Month: August 2017

Fantasy Fanatics

August 25, 2017

Happy Friday to all!

Today, I would like to begin by sharing my picks for today’s match-ups…

MLB:

PIT (-125) @ CIN – I picked Pittsburgh in this contest because the Pirates are facing a young arm whom of which owns an ERA that is sub-par (6.13). The Pirates are also coming off a three game series against arguably the leagues best team in the Dodgers. Look for them to put up a lot of runs tonight. Picking the OVER might not be a bad idea for this contest as well.

HOU @ LAA (-105) – The Astros are actually the favorites in this game. The line is pretty close leaving some “vig” and/or “juice” for the Angels’ pick. I went with the Angels for two particular reasons. First, the Astros are not playing particularly good baseball right now, their bats are beginning to slow up (bad timing on their part). Second, the Astros are pitching their fourth starter (Collin McHugh) who has been injured for the majority of the season. Also, it never hurts to gamble on teams playing on their home dirt.

BAL @ BOS (o/u: 10) – OVER. I chose the over in this match-up because the Orioles bats are coming off a day of rest and getting to face an arm they are very familiar with (Rick Porcello). Porcello has been very susceptible this season to giving up homers; especially at home, I might add. Look for this game to be a slug-fest from the get-go!

NFL:

NE @ DET (o/u: 43.5) – UNDER. I chose the under becasue for starters it is a preseason NFL game. If you were to go through all of the NFL preseason games that have been played thus far, you would see that more than half of the games have finished UNDER. Facts are facts. However, as I have said time and time again, preseason NFL games are tough to gamble on because you just never know what you are going to get from the athletes in these seamlessly meaningless games.

Fantasy Football drafts are right around the corner. Some of us are scrambling to get an idea of who we want to draft, while others have been studying and preparing for the 2017 draft since the conclusion of last season. Regardless, here are a few tips to keep in mind leading up to your draft day:

  • Do not pick a defense too early.
  • Do not get caught up in a position run. What I mean by this is to not find yourself in the forth round having only RB’s selected on your team.
  • The myth about waiting to take your QB after the second round is bogus! If your have the opportunity to snag a solid QB in the first or second round that is projected to get you a lot of point, then pick him up!

Lastly, here are some players that have performed well in the past (in terms of fantasy football) that have been overlooked in recent years.

  • QB: Philip Rivers (LAC) – 2016 season fantasy points= 355.0
  • RB: Carlos Hyde (SF) – 2016 season fantasy points= 169.1
  • WR: Willie Snead (NO) – 2016  season fantasy points= 113.5

 

mybookie-logo

*** I would like to take this time to give a shout out and some free publicity to my sports gambling providers at MYBOOKIE. They are the avenue of which I conduct my sports gambling. They have been great in regards to customer service and have allowed me to placed bets at my leisure with ease. With over 1,000 miles separating myself from Vegas, MYBOOKIE has been able to fill that distance. You can find MYBOOKIE in the APP Store and access their website through your laptops/desktops. Super easy and user friendly!

Preseason Week YOU! (2)

August 18, 2017

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We have officially received a taste of the 2017 NFL season and what each team has to offer. After analyzing the Week 1 preseason schedule, you should start developing some theories/hypothesis’ that you may want to test out in lieu of the regular season.

I am a big advocate of never gambling on preseason sporting competitions. I say this because who truly knows how motivated the athletes are since the games basically mean absolutely nothing (unless you are a rookie trying to make the squad). A theory or observation that I have gathered relates to the ever changing personnel that is constantly switching throughout the duration of preseason NFL games. If you are looking for a quick way to make a few bucks, I have found some success picking the under’s in these preseason games. Most teams will use all four of their QB’s in the first couple of preseason games. This makes it difficult for the offenses to establish any sort of rhythm during the game. Hence, allowing for the under to hit!

As far as the regular season is concerned, (when it really counts) when betting over/under’s get the total number in your head that you believe the line should be placed at. If that number in yourhead differs from the sports book’s line by at least +/- 2.5 then you my friend have yourself a bet worth placing. One easy way to come up with these random numbers is by using simple addition and division to find each teams’ scoring average per game and points given up per game on average. You will come up with four separate numbers that you will use to add and divide what the two final numbers would be if the teams’ average offenses and defenses numbers were combined.

Additional info:

Here is your sports gambling term for the day: MAVERICK LINE. Although the term itself is not too important, the idea behind is indeed in its own right. The maverick line explains the difference between the “lines” that two separate sports book’s place on the same game and/or prop. For example, if the Seahawks and Vikings are squaring off and one sports book has the Seahawks at -6.5 (Vikings +6.5) and another sports book has the Seahawks at -5.0 (Vikings +5.0), then the maverick line in this scenario would be +/- 1.5.

Vikings @ Seahawks O/U: 40.5 — UNDER

Happy Friday!

Sin City – 7/23/17

August 15, 2017

vegas blog 2

I was road-triping with my girlfriend the other week as we were headed to Scottsdale, AZ to visit my father and step-mother. We made a pit stop in Las Vegas, or commonly known as “Sin City.” Although my stay in Vegas did not even make it to a full 24-hours, I still managed to place a bet at Venetian’s sports book.

Naturally, I observed the upcoming MLB games for that particular day and stumbled across one that caught my eye for what ever reason. I noticed that the Chicago White Sox were visiting the Chicago Cubs. Pitching that game for the White Sox was Miguel Gonzalez (veteran) with an ERA on the season of 4.85. For the Cubs, Kyle Hendricks was named their starter for the day (not a veteran). Although Hendricks has a much more favorable ERA over Gonzalez (3.70), I possess the opinion that he is a bit overrated.

There are three important factors that compelled me to place this bet as opposed to any of the other games for that day (7/24/17). First, the Cubs were “over-favored,” if you will, for this particular matchup. At the time I opened the bet, the Cubs were a -265 favorite, whereas the White Sox were sitting at +220. Without a doubt, I felt that the risk was worth the reward. Second, the Cubs were hosting the White Sox at Wrigley Field giving them the “home-field” advantage. However, this is hardly a home-field advantage situation since both teams are located in Chicago. Last, the White Sox were in the middle of a rugged nine game losing skid. Hence, they were bound to break out of it at some point. After all, what better way to end your losing streak than doing so against your rivals in a very much winnable game?! Notice: I am not advising to gamble on teams that are on long losing streaks. I simply placed the bet baring other factors before this one. The circumstances that were presented in this particular event allowed me to believe that the White Sox had a decent chance of escaping their nine game “funk.”

It is safe to assume that I was later able to cash this ticket in at the sports book as a winner. Otherwise I would not be sharing this short story with you all. The point being, don’t be afraid to place a few bets on the underdog. Sure they are not supposed to win; but if you truly believe that the reward outweighs the risk then you have yourself a good bet! For instance, on this particular ticket I put down $42 to win $92. That means that the little slip of paper shown in the slideshow below was worth $134. On the flip side, since the Cubs were favored at -265 according to the money-line, then that same $42 that I put down would only win me about $16. This would make that same ticket only worth $58.

Here are a few pictures from our short, yet sweet, stay in Las Vegas…

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For tomorrow (8/15/17)…

MLB Picks:

KC (-117) @ OAK — I like Oakland in this game because they are at home and throwing an arm that they rarely face. The Royals do not hit new pitchers well.

HOU (-110) @ ARZ — I like Houston because they are pitching Brad Peacock who is 10-1 on the season. Also, the Astro’s are facing Zach Grenke tonight, this will give them the opportunity to see someone not as skilled and sharp tomorrow. Think of it as trying to run a mile in under six minutes one day, and the very next day being asked to run the same mile in seven minutes. You are more likely to finish on time in the seven-minute mile even if you do not finish the six-minute mile in time.

CWS @ LAD (-335) — I like the White Sox pick in this particular matchup just because of how high the money line discrepancy is. Typically, if the Dodgers are favored by this much then Clayton Kershaw would be pitching. Wrong! Alex Wood is scheduled the start. Although Wood is having a Cy Young caliber type year, he is always suspect to a loss with his average fastball. Also, guess who is pitching for the White Sox?! Yep, Miguel Gonzalez. Just a thought.

Have fun and good luck. See ya next time better’s!

***Keep in mind, a monkey could just pick all of the favorites for tomorrow’s games. However, I am factoring in the money-line and whether or not I believe the reward outweighs the risk when choosing underdogs.