For more than 30 years, “Big Al” McMordie has been hitting the sports betting bullseye more often than not. The former corporate attorney is generally recognized as one of the top technical handicappers in the entire country. McMordie is a straight shooter, and Big Al’s Sports Picks has solidified itself as a top option in the sports gambling industry.
“I’ve been handicapping since I was 12 years old.,” McMordie told OSDB Sports. “I began to do it professionally in 1992, while I was still a corporate attorney with Gardere & Wynne in Dallas, Texas. During one of my cases, the lawyer opposite me mentioned that his brother was a handicapper who went by the name of ‘Pork Chop’. I’m not sure how it came up, but before long David Flynn AKA ‘Pork Chop’ and I were connected.”
McMordie went 6-0 on his football picks and 23-7 in basketball during his initial communications with Flynn. One of McMordie’s winners was especially noteworthy. No one expected the Detroit Lions to knock the Dallas Cowboys out of the NFL Playoffs in 1992, but “Big Al” saw it coming. The Lions smashed the Cowboys 38-6 in the Silverdome, thereby shocking the city of Dallas and the sports betting world.
Since winning a championship in 1957, Detroit has won a single playoff game, and McMordie called it. “Pork Chop” was thoroughly impressed and he pursued McMordie relentlessly. Eventually, “Big Al agreed to get hooked up with a 900 number for $15/call.
“‘Pork Chop’ called me the Phantom,” McMordie recalled to OSDB. “I did that 900 line for about six months, and then decided to go into business for myself. In the Summer of 1992 I broke away from “Pork Chop” and bought my own 900 number. The profits were between $3,000- $11,000 annually for the first few years, but then it blossomed in December of 1995, and absolutely skyrocketed after that. That was when I decided it was time to stop practicing law.”
“Big Al” is now a 48-time handicapping champ, and his website is a reliable tool for its customers. In fact, the first client that McMordie serviced is still working with him, having trusted Big Al’s expert picks for the last 30 years. With the legalization of sports betting spreading and the industry expanding, McMordie experiences a nice blend of repeat business from satisfied customers along with new business from folks who are just getting started in the gambling game.
“For me, the process is everything and that’s not going to change,” McMordie stated. “I’ve had a very similar process for 44 years now. It’s a little different today vs 1978 because I have a computer, and research is easier due to access to the Internet, but overall the process itself remains the same.
“Something else that gives us a leg up on the competition is our handicapping database, which I think is the best in the world. The functionality is phenomenal. ESPN wrote an article about our database in 2010, and since then I’ve actually improved the system to make it even better. Only Tom Stryker, Dr. Bob, and I have the current version, and it really is special.”
The million dollar question (potentially) is: Who does Big Al believe will win the Super Bowl this coming season?
“The Buffalo Bills,” McMordie told OSDB without a moment of hesitation. “I went to Las Vegas and found some quality options. I’ve got the Bills to win the AFC and also the Super Bowl. I believe the odds for them to win the AFC were about 7% better, and I thought it was a bit mispriced, so that was the strongest bet under the circumstances.”
Fortunately, the author had already picked the Bills to win the Super Bowl himself prior to this interview. True story. Smart money is on Buffalo. The Bills are well-positioned to circle the wagons this season. If Big Al is capable of calling Detroit’s only playoff win ever, it follows suit that he can predict Buffalo’s first Super Bowl victory in team history.
