Line.com is your source for sports handicapping.
Line.com Sports Monitor & Fantasy Sportsbook
Launching on 1 August 2011, Line.com (formerly PickMonitor.com) is a social network for people who enjoy predicting the outcome of sporting events. It offers services especially geared towards professional handicappers, but is also designed to appeal to the average sports fan.
History
PickMonitor.com was launched by Patrick Griffith as a side project in May of 2009. After gaining some traction and being encouraged by users Patrick eventually decided to focus his full attention on PickMonitor.com.
After talks with the owner of the domain name "line.com" in April of 2010 PickMonitor.com was able to acquire the new domain name in a licensing agreement which shall not be made public at this time.
The site was completely remodeled for the new domain name, though all core functionality and goals remained intact. The new version of the site launched on Line.com on 1 August 2011. The new version was met with mixed reviews, but skeptics were turned into believers as several patches were released in the following month that made all of the disgruntled users happy.
Free Services
Pick Tracking
Pick tracking is at the core of Line.com, and was its first service offered. This service is designed to be an entertainment tool for non-bettors; to allow these users to experience the thrill of gambling without the risk. It is also designed to help bettors by allowing them to perfect their strategies for free before risking real money, and by providing analytics on all picks to allow the user to analyze and remove parts of their strategy that don't work.
Sports Monitor
Line.com's sports monitor puts a positive spin on an otherwise negative industry. The sports handicapping industry has traditionally been filled with scam, deceit, and questionable marketing practices. Line.com's sports monitor helps to isolate the legitimate handicappers from the liars.
Line.com was originally built with the intent of being a personal pick monitor/tracker and not as a public validation tool. It became known as the Internet's authority on sports monitoring purely by accident. That being said, it takes its role as the most trusted source of handicapping integrity very seriously. Sports monitoring services are bountiful. These services may or may not be legitimate, but its impossible to tell. The social nature of Line.com along with its transparency standards makes it physically impossible for records to be altered.
Sports Betting Forum
Line.com's sports betting and handicapping forum is significantly different than other forums in this industry because it focuses heavily on quality over quantity. Unlike Covers.com for example, Line.com does not allow posts that simply contain free picks nor does it allow posts that contain nothing more than "good job" or "thanks". Although it greatly respects sites like Covers.com, SBRForum.com and others, Line.com caters to a different, more sophisticated audience.
Paid Services
Line.com operates on a freemium model which is especially effective because the free users provide the majority of the data being sold as a paid service for the Gold Membership - Line.com's most popular service.
Gold Membership
The Gold Membership, Line.com's most popular paid service, allows users to see every pick made by every non-platinum member. Gold users can find handicappers to follow via the Handicapper Rankings. Following picks is made easy with multiple options such as instant email alerts. The Gold Membership, as of of 16 March 2012, costs $49/mo.
Platinum Membership
The Platinum Membership is designed for professional handicappers. This allows handicappers to list their picks for sale directly through Line.com (all sales are directly between the buyer and the seller and Line.com is in no way involved in any transaction). This membership also hides your picks from Gold members. The Platinum Membership, as of 16 March 2012, costs $79/mo.
Handicapper Websites
For a variety of reasons it is important for professional handicappers with a serious ambition of selling picks to have their own website. Line.com's handicapper website system allows these handicappers to build their very own websites with zero technical knowledge. This service, as of 16 March 2012, starts at $59/mo.
XML Odds & Scores Feed
Line.com, in order to provide its service, must gather a significant amount of data pertaining to the betting odds and final scores of sports events. This xml scores & odds feed is sold to websites who want to power a sports prediction website. The XML feed, as of 16 March 2012, is priced at $299/mo.
Languages
English
External Links
- Alexa: Line.com
