Interview with a Hot Handicapper

Rocky Atkinson, the Rocketman, is a professional handicapper who has been around the block. He knows the ins and outs of the game and is having a year most handicappers and sports bettors would only dream of. It would take up pages of space to list all the accomplishments of the Rocketman and would suggest viewing his website for detail at RocketmanSports.com. As Rocky put it, he may be “old school”, but sports bettors know, winning never gets old.

Doug Upstone: Rocky, you are having a monster year, after many years of success. What are you doing differently then in the past?

Rocketman: I haven’t changed a whole lot, if things don’t do well for a certain season or sport I tinker, overall still doing about the same thing.

DU: When you say you tinker, what do you tinker with?

RA: Let’s take the NHL for example; this has been my best year in the NHL EVER, in any sport, by units won. I took an idea from Major League baseball and added it to my NHL handicapping. It’s really worked out; I’m up +137.7 units right now.

DU: I checked around and see you leading in the NHL at every sports monitor by a large margin, awesome job. While on the topic of hockey, the NHL has gone to the conference semi-finals, what thoughts do you have on the four series about to commence?

RA: In the Western Conference, Vancouver is extremely hot right now. Vancouver swept St Louis four games to none in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vancouver has now won seven games in a row heading into Round 2 against Chicago. Vancouver has had a ton of rest as they haven't played in nine days. Is that good or bad for them? I'm thinking good in this case. Vancouver has won eight of the last 12 meetings with Chicago the past three years and 15 of the last 22 in Vancouver since 1996. I feel like Vancouver gets the job done in this series but it won't be easy.

Anaheim is coming off an incredible series against San Jose as they ousted the #1 seed in the West in six games. Detroit swept a pesky Columbus team, winning the first three games by three or more goals. I'm expecting a letdown from Anaheim here in this series and Detroit definitely has the better team and I feel is now the team to beat this year. Detroit is 24-7-2 at home vs Anaheim since 1996 giving them a huge edge there. Detroit is playing with seven days rest while Anaheim is playing with three. Detroit should get the job done easy here in this series, but the price is too high.

DU: What about the Eastern Conference?

RA: It took Carolina all seven games to beat New Jersey, but they got the job done. Carolina is a team that seems to step it up in the big games. They are 8-3 in the second round games since 1996, while Boston is only 2-4 in the same time frame in conference semis. Boston swept their series against Montreal beating them four games to none. Boston has won the past five meetings against Carolina; however Carolina is 19-8-2 at Boston since 1996. Over the past three years, this series is tied at six wins each. I'm going to lean to Carolina in this series to pull the upset. You will be getting good price in this one.

In the other series, I'm looking for Pittsburgh to upset Washington. The Rangers took Washington all the way to a Game 7 in their series while Pittsburgh got by the Flyers in six games. Washington had to win three in a row to escape elimination. Pittsburgh has won eight of the last 12 meetings in this series including a very nice 5-1 record in Washington the past three years.

DU: Great info, mentioned correlation you’ve made between baseball and hockey, could you explain further?

RA: What I do in those two sports is I’ve developed power ratings; I call them The Rocketman Line. I do this for each sport. I take my lines and compare them to Las Vegas line and when I have a differential that meets my criteria, I look deeper into that game.

DU: In talking about baseball, I know you are off to sensational start in that sport also, what are some of your keys to beating baseball and getting through the daily grind, since baseball has 15 games, five of the seven days of the week for the most part.

RA: The one thing I do in baseball and in every other sport actually, that differs me from other handicappers, is they think they have to have something to put out and sell. Most will put out a ton of plays; the fact is if you don’t have anything on the shelf, people surely can’t buy it. I try not to worry about that. I feel that proper money management is a huge ingredient to the overall winning recipe. I don’t play a game because it’s on TV, just because its Monday Night football or the playoffs. I don’t force a play that isn’t there; I simply pass and wait for something better that comes along the following day. In baseball, I’ve only has 18 plays for entire season. I’m 14-4, 78 percent and my top Major League baseball plays are 8-0, those are my four and five unit plays. In fact, I just checked Sports Monitor standings and I’m No. 1 there.

DU: Beautiful. I saw on your website, you have a line that says –Stop Gambling, Start Investing- explain what you mean by that.

RA: I give out plays, but I also try and teach people about proper investing. A gambler and I used to do this, will play every NFL game on Sunday. You are definitely going to play the Monday Night football game, trying to double down to win or try and get your losses back. That’s not smart; you have to be like more of an investor. If I release a play, bet that play for the exact amount of units I give out, don’t bet with your heart, don’t bet on all the TV games. Stay with the investment. Try one of my packages and in the long term, you will beat the man.

DU: I see you cover seven different sports, where do you find the time?

RA: (Chuckle) That’s where the Rocketman Line comes in. I look at every single game on the board each day. I start handicapping over night and often don’t finish till about lunch time the following day, except for on the weekends of course. I put in many, many hours, I’m an old-school guy, I do most of my work on paper. I update my power ratings each day, that’s where I start and I go from there.

DU: Many handicappers have bad reputations with the public and deservedly so, but you have always stayed above the fray. I understand you are involved with Relay for Life, tell me about your involvement?

RA: I started with Relay for Life about five years ago; it is with the American Cancer Society. We start at 7:00 PM on Friday night and we go till 7:00 AM on Saturday morning. We have different teams to raise money for the Cancer Society at a park here in South Carolina. The money is used for research and to help those who are in need.

My team is from my church and the idea is to have one person from your team on the track the entire 12 hours doing a lap. Last year our county raised $157,000.00. I’m a sponsor and try to help out as much as I can. The first lap of event is done by cancer survivors, it’s called the Survivor lap and they let go of doves. It’s really a nice cause to be a part of.

DU: I can tell by your voice, you are passionate about it as well.

RA: A couple of years ago, my wife’s first cousin’s child, contracted a very rare disease, she was two or three when she was diagnosed. She had to go to St. Jude’s in Memphis, TN and have operation to have part of both of her kidney’s taken out. She is in remission and doing well. It is a joy to see her leading the pace lap.

DU: Wow that is great and very inspiring. It’s nice to tell people about the human side of handicappers. Too often the story is all the bad news.

RA: Very true.

DU: In summation, what piece of advice would you have the sports bettor looking to improve?

RA: Definitely work on money management. I’ve been on fire, yet I have some members who say, “Hey man, I need some help! I’ve lost” even though I killed it with the plays they bought. They start adding plays of their own or other people. Stay with a money management system; don’t play games just to play them. A lot of people start doing what is called recreational betting, that’s where they get into trouble. Like I said, stop gambling and start investing. You don’t have to play every day.

DU: Great advice Rocky and continued success to you for the rest of the year.

RA: Thanks Doug, it’s been a pleasure.