While it’s important to get a handle on every factor affecting your bet, there’s no angle square NFL bettors overvalue more than weather. This is especially true when the season starts getting long in the tooth as snow, freezing rain, and high winds start changing the way the game is played on the field.
Week 13 opens with a special trifecta of Turkey Day games on Thursday, starting with what will surely be a barnburner between Tennessee and Detroit (+11, 44.5). Take the opportunity to sit down at the table and eat while that gongshow transpires at Ford Field.
Missing baseball season when your only alternative was the CFL or the WNBA? Didn’t think so. With NBA and college hoops now in full swing, the good times are rolling for bettors. Here’s a look at our Top 5 betting matchups of the week (all times Eastern; visit Bodog Sportsbook. for latest odds):
Scratch one more sport off the betting list. Jimmie Johnson has won NASCAR’s top prize for the third year in a row, taking the Sprint Cup in somewhat anticlimactic fashion by finishing 15th at Sunday’s Ford 400. Johnson only needed to place 36th or better to clinch the title. Cale Yarborough (1976-77-78) is the only other driver to pull off the three-peat.
Finally, Randy Couture is fighting again in the UFC. But it won’t be against Fedor Emelianenko; instead, Couture is being put into the Octagon this Saturday against a man with only three MMA bouts under his belt – and Couture is the underdog.
Whether you’re out on the Strip or gambling online, you see the same thing: casinos and sportsbooks, operating out of the same venue. It seems like a natural fit – both provide licensed betting to their customers. The clientele is much the same; Blackjack players love to bet on sports, while handicappers often switch hats and hit the Roulette tables. The two are joined at the hip.
You know it’s crunch time in the NFL when they start cranking out the Thursday night games. Last week’s Broncos-Browns tilt in Cleveland was definitely worth watching, even on the NFL Network. They have the honors again in the first of this week’s three top betting matchups (for current lines, visit Bodoglife.com).
A post-election lull has swept over the United States. All those man-hours spent fixated on polls and pundits have to be diverted elsewhere. Excellent timing, because college basketball is here. Preseason tournaments are underway; there are a lot of cupcakes on the menu, but this is when sharp handicappers swoop in and get fat.
We’re into the second half of the NFL season. How’s your bankroll holding up? Are you on a full tank, or are you running on fumes?
The sad truth is, many football bettors have already emptied their wallets. Think of the full 17-week regular season as a triathlon. Everyone starts out hopeful, but through poor money management or a simple lack of handicapping ability (often both in considerable amounts), some people have to give up early. You don’t want to be one of those people. You want to be an ironman.
Wholesale quarterback changes are on the docket for Week 10 of the NFL season. Rex Grossman is definitely in; Byron Leftwich and Daunte Culpepper might be joining him. But the most bizarre situation is in Cleveland, where it’s as plain as day that coach Romeo Crennel is not calling the shots. The Browns will start Brady Quinn on Thursday, and that’s where we start our preview of the week’s three most important matchups (for current lines, visit Bodoglife.com).
The 2008 baseball season ended in October after all. We hope yours was a profitable one – a special shout-out to all those Phillies supporters out there who filled their bankrolls with a 13-3 run to end the regular season and an 11-3 record in the playoffs. It’s all about finishing strong, as fans of the New York Mets (7-10 down the stretch) can attest.
Well, that was a long time coming. The San Diego Chargers (3-5 SU, 3-4-1 ATS) finally gave defensive co-ordinator Ted Cottrell his walking papers on Tuesday. Inside linebackers coach Ron Rivera is his replacement.
Millions of people are waiting a little longer than they’d like for their payouts. Game 5 of the World Series was suspended in the sixth inning Monday night with the Phillies and Rays tied 2-2. Play will resume whenever the weather clears up in Philadelphia – which could be next June.
If there is a Game 6, that’ll be one of the definite must-bets of the week. For now, here are the Top 5 games that we know about (all times Eastern):
There’s no place like home for the holidays – even for Columbus Day. Home teams were 11-3 SU and 8-6 ATS last week in the NFL; home dogs won three of five games outright, led by the St. Louis Rams (+9) beating the Dallas Cowboys 34-14 and causing panic throughout the great state of Texas.
Last week’s USC-Washington State matchup was one for the history books. The Trojans were 42.5-point away favorites, the highest spread USC has faced on the road since Pete Carroll took over the program. That was enough chalk to send bettors scurrying to Washington State’s side.
What’ll it be this week? We’ve got a Rays-Phillies World Series, the halfway point of the NFL season, college football matchups with major title implications, a fresh sheet of hockey games – it’s Oktoberfest for handicappers. And just think: NBA action starts next week.
These are the Top 5 games of the week (all times Eastern):
