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Déjà vu Miracle in Chicago Strikes Again,
Da Bears Bettors Are Kissed by an Angel
By Buzz Daly
November 6 - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," observed Charles Dickens writing of the French Revolution, but who's to say he wasn't flashing forward a few hundred years to the NFL?
For the past two Sundays, Soldiers Field in Chicago - home of Da Bears - has been the scene of the season's best and worst sports betting results, depending on where your money was placed.
Certainly those who bet the Bears two weeks ago and this past Sunday were blessed by the rarest of phenomena, the déjà vu miracle.
Incredibly, for the second week in a row, the Chicago Bears snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the most improbable fashion: safety Mike Brown, in an encore performance, plucked a ball out of the air and ran it back into the end zone for a game-winning touchdown that beat Cleveland 27-21 in overtime.
Not only did he ensure the Bears' victory in OT two weeks in a row with his heroics, but Sunday he gave bettors who were laying from 4 to 5½ points the cover in a game they had given up as a lost cause.
Last week, the Bears overcame a three-TD deficit to beat the 49ers in OT, when Brown ran in an interception for the winning score. That was the shortest overtime period in NFL history.
This week's fantasy-like finale came courtesy of an amazing 14-point comeback in the game's last 30 seconds. The stunning resurgence included recovering an onside kick, and topping that off with a 34-yard Hail Mary thrown by QB Shane Matthews, which was caught on the carom by James Allen amidst a gaggle of Bears and Browns.
"Soldiers Field must be hallowed ground," gasped one wiseguy, who told us the turnaround this week gave him a positive swing of over $50,000 and most definitely qualified as a miracle.
When Brown made the play, the sportsbook we were in, Sunset Station, erupted in an explosion of noise, with cheers drowning out the moans of distraught losers. One punter's miracle is another's bad beat in the stressed out world of sports betting.
In the NFL's two biggest line moves, bettors took the gas pipe. The bad-luck Browns opened at +6 but went off at +4, and the Pack (vs. Tampa Bay) went off at -6½ after opening at -4½, and eked out a 21-20 decision.
At the Meadowlands, New York spotted the Cowboys a bunch of points, then came roaring back to win, but not cover, 27-24. The Giants' impost of up to 11 points was never close to covering as Dallas was in command pointwise from the get-go.
The winless Detroit Lions at 0-7 S/U held on Sunday to get the cover as the 8½ to 9½ points they got vs. San Francisco in a 21-13 loss gave their backers a nervous win. At 3-4 ATS, Detroit is almost respectable.
Mike Holmgren, who insisted that Don Hasselbeck is the QB of the future in Seattle, started him despite the presence of a healthy Trent Dilfer. The net result was the Seahawks swallowed another loss. After Hasselbeck threw two INTs in 12 pass attempts, Dilfer was grudgingly brought in, but it was too late to salvage the victory.
We're not going to pass judgment on Holmgren's coaching abilities, but he sure made Marty Schottenheimer look brilliant on Sunday.
Parlay Card Bettors Must Also Shop. For those who can get past the fallacious conventional wisdom that insists parlay cards are for suckers, we'd like to interject that shopping for numbers, particularly in the NFL, is still a key to cashing tickets.
Regarding those who believe the cards are for fools, there is more than an element of truth in that because the hold on parlay cards can be as much as 40 percent. That is because so many cards are played by tourists and casual, or recreational, bettors.
But the lower-than-true payoff on cards is balanced, we believe, by variations in the pointspread. The cards' lines are static, compared with volatile off-the-board numbers.
In a limited and nonscientific survey this past Sunday, we compared numbers at two books where we bet, Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming (Stardust).
The ties-win parlay card at the Stardust had two NFL games fall on the number: Tennessee was 4 over the Jags, and Chicago was 6 over the Browns. In both games, lines were skewed to penalize chalk bettors, who predominate, but the net result was both sides of the games covered.
Stations had the Jaguars +2 and the Browns +5.
Other items to pay attention to include:
* If a card claims it is a ties-win card and it is littered with half-point games, beware, that is dirty pool. We'll cut them some slack on 3½, but no other key numbers should wear the hook.
* Check the size of the betting menu. Stations offered 35 college matchups while the Stardust used 41 games including South Florida, Central Florida, Marshall, Bowling Green and the Maryland-Troy State game.
Of course, half-point and ties lose cards should pay higher odds. Stardust payouts are somewhat higher than Stations and others. Having said that, we admit to playing plenty of Stations cards due to convenience, and they do have relatively attractive odds.
New website specializes in parlay cards. With a paucity of true parlay cards on the 'Net, and the ones offered by local bookies generally a ripoff, players have been patiently waiting for a bettor idea re parlay cards.
It would appear that time has come. A new website, parlaycard.com, has been launched with a variety of cards designed to give lots of betting options with more generous payouts than are found offshore, with local books or even Vegas.
In order to get this venture off the ground properly, the company is embarking on an extensive marketing campaign to introduce its concept to online bettors.
It is a joint venture with UK-based Play 121 (play121.com), a well financed, successful and British-regulated gaming company which gives parlaycard.com a big advantage in the marketplace. The company stresses that it is not a sportsbook.
U.S. marketing manager Scott Mackinder has a strong gaming background and lots of innovative plans to make the site hospitable to parlay card players of all stripes.
One special promotion is a $50,000 Giveaway, in which the winner will be announced during halftime of the Super Bowl. Every time a parlaycard.com customer makes a play, an entry into the drawing is earned.
Mackinder said the marketing campaign will get the word out to bettors about parlaycard.com, and is designed to increase awareness as well as get immediate signups. "We realize some bettors might feel more comfortable with a name they've seen around for a while, and others will jump right in if they find the concept appealing.
"We intend that anyone who enjoys trying to parlay a small bankroll into a big one will have enough options on our site to indulge himself or herself. In addition to a chance to hit a big score, we'll offer fun, excitement and competitiveness, all for a bet as small as $1."
Look for banner ads on leading websites, including the************.com, ********** .com, covers.com and buzzdaly.com.
Regional promotions are also a key part of the campaign. In Las Vegas, parlaycard.com sponsors Sports Gaming Report, a local radio show featuring Kelso Sturgeon. It can be heard live Friday from 10-11 AM PT over 1340 AM radio, or accessed at buzzdaly.com.
In the Tampa/Orlando market, Mackinder cited an innovative poster program that will be seen in men's restrooms. Talk about a captive audience.
In the northeast, sports stadiums have been targeted for direct handouts with info on parlaycard.com.
Look for print advertising in leading sports publications such as Players Choice and perhaps some rotation schedules.
Parlaycard.com is also signing up an extensive network of affiliates and agents to increase membership. For more information, call toll free 1-866-727-5297.
Video coverage of Gaming Expo. Remember when online video was notable for blurry, herky-jerky images and degraded sound? Well, a new online TV network featuring improved production values and dedicated to gaming coverage is up and running. Currently playing are interviews taken at the recent Global Gaming Expo 2001, held in Las Vegas.
The sound is crisp and the footage is smoothly displayed, but images are still not exactly high resolution. However, a lot of what you will see and hear depends on your computer hardware.
Footage from the Gaming Expo includes three interviews, all shot on location at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
River City Group vice president of marketing, Jerry Asher, is shown discussing the status of Internet gaming and its growth. He also described the company's publishing and market research products, as well as its consulting services.
Steve Besser, EVP of a web development company called Create Edge, gave tips on how to develop and manage a gaming site. He discounted the dot.com meltdown and noted that whatever the cause, a soft economy is difficult on most businesses.
Besser pointed to casinonet.com as one of the sites his company has developed. It is the equivalent of an online gambling publication with comprehensive coverage of all elements of gaming.
Maryann Morrison of gamblegoddess.com was interviewed regarding niche advertising aimed at women who like to gamble.
The interviews elicited interesting responses and were conducted by local producer Dennis Tobler. The 13-minute Gaming Expo segments can be seen at www.gamingbroadcast.com.
To Tout or Not To Tout? During all the years we have been writing this column, we never presumed to pass along any picks of our own, since our role is most certainly not that of a handicapper.
Nonetheless, we have been approached by a reputable company which will soon be handling the handicappers at one of the sports wagering industry's busiest and most respected online sites. We can't mention any names since the company prefers to announce its own news.
While we consider ourselves a serious bettor, we are by no means professional or even semi-pro as a handicapper. Apparently what is motivating this company to consider us as a handicapper is our record in an NFL football contest being held at Carib Sports.
The Pro Football Handicappers Challenge, which cost $250 per entry, is worth $72,750, and has nearly 300 entries. Scoring is based on making five picks per week, just sides, against the Carib line, with two points for a win, one for a push and 0 for a loss.
Deadline for getting in picks is midnight ET every Friday. Amazingly, we managed to blow one deadline and miss another week, to effectively put the kibosh on any hopes we might have had to get the prize money.
But even more amazingly, despite getting zero points for two weeks, there are only 11 entrants in front of us. First place has 56 points and we have 49 points. Our winning percentage of 24-5-1, 80%, tops all the contestants.
There are some excellent handicappers in this tournament, and their picks may be viewed by anyone on Saturday after the deadline for getting in selections. Just go to the Carib Sports site (www.caribsports.com) and open an account. It is not necessary to deposit any money.
We enjoy putting up our picks in this sort of competition, but are most reluctant to sell our selections.
We have never paid for any picks, nor do we ever advocate anyone buying them. That doesn't mean we are so arrogant as to only use our own plays. Hell, we get games from Jimmy Vaccaro, Kelso Sturgeon and have no compunction about using free picks that appear on our own site from selected handicapping services. If we think the analysis is on the money, we'll go with the play.
So the question is, should we join the ranks of touts, even though we truly believe the world already has more than enough touts as it is? If any Sportsbook Scene reader has an opinion, we'd like to hear it. We're not putting it to a vote, mind you, just seeking comments.
It is not our intention to belittle those who do sell their selections. Yes, it is a scurvy industry with some outrageous scammers. But there are also pros who work hard at the business of handicapping.
We know several of them. We just don't hanker to join them.
Please send questions, comments, etc. to [email protected].
Da Bears Bettors Are Kissed by an Angel
By Buzz Daly
November 6 - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," observed Charles Dickens writing of the French Revolution, but who's to say he wasn't flashing forward a few hundred years to the NFL?
For the past two Sundays, Soldiers Field in Chicago - home of Da Bears - has been the scene of the season's best and worst sports betting results, depending on where your money was placed.
Certainly those who bet the Bears two weeks ago and this past Sunday were blessed by the rarest of phenomena, the déjà vu miracle.
Incredibly, for the second week in a row, the Chicago Bears snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the most improbable fashion: safety Mike Brown, in an encore performance, plucked a ball out of the air and ran it back into the end zone for a game-winning touchdown that beat Cleveland 27-21 in overtime.
Not only did he ensure the Bears' victory in OT two weeks in a row with his heroics, but Sunday he gave bettors who were laying from 4 to 5½ points the cover in a game they had given up as a lost cause.
Last week, the Bears overcame a three-TD deficit to beat the 49ers in OT, when Brown ran in an interception for the winning score. That was the shortest overtime period in NFL history.
This week's fantasy-like finale came courtesy of an amazing 14-point comeback in the game's last 30 seconds. The stunning resurgence included recovering an onside kick, and topping that off with a 34-yard Hail Mary thrown by QB Shane Matthews, which was caught on the carom by James Allen amidst a gaggle of Bears and Browns.
"Soldiers Field must be hallowed ground," gasped one wiseguy, who told us the turnaround this week gave him a positive swing of over $50,000 and most definitely qualified as a miracle.
When Brown made the play, the sportsbook we were in, Sunset Station, erupted in an explosion of noise, with cheers drowning out the moans of distraught losers. One punter's miracle is another's bad beat in the stressed out world of sports betting.
In the NFL's two biggest line moves, bettors took the gas pipe. The bad-luck Browns opened at +6 but went off at +4, and the Pack (vs. Tampa Bay) went off at -6½ after opening at -4½, and eked out a 21-20 decision.
At the Meadowlands, New York spotted the Cowboys a bunch of points, then came roaring back to win, but not cover, 27-24. The Giants' impost of up to 11 points was never close to covering as Dallas was in command pointwise from the get-go.
The winless Detroit Lions at 0-7 S/U held on Sunday to get the cover as the 8½ to 9½ points they got vs. San Francisco in a 21-13 loss gave their backers a nervous win. At 3-4 ATS, Detroit is almost respectable.
Mike Holmgren, who insisted that Don Hasselbeck is the QB of the future in Seattle, started him despite the presence of a healthy Trent Dilfer. The net result was the Seahawks swallowed another loss. After Hasselbeck threw two INTs in 12 pass attempts, Dilfer was grudgingly brought in, but it was too late to salvage the victory.
We're not going to pass judgment on Holmgren's coaching abilities, but he sure made Marty Schottenheimer look brilliant on Sunday.
Parlay Card Bettors Must Also Shop. For those who can get past the fallacious conventional wisdom that insists parlay cards are for suckers, we'd like to interject that shopping for numbers, particularly in the NFL, is still a key to cashing tickets.
Regarding those who believe the cards are for fools, there is more than an element of truth in that because the hold on parlay cards can be as much as 40 percent. That is because so many cards are played by tourists and casual, or recreational, bettors.
But the lower-than-true payoff on cards is balanced, we believe, by variations in the pointspread. The cards' lines are static, compared with volatile off-the-board numbers.
In a limited and nonscientific survey this past Sunday, we compared numbers at two books where we bet, Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming (Stardust).
The ties-win parlay card at the Stardust had two NFL games fall on the number: Tennessee was 4 over the Jags, and Chicago was 6 over the Browns. In both games, lines were skewed to penalize chalk bettors, who predominate, but the net result was both sides of the games covered.
Stations had the Jaguars +2 and the Browns +5.
Other items to pay attention to include:
* If a card claims it is a ties-win card and it is littered with half-point games, beware, that is dirty pool. We'll cut them some slack on 3½, but no other key numbers should wear the hook.
* Check the size of the betting menu. Stations offered 35 college matchups while the Stardust used 41 games including South Florida, Central Florida, Marshall, Bowling Green and the Maryland-Troy State game.
Of course, half-point and ties lose cards should pay higher odds. Stardust payouts are somewhat higher than Stations and others. Having said that, we admit to playing plenty of Stations cards due to convenience, and they do have relatively attractive odds.
New website specializes in parlay cards. With a paucity of true parlay cards on the 'Net, and the ones offered by local bookies generally a ripoff, players have been patiently waiting for a bettor idea re parlay cards.
It would appear that time has come. A new website, parlaycard.com, has been launched with a variety of cards designed to give lots of betting options with more generous payouts than are found offshore, with local books or even Vegas.
In order to get this venture off the ground properly, the company is embarking on an extensive marketing campaign to introduce its concept to online bettors.
It is a joint venture with UK-based Play 121 (play121.com), a well financed, successful and British-regulated gaming company which gives parlaycard.com a big advantage in the marketplace. The company stresses that it is not a sportsbook.
U.S. marketing manager Scott Mackinder has a strong gaming background and lots of innovative plans to make the site hospitable to parlay card players of all stripes.
One special promotion is a $50,000 Giveaway, in which the winner will be announced during halftime of the Super Bowl. Every time a parlaycard.com customer makes a play, an entry into the drawing is earned.
Mackinder said the marketing campaign will get the word out to bettors about parlaycard.com, and is designed to increase awareness as well as get immediate signups. "We realize some bettors might feel more comfortable with a name they've seen around for a while, and others will jump right in if they find the concept appealing.
"We intend that anyone who enjoys trying to parlay a small bankroll into a big one will have enough options on our site to indulge himself or herself. In addition to a chance to hit a big score, we'll offer fun, excitement and competitiveness, all for a bet as small as $1."
Look for banner ads on leading websites, including the************.com, ********** .com, covers.com and buzzdaly.com.
Regional promotions are also a key part of the campaign. In Las Vegas, parlaycard.com sponsors Sports Gaming Report, a local radio show featuring Kelso Sturgeon. It can be heard live Friday from 10-11 AM PT over 1340 AM radio, or accessed at buzzdaly.com.
In the Tampa/Orlando market, Mackinder cited an innovative poster program that will be seen in men's restrooms. Talk about a captive audience.
In the northeast, sports stadiums have been targeted for direct handouts with info on parlaycard.com.
Look for print advertising in leading sports publications such as Players Choice and perhaps some rotation schedules.
Parlaycard.com is also signing up an extensive network of affiliates and agents to increase membership. For more information, call toll free 1-866-727-5297.
Video coverage of Gaming Expo. Remember when online video was notable for blurry, herky-jerky images and degraded sound? Well, a new online TV network featuring improved production values and dedicated to gaming coverage is up and running. Currently playing are interviews taken at the recent Global Gaming Expo 2001, held in Las Vegas.
The sound is crisp and the footage is smoothly displayed, but images are still not exactly high resolution. However, a lot of what you will see and hear depends on your computer hardware.
Footage from the Gaming Expo includes three interviews, all shot on location at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
River City Group vice president of marketing, Jerry Asher, is shown discussing the status of Internet gaming and its growth. He also described the company's publishing and market research products, as well as its consulting services.
Steve Besser, EVP of a web development company called Create Edge, gave tips on how to develop and manage a gaming site. He discounted the dot.com meltdown and noted that whatever the cause, a soft economy is difficult on most businesses.
Besser pointed to casinonet.com as one of the sites his company has developed. It is the equivalent of an online gambling publication with comprehensive coverage of all elements of gaming.
Maryann Morrison of gamblegoddess.com was interviewed regarding niche advertising aimed at women who like to gamble.
The interviews elicited interesting responses and were conducted by local producer Dennis Tobler. The 13-minute Gaming Expo segments can be seen at www.gamingbroadcast.com.
To Tout or Not To Tout? During all the years we have been writing this column, we never presumed to pass along any picks of our own, since our role is most certainly not that of a handicapper.
Nonetheless, we have been approached by a reputable company which will soon be handling the handicappers at one of the sports wagering industry's busiest and most respected online sites. We can't mention any names since the company prefers to announce its own news.
While we consider ourselves a serious bettor, we are by no means professional or even semi-pro as a handicapper. Apparently what is motivating this company to consider us as a handicapper is our record in an NFL football contest being held at Carib Sports.
The Pro Football Handicappers Challenge, which cost $250 per entry, is worth $72,750, and has nearly 300 entries. Scoring is based on making five picks per week, just sides, against the Carib line, with two points for a win, one for a push and 0 for a loss.
Deadline for getting in picks is midnight ET every Friday. Amazingly, we managed to blow one deadline and miss another week, to effectively put the kibosh on any hopes we might have had to get the prize money.
But even more amazingly, despite getting zero points for two weeks, there are only 11 entrants in front of us. First place has 56 points and we have 49 points. Our winning percentage of 24-5-1, 80%, tops all the contestants.
There are some excellent handicappers in this tournament, and their picks may be viewed by anyone on Saturday after the deadline for getting in selections. Just go to the Carib Sports site (www.caribsports.com) and open an account. It is not necessary to deposit any money.
We enjoy putting up our picks in this sort of competition, but are most reluctant to sell our selections.
We have never paid for any picks, nor do we ever advocate anyone buying them. That doesn't mean we are so arrogant as to only use our own plays. Hell, we get games from Jimmy Vaccaro, Kelso Sturgeon and have no compunction about using free picks that appear on our own site from selected handicapping services. If we think the analysis is on the money, we'll go with the play.
So the question is, should we join the ranks of touts, even though we truly believe the world already has more than enough touts as it is? If any Sportsbook Scene reader has an opinion, we'd like to hear it. We're not putting it to a vote, mind you, just seeking comments.
It is not our intention to belittle those who do sell their selections. Yes, it is a scurvy industry with some outrageous scammers. But there are also pros who work hard at the business of handicapping.
We know several of them. We just don't hanker to join them.
Please send questions, comments, etc. to [email protected].