Sports Betting

[Brandon]

Football is back.

Any bets or calls?

Is there any more of a lock than Oregon -59 against McNichols St? New coach, same talent....going to run it up.

[nate]

I wouldn't touch that line.  New coach, first game of the season.  They will be running a vanilla offense and defense and will likely get some other players in the game.

[Brandon]

I usually stay away from these lines in the -30 and up myself, but Orgeon is strong. I think the new guy runs it up as well to make a point and entrance into the conference.

[Schildog]

what site do you guys use?

[halobob]

I like the following for today:

Florida Atlantic +31

Texas Tech -4

Army -33.5

Kansas St. -14

Arizona -33.5

 

Any by like I mean that is what the flip of the coin decided (cept for K st. I chose that one myself)

[halobob]

what site do you guys use?

Well I'm so bad at sportsbetting I do the old "this is what I would bet" and see how much money I end up saving every week.

 

Or bet beers w/ buddies.

Edited August 30, 2013 by halobob

[Tank]

what site do you guys use?

 

www.oppositeofadam.com

[Brandon]

Yeah, I don't have a site either. Signed up for one years ago and always get a phone call from a Miami area code around this time of year. Use a bookie every now and then, but for the most part am looking to get consistency before getting serious.

Maybe one of these days I'll be on that AM830 Saturday morning show where it's just a big infomercial and all the guests have no input and just talk about their 800 number and voicemail pick of the day.

[LBHalos17]

My buddy out in Tempe was running a book for a while, but I don't know if he's still doing it.  I only lay-bets when I'm in Vegas or Laughlin (aside from MNF squares).  I won when the Stars won their first Stanley Cup, and when Phil finally broke-through at the Masters.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I live in a city where I can place a sports bet pretty much whenever I want to, and I rarely even touch it. I have seen too many "sure things" collapse.

[nate]

This is why I don't gamble... Oregon covers.

[Brandon]

Football is back.

Any bets or calls?

Is there any more of a lock than Oregon -59 against McNichols St? New coach, same talent....going to run it up.

Good call, B.

[HeavenlyHalos]

I think I'll go with my Ducks -22 @Virginia this week.

[halobob]

Hard not to like the Ducks -22

I really like the Bucs-3 against the Geno led Jets

[Brandon]

I'm not up to date with the injury lists and any changes like QB or RB. But on limited knowledge:

NE under 51

CLV pickem

MIN over 46.5 tempted to take the 5.5 too

IND -10

ATL over 54

TB -3

TEN +7.5 I probably take the money line here as well since I think TEN wins outright.

HOU -4

[HeavenlyHalos]

So far, I have taken:

 

Oregon -22 @ Virginia

Seattle -3 @ Carolina

Tampa Bay -3 @ New York Jets

Houston -4 @ San Diego

 

Edit to add: Miami (+1.5) @ Cleveland

 

All road teams for me this week. 

Edited September 7, 2013 by HeavenlyHalos

[nate]

Tampa Bay -3 seems like a steal.

 

Houston -4 is a meh pick IMO.  SD is not good and I see them struggling but they are at home and Houston has no consistency on offense.

[Brandon]

Both are weird games. Because of parity in the NFL handicappers in Vegas generally start with a baseline of the home team giving up 3 points just with homefield advantage. Thus, they essentially think the Bucs/Jets are a pickem and the Texans are -1.

Both don't make sense.

Not sure if Arian Foster is out, but SD is not good at all and playing a deep playoff team. The Jets suck and have a poor training camp rookie starting.

[Tank]

okay, when these discussions take place, i'm always lost.

 

can someone explain in a simple way what it means when you say things like "tampa bay at -3 is a good pick". and what does it mean to take the points or to give the points?

[Adam]

I'll take Denver to cover

[halobob]

Both are weird games. Because of parity in the NFL handicappers in Vegas generally start with a baseline of the home team giving up 3 points just with homefield advantage. Thus, they essentially think the Bucs/Jets are a pickem and the Texans are -1.

Both don't make sense.

Not sure if Arian Foster is out, but SD is not good at all and playing a deep playoff team. The Jets suck and have a poor training camp rookie starting.

Wouldn't that mean they think the Bucs/Jets are Jets +6 and Hou/SD SD+7?

Edited September 5, 2013 by halobob

[nate]

okay, when these discussions take place, i'm always lost.

 

can someone explain in a simple way what it means when you say things like "tampa bay at -3 is a good pick". and what does it mean to take the points or to give the points?

 

- is favorite + is dog.

 

So Tampa -3 means you are picking them to win by at least 4 points.  If it is Tampa +3 then you are saying that they will lose by less than 3 or win.

[Tank]

thanks, nate.

 

what does it mean to give the points?

[Brandon]

I'll try. I'll start with the easy answer than explain why.

To be simple, think of those numbers as starting points before a game starts. So take the Bucs/Jets game where the line (the line is the term used) is -3 for the Bucs. So essentially, the Bucs are starting the game down 3-0 or if you look at the other side, the Jets are +3 meaning they start the game up 3-0.

That's a simple way to think in terms of the + or - numbers. The goal is to surpass whatever the number is with the team you pick. So if you pick the Bucs -3 then you are saying that they will win by 4 or more points. Conversely, if you pick the Jets you think they are going to win outright or at the bare minimum lose by no more than 2 points. If the final score is something like the Bucs winning 24-21, 17-14, etc. then it's exactly a 3 point difference and no one wins which is called a push and everyone gets their money back minus the vig, which is kind of like a fee to place the bet.

What handicappers and Vegas do is try to set the line at a reasonable end result to get bettors to bet on both sides because casinos have a goal of simply keeping the vig and giving a losers bet to a winning bet and have it be a wash. That's why if you're in a casino you can see some of the lines change like a stock market ticker. When that happens that means one team is being bet heavily and Vegas is trying to balance out the action.

The last part isn't important for a casual bettor, but is for the pros. Hope the first half helps. I think you've asked a few times over the years so maybe my explanation isn't the best.

[Brandon]

Wouldn't that mean they think the Bucs/Jets are Jets +6 and Hou/SD SD+7?

No, because the Bucs and Chargers are at home. What you put would be the opposite.