I'm making this post because I don't think I have very good resources and would like more, but I'll get the ball rolling:
GENERAL BETTING:

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfSnsW5irOc7gibek5BK6tg - This guy has a good youtube channel, takes you through using excel
• https://www.aceodds.com/bet-calculatoodds-converter.html - This site converts odds to implied probability, useful for calculating the vig on markets with many outcomes
• http://www.aussportsbetting.com/tools/online-calculators/kelly-criterion-calculato - Not sure what your bet sizes should be? Try using the kelly criterion. This site has a simple bet size calculator
• Twitter - Often the best place for team news. If you put some work in following the right people for your sport, you twitter can pay off. I don't actually have any good sports specific follows to shout-out though. There are also decent sports bettors who post their picks if you're in to tailing.

SOCCER:

• https://understat.com/ -A site that tracks xg across the big 5 leagues
• whoscored.com - Lots of stats, and they use opta data which most betting sites also use. Gives most accurate rendition of stats vis-a-vis matching your sportsbook.

BASKETBALL:

• https://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/ -the NBA website tracks basic advanced stats. I mostly use it to check off/def ratings, what pace team are playing at and how teams will match up on grabbing rebounds, but it's pretty customizable and I imagine could be used for more
• https://www.teamrankings.com/ - also a good site for free granular stats. Covers most American sports. I don't use it too much but I probably should.
• https://www.basketball-reference.com/ -Everybody should know about bball ref. Best one-stop shop for stats.
• Dunc'd on podcast and the Lowe Post -Probably the 2 most informative podcasts when it comes to keeping up with the league
• rotowire and rotoworld for team line-ups

REQUEST: I'd love to know some basketball blogs that preview games from an X and Os match-up, or data perspective, even if it's only specific to one team.

Sports betting is one of the most popular forms of gambling there is. People just love to bet on their favorite sports, and they do it for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes people just like to bet on their favorite teams, because they see it as another way of supporting their team and being loyal to them. Sometimes people just bet on sports for the money. They don't pick a team because they like it; rather, they pick a team because they like it's odds of winning and making money for them.
But it really doesn't matter what your reason may be for betting on sports. This article has several tips which I have outlined in order to help you improve your chances of winning some money out of sports betting. These hints and tips will show you when, where, and how to wager properly, to be able to enjoy more winnings from your online gaming experience.

1. Manage your money. Learning how to manage your money properly is undeniably one of the most important factors in sports betting. However, this is also one of the most neglected aspects of gambling, whether online or not. Simply put, don't go all out and bet your entire bankroll on one game. It may surprise you to learn that this happens more often than not. Sure, you can win a lot by betting $1,000 compared to $100, but you also stand to lose all your money in just one game. If you spread it out, your chances of winning will also improve.
   
2. Don't drink and gamble. We all know the maxim, "Don't drink and drive", right? Well, this also applies to gambling. Have you ever wondered why casinos are so easy on the drinks? They like to serve free alcohol to their patrons, specifically because they want you to loosen up and not think straight. Alcohol messes up your judgment in a really bad way, especially after you've had a few. Just remember this: the casinos want to take your money away from you. If giving you a few shots of whisky will make it easier for them, then that's precisely what they'll do.
   
3. Study hard. No, this has nothing to do with schoolwork. But you still have to read up on all the important information on the sports and teams you will bet your money on. Think about it for a second. If you have absolutely no idea about what's been happening around the league (NBA, NFL, MLB, etc.), how would you make the right choice when it comes to laying down your money? Yes, gambling is not a sure thing, but the more you know, the more you're likely to make a good bet.
   
4. Take your time. Veteran sports bettors usually make it a point to bet on the underdogs, and usually they will make their bets early on. The beginners will usually bet on the favorites, and they'll place their bets later in the day. Now, if you're looking to wager some money on the underdog, try placing your bets as late as you possibly can, when the amateurs are placing their own bets. If you want to bet on a favorite, try to do it early, when the pros are betting.
   

Thank you for making this the longest Mailbag we’ve posted. Most of you wanted to vent, so I ran your comments first and the ones that required answers come afterward.
Most of you have given up on the season after the 0-2 start that should be 0-3. I’m guessing you gave up on them after the 0-3 start in 2018. Titans fans gave up last season when they started 2-4. Ravens fans wanted John Harbaugh fired with a 4-5 record in 2018. And don’t forget the Colts’ 1-5 start in 2018 and 10-6 finish, including a victory over the Texans at NRG Stadium? I predicted in August the Texans would start 0-3, so I’m not surprised. Now, if they start 0-4, it’s time to hit the panic button.
Oh, I almost forgot, stunningly, a few of you want Bill O’Brien fired. Imagine that.
Please check out the Chronicle’s two television shows this season: “Texas Sports Nation” airs at around 11:30 p.m. Sundays on KPRC (Channel 2) after NBC's football game. “Texas Sports Nation: In Depth” runs twice a month on AT&T SportsNet Southwest, which also reruns it at different times. The staff is putting a lot of time and effort into the shows, and we hope you like the content.
As always, thank you for contributing to the Mailbag, reading our stories in the Chronicle's print editions and online at Texas Sports Nation, where we also have multiple weekly podcasts. As you do every week, please send your comments and questions to [email protected]. Note: questions have been edited for clarity and/or brevity.
Q: Same BS again this year. There have been many changes, millions of dollars spent, lots of new coaches and plenty more excuses to come. Bill O’Brien is the one constant. He is not a great coach, not even a good coach and still a worse GM. By the time McNair realizes we will be auditioning the next quarterback to lead them nowhere. The excuses are so old. — David P.
Q: Your grade of the HC/GM should be an F. It’s hard to write this during the fourth quarter of this game where I knew, as well as you, the Texans wouldn’t win. But going for it on 4th down in the first half again on our side of the field is flat out stupid. I would have been OK with it in the 4th quarter on Baltimore’s side of the field because we were down by two scores and a field goal wasn’t going to help. If the guards can’t run block or pass block any better than this then I have to call out the GM. Does Bill understand that the rest of the NFL coaches know the offensive line cannot block long enough for a deep route to hurt them. It appears he has built a quick-strike offense fantasy built around deep pass routes that does not reflect the offensive line’s ability to block. Use Cobb and the TEs more and run the clock because our defense is not built to be on the field for long stretches and we surely haven’t scared the opponent defensively. Please do not say we played Baltimore better this time then last time. We lost and until the coaching/drafting/trading gets better, the Texans will always be full of noise and nothing else. — Glenn P.
Q: It's amazing that the Texans still keep getting national television slots. And every time they do Bill O'Brien uses it to showcase really stupid coaching decisions. That David Johnson trade looks bad now, with no one to block for him, and no one to pass protect for Deshaun. And Hopkins is enjoying great success with a dynamic QB and 2-0 record. The more things change, the more things stay the same. The Texans are again proving to not be ready for the start of the season. Those poor guys are bad at everything, poor offensive line play, no pass rush, poor tackling, and boy do they get outcoached. Teams take on the personality of their coach. And OB is never prepared and extremely unpredictable. That offense looks the same to me and so does the sad sack defense. Poor Deshaun deserves better than running for his life game after game. — Ronald J.
Q: I just want to say that I'm sorry you had to sit through the entire Ravens-Texans game. At least I could switch to the U.S. Open golf tournament. I'm not going to rag on anybody this morning. Just some thoughts that seem to me to be reasonable concerning Deshaun Watson. I was prompted on this subject by Brian Smith's first paragraph of his column. To paraphrase, one of these days he is going to shout, “REALLY?” when another questionable 4th down call comes in. There are just a few gifted QBs that have an innate gunslinger quality about them. Watson, Jackson, Mahomes, Favre, and Russell Wilson, to name a few. I think Watson is being mismanaged. The GM/HC is trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole. He is by nature a gunslinger. He is unconventional and they are trying to make him conventional. Turn him loose! Let him use the play called as a suggestion. See what happens when he is allowed to be who he is. My observation is he’s not a pocket QB. I see nothing in Kelly's play-calling that differs from O'Brien. Tim Kelly is an O'Brien clone. He studied and was groomed by O'Brien. What did we expect? I know, it's early. They were expected to lose this game. I just wish they would have gone out on their shields and not pouting on the bench. I know eventually O'Brien will be let go. My recommendation for replacement is Ravens DC Wink Martindale. Have you ever seen a more ravenous defense! You just wonder why we can’t be like that. They do trade film don't they? Weaver should study them until his eyes bleed. — Joe K.
Q: Hopkins is making Kyler Murray an MVP candidate. All Texans fans wish OB would go away. I worry about your sanity if you can't get over the Hopkins trade. Normally when you have fourth-and-1 at your 34, you punt. Why wouldn't you punt? Because your defense is arguably the worst in the NFL. Odds are they’ll be even worse if they are tired. It's one thing to know it another to announce it to the Ravens. Perhaps OB forgot, it's an emotional game. How do you think the Ravens felt then? OB’s got one of the most gifted QBs the NFL has ever seen at eluding a pass rush. What does a pump fake do? It gets DL to raise their hands and DBs to make a move. This is why the Texans are so damn frustrating. Yes, they stink on defense, and yes, they can barely block on most plays, but they still have the magician, DW4. What makes him so elusive? Body movements — subtle and not so subtle just like Air Jordan. It happens so quickly for these phenomenal athletes. It’s more instinct than thought. If you know anyone who has any influence with OB, pay them to whisper the words "pump fake." I bet you DW4 can sell a pump fake better than most. — Juan B.
Q: I was hoping the Texans would not start the season 0-2. The Ravens again beat the Texans. The Texans were outcoached and outplayed. The Ravens organization is clearly at a higher level than the Texans. The Texans' defense again was not effective against the run. The offensive line was not consistent with pass blocking or picking up the blitz. Then there was the fourth-and-1 at their 34. The coaching staff is hired to give you the best chance to win. This was not the best call, ever, on your side of the field against the Ravens defense. The play that was called had no chance of succeeding. This has become an alarming pattern for this team every year. Can we win in Pittsburgh? Not with this play-calling, poor defense and sporadic offense. I’m hopeful for a Texans win, but I see this year being very long and disappointing. — Darryl K.
More Texans Coverage
JOHN MCCLAIN BY JOHN MCCLAIN, STAFF WRITER McClain: Big Ben has thwarted Texans like clockwork
JOHN MCCLAIN JOHN MCCLAIN McClain: Texans' Watson, new receivers still adjusting to each...
JOHN MCCLAIN JOHN MCCLAIN John McClain's takeaways: Less is more for J.J. Watt
TEXAS SPORTS NATION AARON WILSON Texans, Reliant, Touchdown Club give $25,000 to HS football...
TEXAS SPORTS NATION: TV & PODCASTS JOHN MCCLAIN, AARON WILSON Podcast: How can Texans win in Pittsburgh?
JOHN MCCLAIN BY JOHN MCCLAIN, STAFF WRITER McClain: Texans lacking that opening drive
JEROME SOLOMON BY JEROME SOLOMON, STAFF WRITER Solomon: Bill O'Brien lucky to have the only supporter he needs
TEXAS SPORTS NATION: TV & PODCASTS JOHN MCCLAIN, AARON WILSON Podcast: Why the Texans sit at 0-2 Q: The Texans looked a little more competitive but did not show anything to convince me they can beat the Steelers so I'm seeing an 0-3 hole. Hope springs eternal which is essential for Texans fans. This looks like my year to adopt the Cardinals as my team. I lived in Phoenix for 50 years so it's not a random choice. With DeAndre Hopkins playing like he's a Cardinals veteran alongside the ever-reliable Larry Fitzgerald, I'm sure they're a fun team to watch and a nightmare to defend against. I'd like to become convinced that Bill O'Brien knows what he's doing, but the mountain of evidence to the contrary just keeps growing. — Greg G.
Q: If Houston played KC and Baltimore nine more times each, they would lose all nine to both teams. They're probably not in the top five in the AFC! These are the teams they must compete with just to reach a Super Bowl. Houston is not even in the conversation to win it all. This sucks again for loyal Houston fans begging for a winner. O'Brien is the problem, not the solution. I fear we have many years before being able to make and succeed in the playoffs. I see easily an 8-8 team this year. — Rhett D.
Q: I listen to Sports Radio 610 and read the comments from everyone and its all the same old thing — it’s O’Brien’s fault. When do all these high-priced prima donnas start hearing the comments about them? O’Brien got rid of Clowney because he wanted too much money, the same reason that he’s with his third team in three years. He got rid of Hopkins because he had three years left on the contract he signed. When is enough enough? These guys talk about helping people, then buy more cars or more jewelry or go to the strip clubs and make it rain. When do the owners that took the chance and spent their money to buy these teams say enough is enough and lock the doors and say no more, let’s get real on all these demands and I own the team and it’s my way or the highway? They don’t need the players — the players need them. — Tommy P.
Q: Football 101: You can't expect to win by trading away your best players. — Tim H.
Q: Bring DeAndre Hopkins back home. Please get rid of BOB, he's ruining the teams. Get rid of everyone in organization staff and the medical staff as well. — Billy W.
Q: I have lived in Houston and followed sports and Houston is just not a winning town. Look at the poor play in this year’s first two games. You gave them an F. I give them a big F-minus. Okay, you don't win every game, but you should be at the top. We had a few times where we did get to the top but not near enough. Now the best was the Luv Ya Blue days with Bum Phillips. The owner did not like Bum getting all the credit so off went Bum, down went the Oilers. Sports is just way out of control. Look at the pay they get, the best heart surgeon does not come anywhere near. Now the real problem is kneeling when our beautiful flag is presented and the national anthem is played. Protest is no problem as when done in a positive and proper manner. These kneelers have a nationwide audience. What a disgrace for this great country. Remember, these guys are able to kneel because of the veterans. Just find another place and method to protest. I look at the headstones of our military with KIA (Killed in Action) and look what they gave for little pay. This protesting by kneeling has to stop. I and many others no longer watch or purchase commodities from the advertisers. This virus will also hurt. . I stand for the veterans. — James M.
The Houston Chronicle’s Brian T. Smith discusses Texans coach Bill O’Brien’s curious decisions In their loss to the Ravens and whether anything has changed with the franchise. Video: Houston Chronicle Q: It all goes back to coaching and a head coach is only as good as the personnel around him. Frank Broyles passed that on to me a long time ago. And looks like he might have known what he was talking about. — Jim D.
Q: I couldn’t agree more with you on the grade you gave the Texans against the Ravens. It’s probably not too late or too early to get rid of O’Brien as we all figured they would start out slow. That being said even if they go 10-6, they’re nowhere near the quality of the Ravens or the Chiefs. They have way too many holes on defense and even though they’ve got some big-name wide receivers, they are not on the same page. And the defense is absolutely horrible. Why have Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins been able to get on the same page so quickly while the Texans are struggling? I looked at their schedule and based on how they’ve played even though it’s been only two weeks I figure them to be no better than 8-8. That being said, I think O’Brien should be fired. I don’t know who should replace him. It looks like trading Hopkins is a catastrophic mistake and trading Clowney he has also been a catastrophic mistake. Not resigning Reader is a catastrophic mistake. — Glen K.
A: Glen, why was trading Clowney a catastrophic mistake? He didn’t do much in his one season with Seattle and had fewer sacks than Jacob Martin. He’s still getting in shape with the Titans. Would you have given him a $100 million contract? Nobody else has. As for D.J. Reader, good against the run, but over the last nine games last season, including the playoffs, they allowed like 166 yards a game rushing. And they still can’t stop the run.
Q: Any idea why the Texans elected not to have crowd noise pumped into the stadium? Also, what the hell was Bill O’Brien thinking going forward on fourth and 1 on his own side of the field? — Jimmy B.
A: They had crowd noise, Jimmy, but they didn’t have the volume turned up. As for the fourth and 1, the Ravens blitzed and nobody picked it up and the pass was incomplete. Sometimes you’re the bug. Sometimes you’re the windshield. OB was the bug.
Q: I am a Texans fan and will watch and try to be positive, but nothing helps. Why doesn't offensive line push these teams back? Why is our QB constantly trying to throw 30 yards? Why is our center always standing after a play, typically backward and not forward? — Stephen G.
A: The offensive line is off to a bad start against damn good defenses, Stephen. Watson is running for his life and trying to find receivers down the field, and he’s still thrown a lot of short passes.
Q: Your article said Bill O'Brien called the fourth-down tragedy. Later in the article it said Tim Kelly is calling the plays. It looks like an OB call to me. Is O'Brien still calling the plays and Kelly is just a puppet or what? I was ready to turn the game off right after that call. I knew how the rest of the game would go. More of the same with stupid offensive calls. Both KC and Baltimore have active, varied offenses. Coach puts Watson in a position where the offense can't even operate. He continues to try to jam up the middle with his running plays. Isn't there some creativity somewhere? — Chuck W.
A: Chuck, O’Brien made the decision to go for it, and Kelly called the play.
Q: No takeaways about the coaching? I know you graded them F in your report card. Just curious if you had a more profound opinion? Remember OB’s the GM as well. No opinion on any of his trades so far? I know it’s early but I don’t see progress but then again that’s why as fans we look to you for insight. — Francisco M.
A: Francisco, I wrote a column that included OB. I try not to duplicate things in my On the Texans column with my takeaways. Plus, I have to pay attention to what our columnists, Brian T. Smith and Jerome Solomon, are writing. Brian wrote about the fourth-and-1 call and quoted O’Brien. I wrote about it but didn’t quote Bill because we’re not supposed to duplicate quotes if we can avoid it. After a game, we try to cover every single angle in the Chronicle's print editions and on our sports website, Texas Sports Nation. As for OB’s trades, I’ve written about them often.
Q: Now that we are two games in, who is the best quarterback in the AFC South? I know I have heard a lot of hype suggesting Deshaun Watson is the best, but if you go with wins, he is not the best. If you prefer using stats, he is buried behind such stellar talents as Gardner Minshew, Baker Mayfield and Justin Herbert. He is so far below Ryan Tannehill, Deshaun would need a telescope to see up that far. So is it the QB, the O-line coach or the BOB that is the problem with Deshaun? What irked me the most about the coverage of the team is trying to blame the defense. The defense was not good against KC but they held the Ravens to 16 points through three quarters. The lone touchdown was set up by the first of three turnovers by the offense in the first quarter. When you go for fourth and 1 in your territory, you need to make it. Three offensive turnovers in the first half is awful. The defense did let down in the fourth quarter but you could see it coming with their body language. You could tell they knew what we all knew. This offense is awful and they were never coming back. It is going to be a long year. I hope Deshaun survives it. — Tim M.
A: Tim, they didn’t commit three turnovers in the first quarter. As for who’s the best QB in the AFC South, if you ask GMs and coaches around the NFL, I imagine everyone will tell you it’s Watson. You’re already written him off after two games against the best teams in the NFL.
Q: I had a chance to hear your national radio interview on the Sirius NFL station Sunday morning. I thought you were really informative and brutally objective and really gave the rest of the country a sense of how many of us feel here locally. My questions are: How do you prepare for these things? My sense is that you stay immersed in your subject matter and then almost speak a verbal article in the Chronicle. And when did you start feeling comfortable doing these things. Finally, thank you so much for speaking in complete sentences. — Ray M.
A: Thank you for listening, Ray, and taking the time to write. I do so many talk shows, podcasts, Zooms and a weekly television show and write six days a week for the Chronicle — every day but Saturday — and it just comes out when I open my big mouth. I love what I do, and I’m blessed to be doing it for a 45th year at the Chronicle. I try not to turn down anyone who calls me for a radio appearance, Zoom, podcast, etc. if I can work them in. I try to accommodate everyone on a weekly basis.
Q: I'm curious as to why Bill O'Brien never provides specific details on what the team needs to work on after a bad game. It's always, “We need to do better" types of comments. I don't know why he will not provide specific details to the media and fans. Why is he always so vague? — Dan W.
A: Dan, he addressed the bad run defense, Keke Coutee’s fumble, lack of consistency, etc., after the Baltimore loss. He does say they need to play and coach better. He’ll never single out players for criticism, and they appreciate it even if the fans don’t.
Q: I know it’s a long season, but how much longer are the McNairs going to tolerate Billy O’s slow starts and faith-based personnel decisions. For the better part of seven years we have been hearing Billy say, “We have to start faster.” And the last few years, Billy has let go of or traded the best players on the team — Duane Brown, Brandon Brooks, Ben Jones, Glover Quin, JD Clowney, D-Hopkins, D.J. Reader. How do other teams figure out how to pay all these guys but Billy can’t? I know it’s not all Billy’s fault, but after the past few years, shouldn’t the McNairs realize Billy’s a below-average coach, at best? — Louis L.
A: Geez, Louis, you’re so off base on some of your comments. Rick Smith traded Brown and let Quin go in free agency to sign Ed Reed. Brooks, Jones and Reader left in free agency. Would you have paid all of them what they wanted? Would you have paid Clowney $100 million? Teams have to make financial decisions on the salary cap. They can’t pay every player what he asks for. Nobody does.
Q: I am amazed what Jacksonville has done the first two games. Jay Gruden has Minshew playing rather well and his offense looks to be pretty good. Is it possible that Cal's football team is imploding and the brain trust he has in place doesn't know that it is happening? I kind of got excited when the KILT 610 talking heads were saying things about all the speed at WR, and having two RBs who can catch the ball as well as run. And the fact that there were three new coordinators, bringing in new ideas and things should be different and much better. Looks like the OC is simply a clone of the previous one. Not sure about the DC. I still see opposing WRs and TEs running free like last year, and as you have pointed out many times, the run defense has disappeared. But Anthony Weaver is not missing gap assignments and trying to arm tackle ball carriers. Several of the players have gotten paid, but Cal is not getting his money's worth so far. When you predicted an 0-3 start, I figured you probably were correct and I thought those losses would be 2- or 3-point affairs, much like 2018. What I am seeing this season reminds a whole lot of 2005. Seemingly good players and coaches, but terrible execution and suspect game plans. From what you have said and written, Cal will not be making any changes unless the wheels completely fall off. Right now, I think his organization might be riding on the rims, but the wheels are still turning. Albeit slowly. Before the Baltimore game started, I watched the last 20 minutes of Arlington and Atlanta. Can you imagine Cal's team ever doing what Jerry's team did in that game? I feel bad that you have to endure another season covering Cal's team. I would truly love to see you cover a championship team before you retire. — Dennis W.
A: Dennis, if they finish 2-14 like they did in 2005, I expect OB will be fired as Dom Capers was. But I don’t see them finishing 2-14.
Q: I'm holding off any opinion on Kahale Warring at this point thanks to Bennie Joppru, a second-round pick in 2003 who never played a game after going on IR three years in a row. He seems to have played in one game in his fourth year and wound up in Seattle getting into five games and was never heard of again. Saved on laundry bill never having to wash his uniform. It's so easy and fun to be mean when you are a fan. — Larry V.
A: Larry, unfortunately, when I see Warring going on IR for a second consecutive season, I think of Joppru, too. Unfortunately. Maybe he’ll figure it out and make something out of himself because he’s got talent but hasn’t learned how to use it.
Sign up for the Daily Playbook newsletter Texas sports are back! Get the latest scores, news and analysis. Enter your email By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of use and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy. Photo of John McClain John McClain Follow John on: mcclain_on_nfl John McClain, a Waco native who graduated from Baylor in 1975, is in his 45th year at the Houston Chronicle and his 44th covering the National Football League, including the Oilers and Texans. He worked for the Waco Tribune Herald from 1973-76, when he accepted a job with the Chronicle. to cover the original Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association.
McClain has a plaque in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio as the 2006 winner of the Dick McCann Memorial Award presented annually by the Pro Football Writers of America to a writer for his long and distinguished coverage of the NFL. He is past president of the Pro Football Writers of America. In 2019, he was voted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame’s second class of media inductees.
He's a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Committee and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
In 2015, he was named as a Gridiron Legend in Texas, becoming the third member of the media behind Dave Campbell and Mickey Herskowitz. In 2019, he was voted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame's second class of media honorees.
McClain can be heard six times a week on the Texans' flagship station Sports Radio 610 in Houston. He also does weekly sports talk shows in Nashville, Knoxville, Waco, Austin and San Antonio.
McClain also has appeared in eight movies: The Rookie, The Longest Yard, Spring Breakers, Secretariat, Invincible, Cook County, The Game Plan and Make It Rain.

This is part 1 of a 3 part story I recently shared within The Betting Network community. The Betting Network or TBN is a group of sports bettors that all share information with a common goal of winning more bets. I also do weekly lessons, a mentorship program, game previews and just pass along any and all information I’ve gathered over the past 15 plus years, the main goal is to help members improve their overall sports betting IQ and help them avoid the brutal trial and error I had to go through before becoming successful in the sports betting industry.
I decided to share this story because of the feedback I received within The Betting Network, hope you guys enjoy it and also gain something from it.

PART 1/3

Before I get into the good stuff I have to explain what my job entailed at the time. The company I use to work for scraped sports betting information and data off the internet. A lot of pro bettors use “data scrapes” and what it does is it searches the internet 24/7 every second of the day for anything that has the keywords you programmed into the software. Think about how much time and effort this saves. You input “LeBron James Injury” and the second anything related to that is posted anywhere online it will be sent to you and even compiled in an organized fashion. You could put Steph Curry 3pt attempts and it will gather all that info and compile it. Data scrapes are really the only way a person could compile stats and information on entire leagues, it would take the entire season alone if you attempted to input it yourself without a scraper.
One of the most important data scrapers is for injuries and the company I worked for had it set up where it would be constantly searching the internet for injury related news and it would “ping” our computers already formatted so it could be sent out to members and social media. For example, this is what a “ping” would look like - CLE-F [LeBron James] - Calf- Questionable or GSW-G [Steph Curry] - wrist - Doubtful. Our job was to edit any errors and basically just click a button that was linked to send it out on all platforms, members text services, on twitter, everywhere we wanted. Our company's injury scrape was so good that live odds services like Don Best would simply have a scrape on our Twitter account. Pro bettors would just have notifications set for our tweets because we were breaking injury information 10 to 20 seconds before ESPN sometimes. By the way, 10 to 20 seconds is an eternity in the sports betting world. If you couldn’t tell already I’m no computer wiz, but what I believe separated our scrape from many others was how the information was formatted when we got it and how it was streamlined with all the platforms it needed to be sent out to after we got it. In other words, injury news breaks, we get the ping, hit one button and it’s sent. Other people may receive the injury information and have to type out the format and then send it out one by one to twitter or on their website. But like I said I have no fucking clue how it all works all I know is we were considered one of the best for NBA, NFL.
If you want to learn more about how to actually set up a scraper I provided a good intro to scraping link here: ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
http://crowdsourcesyndicate.info/MommyWowMyFirstScraper.html
The MIT Sloan conference is one of the biggest sports analytics conferences in the world. Myself and a few co-workers were sent to the Sloan conference to represent our company. It’s a big 2 day event and everybody from the sports world is there, anyone from sports book operators to NBA head coaches and players. Link below for this years speakers at Sloan ↙️↙️↙️
http://www.sloansportsconference.com/2020-conference/2020-speakers/
Anyone that’s heavily involved in the sports betting industry is usually there because it’s a great way to network with everyone all in one place. My company had a booth there and we would just answer questions, hand out promotional fliers and point out all the famous people we saw. This is where it gets good. While sitting at the booth a guy approaches me and asks: “What do you do”? Me: I’m a data analyst Guy: ok, but what do you do?
I explained to him my job responsibilities adding in a bunch of stuff to make it sound more important because the truth was I sat at a computer for 8hrs a day waiting for pings and answering phone calls where 90% of the callers had the wrong number. He pretended to be interested in the job details and before I could get into what he did or why he was there the convo ended with him asking if I’ll be attending day 2 of the conference. I said yes and he told me he would also be back tomorrow for day 2 and that after the conference tomorrow him and a bunch of guys were going to meet for drinks at the Westin hotel across the street from the conference, “drinks on me” he said while walking away.
The next day after the conference I went across the street to the Westin and they have a restaurant. I see “George” who I met the day before and invited me, he’s sitting at one end of a table that has 2 big tables pushed together making one big table. He waves me over and I sit next to him, there’s about 7 other people there. He tells me to order anything I want, drinks, food whatever and made a point to tell me and everyone there that he’s covering the bill. The Westin is really nice and expensive, not a place I would be going to eat and drink on my own considering I think I was making $16 an hour at this time. I couldn’t help but wonder why he invited me and only me when I had 2 other co-workers. After a couple hours and 4 vodka tonics I found out.
“George” was a professional bettor and was (still is) the head of a nationwide sports betting syndicate. He knew exactly what the company I work for dos and even knew my boss. Once we got into talking about what he does he wasted no time telling me what he wanted to do. He wanted me to notify him and his team about injuries before sending it out to the public, 15 seconds after to be exact. He knew that a majority of sports books used the live odds screen Don Best and that Don Best used our company for breaking injury news and if he was able to get the injury news before Don Best he would be able to beat the line on all the books that copied lines from them.
For example: Your bookie isn’t sitting in front of the computer moving the lines when an injury happens, it’s done automatically. Most local books set up what’s called an auto-mover and this copies the feed from another sports book. Some local books may copy the feed from say pinnacle or 5dimes or any book they feel has strong accurate lines. They can’t set up a direct feed to pinnacle or 5Dimes because established books such as those can detect software. So what they do is set the auto-mover up onto a live odds service like Don Best. Once the line moves on don best all the books that are copying lines will then move their lines.
George had software of his own that allowed him to bet games on thousands of accounts with a few clicks of a button. He explained to me how this would all work - I get the ping - CLE-F [LeBron James] - Rest - Out, I would copy and paste that onto the telegram messenger app and press send, he said sing happy birthday and when finished then I could post it to the world like I normally would. With his automated bet software he could pick off all the books that didn’t move the line yet based on Lebron being OUT. Of course not every single book was reliant on Don Best to move lines, many of the bigger well known offshore books had their own data scrapes and injury software, but more than enough books did rely on Don Best, who relied on my company. So the potential for this was through the roof.
I had some serious thinking to do, as much as I wanted to say yes on the spot my instincts held me back. I told him I had to weigh the pros and cons. After all I basically would be tanking my job duties and going from a committed employee to what seemed like a sneaky spy. It does our company and it’s members no good if I’m sending out information late or at the same time as every other company. Also, without getting too detailed regarding the financial arrangement I felt I needed to counter his offer. The biggest upside for me besides the money was my strong desire to get involved with a real sports betting syndicate but the negotiations quickly let me know that there is a dark side to the industry and I had one foot in.
To Be Continued....
PS I’ll likely share part 2 and 3 in the coming days.

Conducted by ANON A review on what to expect from this up and coming project
Can be found on coingecko.
Within this post/document it will cover what $ACED & AceD as a whole is, what to expect, and questions you guys have asked alongside information on the current online gambling statistics for the world, especially sports betting.
> The reason I have gone to this effort is because I have never seen such a low MC project have so much potential, this is unironically a gem. I truly hope you all see the value in this. LONG READ.
What is $ACED and Acedbet.io?
> 500k MC at this current time of posting
> Ethereum-based Token Tokenomics, Symbol: $ACED, Decimals: 18, Type: ERC-20 Token, Total Supply: 200 Million AceD, Circulating supply: 190 Million AceD
> This IS A FULLY WORKING RPODUCT. They advertise: Multi Crypto, Sports & Esports, Fair Odds, and Full Anonymity for all betters.
> AceD bases its fundamentals in providing an alternative to existing centralized systems through the blockchain. Other than most cryptocurrencies that just provide anonymity, AceD plans on developing a privacy-orientated platform where the possibilities are endless. AceD’s mission is to provide online world class entertainment options while providing a secure and private platform.
> Multi Crypto Sportsbook, AceDBets, is a newly launched sportsbook that aims to provide a superior user experience. Custom-designed from the ground up, AceDBets combines a smooth, streamlined interface with social features that enable interactions with fellow cappers.
> “Our goal is to develop an appealing product that betters can enjoy, fair betting experience with 0 downtime. Place a bet from anywhere in the world, totally anon compatible on any device. Demand will increase with improvements. Poker will also be a major driver.”
What the original AceD and the recent move to being a ERC-20 Token? why it happened:
> “AceD started out in June 2018 as a POS/Masternode coin. We decided to swap to ethereum chain in June 2020. Some bad characters were exploiting the chain stealing masternode rewards and selling them on exchange. Updates were too costly with centralized exchanges so the move to ethereum chain was the direction we agreed on. So basically, the main reason why we moved to Ethereum chain is to focus on product development and not worry about blockchain issues. We have Vitalik looking after our chain, no need to develop a blockchain ourselves.”
Did any tokens get lost?
> I asked about this and they said the 200million listed on etherscan is the full amount. Investors initially assumed that tokens were lost originally with the swap, but that is not the case.
The major thing a lot of you guys wanted to know about were the Team, Whitepapers and Roadmaps:
> “Expect team info to be available within the new couple days. Whitepaper draft has already started alongside roadmap, expect publishment within 2 weeks or so.”
> “We also plan to hire more staffing to fill the downtime as our userbase is increasing rapidly need to adapt with demand Over 1200 users signed up total. The total amount of team members we have is 10 (6 developers).”
I asked about bingo not working after being advertised as working, got a nice response, good to see priorities being taken care of:
> “Bingo has been taken offline temporarily; we’ll revisit the product as it requires some attention. AceDbets.io/sports betting is our primary focus right now.”
Considering live sports betting is the only thing running at the moment, what is the current daily, weekly, total wagered through you guys, how do the tokens get redistributed?
> “We shared a chart showing steady growth in bets over the past 3 months. Betting volume is out the roof this month, NBA resumes next week expecting even bigger volumes to roll in with major sports resuming. July numbers will be shared in 3-4 days. Currently there is no dividends model for users, the bankroll profits help fund development and future marketing goals.”
I find that last part interesting, could potentially be implemented as a system to reward staking if it were introduced. Hmm.
​
​
ACED and their future. What they plan on doing with Acedbet.io and their product as a whole.
What is there to look forward to in the next upcoming update, Any set time release? (This is in relation to the website and the extra features they plan to add to their sports betting. I have seen a lot of people comment on it.)
> “No firm date for the update, however we’re in the final stages of testing. It is a massive update for our platform need to ensure everything is down right and functional before we make the transition. Always room for improvement, the new update has many changes which will improve the user experience. We will continue to make changes, always listening to feedback and suggestions from our community.”
> “Support desk is being introduced along with update, where users will have access to knowledge tools, how to use acedbets, understanding betting odds, rules for events and quick support with ticketing system.”
> “in the near future we plan to introduce betting and bankroll management tracking tools. to help a better understand their track record.”
> “Updates will be provided in stages, we find that a more effective approach instead of blasting one big update every few months.”
This update is essential for the QOL of this product, the team seems to be absolutely working their arses off.
Ok, onto the future updates then:
THE BIG QUESTION? WHEN POKER?
> “Focus is on acedbets.io right now. There are not many bugs left, one major one with All IN freeze up issue and then a bunch of minor visual bugs that need to be ironed out. This will be revealed in our roadmap, we hope to have the product live in Q42020. It’s 80% complete with a few user facing bugs that will be addressed when we resume development in August.”
> “After poker, we will be adding more games to the platform such as Keno, Bingo, Roulette, Blackjack. Considering adding live dealers as well.”
WHEN STAKING?
> “Staking on platform will be introduced eventually not sure of the timeline for this. We would have a community vote on how to fund the staking model, a certain amount of coins could be minted for example to support long tem staking.”
I personally find this part to be interesting, if they manage to pull off a staking + betting crypto site, where potentially dividends could be paid off to stakers, etc. it would be crazy, never seen anything like this.
WHEN EXCHANGE?
> “Waiting for IDEX to reply, we have followed up and our listing request is now with their manager for review. We are actively seeking new exchanges and will find a better alternative to graviex very soon. IDEX application submitted, being reviewed by their listing manager.”
WHEN MARKETING?
> “We will be ramping up marketing after our acedbets.io update. Social media, influencers, AMA’s podcasts, some fun contests, publishing articles on major crypto sites, telegram and discord server promotions, partnerships.”
WHEN WILL YOU MAKE BLOG POSTS AGAIN?
> We will be appointing 2 team members to handle our social media profiles. This includes our medium account. All information will be available on acedcoin.com and medium.
I am unsure of anymore future updates as they have said they do not want to make too many promises. I believe with the roadmap release we will be able to get a grand idea of the project. PLEASE DO NOT BE AFRAID TO JOIN THE DISCORD AND SUGGEST IDEAS, THEY LOVE ALL INPUT AND TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.
​
Why bother investing in this?
> How about you guys have a look at the online gambling market predictions for the next 10 years…
> “The global online gambling market size was valued at USD 53.7 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5% from 2020 to 2027. The high internet penetration and increasing use of mobile phones among individuals for playing online games from their homes and public places are driving the market.
In addition, factors such as easy access to online gambling, legalization and cultural approval, corporate sponsorships, and celebrity endorsements are also contributing to market growth. The growing availability of cost-effective mobile applications across the globe is further expected to fuel market growth.”
THIS PUTS A $104B VALUATION EXPACTATION FOR 2025.
IT THEN GOES ON TO SAY THIS: > “ The growing number of sports followers across the globe has fuelled the demand for sports betting. The majority of bets are placed on boxing, baseball, football, and hockey sports, which is, in turn, driving the market.
Increasing the development of new technologies such as virtual reality and blockchain is also driving the growth of the industry. This may be attributed to the fact that several companies are now integrating the blockchain technology into their online gambling business. This helps them ensure transparency in gambling activities and offer enhanced user experience. In addition, blockchain-based gambling platforms are completely decentralized and are free of third-party influence.”
They LITERALLY KNOW AND INCLUDE BLOCKCHAIN in their report. THEY KNOW IT WILL BE A BIG INFLUENCE IN YEARS TO COME. Even with COVID-19, AceD covers every sport you could think of that would be running right now, it even has E-Sports. This market prediction, alongside the ACED betting website WITH FULL ANONYMITY… This is going to blow. Once more betting options are released too, especially live poker. Man, you guys better be ready, do not complain about not getting in. I have laid this all out for you, now the choice is yours.
The closest thing that even compares to $ACED is 25mc, and then the next is 40mc. Neither have Anonymous gambling. Once $ACED gains more features, they will be far ahead of these other platforms.
​
EXTRAS
What are you current biggest draw backs? what is stopping you guys from really excelling and achieving these visions faster?
> “Funding, our goal is to build a self-sustainable model with acedbets.io and we are well on our way to achieving this. We would also like to introduce more entertainment options such as live streaming with tip functionality. With our growing userbase I think we can attract a lot of streamers to use our platform to share their content. In order to achieve these, we can have community votes on coins being minted and offered as OTC crowd sale.”
Legal troubles, could this happen with the anonymous betting? Once you guys do pop off and blow up, will this bite you? I don’t personally see a reason for it to but please explain if there would be.
> “Currently, we don’t offer betting in fiat currencies, our platform is strictly crypto therefore a gaming license is not required to operate in this space. However, if need be we are prepared to comply with any changes and a gaming license would be obtained if required.”
If the site does get hacked or anything happens, how safe are everyone’s funds? Sorry if this is rather random it’s just good to know.
> “All funds deposited into acedbets.io are moved over to cold storage. We only keep a small threshold to payout daily withdrawals which is replenished on a daily basis.”
Wtf went on with DGN? saw a lot of fud > “I was in touch with Bubba-Degen (founder of DGN) , announcement was made on their discord. The FUD started due to couple members requesting a refund and were unhappy with the announcement of launch date being extended to upcoming Friday. The 2 guys went ahead and started spamming telegram groups with false information and accusing DGN as scammers. The DGN token will be listed on acedbets.io this weekend and the project will be live be going live on Uniswap on Friday. “

Before we dive in, if you want to participate in the annual Call Your Shot season predictions contest, you can find it here.
It's FINALLY coming! Welcome to the 2020 MLB Season! We are so glad you are here. Don't let the length of this post scare you, we just wanted to consolidate all the relevant information that people have questions about into one place to start the season off. This is your survival guide for the 2020 season, it should have all the pertinent information to answer most of your questions!
If you are a brand new fan I'd recommend going through most of it, if you're a veteran you'll know which sections you'll want to read by their headings. My goal here is that both new and returning fans can learn how to better enjoy the season and know what's going on on Baseball this year. Okay, take some time and read through what you want to read through below!
This is the fourth year of doing this. Every year I go through the previous years comments to find things that should be added or corrected for the next edition, so if you have any great resources or information that you think would be beneficial to add, please comment it below!
Sections:

• Introduction for new and renewed interest fans.
• Rule changes for 2020
• Finding a Team
• Knowing Where Different Teams Stand
• Baseball
• Your Team's Sub
• Twitter, Podcasts, and Other General News/Analysis Sources
• The Statistical Titans: Baseball Reference and Fangraphs
• Where to watch? Your TV and Streaming Guide
• MLB.tv
• MLB At Bat App
• How to watch baseball.
• Where to watch highlights and game recaps.
• TL;DR: Find a way to enjoy the game.

Introduction for new and renewed interest fans.

Baseball normally has a long season. I don't just mean that in terms of time between opening day and the World Series (which can be considered long as it is), but also the 162 games played in 183 days, 18-20 times against the same 4 teams each. It can be daunting, and many people lose interest by "the dog days" of June and July. This year things are going to be a little different. With only 60 games on the schedule (assuming we make it through without a major clubhouse covid outbreak that cancels games versus that team) every game is going to matter about 3x as much as one in a normal regular season. Tensions will be high, but we might not feel it because there won't be that much crowd noise. THAT SAID - they're still playing 60 games in 66 days, which means almost every day for the next two months isn't just packed with baseball, they're packed with YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS baseball, which while exciting after months without any American sports in the regular season (MLS - a tournament is not the regular season) can end up feeling overwhelming when you just finished watching a late game go into extras then wake up to realize there's an afternoon game on in six hours.
This guide is meant to help you if you wish to avoid being one of those who feels overwhelmed and loses interest a couple weeks after Opening Day.
First and foremost if you are a new fan or newly returning, you must remember one thing: you do not need to watch every game. Many football fans, and even some basketball and hockey fans, find this difficult, they're used to setting aside a few nights a week to watch their team, and they can watch all the games. Baseball isn't like that. For the next two months, your team will only have 6 days where they won't be playing a game. And some of the games they play will start as early as 9:20am (Pacific Time), others will end after 1am (Eastern Time). If you miss a game it's okay, odds are there's another one tomorrow. If you miss a week, no big deal, hell if you get busy for a few months and aren't able to watch you team, that's not an issue, because you can still follow your team.
Baseball is a game to be followed. In the old days it meant picking up the morning paper and checking the box scores. Now it means being able to have a final score texted/tweeted/messaged/emailed/what-evered to you the minute the game ends, or rolling over in bed when you can't sleep and grabbing your phone to check the West Coast scores. It means being able to check reddit in the morning to see any breaking news from across the league, or catch a story you missed. We live in a time where you can go to MLB.com and get a recap of every game from last night in less than 10 minutes. Honestly, baseball was made to be consumed, and the technology age makes it easier than ever, whether you want to spend hours every day pouring over stats and analysis, or 15 seconds to see how your team and their playoff rivals did today.
The rest of this guide is mostly dedicated to ways that you can help yourself follow your team, and if you have time follow the entirety of MLB.
Anyways, enough rambling, TL;DR Don't worry if you miss games, there'll be one tomorrow.

Rule Changes for 2020

For this season only (or so they say...):

• The NL will utilize the DH full time.
• In extra innings the person in the batting order immediately before the lead off hitter will start on second base.
• Games suspended due to rain will continue play at a later date rather than be washed out and restarted.
• Arguing within six feet of an umpire or participating in a fight will be met with heftier fines and suspensions this yaer.
• Pitchers will be allowed a wet rag to be brought out from the dugout in lieu of being able to lick their fingers for better grip.
• Each team has a 20 extra players in their "taxi squad" in addition to their active roster and 40-man roster.
• Active rosters will start at 30 players, then will be cut to 28 after two weeks, then 26 after four weeks.
• Spitting is not allowed.
• Non-social distanced celebrations are not allowed.

Permanent (as any rule change can be in baseball) rule changes for 2020 and beyond:

• Three batter minimum - pitcher entering the game must face a minimum of three batters unless they complete an inning.
• The MLB Active Roster is expanded from 25 players to 26 players.

Finding a Team

I always recommend following the local team since you'll have more access to news about them in the local media and should be able to get their radio broadcast, as well as TV broadcasts of them if you have cable/satellite/streaming, and depending on where you're at the occasional over the air game, but if you don't live by a team or don't want to follow the local team, or are just looking for a second team to follow, I wrote this in depth guide to picking a team that's the right fit for you.

Knowing Where Different Teams Stand

Every year ESPN, Sports Illustrated, FOX, NBS, and every other sports related site puts out their season previews. These are great for getting a basic rundown of what is going on with each team, and a simple google search will bring up a plethora of possible articles to read.
If what you really want is a fans perspective on what each team's expectations condensed into a few short comments, I'd highly recommend going through each teams day from our annual "Why will X team exceed expectations?" series. All the previous posts are linked in the Astros thread.

Baseball

Alright, so plugging baseball on baseball seems a bit redundant, but I think it's a good reminder that this is a great hub for all your MLB news throughout the season while still letting you see the occasional amazing college/minor league/foreign league performance.
During the season there are a number of features to keep you informed of all the goings on around baseball.
Every day of the season (and a portion of the offseason) we have General Discussion threads we call Around the Horn. These are great places to ask questions and discuss anything that you want to know about baseball but don't feel like it deserves it's own post. In the Around the Horn post you'll be able to see a full schedule of what is going on around Baseball every week.
Here are the weekly features:
Daily: Nightly Pick'Em - A six year running contest to pick the result of one game every day. Details can be found in this thread.
Monday: Power Rankings - A team of 30 fans from every team in baseball, led by masochist fearless leader kasutori_jack, releases their composite power rankings of the 30 teams. This leads to well thought out discussions and some in depth analysis, as well as salty fans crying about how their team is underrated (there may be more of the latter than the former, but it's still a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of how every team is doing).
Monday (Unofficial) - The last few years thekmanpwnudwn has posted a State of the Subreddits post that gives the top post from each team's subreddit from the last week. This is a great roundup post for staying up to date on what all the different team fandoms are feeling, and helps you catch any milestones you might have otherwise missed.
Tuesday: Weekly Awards - Led by lemcoe9 a different team of a fan from every team releases the results of their weekly (and monthly) voting for who the best position player and pitcher was since the last vote was taken. Once again, a great way to keep track of which players are on hot streaks, and who's dominating the league.
Wednesday: Wild Card Wednesday - Each week a new contest, trivia game, or just out of the box fun thread will be stickied! Got an idea? Let the mods know!
Thursdays: Division Discussions - We rotate between the Easts, Centrals, and Wests to do some more in depth talk about where the playoff races and teams stand. If you only have time for one baseball thread every week and want to keep up with the league, this is the thread to set aside time for.
Friday: Trash Talk/Compliment/Complaint - FRIDAYS ARE FUN DAYS, WE ROTATE BETWEEN TRASH TALK, COMPLIMENT, TRASH TALK, AND COMPLAIN THREADS! TRADITION STATES ALL COMMENTS BE IN ALL CAPS AND ENDING IN EXCLAMATION POINTS! WE ROTATE RATHER THAN HAVE A SET DAY FOR EACH ALL SEASON BECAUSE IT'S A LONG SEASON AND ANY ONE OF THE THREE THREADS CAN GET STALE FAST IF YOU DON'T LEAVE TIME FOR MORE AMMUNITION!
Saturday: Saturday is when we usually plug in occasional things that don't necessarily deserve weekly attention. Things like in depth stat discussions, memorobilia sharing, craft projects, etc.
Sunday: Game of the Week - Sunday is the one day a week where we get together as a subreddit to watch a baseball game together, since it's the one time every week where there's only one game going on and there's guaranteed to be a game. The Sunday Night Baseball game thread is usually posted a couple hours before the first pitch.
In addition the playoffs, and select premier match-ups (mostly at the very end of the season where there is a lot riding on a regular season game) we host game threads for all baseball users. These are neutral thread, for more info on less neutral ones skip to the next section. We may experiment with game threads in baseball for the MLB.tv Free Game of the Day this year.
In addition to all these features, it really is a great place to keep up with breaking news and highlights. It'll be posted here minutes after someone tweets it, and long before it's on MLB.com. Team beat writers get the stories first, and it's easier to check in here a couple times a day than follow every one of them. Plus there's something the kids are calling "dank memes" (but not too many, because us mods don't allow too much moisture to get into the servers).

Your Team's Subreddit (And other team subs as well)

The mods at baseball have one goal - help you have the best possible reddit baseball experience, and a LOT of that is helping you get connected to other fans of your team (which feels a little like a cop-out because it means less work for us if you're doing more on your team's sub, but your team's mods aren't complaining.)
One of the main draws of team subs (other than in depth discussion with like-fan-minded users, getting breaking news and analysis on your team, team-memes, and other reddit discussions that come up from a group of individuals who can agree on one thing) are game threads. At this time (to the best of my knowledge) every team sub hosts game threads for their team's games, and you can easily access them in the sidebar during the season by clicking on the team's logo in the schedule (we're working on getting that up to speed, MLB changed some parts of their RSS and background data and we've had to work around that to get our automated system back up). We like to keep the game threads in team subs for a few reasons, one of which is we want to support the team subs and send them relevant traffic when we can because they really do an amazing job, another is because with 15 games a day this place would look like crap if we had game threads for every game or let users post them as they please (we've tried it, it blots out news, discussion, and highlights and looks like crap, baseball doesn't have only a couple days set aside for games or focus on marquee match ups like many other sports, it's 2430 games played in 183 days and is better when it's spread out.)
Even if you're not a game thread person though, getting connected with a good team sub can make disappointing seasons more bearable, and great seasons more exciting, and I know plenty of users that said that their team's sub basically keeps them fans. Team subs are also a great place to get connected to...

Twitter, Podcasts, and other General News/Analysis Sources

Going to be honest here, I don't use twitter and I do not frequently read other people's blogs. I know many people do and enjoy it, and I believe the best way to find the people to follow/sites to visit that interest you the most are to hang around your team's sub and note which Tweets/Sites that are linked to that most often peak your interest. Your list of favorite baseball writers is going to be different than my favorite list, and finding the right twitter personalities, podcasts hosts, and bloggers can make game analysis more interesting for you even if your team is playing like crap and it's the middle of July.
Here are some common suggestions for some general baseball twitter accounts and podcasts to get you started, but like I said, find what you like and follow those:
Twitter

Account	Account	Account
@MLB	@Ken_Rosenthal	@Buster_ESPN
@jonmorosi	@mlbtraderumors	@MiLB
@JeffPassan	@MLBInjuryNews	@BNightengale
@keithlaw	@based_ball	@SamMillerBB
@jonahkeri	@BaseballAmerica	@brooksbaseball
@BenLindbergh	@ChrisCotillo	@mike_petriello
@MJ_Baumann	@FanRagSports	@TheAthleticMLB
@fangraphs	@baseballprospectus	@baseball_ref
@daynperry	@CBSSportsMLB	@CespedesBBQ
@GrantBrisbee	@JonHeyman	@cantpitch
@MLBRosterMoves	@darenw	@extrabaggs

Podcasts

Account	Account	Account
Effectively Wild	Baseball Tonight	The Ringer

The Statistical Titans: Baseball Reference and Fangraphs

Literally every day you will find a link or to BaseballReference.com or Fangraphs.com here, it's a given, and it's because these are the two most extensive free baseball databases that are easy to navigate. If you want to look up anything about baseball history, check Baseball Reference, if you want to look up how players stack up with non-proprietary advanced metrics or read an insightful blog post about why someone is overrated/underrated or overperforming/underperforming, check Fangraphs. With these two sites you have all the stats and figures you need to make a competent argument for basically anything you want with a little cherry picking.
A large part of the modern baseball world is statistics and you're going to find yourself getting more immersed in discussing the game if you can get a handle on all the terms getting thrown around. If you are brand new to baseball, take a little while to get to know the game before diving into these sites, but if you have a handle on the basics and are ready to know what this WAR everyone is talking about is, dive into the glossaries and find the statistics.
When you get the basics, creating your own analysis doesn't seem as daunting, and one of the reasons I love baseball is that I can deconstruct pretty much every play and find some meaning behind it. If you are like that and enjoy numbers, theoretical projections, and breaking things down into simple figures before reconstructing them into something long and beautiful, then learning the basics of sabrmetrics will make you a baseball fan for life. If, on the other hand, you just want to enjoy the game for the beautiful pastime that it is by watching, then we've got a little bit to go through...

Where to Watch? - Your TV and Streaming Guide

So a big part of baseball is, you know, actually being able to watch the games (though as I talk about at the end, it might not necessarily be the case for you, and that doesn't mean you can't enjoy baseball, skip down and see what I'm talking about in the final section).
First off, if you are looking for free games to watch, you are in luck! MLB.tv streams one game a day for free on MLB.com and Yahoo.com. These games are subject to local blackouts (details on those in the MLB.tv section) but are definitely worth watching if you're trying to see if you'll enjoy baseball, or just need a free baseball fix. Facebook is also streaming one game a week during the season for free. The other free games available are from May 18 to July 13 on Saturday night and Thursday nights in September when FOX airs games on their OTA affiliated networks. Believe it or not, TV antennas still work in most areas, and these games are free to watch. Some teams also broadcast select games on OTA networks in their region.
Okay, so now the more expensive stuff. If you have even the most basic cable package (or log in information) you probably have ESPN. ESPN airs games every Sunday Night as well as Wednesday Night and Opening Weekend. These games are also available on ESPN Go.
You also probably have a regional sports channel. This is where almost all of your local teams games will be aired. Here is a decent breakdown of every team and what network they are carried on.
TBS is also on even the most basic networks, they air games the final 13 Sundays of the regular season in the afternoon.
FS1 and FOX carry baseball games almost every Saturday of the season, and MLB Network carries games pretty much every day.
A list of currently scheduled national broadcasts is available here, not all games have been chosen so there will be more added to the list.
For all these networks (except for the Dodgers, Orioles, and Nationals regional networks) there are options to stream the games online provided you have cable login information for the channel. During the playoffs FS1, TBS, and MLB Network will carry most of the games, with ESPN carrying a wild card game and FOX carrying the World Series.
Now there are also streaming services that grant access to most of the previously mentioned channels:

• Sling TV Orange package gets you ESPN, ESPN 2, and TBS.
• Sling TV Blue package gets you FOX, FS1, FS2, TBS, and most regional sports networks.
• Youtube TV gets you FOX, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, TBS, MLB Network, and some regional sports networks.
• HULU Live gets you FOX, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, FS2, TBS, and your regional sports networks.
• Playstation Vue Access gets you FOX, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, FS2, and TBS.
• Playstation Vue Core adds MLB Network to the Access channels.
• Playstation Vue Sports Extra adds regional sports networks in addition to your other channels.
• AT&T TV Now Live a Little gets you FOX, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, and TBS and your regional sports networks.
• AT&T TV Now Just Right adds MLB Network to the Live a Little channels.
• AT&T TV Now Go Big adds FS2 to the Just Right channels.
• FUBO Premier gets you FOX, FS1, and your regional sports networks

Also, ESPN+ will carry select games pretty much daily throughout the season.

MLB.TV - the Ultimate Fan Investment

Alright, so a few things to cover with this, first of all YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LEGALLY STREAM IN MARKET GAMES IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES. MLB.tv uses your IP address to see where you are located, and if it pings back that you are in a team's home market it will not let you watch the game LIVE. Here is where you can find what games MLB.tv will black you out from. National broadcasts on ESPN, FOX, and TBS are also subject to blackouts within the United States (MLB Network games are not). Before you ask, yes there are less than legal ways to get around this (spoofing your IP address, subreddit dedicated to mlb streams, etc.), but I won't be talking about those in detail here. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, YOU WILL HAVE NO BLACKOUTS.
Even if you are blacked out, you will be able to watch the game 90 minutes after it finishes, so if you work a late shift or stay up late it might be worth it for you anyways even if you only want to follow one team.
Military members and college students, don't forget to apply your 35% discount!
"But I don't want to watch EVERY out of market game, I just want to watch MY team!" Cool, for $25 less there's a single team option that will allow you to watch all your team's non-blacked out games! Personally, I'd pay the extra $25 for the opportunity to watch every Kershaw, Bumgarner, and Scherzer start, or put the Cubs on in the background while working on a Friday afternoon, but to each their own.
"But I don't want to commit for a full year!" That's okay, there's a monthly option as well in case you know there are months where you can't watch as much.
Some of the fun features of MLB.tv include the ability to watch four games at once and quickly swap your audio from one to another (seriously, I'm never on commercial break when I'm watching baseball, unless there's only one game on I'm able to watch it all, and in September that's huge) and condensed games. What are condensed games? They go through and cut out all the time between pitches and innings, meaning if you want to watch a whole game in less than a half hour (or are searching desperately for a play to make a .gif or streamable out of that for some reason isn't considered a highlight) it's really easy. If you're someone who really wants to get into the game but can't figure out how to grind through watching a full game, Condensed Games are great for keeping up with a team while you learn the little details between pitches that somehow make watching the catcher twiddle his fingers exciting for some fans.
Also, new this year, MLB has added some great baseball documentaries to your MLB.tv subscription, giving you access to more than just games for the first time.
In addition, there are two great resources to enhance your total immersion into baseball if there are multiple games going on. Please note for both of these you must already be logged into MLB.tv to make them work. The first, and most basic, is Brooks Baseball's MLB.TV Redzone. It will automatically take you to the highest leverage game going on, and will automatically shift you to another game between innings OR if another game enters a higher leverage situation. For a more personalized touch, The Baseball Guage has MLB.TV Game Changer which lets you customize your preferences so MLB.tv will always switch to the game that is most relevant to you. This is great if you play fantasy and want to keep up with your players, are waiting for someone to hit a milestone, or if you want to make sure your action is broken into to follow a no-hitter in progress.
It also gives you a free subscription to...

MLB AtBat - The Most Underrated Way to Stay Connected to Baseball

MLB AtBat is MLB's official application. It comes in two versions, the free version which has ads but is useful for keeping up to date with all the scores, and the paid version ($19.99 for the year of $2.99 monthly) which gives you access to ad-free content, Gameday on your mobile device, and (most valuable) access to every team's radio stream for every game during the season and postseason completely blackout free. If there's a day game, you can bet I'm listening to it at work, if I'm mowing the lawn on a Saturday I'm listening to a game, when I can't sleep at night, on comes a West Coast game. To get the paid version you must download the free version, then subscribe within the app, or log into an MLB account that has MLB.tv.
Baseball was made to be on the radio, it's a sport that is very easy to follow the action with the right announcer. At work (or school) it's great because you can half listen, and when the announcer gets excited you can instantly tune back in to hear what's going on. This is the most underrated way to stay connected to your team throughout the year. Before I could afford MLB.tv, this was the way to go, and it honestly makes me question every year whether getting the MLB.tv package is worth is when I can get 80% of the entertainment value from listening to the games (and every year I manage to forget to unsubscribe, for many reasons listed above).
Gameday on mobile is also a great feature, it lets you quickly check in on the action during brief recesses in meetings (or under the table during meetings), or breaks between classes (or under a desk in classes). This is honestly my primary means of keeping track of Twins games throughout the year. My wife thinks I'm crazy when I could just watch the game, but instead am nervously checking my phone every couple minutes. IF I WATCH I JINX THE TEAM, HONEY!

How to watch baseball?

So this is a question that we get from many new fans who are just trying to figure out what the hell is going on and why people find this game so fascinating. I'll get the elephant in the room out of the way, yes there are some "boring" parts of watching baseball on TV. The camera fans to a batter spitting and adjusting his gloves, the pitcher adjusts his crotch then licks his fingers, random shots of a bored looking manager, etc. When you are actually at the ballpark you can be watching where the catcher and fielders set up to try to predict the pitch that is coming (read The Hidden Language of Baseball by Paul Dickson for some great insight into how to interpret this), but on TV it's not usually the case. This is where I have some suggestions for new fans trying to get into it.
First off, if you are looking for just a relaxing day, embrace the slow pace with a beer and veg out on the couch while watching. It's meant to be slow and relaxing (until it gets tense and exciting, usually with runners on). Seriously, when was the last time you just sat and did nothing? Mid July afternoon games are a perfect way to reach that zen of half-consciousness, until something happens to get you sucked into the action.
Another option to stay engaged is keeping score. I find keeping score relaxing and looking back through a scorebook can be fun to see what you were doing a few years ago (except for that damn unfinished scorecard from 2015 where A-Rod hit the most predictable home run in Twins-Yankees history and I sent my scorecard flying to the other side of the room). As NPR once put it, keeping score is a knowledge making activity, and if you have the time and patience for it it is a great way to learn the game. There are a couple different guides to keeping score, and most scorebooks/cards will have a brief example of how to do so. If you have any questions, the Around the Horn thread is a great place to ask!
Gamethreads are another way to get together with other baseball fans and pass the time between pitches, especially in team subs you get to know the regulars and conversations start to wonder away from baseball at times throughout the game, and that's fine. Baseball is an excuse to enjoy a summer day.
For those that want to actually understand what is going on during that time, though, there are some options. Watching Baseball Smarter by Zack Hample (who despite his reputation on this subreddit knows some stuff and actually pops in from time to time to comment on different things) is a good starting place for new fans. Baseball for Dummies and The Complete Idiots Guide to Baseball are also good starting points for those willing to sit and read for a little bit.
For those who don't want to read a book, I guess I can touch on what I'm looking for between pitches. A big part of baseball is pitch selection, so scouting out a pitchers repertoire of pitches is a good starting point, BrooksBaseball.net has great cheat sheets on every pitcher in the game, and PitcherList.com has a visual example of each pitcher's pitches so you can see what you can be looking for. Anyways, I mention that because the whole reason the catcher is twiddling his fingers behind the plate is to go over with the pitcher what pitch is going to be thrown. What I'm watching for between pitches is where the catcher is setting up behind the plate and guessing which pitch is going to be thrown. A 2-0 and 3-1 count are known as hitters counts because the pitcher needs to throw a strike or risk walking the batter, when the count reaches either of those pay attention, because the hitters going to be looking for his perfect pitch and there's probably going to be some action on the field. 0-1, 0-2, and 1-2 are pitcher's counts, look for curveball, slider or other somewhat nasty pitch to be thrown to get the batter to swing at a bad pitch, or a fastball inside to catch them off guard. If you have any questions about this, go ahead and ask in an around the horn thread.

Where to watch highlights and game recaps.

There are many many places to see highlights and game recaps, this is not an exhaustive list, but is a good start.
For highlights, bigger highlights will often be posed here on baseball a few minutes after they occur, if you wish to post them please familiarize yourself with the subreddit rules. They also appear relatively quickly on MLB.com in each games Gameday area. For a pretty slick collection of highlights from across MLB, https://baseball.theate is a great place to exclusively watch highlights.
There are a few ways to get great game recaps. If you have MLB Network, every day Quick Pitch is an hour-long show that recaps every game from the previous day. It usually starts after MLB Tonight (about 10pm EDT) or whatever game MLB Network is showing finishes up, and runs until 10am EDT the next day. MLB.com also puts out recaps of every game by the next morning, usually a 2-5 minutes quick rundown of highlights that can be found on the game recap. It also puts out Fastcast videos on youtube and their website every morning which has a brief rundown of all the games from the previous day. Here's an example of a Fastcast from two seasons ago.
If you want one concise place to see most of these, efitz11 was amazing last season and posted video links to every game recap and fastcast in the daily Around the Horn thread. Here's an example. I am unsure if they plan to continue it this year, but it would be surely appreciated!

TL;DR Finding what you enjoy about the game.

When it boils down to it, baseball is about finding entertainment and enjoyment, and don't let anyone try to tell you how to enjoy baseball. If you want nothing to do with statistical analysis and just want to enjoy what's going on on the field, don't let anyone tell you you aren't enough of a fan, and if you want to dissect a player into their strengths and components using statcast and advanced metrics don't let anyone tell you you're reading into the game too much. You can follow one team, and only one team, or you can follow multiple teams, don't let anyone tell you you're not a true fan for wearing another team's gear or enjoying their games. You might enjoy bat flips and flamboyance, or reserved speedy home run trots. You might not even enjoy physically watching a game (especially not if your team isn't playing), but find yourself loving keeping track of your team through the season and tracking your players or maybe just the thrill of the standings race and scoreboard watching or maybe you just love all the numbers that get thrown around and arguing about their relevancy. That's okay, eventually I believe enjoyment of the game itself will come, but even if it doesn't, the long baseball season is still creating a place of enjoyment for you, and that's what matters. If you have any questions, once again, feel free to ask them in our daily Around the Horn thread, or below in the comments, or if you really want to feel free to PM with questions and I'd be happy to answer.
So watch games this week and join in the discussion here, you'll naturally find yourself gravitating towards certain players or teams and enjoying different aspects of the game. Baseball is a long season, find what you enjoy, stick to it, dwell on it, and enjoy it.
TL;DR for the TL;DR - Baseball is fun

Comers Body; Soccer, or football, is it is more commonly known, is also considered as one of the most preferred games globally. This is also considered one of the most played and watched games in us and other parts of the world. Several football fans around the globe prefer betting on this sport, and so they always look around online for the best football betting tips, so they can make money when favoring their best teams. You can always bet on leagues played between Scotland, Ireland, and other English premier leagues.
Anyone more interested in placing their bets on these sports, always keep on looking around for information so they can still make their right decision when placing their bets on any of the teams. Just like any other type of sports, you certainly need to perform a lot of research so you can get wagered information.
Most bettors should follow any type of injuries that the players are suffering from. It is important that most bettors have collected all possible information from several weekly updates that most websites provide related to the injuries of the players. This is an important aspect and should be done before placing the bets. This also makes one of the most important elements when placing your wager. And football predictions are always one of the best options available. If a team is dealing with multiple injury players or even if the key player is injured, the group shall be forced to make decisions that might also affect the gameplay.
Several websites might offer you with football betting tips such as injured players in the team and also the type of injury they are facing. The websites also provide information like the time when the key player is expected to recover. So if you are interested in placing your bets, then it is advisable to check with these websites looking around for effective football betting tips. Check with the daily status of the player and then make your decision. For most key players, return dates might be flexible.
When placing your bets on football, most players prefer betting on home side teams. You have to keep in mind that with most groups, there might be an enormous amount of advantage playing in their home town.
In most cases, teams generally win the moment they are playing in their home town. Visiting teams typically have less support from their fans, so they make very few wins. This can be used as an effective football betting tips for any newbie bettor. Several genuine sportsbooks might offer you a good amount of betting odds. In case you are looking around for sure winning, then it is advisable to try and place your bets on the home team. This is one way that can help you in making some amount of money with football betting.
Any bettor is free to visit any website that can offer you with. This is one point that most newbie and advanced bettors are expected to follow before placing their bets on any football team. You can search the term football betting tips on Google and go through a few results. Hundreds of such websites offer you with related information that can prove to be useful.
But this is the right placed For new to watch Football live streaming online support platform. You can see there not only football live streams but also baseball, football premier league, Laliga, as your favorite team, etc. And when you visit the place, you get lots of ideas about your team. So if you are a real finder and newbie, this the best platform for you, like SoccerStreams: Reddit soccer streams here. However, when you visit there, you will get more information as you want.

https://footballtipsil.com/

Types of bets – Why it is important to understand the difference between them?

As a beginner, you must know all the most common types of football bets. The most significant problem for sports betting beginners. They start betting online, without getting familiar with the basics of sports betting. There are a lot of differences between the types of football bets that can confuse at the beginning. Therefore, our first Betting tip for a beginner is to learn a few simple types of bets. (In United States they call bet a “Wager”) And start betting only after knowing exactly what are the odds and what are the rules of the type of football bet that you choose to bet with.
This guide contains all the information needed, to get started. We picked four different types of bets. These types of bets are the easiest to understand and that is the most common in the different bookmakers betting websites. In general, we think that it is important to extend the knowledge of the betting terms glossary all the time. So keep tracking our guide, we are adding new betting material and new tips all the time.
First, read and understand each type of bet. Also, after finish reading, start betting slowly with no rush and not with big stakes. Just learn at the beginning, you will have all the time in the world to expend your stakes in the future.

The types of bets:

Full-time result:

This is the most common football bet that a player will find. This bet is very easy to understand. The player only has to decide which team will win or if the match will end as a draw. 1 – x – 2.
1 – A winning for the Home team
X – The match ended with a draw
2 – A winning of the Away team
The Full-time Result Type of bet is famous for its high odds. Because you have three choices to bet on, the odds are high. Similar types of bets have two choices for the players to bet. Therefore, the odds there are significantly lower than in the Full-time result bet.
It is important to understand that this bet is only for the end of a normal game-time (90 minutes). In case of extra time, this bet closed and the final result calculated only after 90 minutes. No matter what is the result in the extra time.
This type of bet is popular for beginners. However, also professional players like this type of bet. The professional know-how to find a match from Minor league in a small country. Like Israel, the bookmakers do have a lake in the data from these leagues. In these leagues, the professionals find matches with wrong odds that the bookmakers made mistakes. They bet a large stake on these matches. Following the reason that in the Final Result type of bet, the odds are very high compare to other types of bets.

Goals OveUnder:

This type of football bet is giving you the chance to bet on the totals of goals that will be in the match. No matter which team. For example, if the bookmaker put a Goals OveUnder 2.5 – The player has to decide between two options:

• Over Goals: the match will end with a total of 3 goals or more
• Under Goals: The match will end with a total of 2 goals or less

In case the match ended with 4 goals and the player bet on Over – the player Wins the bet
In case the match ended with 1 goal and the player bet on Under – the player Wins the bet
The professional players are searching for leagues that have significant states for OVER goals per match in its matches or significant stats for UNDER goals per match in its matches. With that knowledge, they constantly bet on UNDER or OVER goals per match. They stick for this league and in most of the time will win.
YouTube Video Guide!

Draw No Bet:

This type of football bet is very simple. The player choose which team will win the match, Home win or Away win. In the case of the draw, the stake will be returned and it means the player neither wins nor lose. This type of bet is good when there is a good odd on one side, but the win is not so sure. Therefore, the player prefers to bet with a Draw no bet type of bet. In case the match will end in a draw. His stake will return to his e-wallet. This type of football bet known for beginners that still have to get more involved but don’t want to risk a lot and bet in a calm mood.
Even professionals like this type of bet. Mostly in minor leagues, they locate a match that the bookmakers didn’t calculate the odds correctly. the mostly gives the underdog a higher odds than the probability that the underdog will win. In these matches, the professional will make a Draw No Bet on the underdog.

Double Chance:

As the name of this type of football bet declares – The player has a double chance to win this bet. A player when he plays Double chance bet, can choose between 3 options:

• Home win or Draw (if there is a draw or a home team win. The player wins the bet)
• Away win or Draw (if there is a draw or an away team win. The player wins the bet)
• Home or Away win (if the match ends without a draw (home or away win. The player wins the bet)

The bookmakers give the player an option to choose two possible results in one bet. Moreover, it gives the player a “Double chance” to win.
Most of the time, this football bet has very low odds. That means most of the time the player will earn a small amount. Usually, it is not worth to play this bet unless you use it in a Bet Builder combination. However, it is important to keep an eye on this betting type. Because there are matches that the odds are higher than usual. Most of the time for the underdog and it could be a good chance to win it while you have a safe zone of two different ways to win.
Before start betting – You must understand exactly how to read the Betting Odds types. There are three main odds types. Decimal Odds, Fractional Odds, and American Odds. Each odds type represents your probability to win and your profit differently. So, don’t forget to check out the article about the difference between the Main Betting Odds Types.
Keep tracking our guide with more information about sports betting, new terms, and more complex betting types.

Depression is a real mother fucker. I had a few really awesome months going since March, and the dogs and work I do with them in my life keep me feeling like a person, but my demon is no God damn joke. my demon is so expensive it buys bottle service for cocaine. I am talking about gambling, or sports in my case.
A quick PSA that I have pertains to casinos opening again and also for myself, sports betting is finally legal in person in Detroit. Isolation made it easy to not think about betting sports. I honestly thought I was over it because it was just so easy. No sports? Nothing to bet online for me... I'm not an idiot who would play online casino (that's sarcasm - the sports book has a better house take than at blackjack). Well, it only took a mention of a new sports book and this and that when simply listening to the radio going to work with the dogs... Hadn't thought about sports in months. I took in a homeless vet and her dog for two months. I saved up 30k. I took in a 4th rescue dog. I got a new van. I got all new camping gear for the year.. I mean literally, having that feeling where life is exciting again.....
And then what the royal fuck? I am suddenly driving 38 miles downtown to a casino I've never been to. I haven't gone to a casino in ten years. I'm all online. But here I am with 15k cash going down to bet... I get down, they make me register because of any bet over 2k, and they assign me the number "007", like they don't know what they are doing. But it's really my customer number... So I bet $4k on Braves ML and then they have these machines so I put $100 ok Vegas NHL. I go home, start making a fire doing some stuff outside, I'm saying I'm not going to check the score... Well I start into a beer and then I suddenly here the game is postponed... Ugh... Vegas was a winner, so my $100 bet just won $120! What a start lol. So I call the sports book manager as I had his cell and I asked to roll the $4k bet to the Boston Red Sox as dogs at home on Friday (fyi they won 5-3).. Well, he informs me because of compliance that I have to come down... I say I can't as I'm an hr away.
So, I won $120..good enough... You would think. But, with the millions I have bet over the last decade online, there was a rush going into the casino. I can't lie. Of course, you know what happens next, right? I got in my car and I drove down there as I was only half-way between the nightly card of games.. I get down there. Cash my winner and then I add and I put it on the Raptors -1... LoL. Well, some of you know the feeling of a $4500 bet that is over 2 minutes into a sporting event. It's a rare and amazing when you're on the correct side, but from the tip off I absolutely knew I shit my pants.
I left in the first quarter and went home. I had those thoughts of death that I hadn't had in months. Not that I want to kill myself, but that I just want the feelings of worthlessness to stop.
Unfortunately, the next day did not get better as I did the incorrect thing and did not take a few days off (or quit then). I had someone cover my work shift and I went downtown this time and placed a $8k bet on the Jazz ML at +114.
I think at this point I had hit at least 10 in a row (losses that is LOL). That's how it has always been for 20 years and I think it's why I am so sick. I've had sick runs of discipline where I have run 5k to 100k+ betting 2-5 percent of my roll, I a month... So many times. Countless times making 10x my starting bankroll really quickly mmm. And then, it's always the case where it's a small bad loss or something so dumb, and it will be a cascade of night-night money. It's a sickness for sure.
I don't even really know the point of my post and it's long and probably poorly worded with lots of errors. I am not going to proof read anything I post. Maybe if I have a point it will come out below. I don't think anyone knows me here but I am a very serious compulsive gambler. I think I might be protecting my ego by giving this low number, but I would say I have racked up between 150-200k in losses net over the last 20 years, but the majority coming within the last 4 or so... As gambling escalates. If I am honest with myself, if that's the number I think, it's probabaly like $300,00. It's a blessing that I never have made a lot of money - - like literally never more than $25k a year. But an initial bank roll of 5 figures and getting it up there, I was rolling over about a million a month in sports bets.
Losing money sucks, but it is the one thing that you can repair from gambling. What can't be fixed is your brain. You will never, ever look at life the same once you have placed a large bet or lost control. You will never find joy in the same things in life. I can hardly remember the names of some of my college friends I partied with, but I remember a Stanford missed 20 yrd field goal in the first half of some meaningless game to cover my spread (Stanford crushed the game spread by double digits, but failed to cover first half of course). Do you not see the problem? Why the fuck do I or would I want to remember that? Gambling is worse than drugs in many ways. Currently, I am slowly, painfully, and expensively being killed by gambling. If I was a junkie, someone, literally anyone would see my pain and help me, but as a gambler, this pain is internal and so terrifying that we do almost everything to hide it. And then we spend our days going to work, thinking about how we can die, saving up money... Only to feel okay again months later and to relapse.
I hope I can help someone young getting into gambling to understand that the danger is not money really... But it is the damage to your brain. You will hate yourself, you will hate life, etc...there are lots of better reads on the science of gambling and what it does to your brain chemistry. It simply is not publicized more because gambling is a huge business and for some cities (like Detroit), it's how they continue to tax the poor and keep the city going. Americans are also poorly educated on odds, math, and reality. And even when we understand odds, we are often brainwashed by capitalism to think we can be one of those antedotacle stories where we strike it rich. It is all just another way to transfer wealth from the poor to the rich. People with money DO NOT Gamble. If they do, they lose. If Charles Barkley and John Daly and Michael Jordan can't make money betting sports, then how the fuck do us average Joe's come up with the belief that we can make money? I've got a lot of stories, so we can always shoot the shit of how it can get worse.
If you're young and you like sports and gambling, you should stay straight as an arrow and you should get into the casino and bookmaking industry. Make some money yourself and maybe you can establish yourself enough that you can also help out those customers that truly need it.
As much as I want the stacks of 100s I blew the last 48hrs back, I would gladly sacrifice the money to bypass the months of hell I'm going to have to go through again as I try once again to kill this demon.
.