Locks of the Week. week 5

Currently 12 out of 21, making progress, but now good enough. Once again, last week, one of my locks was on a NFL game, and I lost. Surprise, surprise. This week I will just be doing 3 picks, as I am confident they will all hit.

Tennessee -1.5 (at Alabama), Although this will be a tough fought road game for the Vols, they have looked a lot better then Alabama this year, and there superior talent will prevail in a hostile Bama environment.
Cal -3 (at UCLA), UCLA has been looking horrible up to this point, and without their starting QB playing, I think Cal will pull away at some point in this game.
Michigan -1 (at Illinois), Michigan has been playing with a chip on there shoulder since their first two games where they got embarrassed, and I don't see Illinois matching up to well with Michigan.

Parlays

Parlay - A parlay is when a better picks more then one bet and puts them together to increase the value of the payout. Maybe the better sees five sports bets he all believes will hit, he can parlay them, so if everyone of the bets hits he has a very substantial payout. The payout values for parlays involving point spreads and/or over/under bets is the same for virtually all sports gambling providers:

Parlay size: Fixed odds:
2-team 2.6/1
3-team 6/1
4-team 12/1
5-team 25/1
6-team 35/1
7-team 75/1
8-team 100/1
9-team 150/1
10-team 300/1
11-team 450/1
12-team 600/1

This chart is courtesy of https://www.bodoglife.com/. If the better chooses to do a parlay including money line type bets, these payout odds change depending on what the moneyline odds were.

Money Lines

Money Line - This type of betting is the most frequently seen, as it exists on almost every possible sports activity available. Money lines are set, and the better just has to pick who the winner is going to be. The way sports betting providers do this is by making "payouts" (or what the better would win) greater for the underdog. For example, betting $10 dollars would win you $20 dollars betting on the underdog, but betting $10 dollars on the favorite would only win you anywhere from $3 - $4 dollars. Its a risk-reward type venture. The favorite usually wins, but one loss by the favorite can mean big losses to the better, because the better must bet more to win anything substantial. Betting on the underdog pays back more, but the chances of hitting are less. They also have money lines thatare virtually equal for each side. This will happen a lot in baseball or hockey. Such sports as tennis and boxing usually has it where one side is very heavily favored on the money line, and the other side is a big underdog.

Over/Under Bets

Over/Under - This type of betting is very similiar to point spread, except for instead of betting on a specific team, you bet on whether the total score of both sides will be over or under a certain number provided by the sports betting provider. The "juice" is still the common 9.09%, and they will also sway this number they come up with to try and keep it as close to fifty/fifty as they can. As one could imagine, this type of betting in virtually all sporting events, and they will even change the over/under to rounds or sets to make it an available option for boxing or tennis.

Different Types of Sports Bets - Point Spread

I WILL NOW GO THROUGH AND EXPLAIN EACH DIFFERENT WAY TO PLACE A SPORTS BET

Point Spread - Using point spreads is the most common way of betting on such sports as football and basketball. They will make it so the "favorite," or team expected to win, has to win by a certain number of points. If they accomplish this, then you win the bet. The underdog is given extra points, so even if they lose, they have to lose by a certain number of points or you will still win the bet. The "juice" the house keeps is 9.09%. That means if you bet $10 and win, your winnings will only equal $9.09.
If one of the teams is getting a clear majority of bets, the gambling supplier will simply change the point spread to get the sides as close to equal as they can, because they do not want to risk losing a lot of money. The gambling sites make their money off the "juice" and having each side as close to fifty/fifty as they can reduces risk.

Locks of the Week, week 4

OK, although I said I was picking 7 last week, I accidentally only picked 6, and ended up being 3 for 6 out of those. This brings me to being 9 out of 16, which when you consider the "juice" being tooken out by the gambling site, makes me pretty much even. Lets see if we can make some real money this week.
Iowa +4 1/2 (vs Illinois), Coming off an embarrassing loss at Penn St., I expect Iowa to bounce back and keep it very close with an overacheiving Illini team.
Wisconsin +7 (at Penn St), After losing last week, this upperclassmen led squad will be extra motivated not to get their 2nd loss of the season, which makes me believe they will play Penn St. very close.
Kentucky +10 (vs LSU), Being given 10 points at home is a lot, especially when your a great squad like Kentucky, and after losing lazt week, Andre Woodson and the rest of the Wildcats will sat their sights on LSU to try and get back in the National Championship race.
Louisville +10 (at Cincinati), Louisville was a top ten school at the beginning of the year, and 10 pts is a lot to a team still trying to proove themselves.
Dallas Cowboys +6 (vs New England), Now I know I said not to bet on the NFL, but when they are giving a undefeated home team 6 points, take it. New England has never won in Dallas, and just like last season when thE Cowboys beat the undefeated Colts, the Patriots will be leaving Dallas with a loss.

Locks of the Week, (week 3)

Now, I admit, it is unimpressive that I am only 6 for 10 in my first two weeks of trying to beat Vegas (5 for 7 in NCAA football, 1 for 3 in NFL), , but at the same time, if I was the average gambler Vegas would be losing. But lets see if I can walk the walk and truly show that reasonable gamblers can out smart Sin City. Here are my third week of football locks. Luckily for everybody, I will be giving 7 picks to hopefully increase my average (but according to me, there is no "hope" involved), and to all who may be reading this blog, DON'T BET ON THE NFL!!!!!!. I'm sorry, but most of the NFL games are WAY to unpredictable, as I have witnessed in the previous years, so just be careful while betting on the pros. (All spreads courtesy of bodoglife.com at around 2:15 AM Saturday.)
Wisconsin +3 (at Illinois), Illinois played Wisconsin very tough last year in Wisconsin, but still, why the #5 team (Wisconsin) is the underdog playing a unranked Illinois team is beyond me. None the less, Wisconsin will win this game straight up.
Miami -7 (at North Carolina), NC has been pathedic on offense, and I expect the much more talented offense of Miami to pull away at some point in this game.
Texas +12.5 (vs Oklahoma), although I feel Texas will lose, it won't be by more then 12 points. Mark it down.
Tenn +1.5 (vs Georgia), Tennessee has gotten off to a rough start, but do not look for it to continue at home against a struggling Georgia team.
Iowa +9.5 (at Penn St.), Iowa has played all their opponents close, and this rivalry will be no different.
Virginia Tech +6 (at Clemson), V Tech has one of the best defenses in the nation, and IF they do lose this battle, it will certainly be by less then 6 points.
Stanford +40 (at USC), When it comes to PAC 10 matchups, USC very rarely blows them out by more then 30 points. They start to drain the clock at the end, and do not expect this game to be any different.