David Rudolph's NBA Corner - 1st Blog Post

By David Rudolph

In this day and age of 140 characters and short text messaging back and forth, my blog posts will also be short and hopefully sweet. (By sweet, I mean chalk full of information!) This first ever blog post by me however will give you just a little background.

I'm by no means a writer, in fact my minimal college was used to become a better poker player (Psychology and probability courses) and my life experience was mainly in the sports betting world when I was fresh from high school here in Las Vegas. At age 18 totally by fluke circumstances I saw an ad for a sports service in the classified section and here we are 21 years later, and I've never left the business. I have worked for and next to Chuck Edel for exactly 15 years this week. I became the official NBA handicapper in 2004 for chuck after winning a private season long handicapping contest that year by a very large margin.

My love for the NBA has been there my whole life and I really feel I have a good grip on the inner workings relating to lines as I've shown by never posting a sub-500 record in any year. I'm often asked who my favorite team is, and the answer is always (besides the pattern response, "whoever my money is on!") I don't have one. Grew up watching the Celtics, Pistons, and dominant Bulls, but never really glommed on to any of them as #1 favorite.

Anyhow, what I'm going to try and get across in my sporadic blog posts is "what to watch for", or "interesting sub-plots", and of course money making free play selections!

Today I'm looking at the Portland/ Lakers game. It would be very easy to say "I'm going against the Lakers until they win!" They've lost 11 in a row counting the preseason and last postseason, and last nights season opening shellacking against Dallas was darn right hard to watch, Lakers fan or not. Tonight on a back-2-back they face a young Portland team with a ton of upside and a frenzied fan base behind them cheering (loudly). New head coach Terry Stotts obviously has a long way to go to bring Portland back to the playoffs after missing them last year, but the team’s youth looks VERY exciting early! Oakland's own Damian Lillard from Weber state (Pick #6 in this years draft) has a skill set that seems to me will be more than fun to watch.

 

 

 

With Lillard at the Point, JJ Hickson is listed to start at center versus Dwight Howard, but I think 7foot 1inch rookie Meyers Leonard will get plenty of playing time. The Lakers may have a big 3 but let's take a look at them. Kobe - playing with an injury that is more than likely going to keep him out some games, so on a back to back, he'll probably get less playing time tonight. Speaking of less playing time we have Dwight who coming off major back surgery appeared to have no lift and looked worse than Blake Griffin at the free throw line! Steve Nash is getting a lot of mention today in the bloggisphere, because he just didn't look comfortable, only posting 4 assists. In summation, I'd take a shot with Portland tonight as a small dog, and this will be our free play which you can sign up for at ChuckEdel.com and get sent to you via email daily!

 

* NBA quick hitter: Hornets guard Eric Gordon out to start the year with a right knee issue for who knows how long. It's really a shame, he has the potential to be a top 30 or so player in the NBA IF ever healthy, but IF is the key word so many times.

 

Take a look at David Rudolph's BIO!



 

Basic Odds For Betting On Football

by Chris Allen

This article will just go over the basics, which everyone should know if they plan on betting on football. It amazes me how many people are not aware of what the payoffs are on a bet they are planning to make, or even after the bet has been made. It is a fast way to get cheated out of money owed to you. I know some recent college graduates from major universities make bets during college / pro football and ask me how much their bet pays, and when I tell them it pays two to one, they still ask me how much they will win if they bet a hundred bucks. This sometimes worries me about the future of the human race. Two to one is pretty basic math.

The odds are almost always posted on a big board in each sports book (in Vegas), there are usually typed up sheets available for each sport printed up daily with the lines. The home team is always on the bottom and the times are where you are unless specifically stated. In Las Vegas it would be Pacific Time. There will also be a number associated with each team. It is always appropriate to say the number of the team you are betting on, not the team name when making a wager.

A point spread transaction would be listed like:

567 Cowboys –7

568 Redskins +7

When using a point spread the team with the minus is the favorite. You can bet on the Cowboys to win by more than seven points or the Redskins not to lose by more than seven points. If the Cowboys win by, and the Redskins lose by exactly seven points it is called a “push” and the entire amount of money you wagered will be returned to you. This point spread bet requires a bet of $11 to win $10 and a $21 return. This is known as a flat bet.

Example:

567 Cowboys –7 Bet $110 to win $100 equals $210 back

568 Redskins +7 Bet $110 to win $100 equals $210 back

You will also see a total number you can bet on. Lets say the total number is 45, this means you can bet on the combined total scores of both teams to be over 45, or under 45 for the final score of the game. This bet also is a flat bet of $11 to $10 with a $21 return. If the final score of the game adds up to exactly 45 this is also a push, and your money will be returned to you.

Example:

567 Cowboys 45 Over - Bet $110 to win $100 equals $210 back

568 Redskins Under - Bet $110 to win $100 equals $210 back

Now lets look at a money line wager. For instance if the line for the Cowboys said –300 and the line for the Redskins said +250, money lines are always listed by hundreds meaning the minus is what you have to bet to win one hundred dollars, and the plus is what you win by betting one hundred dollars. When playing the money line your team simply has to win the game, it does not matter by how many points.

Example:

567 Cowboys –300 Bet $300 to win $100 equals $400 back

568 Redskins +250 Bet $100 to win $250 equals $350 back

Always remember to check the lines and understand the returns on the amount of money you wager on any sport. All of the above examples relate to football at the professional and college level.

Why pay for sports picks?

by Chris Allen

Why should you or anyone pay for sports picks? Think about it for a minute, it is no different than paying a consultant for helping you pick stocks, real estate, or any other financial decision. Getting advice from someone who knows the industry can always be an advantage if the information is used correctly. A professional in any field will have strategic contacts with others in the same field and spend a lot of time working on their craft.

As far as picking a sports service there are some things I would recommend and some things I would definitely avoid. Be careful of the so called guaranteed games. If they use language like “It’s a lock”, “game of the year”, etc. then you should probably avoid these services and move on.
Beware of the so called “monitoring services” you will find that some are owned by the very same sports handicappers that they monitor, or that the monitoring service is be paid a very healthy fee to “monitor” the sports picks services.

I recommend purchasing packages of picks that give you several days, a week, a month, or even a partial/full season of all the services picks. One great thing that some reputable services are doing now is actually working a percentage of money won, this is a great deal for some larger players as it spreads out the risk. Betting on sports is not a get rich quick scheme; it is a long-term investment strategy that should lead to profit! No one can pick one hundred percent winners nor should anyone be expected too.

A good way to test a service is to see if they will offer a free pick, can you actually talk to a live person? Or do you have to deal with a faceless website and impersonal emails? You pay good money for sports picks, shouldn’t that service take a minute to actually call you and give you the daily plays? Sometimes getting to know that voice on the other end of the phone can be reassuring in that they have the exact same goals that you have, to WIN MONEY!

I’ll never forget a while back I saw the same service advertise every Monday night football game of the season as their 10 star play of the year. They did this every Monday night! The bottom line is you should look for something that is affordable, from someone who doesn’t give you a lot of exaggerated hype. Look for someone who does not promise you the moon, but does offer you a winning record with a simple affordable package that meets your budget requirements and most importantly will put money in your pocket!

It’s time to legalize Online Sports Betting Nationally!

by Chris Allen

How hard is it to make the case for legalized online sports betting? It shouldn’t be very hard, at least it shouldn’t be if you decide to use a little common sense.

Legalize it! Regulate it! Tax it!

Recently Governor Chris Christie launched an effort to allow legalized sports gambling in New Jersey casinos which is currently illegal under the federal law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act it currently limits sports betting to four states: Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana.

Betting on Sports in Nevada is legal and it generates about 140 million dollars in profits with about 2.8 Billion wagered yearly and that figure has been declining for the last few years. So one has to wonder if people just are not betting on sports anymore or are people just betting less? Well the answer is neither. The actual number of people betting on sports has dramatically increased in the last few decades.

In 2011 2.88 Billion dollars was legally wagered in Nevada Sports Books, In the 1990’s a study by National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) estimated that illegal wagers are as much as $380 billion annually. The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, an online gambling association pushing for Internet betting to be legalized in New Jersey, says that figure now around 500 Billion Dollars annually!

I live in Las Vegas, Nevada so I can place a bet on a sporting event just about anytime I want, do you honestly think that if I lived in any other city in the US I couldn’t find a place to bet? Simply walk into most local sports bars in major cities and within minutes you could find a place to make a bet!

If you can’t find a local “bookie” to place bets with people can always turn to offshore betting on the Internet (that despite recent crackdowns) still cater to American customers and take their American Dollars into their own local economies! I’m not an economist but if we could keep hundreds of Billions of dollars flowing here in the USA and not overseas that can’t be a bad thing, not to mention the taxes for the federal and state treasuries.

Forty-Three states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands now have some form of lottery. Surprisingly Nevada and Mississippi do not have lotteries, but do have casino gambling. Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, and Wyoming don’t have any lotteries or gambling. So you can gamble legally (in some way) in forty-five states! The issue of whether Americans can accept well regulated and taxed sports gambling online has already been decided now it’s time for politicians to catch up with the rest of us!

Legalize it! Regulate it! Tax it!