If you’re a sports bettor and you’re not on Twitter, you’re choosing to lose money. And that’s a strange choice.

Without question, Twitter is the best source for breaking news. But it’s also a great source for insightful analysis from sports handicapping experts. We’ve been immersed in the sports betting Twitter world for nearly a year and, based on our analysis of the participants, we’ve compiled this list of the 17 most influential sports betting tweeters.

What does it take to be one of the most ‘influential’ sports betting twitter users? Well, we considered a number of variables including: the user’s overall profile, their number of followers, the frequency of sports betting related tweets, the quality of the information provided and the uniqueness of their perspective. We put all those variables into our proprietary influential algorithm and, voila, out came this list.

1. Bill Simmons

Twitter Handle: @sportsguy33
Joined Twitter: April 18, 2009
# of Followers: 1,754,551
Average followers gained per day: 1,061

Now, the SportsGuy doesn’t always talk about sports gambling. But he does a lot. And given he’s one of the most high-profile sports personalities in the country, that’s a big deal. He’s entered the LVH SuperContest the past two years and placed in the money in 2010. He’s a very sharp NFL handicapper and he’s a must-follow for sports bettors.

2. Scott Van Pelt

Twitter Handle: @notthefakeSVP
Joined Twitter: January 5, 2011
# of Followers: 280,998
Average followers gained per day: 509

Scott Van Pelt hosts the 11pm SportsCenter and hosts an eponymous radio show on ESPN Radio. Van Pelt, one of ESPN’s most high-profile personalities, has offered a dead simple (and much welcome) opinion on sports betting: “I don’t know why it isn’t legal everywhere.” We don’t know why either, SVP. Van Pelt isn’t afraid to address sports betting and will frequently reference betting lines and oddsmakers in his tweets.

3. Darren Rovell 

Twitter Handle: @darrenrovell
Joined Twitter: March 13, 2009
# of Followers: 226,572
Average followers gained per day: 186

Call him the King of Twitter or the Twitter police or something else entirely but, no matter what you call him, Darren Rovell is a Twitter master. He was CNBC’s sole sports business reporter but, just weeks ago, he left to join ESPN. He has over 225,000 followers and for good reason – he’s a prolific tweeter who dispenses a ton of interesting information. Of course, Rovell covers a lot of topics but he frequently addresses sports betting with an eye towards big game lines and interesting prop bets.

4. Colin Cowherd

Twitter Handle: @ESPN_Colin
Joined Twitter: June 30, 2009
# of Followers: 361,756
Average followers gained per day: 327

When it comes to national talk radio personalities, you often love them or hate them. There is no in-between. And Colin Cowherd is no different. On his radio show, Cowherd consistently talks about sports betting with a focus on how ‘wiseguys’ think about games compared to how John Q. Public thinks about them. During the NFL season, Cowherd gives his weekly ‘Blazing 5′ picks against the spread and last year he went 53-38-5 for a 58% ATS win rate. Not bad.

5. Beyond The Bets

Twitter Handle: @beyondthebets
Joined Twitter: February 12, 2011
# of Followers: 16,738
Average followers gained per day: 30

The site launched just one year ago but it has already become a must-read for thousands of sports bettors. And they kill it on Twitter which is why they’ve gained 30 followers a day for over 15 months. With over 16,500 followers, you have to follow Beyond The Bets if you’re interested in sports betting.

6. Todd Fuhrman
Twitter Handle:  @toddfuhrman
Joined Twitter:  February 4, 2011
# of Followers:  14,123
Average followers gained per day:  15

Sure, he stands on the wrong side of the counter but Todd Fuhrman is the most social media savvy bookmaker anywhere. From his perch at Caesars, Fuhrman provides good insight as to how oddsmakers think about lines and points out common mistakes sports bettors make. He has over 14,000 followers for a reason.

7. RJ Bell

Twitter Handle:  @rjinvegas
Joined Twitter:  March 2, 2009
# of Followers:  18,831
Average followers gained per day:  17

RJ Bell is the CEO of Pregame.com. He makes weekly appearances on Colin Cowherd’s ESPN radio show and is quoted in dozens of media outlets including Bloomberg and elsewhere. Bell will frequently tweet out big game lines as soon as they are released by offshore and Vegas books.

8. Chad Millman
Twitter Handle:  @chadmillman
Joined Twitter:  April 21, 2009
# of Followers:  33,137
Average followers gained per day:  12

Chad Millman is the sports betting guy at ESPN. He writes a periodic ESPN Insider column on sports gambling trends and news and hosts the Behind the Bets ESPN podcast. Millman is also now the Editor-in-Chief of ESPN Magazine and, as a result, his gambling coverage has fallen off a bit. Despite that and despite his infrequent tweeting, every sports bettor should follow ESPN’s designated sports betting guy.

9. Bill Barnwell

Twitter Handle: @billbarnwell
 Joined Twitter: February 25, 2009<
# of Followers: 25,261
Average followers gained per day: 20

Bill Barnwell, a writer for Grantland.com, lives in Las Vegas. He’s written some Vegas sportsbook reviews and provided extensive analysis of betting teasers in the NFL. His tweets prove he’s a sharp analyst with a focus on value-shopping and finding the best number – sure signs of a smart bettor.

10. View From Vegas
Twitter Handle:  @viewfromvegas
Joined Twitter:  April 20, 2009
# of Followers:  8,904
Average followers gained per day:  6

Dave Tuley is a longtime Vegas watcher. He’s operated ViewFromVegas.com for years and now periodically writes for ESPN Insider. He does a great job covering the Vegas football handicapping contests so if you’re interested in the LVH SuperContest, he’s a good follow.

11. Steve Fezzik
Twitter Handle:  @fezziksports
Joined Twitter:  May 17, 2011
# of Followers:  5,601
Average followers gained per day:  5

Steve Fezzik is the only person to ever win the Las Vegas Hilton (now LVH) SuperContest in back-to-back years. That’s an amazing accomplishment and, for that reason alone, he makes the list. His gambling skill has been covered in numerous media outlets including the LA Times and while he will occasionally go quiet on Twitter for weeks at a time, he’s a must-follow for NFL season.

12. Covers
Twitter Handle:  @covers
Joined Twitter:  March 23, 2009
# of Followers:  20,063
Average followers gained per day:  16

Covers is the largest sports betting website on the internet. For that reason alone, their Twitter handle is worth following.

13. Adam Kramer 
Twitter Handle: @KegsnEggs
Joined Twitter: August 27, 2009
# of Followers: 18,823
Average followers gained per day: 18

You may not recognize his actual name but you should definitely get to know his Twitter handle: @KegsnEggs. Kramer is a college football aficionado and, better yet, he’s consistently looking at betting opportunities. And his periodic trips to Las Vegas make for outstanding tweets. But here’s the other thing about Kramer: he’s hysterical. Really, he’s one of the funniest follows.

14. So Money Sports
Twitter Handle:  @so_money_sports
Joined Twitter:  June 26, 2009
# of Followers:  7,986
Average followers gained per day:  63

So Money Sports is a professional sports bettor based in Canada. He’s a frequent participant in the Beyond the Bets forums and he spends a considerable amount of time sharing his sports betting knowledge with anyone who asks. He tweets out his own bets on a regular (like daily) basis so if you’re interested in tailing a smart bettor who doesn’t sell his picks, follow So Money.

15. Stuckey2

Twitter Handle:  @stuckey2
Joined Twitter:  October 31, 2011
# of Followers:  6,714
Average followers gained per day:  9

Stuckey, according to his Twitter bio, is a 26 year old from the suburbs of Philadelphia. He made a name in the Covers forums and is now making an even bigger name on Twitter. Despite simultaneously working on a finance career, Stuckey is seemingly on top of every sport. He’s smart, honest and analytical.

16. Joe Fortenbaugh 
Twitter Handle: @JoeFortenbaugh
Joined Twitter: September 22, 2008
# of Followers: 6,631
Average followers gained per day: 5

Joe Fortenbaugh writes the Vegas Hotline column for the National Football Post He lives in Vegas and he’s completely dialed into the NFL betting landscape. Whether he’s finding remarkable value in NFL combine prop bets or scoping out NFL futures, Fortenbaugh is a must-follow for NFL bettors (and since every sports bettor is a NFL bettor, follow him).

17. David Purdum

Twitter Handle: @davidpurdum
Joined Twitter: April 23, 2009
# of Followers: 1,662
Average followers gained per day: 1

David Purdum is a freelance writer who used to work for Covers. He’s an expert on the sports betting industry and is consistently surfacing new and interesting stories. During his time with Covers, he became one of the few journalists on the planet to score an interview with Billy Walters, the single most successful sports bettor in the world. He’s smart, sensible and principled and certainly worth following.

If you’d like to follow along with these influential Twitterers, we’ve created a fresh Twitter list that you can quickly subscribe to:

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