Public Service Announcement

Haven’t blogged in awhile (as you can see), but I wanted to check in so no one thinks I’ve abandoned the site.

 And today I’ll even do a little teaching.  You’re welcome.

I don’t really gamble on sports often, and if I do it’s for chump change, but I’m drawn nevertheless to the sports wagering world…I love reading people’s picks, why this team will cover, that team won’t, sharps, squares, etc., and I recently discovered a new term in the football betting that I just love.

When you bet on a football game, you don’t have to pick it against the pointspread.  You can also just bet on just who you think will win, straight up.  And how much you risk vs. how much you win depends on who you are picking.

So if  you pick Indianapolis to beat the Texans at home, you’re not really going out on a limb there.  The books might pay you $10 for picking that if you wager $100 (I just made that figure up, but you get the idea).   But if you bet $100 on the Texans to win and somehow they do, you just turned your $100 into $1,000 (again, I’m making numbers up).

There are some people who make their living by betting tons and tons of money on  heavy, heavy college football favorites to win straight up.   In other words, they might bet (did I mention I’m making numbers up?)  $50,000 to win $1,000.  But it’s an EASY $1,000, because all they have to do to is hope the Texases of the world beat the Louisiana-Monroes of the world.   Again, they don’t have to cover the spread, just win.

But sometimes, even in those games, the unthinkable happens, and that’s what gives such games their great nickname:

 Bridgejumpers.