Betting on NBA

Now that the NFL season and Super Bowl are over it’s time to move onto another sport for gambling amusement.  Usually from the NBA All Star game through the summer I like to bet on the NBA a little.

Much like other sports I bet with trends, recent history and always keep home court in mind.  I’m not great at math, so I don’t run statistical probability.  Recently the folks at Wizard of Odds had an article on just that.  I’ll share the highlights without the actual statistics.

Betting against the spread.

..if you must bet basketball blindly, your best bet is to bet on visiting underdogs, at a house advantage of 3.19%, when laying 110. 72% of the time the home team is favored, so there should be no shortage of opportunities to bet the other way.

This goes against traditional thought that the home team is always a good bet. I find this a little surprising, but for blind statistical advice I take this to heart.  This makes statistical sense when looking at the numbers.  I learned a little something here.

Over/Under bets

There is no significant difference between betting overs and unders in the NBA…The small difference between overs and unders is statistically negligible.

This makes 100% sense to me and is why I will usually stay away from over/under bets.  I only bet over/under if there is a specific match up that trends one way or the other.  I usually look at 5 recent home scores for the home team and 5 recent road scores for the road team.  If both sides are 80% one direction I’ll usually place a wager.

The article has much much more, but I don’t buy points or play teasers.  I do enjoy playing parlays and I recommend you check Wizard of Odds for statistical analysis.  The information provided doesn’t really do anything for me.

Daytona 500 bet!

I was unsure if I would or should bet the Daytona 500.  I just placed a bet.  I don’t know much about NASCAR, so I went for a big return.

CLINT BOWYER TO FINISH TOP 3 +1600!

I know the name and I think he’s a safe driver that doesn’t get into accidents.  I’m not sure if that’s the case, but if it is I have a good chance.  He drives a Cheerios car.  That has to be a good sign!  Today he will be known as “MY MAN CLINT!”

***Ed. Note and update: The Daytona 500 was stopped early.  MY MAN CLINT finished 4th.  So close!

See below if you want to get in on the action…

Are fantasy games gambling?

ESPN‘s Streak for the Cash is a fantasy sports game with great prizes.  I don’t think this  is really gambling because there is no wagering involved.  However, the action allows for a similar rush because of the cash prizes.  For someone like me that enjoys sports betting this is just another outlet with no risk.  You can only have one pick going at a time which makes pick choices very key in this game.

The prizes help define the object of the game.  The prizes are:

• GRAND PRIZE: $1,000,000 dollars to the first entry to build a streak of 27 wins in a row.
• 2ND PRIZE: $10,000 dollars to the entry with the longest streak at the end of the contest period (which was not the Grand Prize entrant).
• MONTHLY PRIZE (4): $2,500 per month to the entry with the most wins.

The first grand prize was won in December.  $1,000,000 makes for a nice holiday gift.  Since then they raised the streak for the million dollar prize to 27 correct picks in a row without a loss.

I enjoy that the selection is mostly games that I wouldn’t bet.  I’ve found myself going back to this website often when I have free time to check if I can make another pick.  As nice as the Grand Prize is, I’m not very concerned with how my picks do.  I’m more concerned with making my next pick.  That’s probably a gamblers rush, but I just want to move on to the next pick.  I figure that the better my picks are the better my chance of getting any of the prizes.  Bottom to top.

Do you enjoy fantasy games too?  Do you find them to be gambling?