May 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

NBA Playoffs Conference Finals

Add “don’t put money on every NBA playoff series” to “in boxing, never bet on the white guy”.  David is about to beg Chase for a loan and Gale, despite delivering a respectable 9-3, is up 5 gallons of gas.

GALE: $23.62
DAVID: ($406.50)
CONNER: ($277.93)

Joel's aspirations for a "Big Four" are about to get stomped out by Taj Gibson

HEAT (-200) vs BULLS (+160)
CONNER: BULLS Good matchup for the Bulls, as Rose should abuse Bibby.  Bulls coaching and bench is the difference, Chicago wins a tight game 7 as all 200 Heat fans put their all-white outfits in the closet for the year
GALE: HEAT I have no witty comment, but I still can’t stand Chris Bosh
DAVID: BULLS At this point might as well go with the homer pick.  With all those bangers inside, Joel Anthony goes back to being the undrafted bum that he is

MAVS (-220) vs THUNDER (+180)
CONNER: MAVS Mavs in 6.  Dirk finally has the toughness and coaching around him needed for playoff success
GALE: MAVS A Dallas-Miami Finals rematch? Oh, we’re going there
 DAVID: MAVS Unlike Don Nelson or Avery Johnson, Rick Carlisle can be trusted

Filed Under: ATS Picks Tagged With: , , , ,
April 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

NBA Playoffs Round 2

The real NBA playoffs begin Sunday, May 1st with a series (Heat-Celtics) that’s sure receive more media coverage that the Finals themselves.  We’re holding ourselves accountable here by tracking the monopoly money we placed on each series.  The standings here are based on a $100 bet on each winner to take the series, with the payout based on the lines.  For instance, we all hit the Bulls but received a whopping $2.85 for our $100 play at -3500 (1:35).  Here’s what our bankroll looks like after round 1, and let’s just say we feel fortunate that this isn’t NBAPLAYOFFPORTAL.COM

GALE: $30.24
DAVID: ($117.61)
CONNER: ($117.61)

if you think this man is capable of delivering +650, you're off your rocker

HEAT (-185) vs CELTICS (+155)
CONNER: CELTICS I just can’t trust any team with Mike Bibby as a key component.   Also, Bosh might take his shoes off at midcourt by the time KG is done with him.  Boston in 6.
GALE: HEAT Both teams were surprisingly shaky in the first round, even though they were able to pull out the close games.  I’ve never been able to get my head around the Celtics, which means that I’ve been betting poorly for four years now.
DAVID: CELTICS In the Heat, we have a team where the sum of its parts is more than the whole itself.  They rode the talent gap to (barely) escape the 76′ers, but the seasoned C’s will show Miami how team basketball is played. [Read more...]

Filed Under: ATS Picks Tagged With: , , , , , ,
April 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Poker sites go down; are sports books next?

the only place left on the web where this image can be seen

I’m feeling a bit queasy today, and it’s not solely due to the bender I was on in Catalina Island this weekend.  PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker are all down amidst a Federal investigation regarding the acceptance of deposits from US Banks, meaning no one is raking the online pots and millions of dollars of user’s assets are frozen (though the sites are assuring their clients that their assets are safe).  Though this isn’t our game, the sports-betting world is already feeling the effects.  At least one of Sportsbook.com’s processing partner’s is no longer processing withdrawals, and you’ve got to assume Visa and Mastercard are keeping an extremely close eye on the ledgers.

We’re not sure what it means here, but this is fairly unprecedented and it’ll be very interesting to see how this all plays out.  The poker guys will no doubt lawyer up big-time; beating the case could open up the floodgates for online gaming and could finally kick the ambiguous federal laws preventing online gaming; a victory for the Feds might be their biggest win yet, and could send us all looking for second homes in Vegas.  In the meantime, keep an eye on your account and at a minimum hold off on making any deposits.  We’ll do what we can to keep you posted as news arises.

Filed Under: College Football, In the Wake of the News Tagged With: , , , , , ,
April 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

NBA Playoffs Round 1

Playoff picks and series prices from the whole panel

a preview of whats to come, Pacers fans

BULLS (-3500) vs PACERS
CONNER: BULLS Psycho T isn’t afraid to bang with Boozer and Noah, but Omer “the Istan-Bull” Asik might be a different story.
GALE: BULLS  For the record, Gale Berg is not in the Bulls’ camp and expects a second-round exit.  However, Frank Vogel & Co shouldn’t mount much of a challenge.
DAVID: BULLS This isn’t exactly the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals, but the end result will be the same

MAGIC (-600) vs HAWKS
CONNER: MAGIC Hopefully Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris have tickets to games 3 and 4, because this isn’t going 6.
GALE: MAGIC  Dead man walking, thy name is Larry Drew.  Maybe he can coach his son in D3 next year.  And Dwight Howard (or LeBron) should have been MVP … his supporting cast is much worse than Rose’s on both ends.
DAVID: MAGIC This era of Atlanta Hawks basketball just isn’t working, and it’s shaping up as “NBA Hell” at its worst

CELTICS (-400) vs KNICKS
CONNER: CELTICS People think the Knicks have a shot at the upset…I see this ending in 4 or 5.  Sorry Spike.
GALE: CELTICS  Noticing a trend?  If anyone thinks the East won’t be a chalk draw in the first round, they’re (a) crazy, (b) related to someone on the underdog, or (c) both.  Knicks do have the best chance of the underdogs for an upset, though.
DAVID: CELTICS I expect the Amare/Carmelo/D’antonio era to provide Knicks fans blue balls for years to come

were taking -500 on Kinsey being pointless

HEAT (-2000) vs 76ers
CONNER: HEAT Doug Collins has the 76ers playing great ball, but the Heat’s defense should be enough to win in 6.
GALE: HEAT  Some compare the Heat to Entourage, but I think they’re more like Mad Men … Wade is Roger Sterling, LeBron is Don Draper, and Bosh is Paul Kinsey … annoying, over his head, and easily replaceable when it comes time to change the cast roster.
DAVID: HEAT Sometimes I wonder why they bother to play these first-round series.

MAVERICKS (-220) vs BLAZERS
CONNER: BLAZERS trendy upset pick, and I’ve always followed trends.
GALE: MAVS  Both teams seem a little weird to me. Each has a massive liability (Kidd, Roy) and a lot of guys who are good but not great. Dirk’s the difference. Mavs in 7.
DAVID: BLAZERS Mark Cuban’s claim that he doesn’t need the media is bad for karma, and I secretly love to see Dirk screw things up in the playoffs

SPURS (-400) vs GRIZZLIES
CONNER: SPURS  The riverwalk will defeat biehl street, but it will take a fight.
GALE: SPURS I’m actually really tempted to pick Memphis here … There’s something about the Grizz that seems to be clicking. I’d probably be more pro-Spurs if Gregg Poppovich would wear a full suit and tie.
DAVID: SPURS Is it fair to say that the Spurs renaissance is bad for the NBA?  Their dominance represents an awful era for the NBA (’99-’05), and marketing Ginobli and Duncan is about as cool as slinging Smirnoff Ice.

LAKERS (-2200) vs HORNETS
CONNER: LAKERS  The lakers will sweep this one up like exzon’s cleanup crew.
GALE: LAKERS  If the Lakers have their heads on straight, this should be a sweep.
DAVID: LAKERS The only time I feel good about playing the Hornets is when I fire up the original NBA Jam on Super Nintendo.

THUNDER (-220) vs NUGGETS
CONNER: THUNDER The thunder will have less tattoos and less losses in this one.
GALE: THUNDER  Nuggets are getting a bit too much love in their post-Carmelo life. This series should be a lot like the movie, Fired Up … Quick, light, and shockingly enjoyable (but it won’t teach you how to discover more about yourself by crashing a cheerleading camp).
DAVID: THUNDER Derrick Rose has stolen Durant’s budding-superstar Thunder (no pun intended), but with Westbrook as his running mate Oklahoma City could make a deep run

Filed Under: ATS Picks
April 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Charlie Hustle's Corner: Baseball Betting 4.12.11

at least we'll have one more follower on Twitter....

You all knew that this day would come, and we’re admittedly jumping the shark here.  But with 3 months before any sort of football preview becomes acceptable, we’ve got a lot of space to fill.  What better way that to throw a little coin at America’s past-time?

This segment does not come without a disclaimer – while we consider ourselves a reputable college football and basketball handicapping site, we’d be lying if we claimed our expertise extended to the diamond.  None of us have ever bet baseball consistently, and aside from Paul Maholm +220 vs the Cubs, there aren’t many locks out there.  We won’t be playing most of these games ourselves, so we’re not suggesting you take your winnings from our 61.8% year and invest them into this.  For this segment we’ll borrow pokerstars.net’s slogan: “We’re not a gambling site”

Red Sox (Lester) -1.5(+120) vs Rays (Price) Joe Madden has to be telling himself he’s in a dream – he’s going to wake up, it will be 2010, and he’ll have his team back…right? [Read more...]

Filed Under: ATS Picks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
April 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sweet Monday: National Championship Pick ATS

because Kemba told us to

In transit all day, so not time for a write-up.  But for the record:

UConn -3 vs Butler


Filed Under: ATS Picks
April 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Final Madness: Picks ATS 4.2.2011

Bernie Miklasz's reliable source goes by the code name "Murphy Lee's Bong"

I apologize for the week-long vacation, but  with such a commanding lead over the Big East I didn’t feel the need to make any Elite 8 picks and potentially compromise the crown.  UConn will have to win the title and I’ll have to be wrong about everything for the Big East to take this, and while the former could happen, I’ll shamelessly proclaim that the latter’s track record isn’t so hot.  And don’t think I won’t throw a block out there by taking UConn tomorrow.   Standings heading into tomorrow’s games:

THE BIG TEN PORTAL (12-8-1 ATS) vs THE BIG EAST (9-8 Straight Up)

I was planning on more Final Four preview material this week but the Matt Painter saga had me not eating from Saturday night until about noon on Wednesday.  It’s a good thing I don’t exclusively read Bernie Miklasz from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; otherwise I’d be ramping up the site to include Missouri as a Big Ten member and Matt Painter as its coach.   With the stress I’ve felt this week plus baseball and the Cardinals starting up, I felt the following poll was appropriate.  Feel free to vote as many times as you’d like and skew these results.  The goal here, as always, is to make Missouri and St. Louis look as bad as possible – and we don’t even need to get into the crime.

FINAL FOUR PICKS

VCU +2.5 vs Butler I can’t remember the last time I was this wrong about a team.  I thought USC (-4) in the play-in game was a great looking bet, felt Georgetown got lucky they weren’t tipping off against the Trojans, and hadn’t ever felt better about Purdue in a second round game.  Even Joey Rodriguez jokes were in vogue for a few days.  But the dynamic Shaka Smart has turned me into a believer, and knocking off Kansas gave this team a very rare aura in college sports. The Butler Bulldogs have a similar aura around them, and it’s really hard to go against a team that’s knocked off Syracuse, Kansas State, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, and Florida the last two seasons.  The bottom line is betting against either of these teams in post-season play has been extremely foolish, so there’s no great play here.  But I’m going mostly on feel here, and I think Commonwealth gets it done.

UConn +2.5 vs Kentucky Another tough pick – both of these teams are rolling, having won their conference tournaments and carried the momentum through to the Big Dance, so momentum is pretty much a wash.  Neither team has much experience (UConn has one senior, Kentucky’s lone senior is more into moonshining and co-eds, maybe not a bad thing)  I like UConn as I give a slight edge to Jim Calhoun (2 titles) and they’ve got the best player on the floor in Kemba Walker.   Plus the Huskies have gone 5-1 in the money for me while UK has just made me angry, so you know where my heart is at.

Filed Under: ATS Picks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sweet Madness: Picks ATS 3.25.2011

Mason’s first law is “Know What you Don’t Know”, and thank God for this rule because without it I’d be sitting like the pathetic Big East at 1 game above .500, and one game behind them in the loss column.  But thanks to going 2-0 in the money we’ve taken a strong lead over the conference, with a winning percentage of .578 vs .533. Taking it easy today and playing just one.

THE BIG TEN PORTAL (11-8-1 ATS) vs THE BIG EAST (8-7 Straight Up)

Shaka Smart never again has to worry about his halloween costume

BETS HAVE BEEN PLACED

UNC -4 vs Marquette How are the Tar Heels laying less against the Big East’s 11th best (regular season) team than the Pac-10′s conference champs?  Buzz Williams and his crew are a nice story, and beating Xavier was excellent, but the fun ends here.

PICKING BUT NOT PLAYING

VCU ML (+155) vs Florida State My vision is admittedly clouded on this one, but I’m done betting against Shaka Smart.

Richmond +10.5 vs Kansas I’m committed to the Spiders, who have gone 7-0 ATS for me and 9-0 ATS total over their last 9 games.  Kansas could be overlooking this team as their path to the Final Four seems clear.

OSU -6 vs Kentucky This one is dicey to me, as the uber-talented Wildcats are peaking at just the right time.  The Buckeyes are a complete team, and I think someone will step up and win this, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the ‘Cats pull off the W

Filed Under: ATS Picks
March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sweet Madness: Picks ATS 3.24.2011

two of weed's less published side effects: making bad bets, and butchering the Oscars

The contest of mediocrity continues.  With a slight edge, I’m making the calculated play here and picking UConn.  We either both win or both lose, Big East, that’s called a “block” in my book.

THE BIG TEN PORTAL (9-8-1 ATS) vs THE BIG EAST (7-7 Straight Up)

BETS HAVE BEEN PLACED

Uconn -1 vs San Diego State Simply put, betting against UConn right now is like asking James Franco to do the Oscars – it’s a huge leap of faith, and though it could make you look like a genius, it’s more likely to explode in your face.  The Huskies are the second hottest team remaining, and the metrics are hard to argue (10-0 ATS on neutral courts).  The only team remotely close to this the Aztecs have faced is BYU, and they’re 0-2 in those games.

Florida -3 vs BYU Florida is another team that’s been on fire, and at this point seems unlikely that the Jimmer show can go on.  People forget that Bill Donovan has won two titles, and should be considered among the best tournament coaches in the land.  I’m confident Eddie Munster can come up with a game plan to slow down Fredette, and the SEC ironically moves on.

PICKING BUT NOT PLAYING

Wisconsin -4.5 vs Butler The Badgers are usually good for heading back to Madison on the first weekend, but they’ve defused two bombs so far, making it feel like this could be Bo’s year.  But would you confidently put cash against the Bulldogs in March? That hasn’t been a good move since the ’80s.

Duke vs Arizona U148.5 8.5 is too many points for my comfort level, but I don’t like either side of this.  It’ll take a lot of offense for this one to hit 150, so give me a lower-than-expected total.

Filed Under: ATS Picks Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
March 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sweet 16 Analysis

Things just got real, folks.  The pretenders are out and we’re sure to be treated to some magnificent basketball this weekend.  We’ve analyzed everyone left standing and identified the hottest teams – based on records ATS, of course.

RICHMOND SPIDERS

Current Run: 9-0 ATS
Overall: 21-12 ATS
Analysis: No team has been on a run quite like Richmond, winning all 9 of these games in addition to covering and going 16-2 straight up since January 19th.  They’ll have plenty of breathing room to extend the cover streak, getting 11 points against Kansas.

UCONN HUSKIES

Current Run: 7-0 ATS (all on neutral courts in tournament play)
Overall: 20-11 ATS
Analysis: UConn has arguably been the streakiest team in the country this season, starting out the season 10-3 ATS, following that up with a 3-8 stretch before their current run. The Huskies are an incredible 10-0 ATS on neutral courts and seem to be one of the best calculated bets remaining.

FLORIDA GATORS

Current Run: 7-2-1 ATS, 4-1 ATS in last 5
Overall: 16-14 ATS
Analysis: Take out their 2 losses to Kentucky and the Gators are unbeaten straight up since February began. The season began slowly (1-6 ATS) but Billy Donovan has them peaking at the right time. Jimmer and BYU will have their hands full against the red-hot Gators.

FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES

Current Run: 7-2-1 ATS, 5-0 ATS in last 5
Overall: 16-10-1 ATS
Analysis: The return on Chris Singleton made the ‘Noles a dangerous sleeper, and they’ve proven to be worthy of this role. Statistically the best defense in the country this season, they should be able to do what Purdue couldn’t against VCU, which is prevent 70 layups (am I a bitter Purdue fan? you bet)

Filed Under: College Football
«Older Posts