Gambling Thread

My go-to for NBA bets is first to 10.

• I get my dopamine bet blast in 5 minutes instead of 2.5 hours.
• Both teams are playing hard and it is difficult to be subject to a bad beat.

 

I’ve done coin toss and first play from scrimmage going for a first down. I don’t want to have to track any bet the drunker I get throughout the game. This is the first Super Bowl I’m getting to watch live in five years. I don’t plan on doing it sober or with my eyes looking at a stat page.

 

My TikTok page has turned from dancing girls, cats, and people falling down into gambler after gambler. And a lot of these guys are on fire. Turned a $25 free bet on FanDuel into 700+ since Saturday. Hoping to find a couple nice picks for tonight. Been a lot of college basketball. Had WVU -4½ the other day; got incredibly lucky when they went 4-for-4 from the line in the final 10 seconds to win by one.

 

Play over for anthem length. I take tip money thru Venmo or PayPal.

 

I've run our super bowl squares pool for years. It is fun, people enjoy it - all good.
More than once the last few years, the same numbers pop up through several quarters, and its kind of a bummer. You kind of want to spread the wealth, makes it fun for people.

I was talking with a neighbor about this after last year's super bowl, and he introduced me to a squares pool with different numbers for each quarter. Its a little more work (pick 8 sets of numbers out of a hat instead of two) but we did it for two of this year's playoff games, and it was a big success. More winners, more involvement.

I do mine thru google sheets, and send a link. The rule is, venmo me as soon as you make your selections... with the name you use on the sheets. It only takes a few minutes to reconcile the names and the $$.

When all the squares are filled, someone with kids has the kids pull the numbers.

 

“The sordid vice of WAGERING has taken our brother from the kindly harlots peddling their wares, God’s creatures ignoring man and the joy of watching trees fall on houses in suburban areas. How much more can this LIBERTINAGE take from us as a people?”

 

Jeez whats the vig on a Caesars squares pool?

HMU, you can be in my zero vig pool next year.

 

I know that most Super Bowl prop bets are sucker bets. And I also know that I don't care. It's the one game a year where it really is just for fun. It's kind of refreshing.
Here's what I laid down. All of these are $5 bets except two. Total of $65 bet, possible payout of $243.75 if everything comes home.

• First touchdown scorer - Travis Kelce (+700), Isiah Pacheco (+900), Miles Sanders (+650), Jalen Hurts (+600). I put $5 on each one, figuring I'd pick two guys from each team. Pacheco has kind of become the main RB for the Chiefs and Kelce is always a threat. The Eagles are just a running team at this point, so I figured I'd pick two of their runners. Hurts seems a good bet given how much they love the QB sneak.

• First sack - Haason Reddick, Eagles (+450). Dude is a terror, and I figure they'll send him on an edge blitz early to take advantage of Mahomes' lack of mobility.

• First score - Field goal, either team (+160). I was going to put $5 each on the Eagles (+425) and the Chiefs (+375), then did the quick math and realized that you could put $10 on the either team bet and get the same payout as you would for the Eagles at +425.

• Kenneth Gainwell for most rushing yards (+1000) and Over 29.5 total rushing yards (+245) - Gainwell has been the Eagles' leading rusher in both playoff games. Some of that might be a function of getting carries in garbage time, but it seemed like a decent trend to follow with positive odds.

• Marquez Valdes-Scantling Over 59.5 receiving yards (+270) - He's boom or bust, but he is just about their only fully functional receiver at this point.

• Either team to score with less than 2:00 on the clock in the second quarter - No (+270). It's better than betting on the coin flip, right?

• Either team to have a successful two-point conversion - Yes (+240). Seems like both of these teams are the type that will go for two at least once, maybe when they shouldn't.

• Final play of the game to be a quarterback kneel - No (+180). I realized a lot of my props were on things that were happening early in the game. I wanted to be invested until, literally, the final play.

 

Uh, you aren't tarring roofs in the August sun on your other gambling...

 

Ha! Of course not. But throughout the year I do want — even need — to win money to keep it going. My goal every year is to make a modest initial investment ($100 preferably, $200 if I have a rough start to the season) last the entire season. If I wind up plus-$200 or $300 for the football season it's a good year.
With the Super Bowl, though, I've found I'd rather just spread my budget around on props and have fun. If I win some money or break even, that's great. If I lose, it sucks, but it's more about having something to track during the course of the game, or something to invest my attention if it turns into a blowout.