Quote:
Originally Posted by slacker00
I guess if you're betting on the Lions, you're betting against Tavaris Jackson. Unfortunately, that doesn't help me decide. lol
I've tossed this one around in my mind for a while, and I keep coming up with it being dead even, giving Detroit the standard 3 points for home field. Face it, this line is set right. No advantage to be found.
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I'm bumping this thread, because this happened to me a few times last season as well. I broke the game down, and found the line to be dead right on, at least in my mind. Sure enough, the spread lands right on the line. I didn't post about it, but I thought hard about buying the "3", buying Lions -2 1/2 & Vikings +3 1/2. I didn't do it, but I'm kinda pissed that I didn't go for it.
So, as an exercise, I'm going to buy the number for at least one game per week for the rest of the NFL season. I'm just going to pick the closest game, for me, and buy the number. I'm just curious how I'll do. Even more, I'm curious about the math behind making this kind off play. I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but I realize that I'll be paying double juice. How often do I have to hit the number to make a profit in the long run? I realize it depends on the number as well as the price. Buying the 3 will be expensive, but it will often land on the 3, etc. Worst of all, this is a high variance play. Even if I'm a very good handicapper at this angle, it's reasonable to assume it may be weeks and weeks before I get paid off.
This will be mostly an educational experiment for me, this season. I'm already experienced betting spreads & moneylines, now I'm trying to branch out further to give me more angles and more opportunties. I've still got to learn over-unders, halves & props better. I'm kinda confident in my ability to handle teasers & parlays, after doing it all last season. I guess "buying the number" is one more angle of discipline to add to my laundry list, as I progress past "handicapping 101" and onto "handicapping 102", etc.