Monday, January 29, 2007

I'll bet you $5 I don't have a gambling problem

There are two things in life that I really love. Actually there are a lot of things in life that I really love, like drinking outside, and sausage, and staying in bed until 2 p.m. on a Saturday. But two things that are near the top of the list of things that I really love are sports and gambling. Conveniently enough combining the two gives you a third thing I really love, gambling on sports. It just makes everything completely riveting to me. For that reason I tend to slant my bets towards televised sporting events. You could take any boring NBA game and throw a few dollars down and I’m captivated. It really makes a boring night at home with nothing to do much more exciting. You should try this experiment: bet the over on a random college basketball game tonight, watch it on TV, and then try and not be on the edge of your seat for every shot hoisted. Well actually not tonight because 24 is on. I wonder if I can bet on how many people Jack Bauer is going to kill?

Now I know what you’re thinking. Does Eric maybe have a little bit of a gambling problem? The answer to that is no. Ok, the answer to that is possibly but probably not. I rarely lose much money, and everyone knows gambling is only a problem if you lose. Just kidding. Sort of. I also don’t wager more than a few dollars on any game. I don’t so much gamble to make money as I do it to take some mundane game I don’t care about and make it more exciting to watch. A game becomes much more stirring when you have something riding on it, even if it’s only $5 or $10. Although there are urges that need to be controlled. For example, sometimes you’re looking at the lines and you see that a team that is in first place in a conference is playing a 0-19 team and the line is only -2. When things like this happen (which is totally insane by the way) you’re going to have the urge to deposit your entire bank account into your online gambling account to bet on that game, resist that urge. Even though you should have because, shocker, Loyola won by 10 and you would’ve made a ton of money on something that was an absolute lock. All right I probably just exhibited about 8 of the 20 signs one might be addicted to gambling, but whatever. I actually haven’t bet on anything in about 8 months, which is a long time. If you can go through an entire NFL season (the pinnacle of sports gambling) without betting on a game I think it’s safe to say you’re in the clear.

I did however, put a few dollars into the account on Thursday, and let me tell you, it has been good. Just a few bets here and there and I’ve more than quadrupled that account this week. That was really all just a warm up though, because in less than a week is the Holy Grail of sports betting: the Super Bowl. You can bet on anything for the Super Bowl. Who will score first, how many yards will Peyton Manning have, what will the halftime score be, over/under on Bernard Berrian catches. You name it, it can be wagered on. It’s great. With those kinds of stakes you will be totally engrossed from the opening coin toss. Mostly because you can bet on the coin toss. I think I’ll take heads this year.

8 comments:

Mike said...

Sounds like a great way for me to start liking the NBA again. Unless I lose, then I'll just hate it more.

Anonymous said...

I am completely stunned at the success of the Loyola College mens basketball program. Jimmy Patsos really is my homeboy. You do have a gambling problem. I just spent an unusual amount of time (almost 10 minutes) on espn.com

Eric said...

Mike - That actually has worked for me, I love watching NBA games now. Just don't bet on the Celtics, they're awful.

Leslie - You're really eating up this liking sports these days huh. But if 10 minutes is unusual what you call the 2 to 3 hours I spend on espn.com each day

Anonymous said...

i took heads...two weeks ago.

Brian said...

patsos is from CUA. hes money.

the problem with betting on the nba is it is the most unpredictable thing ever. its fun to bet on, but you are likely to get dagger due to lack fo effort.

how many times have you bet on a horse and midway through the race he decided he didnt fell like trying anymore, so he just limped the rest of the race. or you bet on a horse and it went buck wild and jumped into the crowd? or you bet the time it would take the horse to complete a mile would be under 8 minutes, even though you got it at -1000. then, for no apparent reason, the horse started running backwards, or got benched because he was violating a team rule for wearing a headband. these are things you must be willing to accept when you bet on the nba. its difficult to bet on (or predit) performance when you arent getting a full effort.

having said all that, it is still enjoyable to bet on...if you win.

minijonb said...

Does this work with any sport you can think of? If there's an English soccer game on, and you look up the odds, will you place a bet and get into the match?

Personally, I was born without the betting gene so I need to find other reasons to watch sports... good thing I can usually find a reason.

Unknown said...

I've never bet on sports. Is it fun?

Oh wait, I won 13 bets in a row on Saturday and Sunday (14 of 16 overall). When you have days like that, it's fun.

When it's least fun is not when you lose a bunch in a row. it's least fun when you almost win huge. Like on Christmas Eve when I had a 6 game parlay (all money lines around +160) and the only one I got wrong was the Bungals to win in Denver. It was $5 to win $600. I've never been so mad as when that douche of a snapper f-ed up the extra point. That was not fun.

Los said...

That's why fantasy football is so great/evil. I can't get enough of watching the Browns vs. the Lions during the season (I had Winslow and Kevin Jones).