Ben Burns

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Consultant Bio

As the single most popular handicapper in the two-decade history of Covers Experts, Ben Burns' reputation precedes him. Known for possessing an uncanny ability to consistently deliver with his biggest plays, Burns has numerous documented #1 titles to his credit in all the major sports.

Ben burst onto the scene in the late 90's. Though his hockey picks were always highly regarded, it was his remarkable success rate in the NFL which really made him famous. A perfect 10-0 record in the Super Bowl helped establish his "big game reputation."

While his 10-0 Super Bowl streak eventually came to an end, Ben's current run in the College National Championship game is nearly as impressive. With Georgia's big win, he moved to 11-1 the past seven years in the college title game, a perfect 7-0 record with totals and a 4-1 mark with sides. In fact, he's 13-1 with his past 14 January bowl selections, dating back the past few years.

Ben's basketball numbers have been spectacular for a long time. Entering the 2022/23 season, top-rated hoops are on a streak, which has generated $128K in net profit. His numbers, pro and college are dominant. His big baseball bets also have a stellar reputation. Top-rated MLB plays are on a streak which has banked more than $75K.

In addition to being a champion sports handicapper, Ben has also rubbed shoulders with many of the biggest players in the daily fantasy world. In fact, while attending live events put on by the likes of FanDuel and DraftKings, he's taken down multiple prizes of $300K or greater. Narrator Michael Rapaport refers to him as a "high roller" in the documentary "Living The Fantasy." After beating one of the main characters in a qualifier, Burns would bring home $350K in the main event (NFL King Of The Beach), a bad beat preventing him from a 7-figure score.

In "Outliers," Malcolm Gladwell asks the question: "What makes high achievers different?" Gladwell suggests that those at the top of their field have a number of similarities - that their upbringing (culture, family, what generation they came from, experiences) had much to do with their success. As a professional sports handicapper, Ben is widely recognized as being "at the top of his field." A look at his upbringing shows that he fits Gladwell's model to a tee. Exposed to the world of point spreads early and often as a child, Burns reached adulthood as the Internet was first beginning to explode, just as the first offshore sportsbooks were springing up. By that time, he'd already spent thousands of hours learning and studying statistics.

From an early age, it became apparent to family and friends that Ben wasn't a "typical" fan. Before he was barely old enough to read, he could rattle off all the stats from his baseball and hockey card collection. At age 11, he was mentioned in a major newspaper (Toronto Star) for correctly predicting a high-profile trade before the Major League Baseball trading deadline. (Winner of the contest got tickets to the All-Star game.) Members of Ben's family were always involved in a weekly NFL (ATS) pool. Some of his early childhood memories included that pool and his fascination with it. As soon as he was allowed to play, Ben demonstrated an ability to surprise the adults. Later, the same became true of the baseball pool. Around this time, one of his uncles moved his casino business to the Caribbean. This was the environment in which he came from.

Famous throughout his high school for annually winning the local football contest, along with the $1700 per year which was awarded to the champ, Ben has been a winner his entire life. As the first sports books were coming online, he was fortunate to enjoy success with his early forays into the world of sports betting. (The first shop he ever played at ended up refusing to take his hockey bets.)

In the early Internet days, Ben won an NBA playoff contest. The victory awarded him a trip to Las Vegas, $1000 cash, a limo at his disposal, free shows, a hotel, and live sports odds for a year. Not a bad prize for a kid in his early 20s. However, the contest had bigger implications as it exposed him to the world of "professional sports handicapping." Inspired by his personal success and encouraged by his peers, Ben first made his picks available to the public in 1998.

From the years of 1998-2007, Ben's selections were independently documented at one of the Internet's earliest and most respected sports monitors, Big Guy Sports. During that time, Burns earned literally dozens of documented Top 3 finishes in football, basketball, baseball, AND hockey, including numerous #1 titles. Competing against a field of 150 of the biggest names in the industry, he ranked as the #1 NFL handicapper in the existence of that sports monitor in their All-Time rankings. No competing handicapping service ever came close to matching his NFL record. In fact, Ben also ranked as the #1 combined NFL/NCAA football handicapper.

Over the years, Ben has seen it all. Win, lose or draw, he always works extremely hard, and he always tells it like it is. He's thrilled to be part of the Wager Talk team and looks forward to earning your trust one winner at a time.