Ultra Sports Bet

The Breeders’ Cup is now five days gone, and it’s time to revisit my selections. I don’t need to see how I did (I know that intimately by now), but rather how I feel about my picks and the process behind them. The BC is a major crapshoot, so even the best handicapping in the world isn’t always going to be effective and profitable. You need to make sure that you make decisions that you would be happy to make again.First, some background. My betting strategy was ultimately built around pursuing exotics based on my top three horses in each …read more

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I’m a huge sports fan, and I write and think about betting on sports because I love it. I strongly believe that there is more to the pursuit than just a hobby, though. At my own site, Sports Investment Journal, I look at sports betting as an investment. Here are fifteen reasons why I believe that you can view sports investing favorably as an investment if you approach it responsibly in a disciplined and considered fashion:
1. Time frame – When you make a play, you know exactly when the game will start. You don’t have to guess how long your …read more

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I had a perfectly average day of picks yesterday – four wins in eight games. I monumentally underestimated the power of the Patriots offense, or, more correctly, I overestimated the potency of the Redskins defense. Actually, I gave Washington credit for having a defense. Clearly a mistake. I also made the terrible mistake of trusting Eli Manning. What a pathetic and disinterested display. I know that the field was terrible, but Cleo Lemon played on the same field with less talent and fewer weapons and looked better. Disgusting. I also got to witness how truly inept an offense can be …read more

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I’m playing an abnormally high number of NFL games this week (8) because I am feeling post-Breeders’ Cup withdrawal, so the action will help me shake the blues.
Indianapolis (-6.5) at Carolina – I am concerned by the injury situations of both Marvin Harrison and Tony Ugoh. Despite that, Indy’s defense is healthy, and that makes the Panthers an automatic bet-against in my book thanks to the Vinny Testaverde factor. You can not get ready for a team like in as little time as Vinny has had, and I don’t care how Disney-like his story has been. Pick: Indy.
New York …read more

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My beloved Curlin was absolutely dominant in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (and a major steal at 4/1 to boot) and wrapped up Horse of the Year, and my beloved Michigan rolled to an easy win and a cover of a huge spread against Minnesota. I may forget it sometimes, but life is pretty darned good.
You can catch the highlights of the race here.

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I’ll be taking a week off of picking the college football games. I have spent the last hour or so trying to handicap the games, but every time I look at a line I see a thoroughbred galloping over it on the way to the finish line. That doesn’t help. I’ll be back post-euphoria with NFL picks. Meanwhile, take the time to watch the Breeders’ Cup tomorrow. You won’t regret it.

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It is truly ugly in New Jersey for the Breeders’ Cup. There are unconfirmed reports that Sheik Mohammed has ordered an ark to be built. When doing your final handicapping for the big day there’s really only one thing to remember: DON’T OVERTHINK IT. The weather is a mess, but it is just one factor that makes handicapping these races as difficult as it is. Just have fun. The horses that won today were, for the most part, good enough to win on a dry track.

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Boston College (+3.5) at Virginia Tech – I didn’t expect to have much interest in this showdown of ACC heavyweights, but then I wasn’t expecting the spread to be what it is, either. I’ve seen Virginia Tech play enough to know that I have a hard time believing in their offense when it matches up against a real team. I also have been given several reasons to believe that their defense isn’t as good as it should be. This is Boston College’s best chance to vault themselves into the big time, and I think that Doug Flutie’s alma mater will …read more

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The Breeders’ Cup is only two days away and I’m so excited I can hardly stand myself. I would do a bunch of analysis here, but I have spent the last couple of weeks doing that on another site, and it’s way too much work to do it again. Through the power of links, though, you can see all that I have to say about the big days:

Friday’s races

Juvenile
Juvenile Fillies
Filly and Mare Turf
Sprint
Mile
Distaff
Turf
Classic

There are also a few articles I did for fun and to try to make the time until the first race pass faster:

Ranking the favorites
The things that …read more

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Let me say this up front – I hate the Red Sox and I will be looking for a way to pick against them. They are smug and superior and they make me throw up a little every time I see them. I respect several of their individual players, but as a team I don’t have any time for them at all.
That being said, they are the better team. By a lot. They have better pitching, a better bullpen, better hitting, more depth, and infinitely more experience. They are the favorites, and they unquestionably should be.
The problem, in my mind, …read more

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