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2011 March Madness Tournament

2011-03-14T14:03:00.003-04:00

It's time for my yearly post on my blogspot website to tell you about the 2011 NCAA March Madness tournament. The format for the opening round is different then previous years. The tournament begins tomorrow (March 15) at 6:30PM ET with the inaugural First Four. The First Four are the opening round prelims that are for the right to play in the field of 64.

That means if you are just getting into college basketball because its March Madness, you might not have known that there are now 68 teams that get into the NCAA tournament. The First Four games consist of pair of games that involve teams playing for a 16 seed and the last four at-large bids play for a 12th and 11th seed respectively.

This brings up something interesting that I didn't really know about the selection process before that kind of seems obvious now. I wondered why the 12 seed always seemed to be able to beat the 5 seed in most years. It's because they put one of three types of teams as a 12 seed: the awesome small conference team, the good to great Mid Major conference team, or the last teams in from one of the power conferences. 13 seeds and lower are reserved for the smaller division 1 conferences.

You can watch the First Four on truTV. The ESPN family of networks will be showing the first round matchups of the NIT Tournament. Besides the NIT tournament, there are also two other college basketball tournaments taking place: The College Basketball Invitational and the College Insider Tournament.

The Tuesday matchups are North Carolina-Asheville (19-13) vs. Arkansas-Little Rock (19-16) and UAB (22-8) vs. Clemson (9-7). The 16 seeds are playing at 6:30PM ET and UAB and Clemson are playing for a 12 seed and the right to play 5 seed West Virginia. Many people were critical of these two picks, which were the last two at-large teams in the tournament. UAB was the Conference USA regular season champ and the 2nd C-USA team in the tournament. The analysts said that Clemson did not belong in the tournament, especially since they did not have a win against a top 50 opponent all year.

The second set of First Four games on Wednesday are between the (16) Texas-San Antonio (19-13) vs. Alabama State (17-17) and USC (19-14) vs. VCU (23-11). USC and VCU are fighting for an 11 seed and the right to play the 6 seed Georgetown. Both of these at-large selections were heavily criticized after the brackets were revealed on Selection Sunday as well, but especially VCU out of the Colonial League.

Bubbles Busted

You would think with 68 teams coming into the tournament, there would be less controversy then normal. But of course, teams 69 - 74 are all going to be upset that they didn't make it. There were quite a few schools that were heart-broken on Sunday.

Top of the list is Colorado, who had 3 wins against top 25 Kansas State including one in the Big 12 tournament. They should have been in ahead of all four of the First Four contestants.

Other teams that were upset include Virginia Tech, who struggled down the stretch after beating #1 Duke and played their way out of the tournament. Alabama beat Georgia twice, but Georgia took one of the last at-large bids instead of Alabama. Boston College had an argument, but less of one then the other teams ahead of them.

You would have thought that more tournament bids would have meant more at-large bids from smaller conferences. If Cleveland State would have beaten Butler, both teams would have been in the tournament. They had a better record then Butler, but there is no way that the Bulldogs would have been denied after going to the finals last year. Saint Mary's also got the short straw after losing to Gonzaga in the WCC finals. This is another case of a smaller conference only getting 1 bid because the right team won.

NCAA Tournament Schedule

1st Round Games - Day 1
#12 Clemson vs #5 West Virginia 12:15 PM - East Region - CBS
#9 Old Dominion vs #8 Butler 12:40 PM - Southeast Region - truTV
#13 Morehead State vs #4 Louisville 1:40 PM - Southwest Region - TBS
#10 Penn State vs #7 Temple 2:10 PM - West Region - TNT

#13 Princeton vs #4 Kentucky 2:45 PM - East Region - CBS
#16 UNC-Ash/Ark-LR vs #1 Pittsburgh 3:10 PM - Southeast Region - truTV
#12 Richmond vs #5 Vanderbilt 4:10 PM - Southwest Region - TBS
#15 No. Colorado vs #2 San Diego State - West Region - TNT

#15 UC Santa Barbara vs #2 Florida 6:50 PM - Southeast Region - TBS
#14 Wofford vs #3 BYU 7:15 PM - Southeast Region - CBS
#14 Bucknell vs #3 Connecticut 7:20 PM - West Region - TNT
#13 Belmont vs #4 Wisconsin 7:27 PM - Southeast Region - truTV

#10 Michigan State vs #7 UCLA 9:20 PM - Southeast Region - TBS
#11 Gonzaga vs #6 St. John's 9:45 PM - Southeast Region - CBS
#11 Missouri vs #6 Cincinnati 9:50 PM - West Region - TNT
#12 Utah State vs #5 Kansas State 9:57 PM - Southeast Region - truTV

1st Round Games - Day 2
#13 Oakland vs #4 Texas 12:15 PM - West Region - CBS
#9 Tennessee vs #8 Michigan 12:40 PM - West Region - truTV
#15 Akron vs #2 Notre Dame 1:40 PM - Southwest Region - TBS
#9 Villanova vs #8 George Mason 2:10 PM - East Region - TNT

#12 Memphis vs #5 Arizona 2:45 PM - West Region - CBS
#16 Hampton vs #1 Duke 3:10 PM - West Region - truTV
#10 Florida St vs #7 Texas A&M - Southwest Region - TBS
#16 UT-San Antonio/Alabama St vs #1 Ohio State 4:40 PM - East Region - TNT

#16 Boston U vs #1 Kansas 6:50 PM - Southwest Region - TBS
#15 Long Island vs #2 North Carolina 7:15 PM - East Region - CBS
#14 St Peter's vs #3 Purdue 7:20 PM - Southwest Region - TNT
#11 Marquette vs #6 Xavier 7:27 PM - East Region - truTV

#9 Illois vs #8 UNLV 9:20 PM - Southwest Region - TBS
#10 Georgia vs #7 Washington 9:45 PM - East Region - CBS
#11 USC/VCU vs #6 Georgetown 9:50 PM - Southwest Region - TNT
#14 Indiana State vs #3 Syracuse 9:57 PM - East Region - truTV

For more NCAA tournament information, check out my NCAA tournament contests and March Madness Sportsbook Promotions pages on my website. You can also find news and updates on the NCAA tournament at BestSportsGambling.com

2010 College Football Bowl Season

2010-12-17T13:36:00.007-05:00

The NCAA Division 1 Bowl season is about to get started with three separate bowl games scheduled for tomorrow. The first game is the New Mexico Bowl and kickoff for this game will be 2:00PM Eastern Time.

This means that anyone who is looking for a college bowl pickem contest needs to sign up and get at least get these three games picked before tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise, you will be at a disadvantage in any contest that involves picking all 35 bowl games.

Can you win any prizes? Sure you can, if you're extremely lucky. A lot of the free contests have more than 100,000 player entries and there are only prizes for the top 3 or 5 places. If you are really looking for more of an office pool type game where you don't have to pay much to enter and have a chance at winning a big pool, then you should check out these pay for contests.

Fortunetaly, all is not lost if you're reading this and this is Sunday December 19 or later. In the confidence pickem leagues, you will only be losing your confidence number 1, 2 and 3 picks and I will pretty much guarantee you that this won't be the reason you lost.

There are also tournaments, like the Fox Sports College Football Pickem that do not start until Christmas Day. In this tournament, the first bowl game that you have to pick is the Little Caesars Bowl. Let's face it, not all of you would know that the bowl season starts this early.

BetUS College Football New Year's Day Promo

I've found this special promotion for college bowl betting on New Year's Day that I, myself, am going to try. This special bet is only going to be offered at BetUS Sportsbook. Get ready to try you luck as well because for just $100 you can make a six-team parlay and get a chance to win $4000!

All you will have to do is register with BetUS if you haven't already done so and bet on one team or another for six of the New Year's Day bowl games. If you win all six, the $4000 is yours!

Projections for the First Three Bowl Games of 2010

Update 12-20: Well, two out of three isn't bad. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to post predictions for every bowl game. However, I found a good sports blog called bestsportsgambling.com that has predicted the first three NCAA bowl games correctly. They just posted their pick for the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St Petersburg today. This game features the Louisville Cardinals (6-6) vs the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (8-4).

New Mexico Bowl

Let's start with the New Mexico Bowl. The BYU Cougars are currently 11 1/2 point favorites against the spread over the UTEP Miners, although both teams a 6-6. The reason for this large margin is that UTEP has been going down the second half of the season being losers of 5 of their last 6 and a majority of their wins are over some of the worst teams in college football.

Meanwhile, BYU isn't a whole lot better overall; but they have won 4 of their last 5 and almost won at #20 Utah. This looks one sided all the way.

Pick: BYU - Spread Winner: BYU - Projected Score: 38 - 24

Humanitarian Bowl

The second bowl game to be played is going to be the Humanitarian Bowl. This bowl game starts at 5:30PM ET and features the Northern Illinois Huskies against the Fresno State Bulldogs. Whether may be a big factor in this game will be played outdoors at Boise State's blue field.

The Huskies are currently 2 point favorites over the Bulldogs. I believe that this because Northern Illinois has the better overall record of 10-3 compared to Fresno State at 8-4. The Huskies were undefeated in the MAC conference until the championship game, which they lost to Miami of Ohio (9-4).

The Huskies have a high powered offense that has scored at least 20 points in every game except the first game of the season. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have been a little suspect when it comes to playing the good teams in their conference. They were blown out of all but one of the top teams that they played.

But the two teams do have a common opponent, the Illinois Fighting Illini, which Fresno State recently beat and Northern Illinois lost to at the start of the season.
With that win over Illinois, the added travel for the Huskies and the conditions in Idaho in mid-December in mind, here are my picks for this game:

Pick: Fresno State - Spread Winner: Fresno State - Projected Score: 21 - 17

New Orleans Bowl

The final bowl game for tomorrow will be the New Orleans Bowl. This game features the Ohio Bobcats against the Troy Trojans. The Bobcats are 8-4 out of the MAC and Troy is 7-5 out of the Sunbelt conference. At the surface, this game looks about as even as it can get.

That was before I saw the spread move at BetUS from being a pickem to Troy getting a 3 point advantage. What is it that has moved the spread a field goal in two days? This is either because of an unannounced injury or suspension or more likely it could be a sign that people are starting to bet on Troy more which and it's moving to correct this.

When you look at Troy, their defense tends to give up a lot of points which means if they win this game it will probably be a shootout. The majority of their wins have been relatively close. The big advantage that I see with Troy is that the university is located in Alabama. I'm not sure if Troy travels well, but this could be a factor in this game.

Meanwhile, Ohio has a better defense allowing 10 less points a game. The Bobcats were on a 7 game winning streak before they lost badly inexplicably to Kent State (5-7) when they had a chance to go to the MAC Championship game. This is a tough one, but here are my suggestions:

Pick: Troy - Spread Winner: Ohio - Projected Score: 28-27

NCAA Basketball Men's Championship Game Tonight

2010-04-05T16:11:00.004-04:00

March Madness is almost over now. My brackets got destroyed after the second round games. In the first round, I had correctly predicted 25 of the 32 games right and didn't lose any an team past the sweet 16.

The second round saw three of my final four and my champion go down, as well as a little more than half of my sweet 16 picks. My loan bright spot was picking Tennessee to go as far as they did. This seems to happen to me every year. As much as I prepare for the tournament brackets, the games beyond the first round are an elusive mystery because so many of these games are very close at the end.

Just take a look at the Michigan State vs Butler game in the final four. The game being played almost looked like two of the same all-Defense no-offense teams that the Detroit Pistons used to have. That 5 point lead for Butler almost looked like a 15 point lead if you didn't know any better. Variables like that are always going to be that winning that bracket tournament a tough one.

However, over this past year's games, I have found it necessary to change the way I prepare for the brackets. The most important thing you need is to get the final 4 and elite 8 teams right, as well as the champion of course. The first couple of rounds don't matter that much.

That being said, how many of us could have filled out 100 brackets and not put Michigan State or Butler in the Final Four. Well, there was one person in a pool of 150 that I played in. That person is going to win easily. Goes to show you it's better to be lucky than good.

NCAA Championship Game - Butler vs Duke

Now the obvious story has been and will continue to be the emergence of Butler from the Horizon league into the Championship game. This would be truly memorable if the small college can win it all on their home soil. I would like to believe that Butler can pull off the shocker, but it just doesn't look like it is going to happen.

The two teams that I saw on Saturday night looked like they were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Duke knew they had to play a great game in order to beat West Virginia and they played about the best game of the tournament so far. Butler and Michigan State got so tight that it didn't look like either team wanted to win.

One thing is for certain, if Butler goes on a scoring drought like they did against MSU, they will be looking at a large deficit. Duke will be ready and they know that this opportunity doesn't always present themselves.

I imagine that this will look a lot like last year's championship game. Butler fans better be ready very early in this game because that is the most likely time for Duke to try to get the fans out of the game early. This is exactly what North Carolina did last year to Michigan State in front of what essentially was the Spartan's home court in Detroit.

The most important thing that I think will be too much for Butler to handle will be the size of Duke's players. Duke has three players that are 6 foot 8 or taller. These large bodies may make offensive rebounding too much for Butler to handle on the box outs.

The only way that Butler can win tonight is if they keep the pace of the game super slow like they have done all tournament long. They completely shut down MSU in the closing 10 minutes. They will have to find a way to do something similar tonight to win.

2010 March Madness Tournament

2010-03-16T17:00:00.002-04:00

Update - March 16, 2010 - Thursday game schedule sorted by start time

2010 March Madness - College Basketball Tournament

It's almost time for March Madness to begin. The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament begins every year in March; usually it will begin on the 3rd Thursday of March. There are a ton of NCAA bracket contests out there that you can sign up for free. They all have prizes that you can win. But you need to sign up for most of these by Noon Eastern Time on Thursday, March 18.

I do have one question for the locations of these games in regards to what region they are supposed to be in. How can you have East Regional games in San Jose, CA? That's just bizarre. I've also seen South Regional games that will take place in Providence, RI. Yeah, when I think of the South, I think of Rhode Island. Add that to games in the West Region being played in Milwaukee, WI. Okay, wait a minute. Then, I see that Syracuse is playing in the West region and they are playing about as far west as you can get - in Buffalo, NY.

Is the logistics of having a city prepare for a few basketball games that hard that they can't find sites in the geographic region? People may be trying to pick upsets based on the how far a team had to travel. If you didn't already know this then you would already know that the likely setup between New Mexico and Marquette will take place in San Jose and Marquette, not New Mexico will be the team that has to travel further for the game.

The tournament opens on Thursday, March 18, 2010. Tip off is usually between 12:15-12:20PM EST. According to the schedule, Florida and BYU are going to kick things off at 12:20. The rest of the first round schedule is below.

NCAA Tournament schedule -

Play-in game - Winthrop vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff - 7:30PM

1st Round Games - Day 1
#10 Florida vs #7 BYU 12:20 PM - West Region
#11 Old Dominion vs #6 Notre Dame 12:25 PM - South Region
#15 Robert Morris vs #2 Villanova 12:30 PM - South Region

#13 Murray State vs #4 Vanderbilt 2:30 PM - West Region
#15 North Texas vs #2 Kansas State 2:40 PM - West Region
#14 Sam Houston State vs #3 Baylor 2:45 PM - South Region
#10 Saint Mary's vs #7 Richmond 2:50 PM - South Region

#12 UTEP vs #5 Butler - 4:45 PM - West Region

#9 Northern Iowa vs # 8 UNLV 7:10 PM - Midwest Region
#16 East Tennessee State vs #1 Kentucky 7:15PM - East Region
#11 Washington vs #6 Marquette 7:20 PM - East Region
#14 Ohio vs #3 Georgetown 7:25 PM - Midwest Region

#16 Lehigh vs #1 Kansas 9:30 PM - Midwest Region
#9 Wake Forest vs #8 Texas 9:35 PM - East Region
#14 Montana vs #3 New Mexico 9:40 PM - East Region
#11 San Diego State vs #6 Tennessee 9:55 PM - Midwest Region

1st Round Game - Day 2
#15 Morgan State vs #2 West Virginia 12:15 PM - East Region
#11 Minnesota vs #6 Xavier 12:25 PM - West Region
#12 Cornell vs #5 Temple 12:30 PM - East Region

#13 Siena vs #4 Purdue 2:30 PM - South Region
#10 Missouri vs #7 Clemson 2:35 PM - East Region
#14 Oakland vs #3 Pittsburgh 2:45 PM - West Region
#13 Wofford vs #4 Wisconsin 2:50 PM - East Region

#12 Utah State vs #5 Texas A&M - 4:45 PM - South Region

#9 Florida State vs # 8 Gonzaga 7:10 PM - West Region
#10 Georgia Tech vs #7 Oklahoma State 7:15PM - Midwest Region
#12 New Mexico State vs #5 Michigan State 7:20 PM - Midwest Region
#16 Play-in Winner vs #1 Duke 7:25 PM - South Region

#16 Vermont vs #1 Syracuse 9:30 PM - West Region
#15 UC Santa Barbara vs #2 Ohio State 9:35 PM - Midwest Region
#13 Houston vs #4 Maryland 9:40 PM - Midwest Region
#9 Louisville vs #8 California 9:45 PM - South Region

More schedules to come as the games are played.

Below are a list of resources on the 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament. If you can't find what your looking for or think something should be added, please comment below.

Watch the Tournament Live on your computer

Last year CBS streamed a majority of the 2009 College Basketball tournament on CBSSports.com. At times there were waiting lists, and all games that were on local TV were blocked out from watching online. This year CBSSports is teaming up with NCAA.com, and CSTV to stream all 63 games of the March Madness Tournament without any blackouts to all internet users.

You can also download an application from iTunes to watch all 63 games from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Download NCAA March Madness On Demand from iTunes

Tournament Brackets

Download and print a blank tournament bracket
- Printable Blank Tournament Bracket from Sportbet (PDF)
- Printable Blank Tournament Bracket from BetUS (PDF)
Download and print the March Madness Tournament Bracket with Teams filled in
- Printable March Madness bracket from CBS. Looks pretty sharp.

Simple instructions on how to make your own tournament bracket
- How to Make Free Blank Tournament Brackets
Bracket Manager at CBSSports.com - Manage your own Tournament Pool for free

This year CBSSports offers their Bracket Manager, which allows people to create and manage their March Madness Pools very easily. It is free to use, and has many cool features including customized scoring options, inviting friends via email, access to your group from a private URL, automatic updating of standings, and more.
- Click here to find out more about Bracket Manager or to create your own group

March Madness Brackets on Facebook

March Madness Lines - Will update soon

March Madness Round 1 Lines
Update - Current March Madness Game Lines March 15 9:15PM
Thursday lines on the left, Friday's lines on the right.
- No line on Louisville game because they play the winner of the play in game on Tuesday.
- No Money Line or Over/Under lines set.
Images above taken from this page - Live point spread lines for every tournament game

Current list of March Madness sportsbook sign up bonuses

Printable March Madness bracket from CBSsports.com

Many Faces of the Casino

2009-08-24T16:43:00.002-04:00

For most of us casino – both in virtual and real world - means card game tables and a characteristic cling of slot machine reels. But visiting some casinos may be quite disappointing for gambling fans.

From Las Vegas and Monte Carlo to hotel resorts and cruise ships all over the world, the word casino always catches the eye of those looking for a game of blackjack or a spin on a slot machine. But in fact it was not until 19th century that the term started to be used to describe a gaming venue.

Traditionally casinos used to be places of all sorts of entertainment, where the visitors could find enjoy sports, music or various shows. As the first ones were usually small buildings placed within the grounds of large Italian residences, hence their Italian name means a small house. Oddly enough, when looking for a casino in Italy, you should remember about proper pronunciation. While the roulette and poker fans will be happy entering a casinò(with an accent in the end), those asking for a way to a casino may find themselves directed to a place of more bodily pleasures, also known as bordello.

Surprises may also await a gambling fan wanting to enjoy his or her favorite pastime in Paris, as perhaps the most logical destination, Casino de Paris, in fact hosts concerts and music shows. Similarly some of the “casinos” in other parts of Europe were known as spa resorts or theatres rather than gambling venues.

It is then a good idea for all travelling casino fans to look through a guide book before they go out looking for their favorite entertainment. And even if a surprise happens, you can always go online, and enjoy a game in your well known Internet casino.

Monday Night Poker and the November 9

2009-08-17T09:54:00.006-04:00

Monday night is poker night for me, as I am in a friendly poker league with a normal turnout of a dozen or so other guys. Many of us have been watching the 2009 World Series of Poker on TV like I am sure most of you have been. One guy in our group actually won a seat from an online poker room and made it to day 2, so you can be sure that the topic is normally discussed on Monday night.

In following a tradition they started last year, the 2009 WSOP will take a break until November to determine the winner of the final table. The final table has been determined, with the remaining players being referred to as "The November 9."

Here's a picture of the November 9:

The November 9 (and their chip count from largest to smallest):

Darvin Moon (58,930,000)
Eric Buchman (34,800,000)
Steven Begleiter (29,885,000)
Jeff Shulman (19,580,000)
Joe Cada (13,215,000)
Kevin Schaffel (12,390,000)
Phil Ivey (9,765,000)
Antoine Saout (9,500,000)
James Akenhead (6,800,000)

More on the November 9 can be seen at the World Series of Poker site, including this article Gone till November.

Make your Money Work Harder Playing Online Casino Tournaments

2009-06-26T15:54:00.000-04:00

Online casino tournaments are a great way to make your money work harder for you. It’s always great to gamble in the hopes of winning a big payout but with tournaments you can play for even more money and sometimes even fantastic prizes.

Online casinos offer some great buy-ins and prizes for tournaments both big and small running virtually every week! There are hundreds to choose from depending on which online casinos and games you like to play and what prizes you want to go for and buy-ins can be very cheap, sometimes even free. Tournaments are a great way to get in on some great game action, interact with other players and go for the top spot!

Online casino tournaments usually involve games like poker, slots and blackjack but you can even find ones for other great games too. And entering them is pretty easy. Usually you are simply required to have an account with the online casino (or sign-up for one) and have some money in your account. Sometimes you’ll have to pay to enter (usually a small fee) while other tournaments are completely free to enter (called freerolls).

If you’re into slots you can play tournaments to your heart’s content. There are even slot game specific tournaments where you can play to be the top winner in a set amount of time. Check out slot specific website like Slotland.com or top online casino for U.S. players Intertops Red Casino who both offer incredible tournaments for the avid slot player.

If you’d love to be sitting at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) final table you can play for a shot at a WSOP package at loads of different online casinos. Check out great poker sites like Poker Stars, Full Tilt and Bodog who accept U.S. players and offer some great tournaments for poker (and other games too!)

Tournaments are a great way to play more games and pit your skills against other gamblers. They offer an entertaining added challenge for online gamblers and lots of excitement and fun

GameOn Bingo is What You Need

2009-05-20T14:25:00.004-04:00

Do you play Bingo, Roulette or Blackjack? Perhaps Poker is your game or maybe you have a weakness for slot machines. Would you like to know a place where you can play all these games and even more from the comfort of your own home? If the answer is yes, just keep on reading.

Recently I discovered www.gameonbingo.com, an online casino and bingo community, and although I have rarely played bingo online myself, I can see why such sites are so appealing to so many people, and why online gambling has become such a popular hobby.

GameOn Bingo is definitely the best choice for players who value friendly communities as well as secure and friendly environments. Bingo runs all day, every day, and with Roulette, Blackjack, Video Poker slot machines and other instant games available, there is always something to bet on.

What particularly grabbed my attention was the enticing welcome package on offer. For just filling out the registration form you are awarded with 1000 loyalty points which can be traded for extra bingo cards, cash or credits, plus when you first deposit money into the account they match it one and half times. If this wasn’t good enough, then any further deposits between £20 and £100 are matched up to 50%. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

GameOn Bingo knows how to impress any player. Just think about holidays in the sun, bingo cruises to Mexico, large LCD TV’s and your months utility bills paid, not mentioning the great cash prizes you can win including an impressive £1 Million coverall jackpot. Besides, you can even earn another 5000 loyalty points just by recommending a friend, plus extra points awarded for regular visits and buying bingo cards.

March Madness Over

2009-04-07T12:33:00.005-04:00

This just about sums up my frustration right now with this years March Madness. This was a Facebook response I made to a friend 2 days before the tournament started and prior to a massive amount of research I did on most of the teams. This makes me a little sick to my stomach.

What did this year help cement in my mind for picking the final four and champ next year?:

Experienced Coach who has been there before - There is a reason why Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino and the like are always in the mix. They have seen it all and can react accordingly. In a single elimination tournament, the best talent does not always prevail. Making adjustments, working the refs, exploiting weaknesses are what these coaches do best. It is so second nature to them. It doesn't hurt that they always have stud talent to go along with it.
Team must have multiple stars, and I would say at least 3 future NBA players - now there may be some players who become draft picks solely on their performance in the tournament, but for the most part every champ is a team loaded with studs.

Team must have stud point guard - By far the most important player in college basketball. If he had switched teams, Ty Lawson could probably have taken any of the sweet 16 teams to the final game. He was that dominant and he made it look so easy. Lawson was exceptional at running the fast break, driving the lane, drawing fouls, making free throws, shooting 3's and causing havoc. If you look back at previous champs, often you will find this type of point guard on the championship team.
Big man is not very important anymore - when was the last team that was led by a stud power forward/center to win the championship? The 3 pointer and shot clock have made having a dominant big man a non factor.
High scoring team - A good defense beats a good offense right? Not in college basketball, not in a single elimination tournament, and not with the 3 pointer available. How many times do we see the great defensive team dig themselves just a little hole somewhere in the tournament and lose because they can't shoot 3's or score quickly. The championship teams always can convert on the fast break, make 3's, hit free throws, drive to the lane, draw fouls, etc.

So that's it for College Basketball. Now on to the baseball.

Elite 8 March Madness Betting Villinova vs Pittsburgh

2009-03-28T01:09:00.003-04:00

Pittsburgh and Villanova have played 3 times in a little over a year. Here is a look at their recent history, including some line history:

Date	Teams	Score	Line
1/28/2009	PITTSBURGH	57	-3.5
	VILLANOVA	67	137

1/30/2008	VILLANOVA	57	142.5
	PITTSBURGH	69	-7.5

1/6/2008	PITTSBURGH	63	142.5
	VILLANOVA	64	-2.5

124, 126, 127.

Those were the totals of the 3 games. The current total for the game opened at 144.5 and now is down to 142. I am jumping on this now.

Sweet 16 betting picks

2009-03-26T13:00:00.009-04:00

Update 12AM

Well, that was rough. Win outright or lose by 25...so close Gonzaga. Safe to say Ty Lawson is back. MSU vs Kansas was a pretty damn good game. The other 3 were not very interesting at all. Tough night for me.

Tonight - 1-3, -8.9 units.

Tournament Record - 13-14, -6.5 units.

Update 9:15

Plays for tonight's late games:

Michigan State -1 WIN

Gonzaga +8 - 5 unit Bet LOSS

Gonzaga to win 2 units to win 6.5 units LOSS

Update 7:15PM Friday March 27

Syracuse +1, 2 UNIT bet

Will be back around 9PM for the late games. Liking MSU -1, Gonzaga +8.5, and Under in the Gonzaga game.

Update 6:45PM Friday March 27

I am passing on the Louisville / Arizona game. That is the early game. I am still finalizing the rest of my plays.

The only one I know for sure is Gonzaga plus points and Gonzaga straight up. The game doesn't start until 10:00PM

7:10 Arizona / Louisville PASS

7:30 Syracuse / Oklahoma - Plays coming soon

9:40 Michigan State/ Kansas - play coming later

10:00 Gonzaga / North Carolina - Gonzaga +7.5 or more and Gonzaga straight up

Update 1:00 AM Friday March 27

2-3 tonight, but up +.6 units. Lost 2 of the games by 2 points or less...Memphis was disappointing. Hit a free throw already. Most of my brackets are completely hosed now.

Updating records:

3 unit picks: 2 - 0, +6.0 units
2 unit picks: 3 - 4, -2.8 units
1 unit picks: 7 - 7, -0.7 units

Sides: 9-6
Totals: 3-5

Tournament Record 12-11, +2.5 units.

Games for the second half of the Sweet 16:

Gonzaga vs North Carolina - this was 9 on Thursday, now down to 8.5. I will be watching this one like a hawk and playing Gonzaga big tomorrow. Probably straight up too, right now at +370.

Arizona vs Louisville - meh.

Kansas vs Michigan State - Great looking match-up. Looking forward to watching the game.

Syracuse vs Oklahoma - Not very impressed with Oklahoma at all so far. Syracuse should be able to win this game.

Original Post - 1:00PM Thursday

4 sweet 16 games tonight. Here are my plays:

7:07 PM - Purdue vs Connecticut
UConn/Purdue OVER 134 - Loss (total 132)
7:27 PM - Xavier vs Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh -6.5 - Loss (Pittsburgh won by 5)

Xavier/Pittsburgh UNDER 138.5 - 2 Unit Bet - Win (easy win - Total 115)
9:37 PM - Missouri vs Memphis
Memphis -4.5 - 2 Unit Bet - Loss
9:57 PM - Villanova vs Duke
Villanova +3 - 3 UNIT BET - Win

Sweet 16 Bracket and March Madness contests

2009-03-25T11:26:00.007-04:00

I made a sweet 16 bracket because I didn't find one that I liked anywhere on the web. You can see the bracket and download the PDF here at CasinoDave.com.

I am really looking forward to the sweet 16 games tomorrow. The break between games, while too long for sure, was much needed for me and greatly appreciated. Between watching games, researching, writing, line watching, handicapping, and reviewing, I had a little too much march madness oozing out of my pores.

If you are looking to get into a sweet 16 tournament bracket contest, BetUS's Round of 16 $10,000 Bracket is open for submissions until 7PM EST, Thursday March 26th. BetUS also offers a free poker tournament entry for entering this promotion. One of the better online poker rooms out there.

Here is my Sweet 16 bracket from the BetUS bracket contest:

I am seeing a lot, and I mean A LOT of value on Gonzaga, Kansas, and Memphis to win the championship. If you did not know, +3000 means for every $100 you bet, you would win $3000. Or in other words, +3000 means 30 to 1. Even though I have Louisville beating Kansas in my bracket above, I still will take the defending champs at 30-1.

Gonzaga's money line on Friday's game against North Carolina can be had at +395 over at 5dimes. I believe that this will get even higher around game time. I like Gonzaga's chances to win a lot higher then 20%, which is right around how often I have to be right by in order to break even on a +395 play. This one probably goes right down to the buzzer and will be a coin flip on who advances.

March Madness Betting Picks Round 2

2009-03-21T15:02:00.015-04:00

College Basketball Betting Picks - March Madness Round 2

Update Sunday 10:30PM

4-0 on the day for +4 units.

6-1 for Round 2 for +6.9 units.

8-2 on last 10 picks (and one of the losses was by half a point).

Tournament Record: 9-8 for +2.15 Units

Update Sunday 5:00PM

3-0 for the early games for +3.0 units.

One pick for the late games:

Michigan State -4 Win

Update Sunday 11:00AM

3 picks on the early games, and liking MSU for later.

12:10 - Syracuse / Arizona State Over 137.5 Win

2:40 - Arizona -3 Win

2:30 - Kansas -7.5 Win

Update 11:55PM

Won the big game today. 2-1, +2.9 units to start Round 2. In tomorrows early games, I like 3 plays:

12:10 - Syracuse / Arizona State Over (right now hovering around 138.5 and 139.5)

2:40 - Arizona (-2.5 right now)

2:30 - Kansas (-7.5 right now)

I am going to monitor these for a couple of hours tonight. Already saw Kansas go from 8.5 to 7.5.

Update 8:08PM

1-1 on the early games.

This is my biggest play of the tournament so far.

8:25 Western Kentucky +11 3 unit bet - Win

Update 5:18PM

Picks in. Also going to Live Bet the Michigan/Oklahoma game. Will be back on after that to update and post the Western Kentucky pick.

5:40 Purdue/Washington Over 140 - Win

5:45 North Carolina/LSU Over 159 - Loss

Have had the kids all day so haven't been able to get on at all today. Wasn't thinking about playing any of the early games, but am looking at these 3 games today:

5:40 Purdue/Washington Over 140

5:45 North Carolina/LSU Over 159, was at 156.5 this morning

8:10 Western Kentucky +11 right now, seen it at 11.5 earlier, will probably get there again.

Will be back later to post plays.

If you are still looking to deposit for March Madness, check out my March Madness sports book reviews.

CasinoDave's March Madness First Round Picks

2009-03-19T22:09:00.009-04:00

Update March 21, 1:00AM

Round 1 in the books. Good riddance. The ending of that MSU game was just brutal. Wide open MSU scrub bricks a dunk that would have made it a 22 point game with 1:25 left...that was a 4.2 unit swing and would have made a bad first round not so bad.

Little fun fact about me, I went to MSU. Since I left, I have been punished by the Spartan ghosts because I would sell my sparty football tickets to stay in and watch Michigan. If anyone else had the game at 15.5 you can blame that one on me.

Round 1 - 4-7, -5.0 units

Friday 3-3, -1.5 units

Thursday 1-4, -3.5 units

Friday Results:

Update March 20, 5:35PM

Might not make it back on tonight, so just in case here are two picks for later.

Michigan State -15.5 for 2 units
Result - Loss by the hook

Morehead State +21.5
Result - Win

Arizona St. -5 (2 Unit Bet)
Result - Win

Syracuse / SF Austin OVER 131.5
Result - Loss

Tennessee -2.5 (2 unit)
Result - Loss
Kansas -9
Result - Win

Thursday March 19th March Madness Betting Picks and Results:

Record 1-4, -3.5 units

2009 March Madness Tournament

2009-03-12T15:06:00.013-04:00

Update - March 17, 2009 - Thursday game schedule sorted by start time

2009 March Madness - College Basketball Tournament

It is time for March Madness 2009 to begin. March Madness of course refers to the NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Tournament that begins every year in March. Selection Sunday marks the start of the "madness" for the basketball tournament, as bubble teams are left out and brackets are printed out, and tournament pools are planned.

Round 1 is set to kick off on Thursday, March 19, 2009. They have not announced times yet for the tournament games, but traditionally the first game tips off somewhere around 12:15-12:20PM EST.

Update - times have been set now, and it looks like 12:20 is the start time.

Tournament Schedule Day 1 Round 1 - Thursday's Games - Listed by startime

#9 Butler vs #8 LSU 12:20 PM
#15 Cal State Northridge vs #2 Memphis 12:25 PM
#9 Texas A&M vs #8 BYU 12:30 PM

#12 Northern Iowa vs #5 Purdue 2:30 PM
#16 Radford vs #1 North Carolina 2:50 PM
#10 Maryland vs #7 California 2:55 PM
#16 Tennessee Chattanooga vs #1 UConn 3:00 PM

#13 Mississippi State vs #4Washington 4:55 PM

#10 Michigan vs # 7 Clemson 7:10 PM
#10 Minnesota vs #7 Texas 7:10PM
#14 American vs #3 Villanova 7:20 PM
#13 Akron vs #4 Gonzaga 7:25 PM

#15 Morgan State vs #2 Oklahoma 9:40 PM
#15 Binghamton vs #2 Duke 9:40 PM
#11 Virgina Commonwealth vs #6 UCLA 9:50 PM
#12 Western Kentucky vs #5 Illinois 9:55 PM

Below are a list of resources on the 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament. If you can't find what your looking for or think something should be added, please comment below.

Watch the Tournament Live on your computer

Last year CBS streamed a majority of the 2008 College Basketball tournament on CBSSports.com. At times there were waiting lists, and all games that were on local TV were blocked out from watching online. This year CBSSports is teaming up with NCAA.com, and CSTV to stream all 63 games of the March Madness Tournament without any blackouts to all internet users.

You can also download an application from iTunes to watch all 63 games from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Download NCAA March Madness On Demand from iTunes

Tournament Brackets

Download and print a blank tournament bracket
- Printable Blank Tournament Bracket from Sportbet (PDF)
- Printable Blank Tournament Bracket from BetUS (PDF)
Download and print the March Madness Tournament Bracket with Teams filled in
- Printable March Madness bracket from CBS. Looks pretty sharp.

Simple instructions on how to make your own tournament bracket
- How to Make Free Blank Tournament Brackets
Bracket Manager at CBSSports.com - Manage your own Tournament Pool for free

This year CBSSports offers their Bracket Manager, which allows people to create and manage their March Madness Pools very easily. It is free to use, and has many cool features including customized scoring options, inviting friends via email, access to your group from a private URL, automatic updating of standings, and more.
- Click here to find out more about Bracket Manager or to create your own group

March Madness Brackets on Facebook

March Madness Online Bracket Contests

I tried really hard to get my March Madness Bracket Contests list in a usable format on the blog, but it wasn't meant to be. I have reviewed the best tournament bracket contests over at casinodave.com, and you can access the list right here.

March Madness Lines

March Madness Round 1 Lines
Update - Current March Madness Game Lines March 15 9:15PM
Thursday lines on the left, Friday's lines on the right.
- No line on Louisville game because they play the winner of the play in game on Tuesday.
- No Money Line or Over/Under lines set.
Images above taken from this page - Live point spread lines for every tournament game

Current list of March Madness sportsbook sign up bonuses

2009 March Madness Tournament Schedules

Round 1 Schedule:

Thursday Games - Times not yet announced

West
#15 Cal State Northridge vs #2 Memphis
#9 Texas A&M vs #8 BYU
#12 Northern Iowa vs #5 Purdue
#13 Mississippi State vs #4Washington
#16 Tennessee Chattanooga vs #1 UConn
#10 Maryland vs #7 California

East
#15 Binghamton vs #2 Duke
#14 American vs #3 Villanova
#11 Virgina Commonwealth vs #6 UCLA
#10 Minnesota vs #7 Texas

South
#16 Radford vs #1 North Carolina
#9 Butler vs #8 LSU
#12 Western Kentucky vs #5 Illinois
#13 Akron vs #4 Gonzaga
#15 Morgan State vs #2 Oklahoma
#10 Michigan vs # 7 Clemson

Friday Games - Times not yet announced

Midwest
#12 Arizona vs #5 Utah
#13 Cleveland State vs #4 Wake Forest
#16 Unknown vs #1 Louisville
#15 Robert Morris vs #2 Michigan State
#9 Siena vs #8 Ohio State
#10 USC vs #7 Boston College
#14 North Dakota State vs #3 Kansas
#11 Dayton vs #6 West Virginia

South
#14 Stephen F. Austin vs #3 Syracuse
#11 Temple vs #6 Arizona State

East
#9 Tennessee vs #8 Oklahoma State
#12 Wisconsin vs #5 Florida State
#13 Portland State vs #4 Xavier
#16 East Tennessee State vs #1 Pittsburgh

West
#14 Cornell vs #3 Missouri
#11 Utah State vs #6 Marquette

edit log-
Update - March 15, 2009

Printable March Madness bracket added
Early Lines posted
Thursday/Friday Schedule Posted

Update - March 16, 2009

added Facebook March Madness Bracket contests

200K Freeroll Slots Tournament at Golden Casino - March 3rd - March 20th

2009-03-04T16:46:00.012-05:00

If you saw the banner on CasinoDave.com or over on the left hand side of the screen here, you know I have been pretty excited about this online slot tournament. The $200,000 Golden Casino slots freeroll tournament started last night. I had planned on signing up to grab all the screenshots and instructions on how to sign up, and quickly losing my 100 free chips. I did get the screenshots, but I am still alive in the tournament. In 10th place!

About the 200K Golden Casino freeroll slots tournament:

The Slot Tournament is free to play. No credit card info or payment is necessary.
If you want to know how to play in this free tournament, start by downloading the Golden Casino's casino software which is available to download from this link right here. You can also click on any of the banners for the tournament and go to a landing page (here) that has the same download.

----->CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD GOLDEN CASINO<-------
The first time you run the casino software, it will ask you to sign-up and you will have to fill out a form. If given the option of "Play for Fun" or "Play for Money", you must choose "Play for Money" to get into the tournament.
After you have created your account, you will be asked to login to the casino. Once logged in, you will be in the casino lobby.

The casino software downloads so fast because the games are individually downloaded when you want to play them. The slot tournament is played on "Cherry Blossoms". That game needs to be downloaded before you can play in the tournament. It is located in Slot Games -> 5 Reel Slots as you can see above.

After you have installed the Cherry Blossoms game, click on the Tournaments tab in the lower left hand corner to enter the tournament lobby. Once in the lobby, you will see a list of tournaments on the left hand side. The default tournament selected is the March Mania $200,000 Guaranteed Freeroll. Make sure the top tournament is selected like below and click register. Once registered you can enter the tournament.

Above is the tournament lobby. If you look on the right hand side,
you can see the leaderboard, with "casinodave" in 10th place with $17,288.

I am going to have to come back and edit this last part up, but I am running out of time tonight. This can be found in the tournament lobby as well.

Screenshot of Cherry Blossoms (one of my nicer spins)

Everyone starts out with $100 in chips.

You can rebuy 300 chips for $20, but only if you have less then $30 in coins left

The slot machine has 25 paylines, and you can bet 1, 5, 25, and 50 cents, as well as $1, $5, and $10 per payline. You can see above on that spin I bet 25 lines and bet .50 cents per line. That turn cost $12.50. You can choose how many lines you want to bet and change bet size after every turn.
It says "11 Free Spins remaining" in the screen shot above. There are special characters that can earn you free spins. These spins are free being that they do not take away any from your total.
Thanfully, there is an AutoPlay button!

Prize payouts:

Place Prize
1 $100,000.00
2 $30,000.00
3 $16,000.00
4 $11,000.00
5 $6,000.00
6 $4,000.00
7 $2,500.00
8 $2,000.00
9 $1,500.00
10 $1,250.00
11 $1,100.00
12 $900.00
13 $800.00
14 $700.00
15 $600.00
16 $550.00
17 $500.00
18 $450.00
19 $400.00
20 $350.00
21 $300.00
22 $250.00
23 $200.00
24 $190.00
25 $185.00
26-30 $175.00
31-40 $170.00
41-50 $165.00
51-60 $160.00
61-70 $155.00
71-80 $140.00
81-90 $130.00
91-100 $120.00
101-125 $100.00
126-150 $85.00
151-175 $65.00
176-200 $30.00

Golden Casino Review at CasinoDave.com

2009-02-05T23:35:00.005-05:00

Been a little while since I last posted I see. April 5th...My daughter was born on March 26th of last year, if that explains anything. I quit my job on January 1st to work as a full time webmaster, so hopefully that will allow me to post a little more often.

I know a lot of things about gambling online, and as you can imagine many of my sites are gambling related. This blog at one point was where I posted online casino info and updates about CasinoDave.com. Don't be surprised to see them here again, like today.

I made a review of Golden Casino today, the casino I play online at. Here are the things that I like about Golden Casino.

1. Easy to make deposits.

2. Always get paid.

3. Software is cool. I like that the blackjack dealer checks for insurance and there are little lights on the table that blink. In Vegas a few of the casinos have that. You can download the software and play for free or for fun.

4. Slots Tournaments - On my honeymoon, I encountered a slot tournament for the first time. My wife and I both played and it was a lot of fun. The idea is everyone starts out with the same amount of coins and whoever has the highest score at the end wins. At Golden Casino, they have a lot of free and very inexpensive slot tournaments that are very fun.

Anyways, you check out the article here - Online casino review of Golden Casino. If you have any questions you can email me at dave@casinodave.com, or write some comments here and I will answer them. If you ever have any problems, please let me know.

We are at a nice slow time of the year sports betting wise. Good timing, as I am still licking my wounds from the Super Bowl. I was riding the under, and it should have been gold. 100 yard run back with no time left at the half by a linebacker or a safety, both had to happen to lose and they both did. Still an awesome game and an instant classic. Anyway, I still plan on posting picks, but probably not many until March Madness.

NCAA Tourney Final 4 Games

2008-04-05T12:59:00.003-04:00

If you are looking for a place to get some money down on todays games, and you are looking for a nice bonus for signing up, check out the following sites:

My picks for today:

UCLA +2 for 3 units
North Carolina -3 for 1 unit

Shenanigans NBA ending last night

2008-04-04T20:15:00.010-04:00

I would have ran home to get my broom, but it ended up helping me out.

So since there was no late baseball games last night, I was flipping through the channels and fount the basketball doubleheader on TNT. The first game ran a little late, so I had some time to get a bet down on the Trailblazer/Rockets game. Looking at my data, it appeared that the Over/Under Line was too low at 178.5. So I played the over and watched the game.

Over 178.5 means I need 45 a quarter, 90 at half, 135 at third, etc to keep pace. The game was 23-22(45), 52-43(95), 74-63(137) after 3. So ahead of pace and looking good, but definitely not lock time. Need 42 in the 4th to get over, and they have been over that every quarter.

4th Quarter

12:00	*Start of period*
11:45	74-63

Skip ahead

8:51

74-66

Ok so 3 points in over 3 minutes is not good for me.

Now, fast forward to about 2:18 left in the game, total at 173, just need 6 points

2:18	93-80	POR	Jarrett Jack made Jump Shot
1:52		HOU	Lost ball turnover on Luther Head
1:47		HOU	Shooting foul on Chuck Hayes
1:47	93-80	POR	LaMarcus Aldridge missed 1st of 2 Free Throws
1:47	93-81	POR	LaMarcus Aldridge made 2nd of 2 Free Throws
1:30	93-81	HOU	Chuck Hayes missed Layup
1:08	93-81	HOU	Aaron Brooks missed Floating Jump Shot
1:03		POR	Defensive Rebound by Channing Frye
55.0		POR	Lost ball turnover on Travis Outlaw, Stolen by Chuck Hayes
34.0	93-81	HOU	Luther Head missed 3-pt. Jump Shot
34.0		POR	Defensive Rebound by LaMarcus Aldridge

During this time, Houston was milking every second of the shot clock like they should. 1:47 to 1:03 was a very long Houston possession in where they got a shot off, hit the rim, and it went out of bounds off Portland. Then they ran shot clock again down to buzzer again. I have had a few of these go against me like this recently, so I had pretty much given up when Head missed that three pointer.

The reason I bring any of this up:

20.0	93-83	POR	Jarrett Jack made Jump Shot
14.0		POR	Shooting foul on Travis Outlaw

I have taken this from the CBS play-by-play on their website, when they say shooting foul, they mean free throws are coming. He was not in the act of shooting, he was dribbling around to try and run out the clock, which they had been doing for the last 2 minutes. So what changed? Did they bring out the 8 ball from MTV Jock and Jams? Down 10, they foul with 14 seconds.

It gets better:

14.0	93-83	HOU	Aaron Brooks missed 1st of 2 Free Throws
14.0	94-83	HOU	Aaron Brooks made 2nd of 2 Free Throws
14.0		POR	30-second Timeout

Why would they call a timeout down 11 with 14 seconds left? In any case the over actually has a chance now. Only need 2 points.

10.0

94-86

POR

LaMarcus Aldridge made 3-pt. Jump Shot

Portland did not foul after the make and let Houston run out the clock. Thank you crooked NBA...I won. Also, typically when I win a game like this, I run hot for a while. So if you were thinking about fading me after what I have been doing recently, beware.

Over/Under System starting out strong

2008-04-03T12:27:00.003-04:00

Over at one of my other blogs, baseball over/under system, my over/under plays have started out red hot going 4-0, for +4 units.

Cross posting the plays here if you are interested:

Atlanta Braves/Pittsburgh Pirates Over 9.5 +100

Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Baltimore Orioles Over 10 -110

EARLY GAME - 1:05 Washington Nationals/Philadelphia Phillies Over 9.5 +105

Thursday Afternoon Baseball

2008-04-03T12:01:00.002-04:00

In about 45 minutes the Diamondbacks are playing the Cincinnati Reds. I got Arizona at +116 at 5dimes. Will be back for more tonight.

Baseball Picks for Wednesday Night

2008-04-02T18:27:00.002-04:00

Only one play today for me:

Colorado Rockies -105 over the St. Louis Cardinals

Wagering 3.15 units to win 3 units

2008 Baseball record (1-1, +0.6 Units)

Overnight Over/Under Baseball Play

2008-04-01T00:58:00.004-04:00

This already went up to -120 since I got it in at 5Dimes (and is -125 other places) so if you want this I would get in quick.

Link to 5dimes

Mets/Marlins OVER 8.5 -115
wagering 2.3 units to win 2

2008 Baseball plays (0-1, -1.4 units)

Rough start back

2008-03-31T23:28:00.002-04:00

OK, so 2 picks, two losers, and down 2.5 units pretty quickly. This is why money management is so important. And not just a plan, but discipline to keep with the plan as well.

Lets say for example sake that my bankroll is $1000.

My units, if I were to keep my 5%/15% bankroll management plan like I talked about before, would be right around $50.

2.5 units down = -$125
Bankroll = $875

At this point, I would adjust my units down to closer to $40 a unit (5% is ~$42). But this is the opposite of what most people do. They get down, they bet bigger to catch up. One too many of these "catch up/I'm due" bigger bets then your bankroll can handle and all of a sudden you have nothing.

The rub is when you hit these bets that catch you up, they become easier and easier to make. The smaller bets don't feel as fun anymore, and you start betting like that when you are up, down, even, whatever. And then one bad game/day/week and....thats that. I've been there..done that. It is a very easy trap to get into. Even if this is for entertainment, I am trying to show you how to stretch out that entertainment dollar.

There are people that say your bankroll should equal 100 units, and reevaluate after a week/month/set amount of time. I say make your units 5% of your bankroll whatever it is and have no more then 15% at risk at any one time. Both ideas are plans to keep you betting instead of redepositing.

Make your own plan, or at least think about a plan. What are you trying to accomplish. Make it through a whole season of baseball? Looking to hit a magic number to cash out on? Just thinking about it will give you a better chance of succeeding. Think about your goals. Right them down. Try out my plan, or come up with something you are comfortable with. The hardest part will be sticking to the plan.

I like this current % plan better then the 100 units plan because while during hot streaks you are naturally increasing your bets (bankroll goes up, 5% is more), and conversely during cold streaks you are decreasing your bets.

I have tried the 100 units,
5 3% games a day,
3 5% games a day,
a few others that were not thought out well.

On a closing note, I am envisioning Marcellus Wallace telling Butch "You feel that sting in your heart? That's pride f*****g with you." Pride = $$$ for casinos and the books. It is very natural for emotions to get in the way during losing streaks, bad beats, a crappy day in general, boredom, the list goes on and on. Tilt happens not just in poker. Do your best to control this tilt and you will be better off then most. When I feel it, it is time to take a day or week or whatever it takes off to get back under control.

If you have a plan and stick to it, there is always tomorrow to get it back. I'll be back tomorrow with some winners.

Got a betting plan you want to share?

College Basketball CBI Tournment Finals

2008-03-31T19:36:00.003-04:00

At 8 tonight the CBI finals feature Tulsa taking on Bradley.

I am playing Tulsa -5.5 -105 to win this game going away.

Monday night baseball pick

2008-03-31T18:52:00.003-04:00

Liking the Angels tonight. Thinking this line should be a lot closer to -200.

Baseball picks for 2008

Season stats 0-0, 0 units

OFFICIAL PICK - LA Angels -140
Risking 1.4 units to win 1 unit

Baseball Season Starting

2008-03-31T01:41:00.003-04:00

With Baseball season already started and really kicking off today, here are some pointers for baseball betting that I think are the most important, and quite often are the most ignored.

#1 Stay within your bankroll

Gambling is recreational, and betting on baseball is no different. If you want to give yourself the best chance of making some money, you must bet within your bankroll. Otherwise, you will go broke. My rules of thumb are

- no more then 15% of bankroll on one game (most of my games I bet 5% of my bankroll
- no more then 15% at risk at any time if I am betting multiple games

#2 Have multiple accounts at different sportbooks to shop lines

This will save you, which in turn makes you so much money at the end of the year. So often sportsbooks will have different lines on games. In baseball, money lines can differ all the time, and underdogs can win you more money with better lines.

I recommend the following sportsbooks for betting on baseball this year:

BetOnline

5Dimes

Sportbet

None of these three sites are affiliated with one another, so there should be tons of lines different with each other throughout the year. Plus these sites all have nice sign up bonuses right now for the start of the baseball season, and you will be eligible for more bonuses later on in the year.

March Madness - Can you feel it

2008-03-17T04:42:00.004-04:00

Man I love this time of year. Where to begin...

March Madness Brackets - I have a ton of free brackets and contests that you should sign up for...all with cash prizes. I will get them up here as soon as possible. Like last year, most of our money we make will be from individual games and not our brackets...My current pick to win it all is UCLA. They have went deep the last two years and are better all around this year. You cannot teach this experience these guys have.

Baseball Season right around the corner - Like last year, I will have some quality baseball system picks to post. All were profitable last year.

NBA and NHL seasons winding down - playoffs right around the corner

American Idol betting.....WHAT! Oh yeah its true. Check out wsex.com and you can buy shares of idol contestants and trade them like the stock exchange. I have been doing this for a few years now with the help of my wife and done very well. I am heavily invested in David Cook and Brooke White this year, and have already doubled my money.

I am going to have to do an update with all my records on the blog. Time has been ticking against me lately, preparing for another mini-casinodave to enter the world any moment. During the last couple of months, my office installed firewalls and filters that block blogger and many other sites, making it very difficult to keep up with everything like I used to. One thing that will help is that when baby #2 comes I will be home for 2 weeks. While I know that I will be busy for this time, there will also be some time to get some posts and some winners posted.

More later.

Start of the bowl season - Utah -7.5

2007-12-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

In about a half an hour, the college football bowl season kicks off. Utah vs Navy - with Utah now a -7.5 favorite. This game opened at -11.5 and has dropped a whole 4 points.

I wish I had more time to go into this one, but if I sit here typing away you wont see it until it is too late.

I am taking Utah in this one, -7.5. Navy has a new coach, and playing a tough Utah team that is hot as hell, winning 7 in a row and going 6-1 ATS. My power rankings have this one over 10, much closer to the opening line. Get the bowl season started off on the right foot.

Utah -7.5

The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale betting picks

2007-12-08T01:06:00.000-05:00

The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale odds to see who wins the UF6.

Tommy Speer +130

Mac Danzig -150

Take Danzig, he is much more experienced UFC fighter, should be money.

Detroit Lions Betting History - Game Log

2007-11-24T23:25:00.000-05:00

Detroit Lions Betting Log for the 2007 season. This was requested, and I will take other requests too for similar stats. Post a comment, or email me.

		Line	Over/Under	Score	SU	ATS	OU
Last Week	Vs Green Bay	+3	47	26-37	L	L	Ov	HOME	DOG
11/18	vs NY GIANTS	+2.5	48	10-16	L	L	Un	HOME	DOG
11/11	at ARIZONA	+2.5	45	21-31	L	L	Ov	ROAD	DOG
11/04	vs DENVER	-3	47	44-7	W	W	Ov	HOME	FAVORITE
10/28	at CHICAGO	+6	45.5	16-7	W	W	Un	ROAD	DOG
10/21	vs TAMPA BAY	-2.5	45	23-16	W	W	Un	HOME	FAVORITE
10/07	at WASHINGTON	+3.5	44.5	3-34	L	L	Un	ROAD	DOG
09/30	vs CHICAGO	+2.5	46	37-27	W	W	Ov	HOME	DOG
09/23	at PHILADELPHIA	+5	44.5	21-56	L	L	Ov	ROAD	DOG
09/16	vs MINNESOTA	-3	43.5	20-17	W	P	Un	HOME	FAVORITE
09/09	at OAKLAND	+3	39.5	36-21	W	W	Ov	ROAD	DOG

Detroit Lions Records
Detroit Lions Against the Spread record - 5-5-1

Detroit Lions Over/Under - 6 Overs -5 Unders

Detroit Lions Straight Up Record - 6 wins -5 losses


When Favorite 3-0 SU, 2-0-1 ATS
When Underdog 3-5 SU, 3-5 ATS
When Home Team 4-2 SU, 3-2-1 ATS
When Road Team 2-3 SU, 2-3 ATS
Home Favorite 2-0-1
Home Dog 1-2
Road OU 3-2
Home OU 3-3
Home Favorite OU - 1-2
Home Dog OU - 2-1

1 game for the early NFL games

2007-10-07T12:43:00.000-04:00

Arizona -3 (buy the hook if you have to)

College Football 3:30 games - October 6

2007-10-06T15:07:00.000-04:00

CFB [353] OKLAHOMA -12½-110

CFB [361] GEORGIA -1½-115

CFB [358] PENN STATE -9-110

These are plays for the 3:30 games.

My college football plays this year are 26-15-2

Day 2 of Playoff baseball picks plus hockey picks and NCAA Football Picks

2007-10-04T17:59:00.000-04:00

Picks for Thursday night baseball playoff games - Day 2 of MLB Baseball Playoffs

Chicago Cubs -125
New York Yankees -117

Baseball playoffs record - 2-1, +1 Unit

College Football Thursday Picks - Take South Carolina -4.5

College Football Record 2007 - 25-15-2

Hockey Picks for Thursday - San Jose Sharks -140

NHL Hockey Picks for 2007 - 1-0, +1 Unit

Opening night of the MLB baseball playoffs plus Opening night in hockey plus Wednesday Night College football

2007-10-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

Picks for tonights baseball playoff games -

Chicago Cubs / Arizona Diamondbacks UNDER 7.5 -115

Boston Red Sox -165

Chicago Cubs +115

College Football Wednesday - Take Southern Miss -20.5

Opening night hockey - Montreal Canadians Under 6 -115

NFL betting - Week 4 picks for 1PM games

2007-09-30T11:49:00.000-04:00

NFL Picks - early games - week 4

NFL [208] ATLANTA +2½-110
NFL [209] BALTIMORE -4-110
NFL [211] CHICAGO o45-110
NFL [213] GREEN BAY -2-115
NFL [216] DALLAS -13-110

Saturday College Football picks - 3:30 games

2007-09-29T15:09:00.000-04:00

These are my college football picks for games starting between 3:30 and 5:00.

CFB [130] OREGON -6½-110
CFB [142] WISCONSIN -7-110
CFB [148] NEVADA -4-110
CFB [132] FLORIDA STATE -1½-110
CFB [178] RUTGERS -18-110

I will be back before the 8:00 games for an update.

2007-09-27T17:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight we have 2 college football games. Arkansas State plays Memphis at 7:00 tonight, in a makeup game that was postponed due to lightning. Boise St plays Southern Mississippi at 7:45. If you are a totals better, take the under in both games tonight.

Straight Wager CFB [101] SO MISSISSIPPI +11-110 Sep-27 19:45
Straight Wager CFB [102] BOISE STATE u50½-110 Sep-27 19:45
Straight Wager CFB [234] ARKANSAS STATE u62-110 Sep-27 19:00

This is another perfect little "Thursday Night Special" for the sportsbooks tonight. When you hear Southern Mississippi is playing Boise State, the first thing that you are thinking is about how they beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl last year, and that you know more about them then you do about Southern Mississippi, and it is the ESPN Thursday night game, and nothing eles is on, and 10.5 or 11 points isnt that much, and .... Right? Don't do it tonight. Since that bowl game, Boise St has not covered a game, and they will not start tonight.

Week 3 NFL Football picks - Early games

2007-09-23T12:40:00.000-04:00

OFFICIAL NFL PICKS FOR Week 3 - games starting at 1:00

NFL [399] SAN DIEGO OVER 43-110

NFL [402] KANSAS CITY -3-105

NFL [403] DETROIT OVER 44-110

NFL [405] BUFFALO +16½-110

NFL [409] SAN FRANCISCO OVER 37½-110

NFL [410] PITTSBURGH -10-110

NFL [413] ST. LOUIS +3½-115

NFL [413] ST. LOUIS OVER 38-110

I also like INDY -7 and San Diego -6, and Philly -5, but like the games above more

College Football picks for week 4 continued

2007-09-22T19:45:00.000-04:00

All games after 9:00 PM EST

Arizona St -11

Washington +6

UNLV +8

Oregon -18.5

Purdue -14

College Football picks for week 4

2007-09-22T12:56:00.000-04:00

Sport	Description	Risk/Win
CFB	STRAIGHT BET [310] NAVY -13½-120 (B+½)	120/100
CFB	STRAIGHT BET [332] MICHIGAN +3-130 (B+½)	65/50
CFB	STRAIGHT BET [335] MICHIGAN STATE -10-110	110/100
CFB	STRAIGHT BET [367] WYOMING -4-110	110/100
CFB	STRAIGHT BET [374] LSU -17-110	110/100

Had to get these in quick, have a couple of birthday parties to go to. I will be back for the 8:00 games.

18-5-1 in college games this year.

College Football Live Lines

2007-09-17T22:49:00.000-04:00

NFL Football Live Lines

2007-09-17T22:05:00.000-04:00

New England / San Diego UNDER

2007-09-16T20:10:00.001-04:00

5-2-1 on the 4:00 picks, made up for the 1-6 on the 1:00 games, or at least a step in the right direction.

Last game of the night, playing UNDER 46 in the Patriots/Chargers game.

Afternoon NFL picks

2007-09-16T15:58:00.000-04:00

Trying to go 0-7 in the 1:00 games it looks like, got some here for the afternoon games:

STRAIGHT BET [217] MINNESOTA +3EV	50/50
STRAIGHT BET [217] MINNESOTA o42½-110	55/50
STRAIGHT BET [219] DALLAS -4-105	52.5/50
STRAIGHT BET [221] SEATTLE -3EV	50/50
STRAIGHT BET [223] NY JETS +9½-110	55/50
STRAIGHT BET [225] OAKLAND +9½-110	55/50
STRAIGHT BET [225] OAKLAND o37-110	55/50
STRAIGHT BET [227] KANSAS CITY +12-110	55/50

NFL Picks for Sunday early games

2007-09-16T11:50:00.001-04:00

Date Placed	Sport	Description	Risk/Win
Sep-16 11:39:38 AM	NFL	[215] NEW ORLEANS -4 115	230/200
Sep-16 11:49:54 AM	NFL	[203] CINCINNATI -7-120	60/50
Sep-16 11:49:54 AM	NFL	[201] BUFFALO o39-110	55/50
Sep-16 11:49:54 AM	NFL	[214] JACKSONVILLE -10-110	55/50
Sep-16 11:49:54 AM	NFL	[204] CLEVELAND u41½-110	55/50
Sep-16 11:49:54 AM	NFL	[210] ST. LOUIS u44-110	55/50
Sep-16 11:49:54 AM	NFL	[212] NY GIANTS u39-110	55/50

4 totals and 3 sides today for the 1:00 games, including a big bet on the Saints today. I am now 6-0 for the month at the Cappers Mall contest, and going to make the Saints pick my pick of the day there.

See ya back here around 3:30 or so.

Saturday NCAA football picks recap

2007-09-16T11:17:00.000-04:00

NCAA FOOTBALL RECORD 18-5-1 on the season

9-2-1 yesterday for me, with both losses and push could have went either way. I thought Alabama game was over only to see them choke it away, then catch a last second touchdown to win only by 3.

I guess I was just bored with the Louisville pick. Every game that I had was a blowout and over at the third quarter, guess I was just looking for something. I had it as a pass, then a play for Kentucky, then Louisville when I saw it down to -4. Learned my lesson. Louisville blew that game about 5 times, had 1st and goal from the 1 at least 3 times, and then gave up a bomb with less then a minute left to lose it outright. I was hoping for the same fate for Alabama too.

3:30

ARMY +19½-110 - WINNER

TENNESSEE U o55-110 - WINNER

FLORIDA -7-120 - WINNER

MICHIGAN -9½-110 - WINNER

6:00 Southern Miss -2 - WINNER

6:45 Alabama -3.5 - LOSER - WON BY 3, BLEW 21-0 AND 31-7 LEADS

7:00 Kansas -27 - WINNER

7:30 Louisville -4 - LOSER - FANCY PANTS PLAY BY ME

8:00 USC -9.5 - WINNER

8:00 UTEP +5 - PUSH

9:00 Tulsa +7 - WINNER

10:00 Stanford -7 - WINNER

Late night NCAA college football picks

2007-09-15T19:08:00.000-04:00

4-0 on my 3:30 picks, got some more for after 7:30 games:

7:30 Louisville -4

8:00 USC -9.5

8:00 UTEP +5

9:00 Tulsa +7

10:00 Stanford -7

I may be back before the 10:00 if I get any news for late games.

Louisville down to (-4) on some books

2007-09-15T18:23:00.000-04:00

I am seeing Louisville only favored by 4 at a few books. This game opened at -7.5. Louisville is always a publicly bet team. This is a huge move in my mind. I am going out on a limb and guessing that this is going to move up right before game time.

I saw the same thing for the UCLA game, opened at 10, moved to 17, then within the last couple of minutes moved down to 15.5.

Significant money has to go on these games to move these lines. I have a theory that I have been working on for quite some time. A ton of touts (people that sell picks) jump all over a team, which gets bet up a ton by people who pay for picks. That at the last minute, a ton of cash comes in on the other side. The touts were all over UCLA today, and they are also all on Kentucky tonight too.

This game reminds me of a lot of the early games that look like a good matchup, but end up being duds.

Saints - Colts game 1 NFL - Touts all over the Saints - Colts roll
LSU - Virginia Tech - Touts all over Va Tech - LSU blowout

There are more, but these are top of mind. Many of these games are the ones that I would notoriously over think. I am going to track this line movement vs touts picks and see if I can come up with something.

Liking Louisville a lot at -4.

College Football picks for Saturday September 15

2007-09-15T17:16:00.000-04:00

College Football picks for Saturday September 15:

Have narrowed down 3 college football plays for games that start before 8 oclock:

6:00

Southern Miss -2 @ east Carolina - MY BEST BET FOR CAPPERS MALL CONTEST

6:45

Arkansas @ Alabama -3.5

7:00

Toledo @ Kansas -27

My note for late College football picks

2007-09-15T16:06:00.000-04:00

These are my notes for college football picks I am looking at for the rest of the day today. Green indicates which way I am leaning right now, next to that is the current line, then after that is what the line opened at. Red indicates a significant line movement. I will post official plays when I get them in.

my lean @ team - current line - opening line