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It is time for the Week 8 installment of BTSC Bookie! This is a chance for the BTSC community to collectively choose games in which to place an imaginary wager of “BTSC Bucks.” Each week I will remind everyone of the rules and explain an aspect of betting in order to further educate those interested about the process.
Before I get into the procedure of things, I want to remind everyone that gambling addiction is a serous problem numerous people face. Like many things in life, gambling can be a fun and safe exercise if done in moderation, while obsessive gambling can have destructive and life-altering consequences. If you or anyone you know is suffering from a gambling addiction, help is available HERE.
The Process
- We will start with $500 in BTSC Bucks for the season. If we bust, we may borrow from the BTSC Bookie, but will have to pay 20% interest each week it isn’t paid. It’s a steep price, but there are consequences to failure.
- Games this week will be betting against the spread with commission, moneline bets, and over/under bets.
- There will be three sets of 8 betting lines for users to place a vote. The values are as of Tuesday evening and they are locked in throughout the voting. The polls will run until Saturday night at 11:59 PM and the top result for each poll will have a $50 wager placed. The three combined winners will also have a $25 parlay bet this week.
- A write-in campaign can be staged for voting. If any comment in the weekly article brings up a different game in the comments to make the wager and can receive enough recommendations to place it in the top three vote-wise, it will be calculated accordingly. I know it’s highly unlikely for a comment to receive that many recommendations, but if it does it will count.
- Thursday games will not be included due to obvious time constraints.
- Some games may have the two opposing lines as an option. If so, only the higher vote-getter will be eligible for the wager.
- Betting both for and against the Steelers will always be an option.
Last Week’s Wager
For Week 7, we took it on the chin for the first time all season. The majority of the users voted for the San Francisco 49ers to cover the 10-point spread against the Washington Redskins. Although the Redskins failed to score in the downpour in Washington, the final score was 9-0 so we lost our $100 bet. The second highest vote-getter was for the Houston Texans who were one-point underdogs at the Indianapolis Colts. With the Colts winning 30-23, our $50 wager fell short as well.
As for the final wager, the $25 was a three-game parlay bet with the first two games and the third choice of the Jacksonville Jaguars who were favored by 3.5 points over the Cincinnati Bengals. Although the Jaguars won 27-17, the first two games were incorrect so the parlay bet failed. If this particular parlay bet would have won, it would have paid out $177.89! Since all three bets failed, we lost $175 on the week.
Week 6 Balance: $778.51
Week 7 Net Gain/Loss: -$175.00
Week 7 Total: $603.51
Placing a Parlay Bet
If you are interested to turning a small wager into a big payout, one option is to place a parlay bet on multiple betting opportunities in which all wagers need to be in your favor in order to win. To better understand, there was a rundown on parlay betting that was included in last week’s article which can be seen HERE.
I was originally going to set up a three-bet parlay with the bets all being from the Steelers game, but with the point spread being so high, it’s not a good game to bet on the Steelers, yet alone all three items. I know this is a Steelers’ site, and there are people who will not read the description and vote for the Steelers no matter what. But here are some reasons to NOT bet on the Steelers’ game this weekend.
The spread is very large
The Steelers are favored by just over two touchdowns which means the spread is not something the team will be fighting to cover. What I mean by this is the Steelers won’t care about winning by two touchdowns late in the game. If a team is only favored by five points, they may still want to fight to get a field goal if winning by four. The larger the spread, the less likely the winning team will fight to score points very late if they are up big but still not covering.
Another factor is the Steelers generally start slow offensively coming out of a bye. While they are 8-4 following the bye under head coach Mike Tomlin, they haven’t scored a first-quarter touchdown since 2008.
The moneyline isn’t worth it
At -900, the Steelers are not a good bet to win straight up as a $50 bet would only profit $5.56. Subsequently, including such a bad moneyline in a parlay bet kills the payout and makes the risk of three games not worth it. If a $25 bet was placed with three standard payouts of -110, it would profit almost $150 for a $175 payout. Replacing one bet with a -900 payout, the profit is cut almost exactly in half at $75. It’s just not a good idea to bet such a bad moneyline in a parlay bet.
A tricky over/under
While 42.5 isn’t a large total, most fans think the OVER is a safe bet. But something to remember is a possible blowout game can be tricky. Even if you think the Steelers will win in a blowout, the over/under will depend more on the Dolphins scoring output. If the Steelers have a great defensive performance, they could score 40 points in a shutout and would still be an UNDER.
Week 8 Options
Here are the options chosen for the Week 8 betting exercise. Make sure you cast your vote in each poll. If you want to play your own game, leave your choices in the comments below and keep track of your total throughout the season.
For this week, payouts are listed in parenthesis. We will place a $50 on the top vote-getter in each poll and a $25 parlay bet of all the top choices. The amount of the parlay bet profit will depend on the payouts on each choice, so choosing a large negative number will hinder the winnings. If you wish to vote more than once, clear your “cookies” on your browser and vote again.
Poll
Which game do you want to place your BTSC Bucks against the spread?
This poll is closed
-
8%
Steelers (-14.5, 36%) vs Dolphins (-105)
(5 votes) -
22%
Dolphins (+14.5, 64%) at Steelers (-115)
(13 votes) -
10%
Bears (-4, 51%) vs Chargers (-110)
(6 votes) -
15%
Chargers (+4, 49%) at Bears (-110)
(9 votes) -
1%
Titans (-2.5, 50%) vs Buccaneers (-115)
(1 vote) -
7%
Buccaneers (+2.5, 50%) at Titans (-105)
(4 votes) -
21%
Bills (-1.5, 58%) vs Eagles (-110)
(12 votes) -
12%
Eagles (+1.5, 42%) at Bills (-110)
(7 votes)
Poll
Which game do you want to place your BTSC Bucks on the moneyline?
This poll is closed
-
15%
Steelers (-900) over Dolphins
(7 votes) -
4%
Dolphins (+650) over Steelers
(2 votes) -
6%
Bears (-210) over Chargers
(3 votes) -
6%
Chargers (+180) over Bears
(3 votes) -
13%
Titans (-145) over Buccaneers
(6 votes) -
20%
Buccaneers (+130) over Titans
(9 votes) -
11%
Bills (-125) over Eagles
(5 votes) -
22%
Eagles (+105) over Bills
(10 votes)
Poll
Which game do you want to place your BTSC Bucks on the over/under? (All choices are -110)
This poll is closed
-
4%
Steelers vs Dolphins OVER (42.5, 57%)
(2 votes) -
27%
Steelers vs Dolphins UNDER (42.5, 43%)
(12 votes) -
9%
Bears vs Chargers OVER (40, 59%)
(4 votes) -
13%
Bears vs Chargers UNDER (40, 41%)
(6 votes) -
9%
Titans vs Buccaneers OVER (46, 67%)
(4 votes) -
11%
Titans vs Buccaneers UNDER (46, 33%)
(5 votes) -
11%
Bills vs Eagles OVER (43, 68%)
(5 votes) -
11%
Bills vs Eagles UNDER (43, 32%)
(5 votes)