Dorothy was right… You can go home to Kansas.
Close your eyes and think… You will be transported back home from the glittering Land of Probabilities to the country of KU.
And mom, your sister and your friends will be waiting for you.
It happened to League of Professional Handicappers (ProCappers.com) member and sports analyst Mike Lineback; the plot is straight out of Frank Baum’s classic novel. (Mike probably also had a Toto-type canine.)
The lineback, no, he’s not an NFL player, even though his name sounds like he should be, he’s been a handicap for 20 years, ever since he won his first baseball parlay while on vacation in Lake Tahoe, California. He says that he has had success betting on professional sports for the last 10 years. However, not without learning some hard lessons along the way.
“At first I made the same mistakes that many sports players make today. I bet too many games, money I didn’t have, chased my losses, etc. I was trying to make a living like everyone else. As a result, I never had the time, the knowledge or the funds needed to be successful in sports betting,” said Lineback, 43.
“I finally got smart,” Mike continued. “I decided to focus on professional sports (MLB, NFL and NBA), set aside a reasonable budget, stay the same with my bet amounts and play only my best bets, not just one game because it was on TV.”
Lineback recommends that you only bet 2.5 percent of your bankroll on each game. “I have followed this money management system for the last 10 years and have survived every losing streak since,” Lineback added.
“I’m basically breaking even in college sports over the years, but I’m getting better, even though I’m very selective. It’s very hard to follow every game yourself.”
The lineback makes his own handicap and focuses on professional sports.
“My background is in sports,” he said. “I was an athlete in college, played baseball on scholarship (yes, Lineback has brains!) at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, graduating in 1985 with a business degree.”
Lineback has lived in Las Vegas and Kansas City for most of his adult working life. Five years ago, Mike bravely decided to sell his construction company and go back to school to get his teaching license (Yes, he has a brain!). He returned to Topeka to go to school and be close to his family and friends.
“Yes, I have come full circle,” he said.
He is divorced and has a daughter, Samantha, 19, who started college this year.
Mike decided to take a break from his teaching aspirations after joining The Professional Handicappers League in 2004. He is two semesters away from earning his teaching license and hopes to finish what he started one day.
“When I started going back to school, I decided to start monitoring my picks on the internet for fun,” Lineback said.
“I never thought of starting a sports service until I won a high-profile internet handicap contest in 2003. Shortly thereafter, I was approached by a high-profile sports book about building a website for my sports service in exchange for an exclusive sponsorship.
“I was reluctant at first, but I decided to give it a try,” Lineback said.
The rest is history.
“I’ve been very successful since I started a sports service in October 2003,” Lineback continued. “I take my responsibility to my members very seriously,” he says.
In addition to winning the handicap contest, Mike won an NBA handicap contest in 2004-05 and finished second the year before. He has been documented No. 1 in the NBA two years in a row on four different monitors and finished No. 2 in The Professional Handicappers League (ProCappers.com) the past two seasons. This year he won the Major League Baseball World Handicapping Championship in The Professional Handicappers League (ProCappers.com).
The 2005 MLB world title is Lineback’s first in The Professional Handicappers League (ProCappers.com).
The league will honor him with a trip to Las Vegas for BoDog’s annual summer sports betting and poker conference and the exclusive gold bracelet world champions receive to commemorate their victories.
“My favorite sport is the NFL; MLB is second,” Lineback said.
“Then there’s college sports (‘I’m a fan’). Ironically, I’ve had a lot of success in the NBA over the years and I think the sport is easier to hurt, but I probably wouldn’t see much if I wasn’t a handicap. professional.
“I can’t say I’m a huge NBA fan, except maybe playoff time. The rest is business and of course it always helps when you have money in the game.”
The lineback had the Chicago White Sox to win the World Series, but only bet the first two games on them.
That leaves just one question: Does Lineback have a heart?
Judge for yourself.
