year window for the kid, nota year or so, then the kid leaves to go to NFL or NBA or the likes.He can make his team stronger knowing the players ain't goinganywhere, and he has to revamp his club every other year. Thiswill make the bigger schools dominant once again. Remember theold Notre Dames, the old Nebraska Cornhuskers, the old OklahomaSooners, America's Team the Dallas Cowboys, the 49ers dominanceof Super Bowls? Now those were the days!

Ty Gaston is the owner of Ty Gaston's Pro Scoutsand tygaston.com, he is a freelance writer for ultimatecapper.comand is one of a very small handful of professional sports handicappersendorsed by Kevin of Ultimatecapper.com

*Note: The Ultimatecapper site prides itselfin advertising only the cream of the crop of online sportsbooksand the above comments are in no way, shape or form any indicationrelative to Ultimatecapper endorsed sportsbooks, almost all ofwhich have been online and operating with intergrity long beforethe Ucapper site existed.