Frequently Asked Questions

Al McMordie first got his handicapping feet wet in 1978, at age 12.  By age 17, it became such a passion that his brother gave him “Big Al’s Handicapping” stationery as a birthday gift.  Still, Al had no intention of becoming a professional handicapper.  Instead, he attended the University of Michigan, and earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, and then a Law degree.  When Al was practicing corporate law in Dallas, he made the acquaintance of a handicapper named David Flynn, who was impressed by Al’s handicapping abilities.  David convinced Al to found Big Al’s Sports Picks in 1992.  Three years later, in 1995, Al retired from the practice of law to handicap sports full-time.

Purchasing picks from any of our handicappers is easy.  Just click on Shop Picks to get started.  You will see selections from all of our handicappers.  You can add any of the Picks for Sale to your shopping cart, and then proceed to checkout.  If you have yet to create an account, you will need to put in your information.  For your convenience, we accept all major credit and debit cards, and Paypal for online purchases.  After your purchase, you will be able to view the purchased Picks at your Member Portal.  Should you wish to make a purchase over the telephone, then you can also call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787.

We accept all major credit and debit cards, and Paypal for online purchases.  Additionally, should you wish to purchase over the telephone, you can use Western Union, cashier’s checks, money orders and bitcoin.  Just call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787.

After you purchase a subscription or selection(s), you will be able to view your picks at the Member Portal.  Should you be unable to view them, then please call Al McMordie immediately at 323-870-7787 to have your selections provided over the telephone and/or emailed to you.

Each handicapper has his own release schedule.  When you purchase a long-term subscription — whether for a week, 30 days, 6 months or a year — the handicapper’s release schedule will be provided at your Member Portal.  With respect to the individual Picks for Sale — for the daily sports of baseball, hockey and basketball — most packages are published each morning between 6 am and 11 am eastern time, but it can be earlier or later than that, depending on a particular handicapper’s schedule.  Because football is a weekly sport, the publication times vary widely.  Many football plays for the upcoming weekend will be published as early as Monday or Tuesday, while other plays will be published on game day.

All selections sold at the Picks for Sale page are for games that have yet to begin.  In rare instances, a mistake can always happen, and you could purchase a play on a game which has already started.  Should that happen, please call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787, or email him at bigal@bigal.com and he will refund your purchase price.

If you have any question or problem, please call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787, or email him at bigal@bigal.com.  Al is regularly available 18 hours a day (from 10 am eastern until 4 am eastern).  When you call, you will speak directly to Al, and not to any secretaries or salesmen.


Absolutely.  BigAl.com uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to ensure your information is passed to us securely.  All credit card transactions are encrypted, and processed via the Stripe network or Paypal.  Your data is not stored at BigAl.com, so we do not have access to it.

Al McMordie is an attorney, and is well-trained when it comes to privacy issues.  Your personal information will never be used unlawfully, or distributed to any third party without your consent.  You may view our complete privacy policy here.

100% yes.  The biggest mistake that sports bettors make is that they only bet with one sportsbook.  The result is that they are held hostage to that sportsbook’s lines.  In sports gambling, one of the most important factors in your success is whether or not you wagered at the best number.  Indeed, if you shop the lines, the expected value of your winning bets will be about two percent higher than if you only bet at one outlet.  We have extensive sportsbook reviews at BigAl.com should you want to open up accounts at a couple of extra sportsbooks.

It’s completely a personal choice.  Most of our clients purchase plays from many different handicappers.  But some clients are extremely loyal to one handicapper.  If there’s a particular handicapper (or two) whose style you favor, and are looking to add another handicapper’s selections, you can always call us for a recommendation.

With handicapping, there are several different, and equally valid approaches.  Some handicappers, like ASA and Jack Banks, are more fundamental than technical.  That is, they evaluate team rosters to try to find advantages in player match-ups.  And some handicappers, like Larry Ness and Vegas Writer, are great because they know so much about the teams (through watching games and/or scouring the local newspapers on the internet) that they have developed an unequaled knowledge for understanding how to break down a game.   And then there are handicappers like Al McMordie, Tom Stryker, Hollywood Sports, Oskeim Sports and Matt Fargo who analyze games from a situational and technical standpoint.

Professional sports handicappers are experts in the field, just like a corporate attorney would be an expert at contracts, or a physician would be an expert at diagnosing health conditions.  Most of our clients are successful in their own field, and choose to engage a professional handicapper for one of two reasons (or both).  The primary reason is that a professional sports handicapper will put his clients in the best position to win.  Nothing is guaranteed, of course.  But professional handicappers have the experience, skill set, and access to data to determine whether a particular side has value with respect to the current odds.  A secondary reason for many clients is the time factor.  Handicapping (if you do it correctly) is a full-time job.  Most professional handicappers spend between 40 and 80 hours a week doing research.  Taken together, there is significant value to using a professional handicapper.

Yes, just call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787 or email him at bigal@bigal.com and he will research the issue and let you know.

There are 20 handicappers at Big Al’s Sports Picks, and each has his own ratings scale.  Some rate their games 1* to 5*; others operate on a 1* to 10* scale; while some might rate their games 15* to 25*.  Everyone is different.  But when you purchase a selection, then a handicapper’s rating is generally provided with the analysis.  We also maintain records for each handicapper in two categories:  win percentage and net profit.  However, to “level the playing field” in the net profit category, all selections are graded as if they were $1000 bets (regardless of what star rating the handicapper made the play).

Handicappers are offered lines from three major sportsbooks:  BetMGM, Caesars and DraftKings.  A handicapper may select his preferred team at the most favorable odds among those three sportsbooks.  Handicappers are graded by the line at the time the selection is made, and not the “opening” or “closing” numbers.

There are two possible reasons.  First, it’s possible that a customer’s sportsbook just happens to have a different line.  But if the customer would have access to multiple sportsbooks, he would be able to shop the lines to get a better number.  And the second reason is that the line could have moved since the play was released.  When a handicapper releases a play, he can choose from among the current lines at three major sportsbooks:  DraftKings, Caesars and BetMGM.  The lines are constantly updated via a DonBest lines feed, so they are 100% accurate at the time of the selection.  Because sports gambling is a highly-active marketplace, the lines are always in flux.  It’s always possible that a line will move between the time a selection is made, and the time a pick is purchased.  Sometimes, the line will be more favorable; other times, it will be less favorable.  And in very rare circumstances, a handicapper may determine that an unfavorable line move has erased all value in the wager, such that he will choose to cancel the play, and take it down from being sold.  Should a handicapper decide to cancel a play, all customers will be immediately notified, and their purchase price will be refunded.

Many free selections are offered daily.  Just click on Free Picks to go to the main page.  Additionally, you can access free selections at each handicapper’s individual page.

Of course!  We would be happy to give you a free trial on our premium selections.  Once you’ve created a new customer account at our website, then call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787 to get a free $90 coupon to use on any of our handicappers.  Additionally, handicappers provide free plays each day on our Free Picks page.

Each handicapper has his own criteria for selecting games.  Thus, each handicapper will release a different number of plays per day.  Most handicappers will release between three to seven plays per day.   In 2019, for example, Al McMordie released an average of 4.25 selections per day.  Also bear in mind that the six months from October through March is the busiest time of the sports calendar.  So, the number of plays released per day over that period of time is much higher than the average.

It’s difficult to project ahead of time because of the nature of sports gambling.  Until odds on a game are published, a handicapper won’t know whether or not he has a pick on the game.  The one exception to this would be if you purchased a weekly football selection.  Many handicappers would be able to estimate by Wednesday how many football games will be on their weekly card.  If you were curious, just give Al McMordie a call at 323-870-7787 to ask about your favorite handicapper.  With that being said, a good rule of thumb is that most handicappers average about three to seven selections a day across all sports, depending on the time of the year (October through March is the busiest period).


We would be more than happy to upgrade a shorter-term subscription to a longer-term subscription, if you contact us anytime before the halfway point of your current subscription.  Just call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787 and he will help you out.

It’s quite rare that there would be no sporting events scheduled on a day (though it does happen each year around the MLB All-Star break).  If you purchase a subscription, and your handicapper passes on a day, then please call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787 to have a day added to your subscription term.

If you join for a week or for 30-days, but fail to show a profit (based upon our grading of the games at $1000 each), then we would be happy to offer you a discount on a new weekly or 30-day subscription.  Your new subscription may be with the same, or a different handicapper.  Just call Al McMordie at 323-870-7787 or email him at bigal@bigal.com.

One’s bankroll has nothing to do with a person’s net worth.  Instead, it is simply the amount of money a person is willing to completely lose while betting on sports.

One should only bet what one is willing and able to lose, and no more.  If one is tossing and turning in bed due to anxiety from a sports bet, then that is clear evidence that one’s bet size is too high.  There are two common methods used to determine bet size, and each one has its proponents.  One is flat betting.  The other is percentage of bankroll.  My strongest advice would be to choose the method you are most comfortable with, and then to stick with that method.  With flat betting, you would choose an amount as your bet size, and maintain that amount for a long period of time (say, one year) before re-sizing.  Regardless of the strength of the play, each wager would be the same amount.  In contrast, percentage of bankroll requires a bettor to constantly change his bet size based upon the increase or decrease of his bankroll.  Most professional gamblers will wager 1% to 3% of their bankroll on a given play, depending on the play’s estimated strength.