Hey everyone, I am a former Wall Street trader and quant researcher. When I was preparing for my own interviews, I have noticed the lack of accurate information and so I will be providing my own perspectives. One common pattern I see is people building their own algorithm by blindly fitting statistical methods such as moving averages onto data.
I have published this elsewhere, but have copy pasted it entirely below for you to read to keep it in the spirit of the sub rules. Edit: Removed link.

What it was like trading on Wall Street

Right out of college, I began my trading career at an electronic hedge fund on Wall Street. Several friends pitched trading to me as being a more disciplined version of wallstreetbets that actually made money. After flopping several initial interviews, I was fortunate to land a job at a top-tier firm of the likes of Jane Street, SIG, Optiver and IMC.
On my first day, I was instantly hooked.
My primary role there was to be a market maker. To explain this, imagine that you are a merchant. Suppose you wanted to purchase a commodity such as an apple. You would need to locate an apple seller and agree on a fair price. Market makers are the middle-men that cuts out this interaction by being always willing to buy or sell at a given price.
In finance lingo, this is called providing liquidity to financial exchanges. At any given moment, you should be confident to liquidate your position for cash. To give a sense of scale, tens of trillions in dollars are processed through these firms every year.
My time trading has been one of the most transformative periods of my life. It not only taught me a lot of technical knowledge, but it also moulded me to be a self-starter, independent thinker, and hard worker. I strongly recommend anyone that loves problem solving to give trading a shot. You do not need a mathematics or finance background to get in.
The trading culture is analogous to professional sports. It is a zero sum game where there is a clear defined winner and loser — you either make or lose money. This means that both your compensation and job security is highly dependent on your performance. For those that are curious, the rough distribution of a trader’s compensation based on performance is a tenth of the annual NBA salary.
There is a mystique about trading in popular media due to the abstraction of complicated quantitative models. I will shed light on some of the fundamental principles rooted in all trading strategies, and how they might apply to you.

Arbitrage

One way traders make money is through an arbitrage or a risk free trade. Suppose you could buy an apple from Sam for $1, and then sell an apple to Megan at $3. A rational person would orchestrate both legs of these trades to gain $2 risk free.
Arbitrages are not only found in financial markets. The popular e-commerce strategy of drop-shipping is a form of arbitrage. Suppose you find a tripod selling on AliExpress at $10. You could list the same tripod on Amazon for $20. If someone buys from you, then you could simply purchase the tripod off AliExpress and take home a neat $10 profit.
The same could be applied to garage sales. If you find a baseball card for $2 that has a last sold price on EBay for $100, you have the potential to make $98. Of course this is not a perfect arbitrage as you face the risk of finding a buyer, but the upside makes this worthwhile.

Positive expected value bets

Another way traders make money is similar to the way a casino stacks the odds in their favour. Imagine you flip a fair coin. If it lands on heads you win $3, and if it lands on tails you lose $1. If you flip the coin only once, you may be unlucky and lose the dollar. However in the long run, you are expected to make a positive profit of $1 per coin flip. This is referred to as a positive expected value bet. Over the span of millions of transactions, you are almost guaranteed to make a profit.
This exact principle is why you should never gamble in casino games such as roulette. These games are all negative expected value bets, which guarantees you to lose money over the long run. Of course there are exceptions to this, such as poker or card counting in black jack.
The next time you walk into a casino, make a mental note to observe the ways it is designed to keep you there for as long as possible. Note the lack of windows and the maze like configurations. Even the free drinks and the cheap accommodation are all a farce to keep you there.

Relative Pricing

Relative pricing is a great strategy to use when there are two products that have clear causal relationships. Let us consider an apple and a carton of apple juice. Suppose there have a causal relationship where the carton is always $9 more expensive than the apple. The apple and the carton is currently trading at $1 and $10 respectively.
If the price of the apple goes up to $2, the price is not immediately reflected on the carton. There will always be a time lag. It is also important to note that there is no way we can determine if the apple is trading at fair value or if its overpriced. So how do we take advantage of this situation?
If we buy the carton for $10 and sell the apple for $2, we have essentially bought the ‘spread’ for $8. The spread is fairly valued at $9 due to the causal relationship, meaning we have made $1. The reason high frequency trading firms focus so much on latency in the nanoseconds is to be the first to scoop up these relative mispricing.
This is the backbone for delta one strategies. Common pairs that are traded against each other includes ETFs and their inverse counterpart, a particular stock against an ETF that contains the stock, or synthetic option structures.

Correlations

Correlations are mutual connections between two things. When they trend in the same direction they are said to have a positive correlation, and the vice versa is true for negative correlations. A popular example of positive correlation is the number of shark attacks with the number of ice-cream sales. It is important to note that shark attacks do not cause ice-cream sales.
Often times there are no intuitive reason for certain correlations, but they still work. The legendary Renaissance Technologies sifted through petabytes of historical data to find profitable signals. For instance, good morning weather in a city tended to predict an upward movement in its stock exchange. One could theoretically buy stock on the opening and sell at noon to make a profit.
One important piece of advice is to disregard any retail trader selling a course to you, claiming that they have a system. These are all scams. At best, these are bottom of the mill signals that are hardly profitable after transaction costs. It is also unlikely that you have the system latency, trading experience or research capabilities to do this on your own. It is possible, but very difficult.

Mean reversions

Another common strategy traders rely on is mean reversion trends. In the options world the primary focus is purchasing volatility when it is cheap compared to historical values, and vice versa. Buying options is essentially synonymous with buying volatility. Of course, it is not as simple as this so don’t go punting your savings on Robinhood using this strategy.
For most people, the most applicable mean reversion trend is interest rates. These tend to fluctuate up and down depending on if the central banks want to stimulate saving or spending. As global interest rates are next to zero or negative, it may be a good idea to lock in this low rate for your mortgages. Again, consult with a financial advisor before you do anything.

This is an example of fundamental DD that takes place at ‘smart’ money institutions based on my professional experience in IBD, Private Equity & most recently at a HF (mods can message me for proof). Not thoroughly fleshed out b/c you autists have limited attention spans, but a summary. Figured I’d take the time to give back to this community that has provided many lolz, & should be a good measuring stick when evaluating other forms of fundamental DD posted here.
NFA.
DKNG - DraftKings, Inc.: vertically integrated US mobile betting operator that also provides retail sports betting & back-end betting solutions through SBTech. Think of SBTech as the tech ‘market-maker’ for traditional sports betting, they do all the funny math to set the betting odds & seem to be working on back-end solutions for DKNG Casino
The Big Picture

• Total annual US Gambling Revenue: ~$90Bn [1]
  • Casinos: ~$75Bn
  • Illegal Sports Betting: ~$13Bn
  • Horse Racing: ~$0.8Bn
  • Daily Fantasy Sports: ~$0.4Bn

Only ~2% of the ~$90Bn gambling revenues were placed online which is the lowest in the world where betting online is legal. For example, in other countries online gaming activity represents ~6% - ~52% of total gambling revenues, with ~12% being the average.
Wall Street expects online gaming revenue to be $20Bn-$40Bn within the next 10 years. For this to be achieved, the online gambling market will have to achieve a ~30% penetration rate on total country gaming revenues. There is an expectation that this is could be easily achievable given penetration trends overseas - see page 11 of this: https://s1.rationalcdn.com/vendors/stars-group/documents/presentations/TSG-Investor-Day_March-27-2019.pdf
Other catalysts include increasing adaptation of sports betting in more states. States that have both legal sports betting + online sports betting permitted: NV, NJ, WV, PA, IA. Sports betting permitted but no online: DE, MS, RI, MO, AR. Prior to COVID there was ongoing discussions across many States, especially ones with growing deficits to explore how permitting sports betting could create a fresh avenue of tax dollars. Post COVID there is an expectation that these discussions will be given extra focus as many States will be hungry for incremental tax dollars. Important to note that currently 43/50 States allow DFS, but given the small share DFS has on total Gaming Revenues, it increasingly looks like DKNG is banking on traditional sports betting for a variety of reasons, more later. There are entire articles on Google arguing this catalyst so I’ll end this here.
Digging Deeper
DKNG’s main offerings are Daily Fantasy Sports (“DFS”) products & traditional sports book products to its clients. Long story short, a metric to look for in my opinion (that is curiously not reported by management or remarked on) is the hold % in traditional gaming sector parlance or the ‘rake’ & compare it to the ‘traditional’ gaming products like sports betting & Blackjack.
For DFS: DKNG takes ~15% of the prize pool (note: used to be ~6-11% [2]). Curiously, their main competitor FanDuel also has moved up to a ~15% rake recently. Google searches show the smaller competitors have a rake in the ~13% range.
This ‘rake’ has grown ~2x in 6 years, but it has been a delicate move on behalf of management. Why? B/c the more ‘sophisticated’ DFS players (equal to autistic day traders on Robinhood) have noted this increase & based on some Googling, some have moved down market to the smaller players. As a side note, many live casino games have their rules altered to grow the Hold %. For example, Blackjack games with 6:5 payouts on 21 have materially higher Hold % than the traditional BJ rules that pay out 3:2. Given the findings so far, DKNG may not have much room to materially increase its hold % in DFS games in the near-term from current of 15%. More on this later.
Now why the fuck is this important? This is important b/c the typical sports book (ex-Parlays) have a ~5% hold %/rake. Parlays have up to a ~30% hold (which is why it’s commonly known as the sucker’s bet), & just for reference, the average Blackjack table clocks in 14.5%. What this means: Every dollar put into these games, the “House” or DKNG, will take 15% of your money for DFS games, for sports bets they will be pocketing ~5%, up to ~30% if you’re into parlays, & we’ll just use the standard 14.5% BJ hold for the DraftKings Casino platform.
So why the acquisition of SBTech & a foray into the traditional sports gambling market? As you can see previously, the illegal sports betting market is >30x the size of the current daily fantasy sports market. So it’s clear that the DFS providers including DKNG are foraying into the space to capture this user base & hopefully convert them into games that have a higher hold %, such as DFS/DKNG Casino.
As of May 2020, DKNG has achieved a 30% penetration rate on its ~4mm ‘monetized’ DFS clientele to its Online Sports Book (OSB), from the OSB+DFS clientele, DKNG has converted 50% into its DraftKings Casino platform.
Including non-monetized users, user base totals at 12mm. Based on these unit economics: every 1mm of additional users -> 333k monetized users for DFS -> 100k users for OSB -> 50k users for DraftKings Casino.
Some Numbers – Italicized/Bolded the important

• In total, DKNG has DFS paying clientele of ~4mm, the metric management focuses on is “Monthly Unique Payers (MUP)” which spans across DFS & online sports betting***. As of Q1’20 they reported 720,000*** MUPs, representing +16% YoY growth [3]
  • Average revenue per monthly user (ARPU) of ~$41, +11% YoY
    • Based on previous observation of Hold %, looks like ARPU growth will be limited
  • Since ’17, MUP has grown at a ~11% CAGR & ARPU has grown at a ~19% CAGR
  • As a side note: the ~4mm monetized user base was acquired at ~$122/user over 3 years. Total users cost them $41/user over the last 3 years [3].
• They are currently EBITDA negative & Wall St expects them to be positive by 2023
  • I took a dive into the math driving this, here is a summary:
    • Based on their current cost structure they will need to have ~1.7mm MUPs at an ARPU of ~$46 to break-even. This implies total monetized users of ~10mm from ~4mm currently

Numbers that represent Risks to Long Thesis

• DKNG’s user base of ~12mm is on the low end of the sector vs. its ‘brick & mortar’ competitor's user bases (online betting platforms with physical casino presence)
  • CZR with 55mm, MGM with 33mm, ERI with 10mm (in pending merger with CZR, could have a lot of overlap), FanDuel with 8.5mm
  • Is there a concern for increased marketing costs to increase user base? Let’s look at a case study of NJ, the first state to open both mobile & retail sports betting:
    • FanDuel + DraftKings have held 80%+ of the OSB market share since 12/2018 which is estimated to be driven by the conversion opportunity from DFS that is unique to both companies [4]
    • On the flipside, a case study to examine going forward is how DKNG can get OSB customers in a State that does not allow DFS. Nevada. Home to Las fucking Vegas. Prior to NV pushing FanDuel/DKNG out (highly likely due to casino lobbying), NV was a top-15 State in terms of revenue for them. NV is home to the fattest sports book in the US, & recently the gaming commission started to parse the data on sportsbook wagers done online vs. in-person, & it came out to roughly 50/50. It will be interesting to see how they try to capture market share in a state with no DFS
• Long-term EBITDA margin target of 35% requires huge growth in MUPs
  • Based on their estimated '22 cost structure: Holding ARPU of ~$46, MUPs will have to be ~5.2mm, a 7x increase from current to achieve a EBITDA margin of 35%
    • A focus on future earnings will be management's ability to shift to a more fixed-cost structure which would effectively lower the MUP requirement for profitability

Things to look for when going Long
- Progress of additional States legalizing sports betting – specifically, States with DFS already legalized
- Cost structure evolving to a more fixed mix vs. the mostly variable mix currently as this will be the forward figure that determines profitability
- Increasing User Base (Curr.: 12mm) -> Monetized Base (Curr.: 4mm) -> MUP (1Q’20: 0.7mm)

• Management seems to be focused more on the first step, but one thing to note is that the 33% monetization rate is very high when compared to something like League of Legends which isn’t entirely comparable but in 2013 had a ~4% monetization rate [5]. This, combined with the below implies that this conversion rate may be the ceiling for now
• As a side note, ~6 years ago FanDuel had ~300k monetized on an ~800k user base for a monetization rate of ~37% [6]

Share Price Target
Given the cost structure of the company, I’m going to base the price targets around Enterprise Value / Revenues (driven by MUPs & ARPUs).

• MUP sensitivity of 5mm - 6mm
• ARPU sensitivity from $41 - $47 for an average of $44, just a $3 increase from current of $41.
• Share Price targets based on 2.0x - 4.5x EV / Sales.
  • Note: Flutter Entertainment (FanDuel ParentCo) trades at ~3.6x EV/Sales

Bear Case MUP: 5mm -> $20.32 - $45.73
Base Case MUP: 5.5mm -> $22.27 - $50.10
Bull Case MUP: 6mm -> $24.21 - $54.47
These MUPs imply a monetized customer base of 28mm – 33mm. At the high-end, this implies that DKNG monetized customer base will equal MGM’s current total user base.
At yesterday’s close of $43.70, DKNG is trading at 3.5x – 4.5x forward Revenues on an expected >5,000 MUPs.
Share Price drivers / considerations:
- Continued multiple expansion

• Consideration: A 1x premium to FanDuel's 3.6x, implies a ~15% upside to current. They're bigger than FanDuel, do they deserve the premium?

- MUP Growth exceeding beyond targets

• Consideration: Stock currently implies that they should on average be growing at 40% QoQ – during 2018 they had on average +30% growth QoQ in MUPs, marking their best year

Management Team
Jason Robins, 39 – Co-Founder & CEO. Duke BA, started DraftKings from day 1 in 2011. The 2 other buddies he started the Company with are still at DKNG. Dude navigated the Company through the scandal that rocked them in ’15 & ’16, and was the trailblazer in getting DFS labeled as a non-gambling product that enabled it to open in States without a gaming designation. This shit is the stuff that gets people in history books. His accomplishments make him seem like a very competent guy. Has 3 kids now, and only ~3% economic ownership in DKNG but has 90% of the voting power through his Class B share ownership. Also he actively participates in venture investments, sitting on 10 boards.
His comp plan performance bonus target is pretty murky, but main drivers are EPS growth, revenue growth, then a bunch of margin & return metrics, along with share price returns. Overall, very open-ended & it’s safe to say as long as shit doesn’t hit the fan, he will be eligible for his max payouts year over year. I’m assuming the lawyers tried to encompass everything possible for maximum flexibility to justify him earning his max comp as long as DKNG is still around.
Since he’s got voting control of 90%, I’ll end the specific-person overview here, but want to note that they have a very bloated C-suite. 12 folks at DKNG, 8 folks at SBTech, all with C-suite designations. Whereas their main competitor FanDuel, has 3 guys with a C-suite designations & 1 EVP, but is a sub under a larger ParentCo that has its own management team of ~5 guys.
Looking through glassdoor you can see the biggest complaint among employees giving bad reviews is based on management, all of the specific issues they point out IMO are a result of a top-heavy company. Seems like a good starting point to optimize their cost structure, but given Robins' history of sticking this entire thing through with his co-founders since '11 stuff like this doesn't seem to be a part of his playbook. They’re a public company now though, so it’s going to be interesting to see going forward.
TL;DR:
If I were to initiate a position in DKNG, the stock would have to fall to the $35-$37 range for me to be a buyer of the stock, and based on this rough intro analysis I'll be considering Put options if it breaches $50. I would not touch Calls at this level.
​
[1] Wall Street Research - 6/27/19
[2] https://rotogrinders.com/articles/bang-for-your-buck-a-look-at-dfs-industry-rake-153302
[3] https://draftkings.gcs-web.com/static-files/8f3a5c5a-7228-45bf-aab2-63604111c48d
[4] Wall Street Research - 5/19/20
[5]https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/223071/Dont_monetize_like_League_of_Legends_consultant_says.php
[6] https://rotogrinders.com/threads/how-many-people-actually-play-dfs-regularly-252044

The MAC’s Week 6 NCAAF ATS Predictions, Trends and Analysis
Week 6 NCAAF ATS Predictions, Trends and Analysis
Written by Lester Cullen on October 8, 2020
Boom...and we’re in Week 6 of the college football season (Corona Edition), even the SEC came to play. We will take a look at some of our consensus plays and provide some opinion based insight to put together some ATS winners.
For starters we will look at the Gators/Aggies matchup. The line has fluctuated from 7 to 6.5 and currently at Caesars Palace the spread is Florida Gators -6.5 -115 and Texas A&M +6.5 -105, linemakers are playing with the juice, moving it around a bit and charging to get the dog, they must think they have the number nailed at a touchdown spread and MAC is looking to beat that number!
Florida Gators vs Texas A&M Aggies-
The Florida Gators have come out of the gate hot, QB Kyle Trask throwing 10 TD passes through their opening two games of the season. They have busted open the ATS record, going 8-3-1 through their last 12 games a legit 2-0 and ranked No. 4 in the AP poll after Georgia took the lead ahead of them following the Bulldogs win over Auburn.
The Aggies are 1-1 to start the season and they have a weak secondary that should get destroyed by the Gators offense. The MAC tends to stay away from Conference games because odds are usually tight & tough, it can be hard to find a solid pick, but our consensus groups have the Gators as a move and with the spread less than a TD this game has value
Play - Gators -6.5 (+10 Units)
Quick Trends-
Over is 4-0 in Gators last 4 games overall. Over is 4-0 in Gators last 4 games as a favorite. Over is 5-0 in Gators last 5 games on grass. Gators are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss. Over is 8-1 in Gators last 9 games as a road favorite Under is 4-0 in Aggies last 4 games following a straight up loss. Over is 4-0 in Aggies last 4 games as a home underdog. Aggies are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. Aggies are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up loss of more than 20 points. Under is 7-1 in Aggies last 8 games after allowing less than 275 total yards in their previous game.
Pittsburgh Panthers vs Boston College Eagles -
If you look at the recent trends for the Panthers, you see a team that is just 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games. That being said, the Panthers have been winning their games outright, they are 3-1 in the early going of the season, they just can’t get a cover, it’s pathetic, oddsmakers are cashing in on Pitt.
The Eagles have been great ATS, covering in 8 of their last 10, but as far as this game, our information is telling us to stay away. Boston College defense has nothing to brag about, unable to stop 3rd conversions makes a case for betting the over, the offense can’t run the ball, averaging 2.4 yards a carry, and they are last in the ACC in both of these categories. Jurkovec has thrown 2 picks, one in the end zone and the Heels took it home for a meaningless win, one good thing is they don’t lose fumbles and are +5 in turnover margin.
MAC has Panthers to win this one, the line is -6 and has moved back and forth from 6.5 and 6, but most importantly MAC sees action coming in on the total and is moving on the over, opening at 46 and currently set at 44 this should be an easy 55-60 point game. The trends seems to be the under but going against the grain is why The MAC is one of the most recognized sports gamblers in the industry.
MAC’s Final Score Prediction - Pitt 35 - BC 23 Play - Over 44 (+5 Units) Play - Pitt -6 (+5 Units)
Quick Trends-
Eagles are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a straight up win. Under is 4-0 in Eagles last 4 vs. a team with a winning record. Under is 5-0 in Eagles last 5 games as an underdog
Miami Hurricanes vs Clemson Tigers -
Given how dominant the Tigers have been in the ACC over the past few years, it is usually a bad idea to bet against them.
The odds makers are giving them too much respect, our scouts are saying the line isn’t this high because of public money, it’s an inflated spread and could be a suckers bet.
Let’s consider the fact that the Tigers have failed to cover this season and are now on a run of failing to cover in 4 straight games. MAC says play the ML hedge if laying the points, be smart and use bankroll management.
The Hurricanes have not had a lot of joy against Clemson in recent years, but are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 versus conference foes. With 43.3 points scored this season they are ranked #7, this could be another over play, though with the total set at 62, we will have to wait to see some line movement before placing any action on it.
MAC has no apprehension when it comes to taking a shot and going against the grain, it’s what makes him a Vegas specialty. Take Miami to cover, take them, take the points, and take it to the bank.
MAC’s Final Score Prediction - Miami 21 - Clemson 35 Play: Miami +15 (+15 Units) Play: Miami ML +450 (+4 UNITS)
Quick Trends- Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games after accumulating more than 280 yards passing in their previous game. Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up win. Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 conference games. Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record. Hurricanes are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 meetings.
The Gambling Report

Week 6 NCAAF ATS Predictions, Trends and Analysis
Written by Lester Cullen on October 8, 2020
Boom...and we’re in Week 6 of the college football season (Corona Edition), even the SEC came to play. We will take a look at some of our consensus plays and provide some opinion based insight to put together some ATS winners.
For starters we will look at the Gators/Aggies matchup. The line has fluctuated from 7 to 6.5 and currently at Caesars Palace the spread is Florida Gators -6.5 -115 and Texas A&M +6.5 -105, linemakers are playing with the juice, moving it around a bit and charging to get the dog, they must think they have the number nailed at a touchdown spread and MAC is looking to beat that number!
Florida Gators vs Texas A&M Aggies-
The Florida Gators have come out of the gate hot, QB Kyle Trask throwing 10 TD passes through their opening two games of the season. They have busted open the ATS record, going 8-3-1 through their last 12 games a legit 2-0 and ranked No. 4 in the AP poll after Georgia took the lead ahead of them following the Bulldogs win over Auburn.
The Aggies are 1-1 to start the season and they have a weak secondary that should get destroyed by the Gators offense. The MAC tends to stay away from Conference games because odds are usually tight & tough, it can be hard to find a solid pick, but our consensus groups have the Gators as a move and with the spread less than a TD this game has value
Play - Gators -6.5 (+10 Units)
Quick Trends-
Over is 4-0 in Gators last 4 games overall. Over is 4-0 in Gators last 4 games as a favorite. Over is 5-0 in Gators last 5 games on grass. Gators are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss. Over is 8-1 in Gators last 9 games as a road favorite Under is 4-0 in Aggies last 4 games following a straight up loss. Over is 4-0 in Aggies last 4 games as a home underdog. Aggies are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. Aggies are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up loss of more than 20 points. Under is 7-1 in Aggies last 8 games after allowing less than 275 total yards in their previous game.
Pittsburgh Panthers vs Boston College Eagles -
If you look at the recent trends for the Panthers, you see a team that is just 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games. That being said, the Panthers have been winning their games outright, they are 3-1 in the early going of the season, they just can’t get a cover, it’s pathetic, oddsmakers are cashing in on Pitt.
The Eagles have been great ATS, covering in 8 of their last 10, but as far as this game, our information is telling us to stay away. Boston College defense has nothing to brag about, unable to stop 3rd conversions makes a case for betting the over, the offense can’t run the ball, averaging 2.4 yards a carry, and they are last in the ACC in both of these categories. Jurkovec has thrown 2 picks, one in the end zone and the Heels took it home for a meaningless win, one good thing is they don’t lose fumbles and are +5 in turnover margin.
MAC has Panthers to win this one, the line is -6 and has moved back and forth from 6.5 and 6, but most importantly MAC sees action coming in on the total and is moving on the over, opening at 46 and currently set at 44 this should be an easy 55-60 point game. The trends seems to be the under but going against the grain is why The MAC is one of the most recognized sports gamblers in the industry.
MAC’s Final Score Prediction - Pitt 35 - BC 23 Play - Over 44 (+5 Units) Play - Pitt -6 (+5 Units)
Quick Trends-
Eagles are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a straight up win. Under is 4-0 in Eagles last 4 vs. a team with a winning record. Under is 5-0 in Eagles last 5 games as an underdog
Miami Hurricanes vs Clemson Tigers -
Given how dominant the Tigers have been in the ACC over the past few years, it is usually a bad idea to bet against them.
The odds makers are giving them too much respect, our scouts are saying the line isn’t this high because of public money, it’s an inflated spread and could be a suckers bet.
Let’s consider the fact that the Tigers have failed to cover this season and are now on a run of failing to cover in 4 straight games. MAC says play the ML hedge if laying the points, be smart and use bankroll management.
The Hurricanes have not had a lot of joy against Clemson in recent years, but are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 versus conference foes. With 43.3 points scored this season they are ranked #7, this could be another over play, though with the total set at 62, we will have to wait to see some line movement before placing any action on it.
MAC has no apprehension when it comes to taking a shot and going against the grain, it’s what makes him a Vegas specialty. Take Miami to cover, take them, take the points, and take it to the bank.
MAC’s Final Score Prediction - Miami 21 - Clemson 35 Play: Miami +15 (+15 Units) Play: Miami ML +450 (+4 UNITS)
Quick Trends- Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games after accumulating more than 280 yards passing in their previous game. Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up win. Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 conference games. Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record. Hurricanes are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 meetings.

The picture Marty has in the first movie tells us future items change because of changes in that items past, even while in the past.
So the Sports Almanac probably had some scores change since Biff was altering its past. It would also never be wrong.

A. Establish your own area of interest. The simplest way to earn cash at sports gambling is to develop a specialized niche and adhere to it meticulously. If you become an expert on a moderate conference you now have the good opportunity to beat the house. Study your team's talents and disadvantages as well as understand their home and road records. Be aware of changes in the caliber of a team from one particular season to the next and evaluate the alteration of participants and even coaching staffs from one season to the next.
B. Assess a team objectively. Gamble prudently by keeping your selections defined. Likewise try to limit the influence of bias in your gambling. Should you be a fan of a team try and restrict the influence of that favoritism whenever gambling. Appraise a team's probabilities objectively and not based on emotions.
C. Gamble against the odds. Some specific teams also have a substantial public following. High value bets can often be identified by betting against these teams since the odds makers fine-tune the line to reflect the estimated quantity of public funds so the underdog is frequently shown with much better odds or perhaps a higher point spread than they really should have.
D. Never pursue your losses. When you do encounter the inevitable losing streak, do not freak out and make the common gaffe of betting massive sums trying to recover your losses. Instead, analyze your handicapping techniques and reduce your gambling sums until eventually you start winning once again. Chasing after your losses is the one most significant blunder a new gambler can make. Once you start winning once again, raise your bets a little.
E. Look closely at sportsbook commissions. Gamble on activities and leagues where the sportsbook's fee is most likely the lowest. This is generally in the sport or sports with which that sportsbook does nearly all of its commerce, as it is likely the most effective in that area.
F. Bet systematically plus keep precise records. Gambling regularly though a systematical and analytical fashion, it's possible to expand your judgmental proficiency. Maintaining detailed information of your wagering pastime is going to raise your winning percentage. Maintaining information of data will assist you to avoid harmful betting styles and, simultaneously will probably allow you to see tendencies which may offer you an advantage.
G. Carry out decent funds procedures. Whenever you are likely to bet on sporting events, it is very important to set aside a certain portion of your funds for betting. Contain the need to gamble with you payout quickly. When you do not follow the general concept of 50%, at the very least put some of your winnings into your pants pocket

09/15 - MAC's Week 3 College Football Analysis, Odds, & Predictions
WAKE FOREST AT NC STATE ODDS
North Carolina State -3, OveUnder 55.5
The Wolfpack moved to -2.5 this morning, a mild adjustment by the books to equal out the action, MAC us sticking to the system and fading Wake Forest games when they are 3 or more underdogs. 65% of is coming in on North Carolina State which could mean smart money burying the ML, because 60% of the spread money is on Wake Forest. NC State hasn't been a good spread play at home, toting a 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games making the safe move the Money Line. MAC's Final Score Prediction - Wake Forest 22 - NC State 24 Play:North Carolina State ML
Quick Trends: Demon Deacons are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games on grass. Demon Deacons are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. Demon Deacons are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing more than 450 total yards in their previous game.
(13) UCF AT GEORGIA TECH ODDS Georgia Tech +7.5, OveUnder 60
A lot of money coming in on UCF, lines makers have Georgia Tech as 7.5 underdogs which is a tell that they will be playing like a bunch of bums, UCF could be the worst team with the best stats, going 3-1 non-con play but McKenzie Milton isn't a option for a while the D is holding there own with reports saying they look solid. Look for the 1 win Georgia Tech team to get that single vote for the Top 25 revoked, USF had a better game than Georgia Tech even though they lost. No lines maker is showing respect to the Yellow Jackets and MAC is all over the chalk. Play: UCF - 7.5
Quick Trends: Knights are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games. Yellow Jackets are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games in September. Yellow Jackets are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as a home underdog. Yellow Jackets are 1-8 ATS in their last 9 home games.
(18) MIAMI AT (16) LOUISVILLE ODDS Louisville -1.5, OveUnder 61
MAC is weary about betting on any Louisville Collegiate sports game, the shadowy powers that be seem to play a lot of shenanigans when it comes down the the odds and payouts from CBB to NCAAF. A early jump in the odds has Louisville as 2.5 point chalk. 70% of early money is taking Miami and the points, The RedAlertWagers,com consensus groups are going with a total play after the small line move to 62, the East Coast affiliates and associates from the Miami betting syndicate are taking under 62 giving MAC his backroom info play on a Miami/Louisville match up, the Cardinals are prone to blowing the total up and the opposite goes for Miami who usually has the low scoring games that just miss a cover, look for the lousy September game play from the Cardinals who might turn it on as the season goes on. MAC's Final Score Prediction - Miami 35 - Louisville 21 Play: Under 62
Quick Trends: Under is 20-8 in Hurricanes last 28 games as an underdog. Under is 16-7-2 in Hurricanes last 25 conference games. Under is 11-5-2 in Hurricanes last 18 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game. Over is 4-1 in Cardinals last 5 games following a straight up win. Under is 6-2 in Cardinals last 8 games in September.
SOUTH FLORIDA vs (7) NOTRE DAME ODDS Notre Dame -26, OveUnder 53
Notre Dame beat Duke, big deal..but they're ranked 7 in the Nation, so what!...Look most people are not giving The Irish the respect they deserve and they are right not to, The Fighting Irish have been a disappointment the last 30 years and nothing has changed. The money coming in on ND is not enough to make a difference in the odds and expect the line to drop if anything, book makers have the number tight and MAC and his consensus team will be taking the South Florida and the points. Play: South Florida +26 Quick Trends: Bulls are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 non-conference games. Bulls are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. ACC. Bulls are 13-5 ATS in their last 18 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.
SYRACUSE vs PITTSBURGH Pittsburgh -20.5, OveUnder 50.5
Pitt opened at -20.5 and moved quickly to -21.5 after about 90% of spread & handle coming in on Pitt, lots of sharps giving the points this week, smart money is forcing lines makers to jack it up a bit. Pitt -21.5 is the value play of the week. Look for Pitt to blow out a lousy Syracuse team and keep a eye on the total, watch for a small line jump and the tell for a move on the over. Play: Pitt -21.5
Quick Trends: Panthers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game. Panthers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 games after scoring more than 40 points in their previous game. Panthers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing less than 275 total yards in their previous game. Panthers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games in September.
Courtesy of The Sports Report on Reddit

1. Introduction

The Texans won the AFC South title for the fourth time in five years. They pulled off a great playoff comeback win over the Bills after being down 16-0 in the third quarter.
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However, they were the victim of a huge comeback themselves in the following contest by squandering a 24-0 lead in Kansas City. They were completely overwhelmed in the last 40 minutes of the game at Arrowhead Stadium and ended up losing 51-31.
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2. Regular Season Wins

According to sportsbooks, the Houston Texans are expected to win 7.5 games this season. Should we bet the “over” or the “under”?
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Here is the methodology I used in order to answer this vital question:

• Use BetOnline.ag’s point spreads on all 256 regular season games.
• Convert those point spreads into win probabilities.
• Simulate each of the 256 games, according to those win probabilities, via the R statistical software.
• Repeat the previous step one million times (you get 1M simulated seasons).
• Count the proportion of seasons where the Texans won more or less than 7.5 games.

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Here are the results:

	Estimated Probability	Sportsbook	Odds	ROI
OVER 7.5 wins	50.8%	Jazz Sports	+105	+4.1%
UNDER 7.5 wins	49.2%	MyBookie.ag	-105	-3.9%

• Tip: Bet OVER 7.5 wins
• Return On Investment (ROI): +4.1%
• Rank: 29th-highest ROI out of 32 teams
• Minimum odds required to bet (i.e. ROI = 0%): -103

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Here are BetOnline’s point spreads for the Texans’ 16 regular season games:

• HOME: +5 vs BAL, -6.5 vs CIN, 0 vs GB, -2 vs IND, -9 vs JAX, 0 vs MIN, -3 vs NE, -1 vs TEN.
• ROAD: +3.5 @ CHI, +2.5 @ CLE, +1 @ DET, +4.5 @ IND, -3 @ JAX, +9.5 @ KC, +5 @ PIT, +4.5 @ TEN.

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Note: The “Best odds” from the table above were obtained after looking at 13 well-known online sportsbooks on May 18th, 2020.
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3. Offensive Position-by-Position Breakdown

QUARTERBACKS (QB)
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DeShaun Watson entrenched his status as a top 10 QB in the league by posting good numbers for a third straight year. He came close from the 4,000-yard mark, while throwing 26 TDs and 12 interceptions. He also added a career-high 7 rushing touchdowns.
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There is no doubt he is one of the top signal callers in the league. He now has a good mix of youth and experience. He has a bright future ahead of him.
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A.J. McCarron will back up Watson, but the team crosses its fingers they won’t need him on the field. He’s clearly not starter material; he has 6 TDs and 3 interceptions over a five-year period.
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RUNNING BACKS (RB)
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The Texans had a very nice duo in 2019 with Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. Still, Houston decided to shuffle things up a little bit.
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David Johnson was acquired via a trade, even though the 28-year old has shown signs of declining. After racking up more than 2,000 rushing+receiving yards and 20 TDs in 2016, Johnson played just one game in 2017 after dislocating his left wrist in the season opener.
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He simply hasn’t been the same since. His yards per rush average has gone from 4.6 in 2015 to 4.2 in 2016, 3.6 in 2018 and 3.7 last year.
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David Johnson will be the lead back since Hyde has not been re-signed. Hyde rushed for more than 1,000 yards for the first time of his career and will need to find work elsewhere.
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I really like Duke Johnson. He seems to have enough talent to take a heavier workload, but he’s been stuck behind guys like Isaiah Crowell, Nick Chubb and Carlos Hyde.
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He hasn’t missed a single game in five years! He has caught at least 44 balls in each of those seasons, which shows how dangerous he is as a pass catcher. I would love to see what he could do as the workhorse back, but it’s not going to happen this year, unless David Johnson gets hurt.
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WIDE RECEIVERS (WR)
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I’ll do my best to stay polite: the DeAndre Hopkins trade was bad. That’s the nicest I can be when talking about this trade.
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Hopkins is a rare talent. David Johnson isn’t. It’s as simple as that.
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Losing Hopkins is a big blow. He is a game changer and often draws double coverage, which leaves more room for his teammates.
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Will Fuller is a difference-maker when healthy, but the problem has been just that: health. He has missed between 2 and 7 games in each of his first four years as a pro. And when he’s on the field, he tends to play at less than 100%. He graded as the 25th-best WR last year (out of 122 guys).
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Kenny Stills is not a #1 WR in this league, but he can be a competent #2, or a very good #3 wideout. He’s been pretty durable during his first seven years in the NFL, averaging 43 catches, 671 receiving yards and 5.1 TDs.
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The team acquired a couple of WRs during the offseason: Randall Cobb and Brandin Cooks. Both graded as a middle-of-the-pack wideout last year, per PFF.
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Cobb will be 30 when the 2020 season begins. He had a very respectable season in Dallas last year by posting a 55-828-3 stat line.
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Brandin Cooks topped the 1,000-yard mark in each of the 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons. His play took a huge dip last year; he caught 42 passes for 583 yards and just 2 TDs with the Rams.
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The big source of concern about Cooks is his injury history: he has suffered at least five concussions in the NFL. Will he bounce back with Watson as his quarterback? It’s hard to tell. If he goes down, at least the team has nice depth with Fuller, Stills and Cobb.
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TIGHT ENDS (TE)
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Darren Fells used to be viewed as a run blocker throughout his career. He had never caught more than 21 passes in a season. In 2019, he broke out with 34 receptions, but most importantly 7 TDs! Watson made good use of his big 6’7’’ frame.
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Jordan Akins went from 17 to 36 receptions in his second year as a pro. Both Akins and Fells aren’t game breakers. They ranked 50th and 48th out of 66 tight ends based on PFF ratings in 2019.
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OFFENSIVE LINE (OL)
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This has to be the offense’s weakest link. Other than Laremy Tunsil, all starters are either average, or below-average. Tunsil did finish as the #21 tackle out of 81 qualifiers (he wasn’t as good in run blocking). The Texans gave up a lot of draft capital in order to acquire him and Stills, so they need Tunsil to produce.
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The other guys on the line, along with their PFF rankings, are as follows: Nick Martin (18th out of 37 centers), Tytus Howard (60th out of 81 tackles), Zach Fulton (61st out of 81 guards) and Max Scharping (48th out of 81 guards). As for backup Roderick Johnson, who was re-signed to a one-year deal, he finished as the #42 tackle.
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Last year, the Texans attempted the 20th-most passes in the league, and yet allowed the 8th-most sacks. And that’s despite having a pretty mobile quarterback. Those numbers are not re-assuring.
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Since the same guys will be protecting Watson in 2020, you could be concerned about his health. The only good news is continuity is important on the offensive line. Having played a full year together might help improve their play.
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2020 VS 2019 OFFENSE
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It’s difficult not to downgrade this unit after losing such an impactful player like DeAndre Hopkins. At least they picked up adequate receivers like Brandin Cooks and Randall Cobb. Along with Fuller and Stills, that will still provide nice weapons for Watson.
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Switching Carlos Hyde for David Johnson isn’t necessarily an upgrade, in my humble opinion. Hyde did well in 2019 by finishing as the 18th-best RB (versus 22nd for Johnson).
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The starting tight ends are the same as last year. The OL remains intact.
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Overall, I’ll go with a small downgrade. Hopkins not only consistently racked up big numbers, but his presence alone opened things up for his teammates. It won’t be the case anymore.
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Final call (2020 vs 2019): Small downgrade
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4. Defensive Position-by-Position Breakdown

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (DL)
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The Texans had four guys rotating on the interior of the defensive line. None dominated nearly as much as D.J. Reader. He left for Cincinnati, which is a huge loss for the Texans.
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Reader was not much of a quarterback chaser, but he was an animal as a run stuffer. Despite posting just 2.5 sacks, Reader ranked as the 7th-best interior defender out of 114 qualifiers. The Texans were 25th in rushing yards allowed per game, and things are about to get worse following Reader’s departure.
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Bill O’Brien tried to compensate for that loss by signing Tim Jernigan away from the Eagles. He is an “okay” player, but not nearly as good as Reader was.
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The other three guys obtaining playing time at the position were Charles Omenihu, Angelo Blackson and Brandon Dunn. They all played between 37% and 41% of the snaps last year. Here were their PFF rankings out of 114 interior defenders: 84th, 113th and 97th. Ouch.
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The organization hopes second-round rookie Ross Blacklock can provide a spark right away. He played pretty well as a freshman with TCU, then missed the entire 2018 season due to an Achilles injury and came back leaner and faster as a junior. He’s an agile pass rusher who isn’t super strong.
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Therefore, we’re talking about a pretty weak and worsened group.
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DEFENSIVE ENDS (DE) / EDGE (ED)
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J.J. Watt is the heart and soul of this defense. In his first five seasons in the NFL, he hadn’t missed a single game. Since then, he has played 32-of-64 games (i.e. 50% of them).
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Now 31 years old, Texans fans have to be concerned by the situation. He did get 16 sacks in 2018, though. The big question revolves around his health because the abilities are still there for sure.
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Whitney Mercilus isn’t getting any younger either. He will be 30 years old when the next season begins.
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He led the team with 7.5 sacks last year. As a whole, Houston’s defense posted the sixth-fewest sacks, so thank God Mercilus was there.
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Unlike Watt, Mercilus has not missed many games throughout his career. He’s been involved in 15 games or more in seven of his eight seasons in the NFL. During those seven years, he has averaged 7 sacks per season.
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We do observe a worrisome tendency when watching his PFF grades, though. His marks have gone down quite a bit over the most recent two years. Coupled with his age, I am wary of his 2020 outlook.
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LINEBACKERS (LB)
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Zach Cunningham did a very fine job at linebacker last season. He had the 6th-most tackles in the league with 142, improving upon his 105 the year before. The former second rounder from the 2017 draft out of Vanderbilt has shown some nice steady progress thus far. He graded as the 21st-best LB out of 89 players.
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Benardrick McKinney is another guy that does a good job, despite not receiving much recognition around the league. He’s missed only two games over the past four seasons, while racking up at least 95 tackles in each of them.
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McKinney had his worst PFF grade of his career, and yet finished in spot #30 out of 89 linebackers. Not bad! He’s still young at 27 years old, so a bounce back year is likely.
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CORNERBACKS (CB)
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Bradley Roby was one of the starting corners for the Texans last year, but he missed six games due to a hamstring injury. Prior to this, he had been very durable in five seasons with the Broncos.
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As a former first-round pick, he’s had ups-and-downs in his career. Houston just locked him up with a lucrative three-year contract, so they believe he’s one of the building blocks towards a Super Bowl run. He ranked as an average CB last season based on PFF ratings.
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Johnathan Joseph is done in Houston. Both sides agreed to part ways. He played almost all games last season, and just like Roby he was marked as an average cornerback.
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After getting traded at midseason from the Raiders to the Texans, Gareon Conley significantly improved his play. The former 2017 first-rounder showed some promise and could be Joseph’s replacement.
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Another candidate is Lonnie Johnson. Bill O’Brien took him in the second round of the 2019 draft, but he struggled big time in his rookie season. His 29.0 grade in coverage by PFF was abysmal. He finished as the worst of all 112 qualified cornerbacks in the NFL.
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SAFETIES (S)
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Justin Reid has been a nice pickup so far. In his first two seasons in the NFL, he has received very good marks from PFF. He has intercepted five passes, forced one fumble and recovered three.
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Tashaun Gipson secured the number 71 spot out of 87 safeties in PFF rankings last season. His play tailed off significantly compared to his previous two years in Jacksonville. Entering his age-30 campaign, the team released him this offseason.
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The #3 safety was Jahleel Addae, but he won’t be re-signed. The guy who is most likely to take Gipson’s job is Eric Murray. His three-year, $20.25 million contract is a bit of a head-scratcher (what else can you expect from Bill O’Brien), but the dollar amount indicates he has a good shot to be a starter.
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Murray played his first three seasons with the Chiefs before joining the Browns last year. His PFF grades have been all over the place. As a rookie, his 74.0 mark was awesome! However, he crashed down to an atrocious 49.8 grade in his sophomore year before obtaining 67.5 and 62.5 the most recent two seasons. To me, he looks like a middle-of-the-pack guy (if not below-average).
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2020 VS 2019 DEFENSE
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In the secondary, the Texans let CB Johnathan Joseph and their #2 and #3 safeties Tashaun Gipson and Jahleel Addae go, but picked up Eric Murray. That’s pretty much a wash. For a team that allowed the fourth-most passing yards in 2019, it does not bode very well for 2020.
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Replacing stud DL D.J. Reader with Tim Jernigan is clearly a downgrade. As for the edge rushers and the linebackers, no changes have been made. J.J. Watt missed eight games last year and will be back this year, but his age (and Mercilus’ age) worry me a little bit.
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For these reasons, I expect this already fairly weak unit to decrease even more in terms of production.
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Final call (2020 vs 2019): Small downgrade
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MOST LIKELY RECORD: 8-8

(based on the one-million simulated seasons using BetOnline’s 2020 point spreads)

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Thanks for reading, savvy sports bettor!!!
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Professor MJ

Yesterday, we got another update of new games heading to Stadia. I'll say, the team has been on a roll basically announcing 2-3 new games a week for months now, so kudos to them and let's hope that continues.
But the pattern keeps going that we're mostly hearing about ports of older games or recent/future indie titles. The comment threads on these usually go about the same way each time. 75% excitement and joy, 25% this:
"But where are the AAA titles!"
"Enough of these little games!"
And those are usually downvoted to hell.

AAA Titles: Hurry Up and Wait

Every year, there are dozens of so-called "AAA Titles." These are the Marvel / Star Wars / Disney movies of the gaming year, tentpole titles in flagship franchises or high profile IP. We're talking your annual sports releases, we're talking the next big looter shooter, we're talking another trek to a World War, we're talking a 100 hour RPG.
In most cases, the bigger the game, the longer the development time. Of course, some of those franchises can basically build on the last (looking at you, Sports 2020 game), but if you're launching a new engine or rolling out something relatively new, you're looking at a couple of years of development at least.
If you're a studio who has never developed for Stadia before, inserting that new platform into your development pipelines midstream may be a daunting task. It might make more sense to finish and launch the game first, then back up and port the game afterwards. But if you've got enough lead time, say in the case of Baldur's Gate 3, then Stadia can work as a day one release. In fact, we've heard from developers that the process for developing on Stadia is actually easier than other platforms if only because a cloud-first solution makes testing and deployment easier especially in this remote-work times.
We're approaching the point where most of these studios have had Stadia in hand for a year. Early partners may have had it even sooner. To me, this says the AAA titles are going to land on Stadia as a matter of normalcy. Nobody asks if the next big NBA2K game is going to be on Xbox, of course it is. Nobody asks if the next Batman: Arkham game is going to be on PlayStation, of course it is. I fully believe that's where we're headed with Stadia.
Whatever the flagship, tentpole games are in 2021 that aren't platform-exclusive (to anybody else), are they going to be on Stadia? Of course they are. This is the part that requires patience.

Ports: Fast and Furious

If you've noticed, a ton of the "headliner" games that have come to Nintendo Switch in the past 2-3 years, even spotlighted in the Directs, weren't Smash Bros and Animal Crossing, they were Dark Souls and Witcher III and so forth. Ports. Code that has already been written, music that has already been recorded, scripts that have already been voices, artwork that has already been drawn.
You know what's faster than designing a game from scratch and launching it on a brand new platform? Taking a game off the hard drive on the main server and porting it. That's why we're seeing port after port after port onto Stadia, because it's a tremendously easier way to get a game into the hands of players now instead of nine months from now.
Are studios spending resources porting games that could better be served creating new games for the platform? Eh, I think people can walk and chew gum at the same time. Odds are good the developers responsible for getting Elder Scrolls Online onto Stadia are not being taken off the Elder Scrolls VI team, because that would mean that Stadia development is also delaying PC / PS / Xbox / Switch development.
Stadia is also a platform specifically designed for people who don't have a gaming PC or a current generation console. My poll yesterday shows that nearly half the respondents don't even have another platform to play on. I personally love these ports because I haven't been able to play any of these games and without Stadia, I may never have been able to. Just because the story was written ten years ago doesn't make it any less good of a tale.

Indies: The Itty Bitty Title Committee

(I'm sorry about that header, I couldn't help it.)
Did you know we have several indie studios' developers and leaders here in this subreddit? Did you know that a title that sells for $14.99 has writers and coders and composers and artists? Maybe not in the same number as a $59.99 title, but there are still people who pour their heart and soul into creating an awesome experience because they had an idea once, got excited about it, and made it real.
Ubisoft makes incredible games. Square Enix makes incredible games. EA makes incredible games (that fill you with a sense of pride and accomplishment). You know who else makes incredible games? The teams behind Stardew Valley, Dead Cells, Castle Crashers, Rocket League, Hollow Knight, Overcooked, Undertale, Celeste, Gylt, Spitlings, Kine, and I'm gonna bet Get Packed, Gunsport, and the other indie titles coming to Stadia.
Maybe small titles aren't your thing. Maybe you only get excited for those 100 hour epics. Red Dead or die! And that's fine. But you don't get the next Batman: Arkham game unless you have a teenager wanting to get into game development forming Argonaut Games which eventually became a big studio that brought together the people that formed Rocksteady. And even if you don't end up going from coding in your bedroom to creating a flagship, the people who have put in hundreds of hours on the farm in Stardew Valley would say a big thank you to Eric Barone for his hard work.
Stadia is going to be a great place to discover indies, if only because the Stadia team has thrown their support behind self-publishing through the Makers program, taking out the barriers to getting that idea from the dry erase board in your bedroom to the world. I challenge you to give those indies a try when they land on Stadia and get excited about them. You might just find your next favorite game.

The Library is Growing and We've Got Nothing but Time

We're still in early days left. It may seem like we've been here forever, but the first players logged into Destiny II on Stadia just just five months ago. The 2019 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare started development in 2016. We've got at least 120 titles to look forward to this year, at least 450 titles on the big roadmap, and who knows how many more once these studios start hitting their stride.
The future of Stadia is bright and all games are great games for somebody. Stay positive, #teamstadia.

This post brought to by insomnia and leftover chili.
With Casinos closed and No Live Sport Games going on in most countries, I thought I create a waging game as many of us will be waiting on the Live Broadcast of our Ladies tonight.
You as a Virtual Odds-Maker(Bookie), what are your predictions for the Q&A and what are the odds it will happen or how much are you willing to bet it will come true?
My Betting Lines:

1. We NOT see them in their outfits/uniforms; they will be in "normal" clothes( Odds: 1 Billion-to-1 that they will be in regulanormal clothes).
2. Saiki will answer a Baseball question( I willing to bet $10 USD that this will happen).
3. Kanami will answer a minimum of 1 question in English( I will bet my Zepp Tokyo Blu-Ray )

Let's hear your predictions and how much money or prized Band-Maid item you are willing to wager that your prediction will come true. Who will make the most interesting prediction and get the most bets placed for or against the outcome.

The Meld II (19): Path-finder.
As the sun began sinking, Nahrl realised he had underestimated badly. On the other side of the basin the City seeming far closer than it actually was. The fault in review proving the madly towering scale of the splintered ruined towers, combined with far taller trees deeper along on this side as well. Both factors combining to deeply confuse his normally accurate sense of distance via bamboozling the measure of relative scales. There being a paradigm shift over here. Though occasional forced backtracking didn’t help them reach their destination quickly either. As if on cue he heard another approaching Drone.
‘To cover.’ Nahrl signalled.
With deep reluctance, but necessary haste, the party hustling off the animal track. Each member - carefully - merging among the grown denser, stranger undergrowth. Ideally disappearing under the eaves of only passive large rubbery leaved plants. Avoiding contact with the increasingly prolific and problematic hanging vines and other menaces. Some of the trailing plants, lately waxing in numbers, moved in alarming ways. More carnivore, it guessed ancient science altered, plantimal forms. Judging on variations of feature and colour several species. A few deceptively beautiful, scenting richly attractive as well, probably luring occasional victims that way.
Perhaps it cautiously looking upward rather than down tripped Gryll. The Rogue emitting a sharp wordless electronic burst of surprise whilst plummeting from sight. Their Korvax friend vanishing into a previously unseen drop, trailing a scatter of netted plant growth with him, a profusion once matted across the gap possibly only accidentally concealing the now exposed void.
That event, in part, glanced under the optics of Efor, as rear guard, the Gek cursing out, ‘Gryll!’ over comms., whilst the Sentinel drew nearer. The machine floating down the natural path they had lately taken, only the Drone, red lens flaring, arriving upon them from the opposite direction. Akin to the Pentacle Minus One, the Sentinels currently also forced to patrol natural conduits, else, unlike the friends, they zoomed along high above the canopy. Efor easily understanding, given the hanging banes and so on, why some wise animals had created safer trails via habitual movements. Although the animals also ventured off trail to forage on occasion most doing so tentatively with great care. Nature a good teacher.
They had all witnessed what happened to startled bolting animals rushing wildly off their own paths in panic. At this end of the jungle, the vines oft catching unlucky ones. Some manner of thorn injected neurotoxin suspected. Anyway, the deaths jerky, quick and loathsome. Presently the more usual in many woods semi clear space between the canopy and the undergrowth full with those tangling jungle style spilling liana like vines. Some of which, (confusingly far from all), retaining the aforementioned animalistic predatory qualities.
Meanwhile, back in the perilous moment, the Drone gliding forward, drifting effortlessly upon a sophisticated anti gravity drive. The thing only pausing to smoothly pivot in mid air as if sniffing, though clearly attracted by the previous sound of Gryll’s fall. It then followed on with a slower virtually stalking level of creeping advance, shifting cautiously almost as if nervous while still buzzing ever closer orientated to the hole and via loose grouping the concealed party too. All the hiding above ground companions growing more tense and still. Thoughts of Gryll’s fate deferred momentarily by their own requirement to stay unnoticed.
The Drone ultimately halting a little shy. The mechanical mind computing its best reactive options whilst listening for further discordant noises via sharp microphones. It wisely hesitant to advance deeper off the trail into the often lethal undergrowth beyond. Though the friends unsure how deadly the vines might be to a machine, perhaps it merely didn’t want forced to wound or destroy to break loose. That being one advantage here - for the Pentacle Minus One - the Drones seeming to know, and to avoid, deep jungle complications. Thus the friends as long as they stayed hidden and remained still might yet be safe. Although the sound of Gryll’s fall a bit of ill luck.
Grim games of retreat or hide and seek presently too familiar. The area, nearest they guessed to the City limits, had ways suspiciously hiving with mechanised patrols. It as if the Sentinels intent upon keeping people out, else people or other unknowns cut off and imprisoned within. Many times Drones or Quads had forced the friends to stealthily backtrack and skirt around seeking a better gap in the defence only to be moved on again, primarily using those safer crisscrossing animal trails. Thus it would go until Nahrl, in deep frustration, would get a little bolder and chance them to slip around some judged narrow chink in another defensive ring. The cordon proving many layered, though really it was less geometric than a simple ring in action due to the random forest pathways. Nahrl oft fearing they would get caught in the middle of this dangerously monitored zone, exposed and attacked from all accessible directions with no sane escape off trail. Using a jetpack under the canopy a virtual suicide via vine. Even if the thorns did not penetrate shields, the tangling would immobilise and delay making anyone snared easy Sentinel targets.
Luckily the Forest - for all its exotic menaces - especially towards Efor -, or so he still claimed, also provided ample cover on the slightly safer fringes of the well judged animal trails at least in selected spots. Machine noises by the Drones and Quads usually giving their approach away reasonably clearly in advance. The party however, in their traverse, forced to move slowly, constantly listening with their suit microphones turned up, or their ears straining. Whilst despite precautions a few too close calls kept everyone stressed. Yet, so far, they had remained undetected with the exception of one previous mishap: The event when Efor shot the shrieking initially hidden ground dwelling tentacle sprouting hunched plantimal thing that had ambushed him, no pun intended. That encounter precipitating an especially tense rout. The group fleeing - alerted - Drone attention down various tracks. The unholy hooting shrieks of the weird plant animal mix when it fought and died easily rallying Sentinel attention and ire.
Despite the one aberration, simply stealthily retreating or taking to concealment for a time often proved good enough, whilst that lone chase occurred before they entered the main body of this apparent Sentinel cordon. It also happening before they got surrounded by especially dense masses of the troublesome hanging vines. As they neared the City outskirts matters ranging from bad to worse in multiple ways. If the SmugglerGek flew directly into the heart of the City they probably had no idea just how lucky they had been in avoiding a jungle trek. Although Nahrl, as ever, did a diligent Scouting job as a master of the path-finding craft, including being a Fox expert at avoiding rather than finding trouble. As Sentinel encounters waxed frequent, rather than sporadic, it getting harder work.
Therefore they had toiled in increasing despair - anything but directly - towards their desire the sun steadily sinking, that blessed orb’s kindly presence waning early, its light diffused, horribly barred, by the barrier of the jungles intimidating growth. In a way the shade aiding their cover from angry machines, but it hardly boosted their morale. Meanwhile, the currently menacing Drone scanned a local berry heavy thorn bush with suspiciously luscious looking fleshy yellow fruit. Then seemingly content, began to float away. Efor felt he was sweating Gek stink inside his helmet, despite temperature controlling. To him the cursed unnatural predatory flora bad enough without machines congregating as well. Yet since he donned his helmet and turned his suit olfactory sensors off, the traverse had become more tolerable on one level at least. It a hard price for him to pay though - as a Gek: Not scenting his environment directly with his own nostrils that made him feel somewhat sense blind. Though he found himself naturally increasingly relying upon optical and sonic input instead.
The sweaty weary Gek cursing inwardly, yearning to get away from the freakish claustrophobic living domain. The Damn Drone too typically taking its time about moving on, it only going a few Gek paces distance before pausing again, to scan some other relatively mundane object in the vicinity. Efor often wondering precisely what the machines scanned for, though maybe it something less obvious than it appeared. Perhaps it sought signs of material instabilities in the structure of reality: Fluxes in the quantum foam or other esoteric hokum well beyond his level of general science learning - well mostly - ignoring his occult days.
Whatever the machine obsession, it left Efor desirous of screaming. Could such routines be programmed in, to deliberately test the nerve of any trespassers they hunted? A big part of him wanted to end his tense vigil by leaping up from his crouched cover to shoot the cursed thing down without mercy. He envisioned that action several times over, it seeming a grand Gek fantasy. Sadly although decisive martial action might appear the quick solution to move along unmolested, more probably it very much not so. Rash action only summoning more of the damned things, beginning a grim too standard escalation of hunting reinforcement.
Truly, it would not surprise him if Drones did loiter - simply to act as tempting targets - offering themselves up as disposable bait. Coming under fire being a fine way to pinpoint and reveal hostiles to their wider conglomerate. If they did play such selfless games, it actually rather cunning for spawning bots.
Given how it usually played out, Efor knew staying concealed the best option of all, yet every time they were trapped he struggled to retain his necessary immobility. The Gek now appreciating how much he lacked the Foxes - at need - almost meditative levels of deep inner and outer stillness. Their patience in particular when hiding and stalking both impressing and sometimes frustrating the spawn out of him. By comparison, staying perfectly still, for him as a Gek, often a battle of fraying willpower over natural fidgety inclinations. Worse, he personally also felt a betraying inner part of him yearned to give all their positions away in a deliberate devilish manner. A mad impulse perhaps of the former CultGek tempting him. How he hated that horrid being - he had fled away from - so long ago. Evil thoughts from that SurvivorGek still ironically making him itch to do dire things. Yet such simply his unhappy - once broken - mind being converse, when he dwelt too much upon haunting old matters best left to wither and die.
Occasionally remembrance of an ill history can spawn with your better nature. Mocking the hard won successes, claiming there actually no hope and no escape from the Gek you used to be. As his Seniors had oft lectured: The pyramidal tiers of the Cult is all! Beyond such advancement only a soul devouring darkness. You fed the Darks, or the Darks fed upon you! That was the devil’s compact. Once in the Cult, always a Cultist… The Dark Taint - not a matter easily expelled - it seeped in deep to meld firmly with your being. Forbidden knowledge rooting in your cells as if some malignant cancerous mutating blight or roguish, (off kinder remit), invasive nanotech machines.
How do you escape from yourself after you have become what you become? Of course, some of that a lie designed to help keep New Initiates bound to their New Masters, yet a shadow of truth in there too. The taint did stain you, you were never quite free of it or the same Gek you were before initiation.
‘Bah!’ He complained inwardly turning away from the old - too familiar - horror of his shadowed history. Turning instead to immediate concerns about the lone Sentinel and Gryll. Was Gryll alright? He must have fallen down a sink hole, perhaps dropping into a deep cave system or even an old Warren living space or tunnel, it being Hellespae after all. Unlike any other world he had traversed, this one a labyrinth of ancient and modern underground - manufactured workings - not just natural tunnels and caves though there remained plenty of those as well. In some ways, more occurring underground these days - in places - than happened above on the surface. Especially since the return of the Sentinels, the Hellespae Underdarks hiving with banished Tusk and Fox souls, although that not, he realised, the most auspicious way to consider it.
Some of his nasty thoughts probably seeded by memories of the Forest Stink yet wounding his equilibrium. At least Gryll smart enough to remain quiet after his accident. Efor positive the silence just Gryll being sensible, not say the effect of him falling down some unholy ruinous abyss to lie broken. Bah! Gryll had a jetpack and active shields too. No mere fall would easily end the rare Traveller Korvax.
Nonetheless, Efor itched to rush over to the hole to investigate the unexpected happening, even as a potential underground escape from the testing jungle trek. Yet he dared not move whilst the Drone yet lurked so close listening. Again he had to resist that urge to pop up and shoot it. It coming to his mind that if he destroyed the spawning thing they could all jump into the hole to hide from any deeper attention that action might draw. Yet he knew drawing that added attention - stupid - and leaping into an abyss might lead to other issues even if it presently seemed attractive. It proving a harsh wait indeed, when Nahrl lobbed a well aimed stone that had the Drone move off to investigate that sound. Now why didn’t I think of that low tech solution, Efor thought, then realising probably because it was low tech. Bah! You could get too dependent upon machines. When it finally out of range, Efor gave out a great sigh of relief and sprang into physical action. The movement an intense Joy, Joy. Yet he was careful enough to mind his own footing lest he tumble beyond some vegetative edge in an undignified and worse overly loud crashing manner.
It was only belatedly that the Gek judged himself a fool. After all, he could have silently linked into Gryll at any time to ascertain his friends present status including during his hiding vigil. There being no need to rest in ignorant trepidation. Yet in the moments of concealment, thoughts of communication with others had abandoned him. Maybe a good thing, as sometimes it better to stay alert rather than be too distracted by a back and forth babble. Although he had kept up a busy inner monologue in his head with himself that somehow less bothersome distracting.
‘Gryll fell into something.’ Efor nonetheless broadcast by comms., to the others first.
‘Heard him drop.’ Nahrl sent back, soon moving over with Jhasq ranging behind him on one flank, something lethal tactical about that deployment not to mention hunting sinister. In the jungle the Foxes seemed to wax predatory. The way they stalked sending a natural thrill of alarm to the Gek almost activating a prey flight or fight instinct. Yet it was just Nahrl and Jhasq - his friends - he let the cowardly impulse go.
‘You alright down there.’ Nahrl sent, doing the obvious, before Efor framed and transmitted his own planned query. That being what he got for distracting thoughts of Fox Predators hunting him through the undergrowth.
‘Fine.’ Gryll replied lightly as if surprised at anybody even being concerned.
‘So what have you found down there?’ Efor sent turning his torch on to peer into a narrow round shaft that ran perfectly straight. The lengthy hole although well overgrown in places by normal creeping weeds - denoting possible antiquity - had all the signs of a once well cut Terrain Manipulator type escape tunnel. The sort of thing wanderers had a habit of excavating as short cuts to the surface when stuck deep underground. Though Efor mused it could also as easily be an old - no thrills - air shaft of some manner. Somehow it didn’t strike him as a sensible purposeful entrance. There being no ladder or even cut semi hidden hand and foot holes nothing of that aiding civil engineered nature visible anyway.
‘A Fox Warren area, of a sort, although…’ Gryll trailed off for a time. ‘…something else too.’ The Rogue added with a very different - far more serious - not to add mysterious tone.
From above Efor could make out hints of his friends torch light flickering around below though it didn‘t really help him to see much more, not even when combined with some steadier plant based bioluminescence also present. Yet peering down as if through a long non magnifying telescope he did glimpse hints of a blocky overgrown shape directly below that instinctively disturbed him slightly, though he could not immediately appreciate why at that distance. He didn’t dwell too much on it though, partly because, of late, so very much disturbing him. Being half freaked out seemed his present mode of the moment. Strange what you can get used to, including a constant ambiance of terror.
‘Coming down.’ Efor stated before leaping in cushioning his fall via short taps of his jetpack. The Gek veering off slightly from the protruding object directly below. Although he landed a little awkwardly to one side of the block, Efor felt instantly safer with all the primary jungle growth now a good distance above, better yet with mostly a fine deep stone barrier between him and it. Truly Joy, Joy.
Without a word Nahrl then Jhasq also slipped down to join their colleagues also using a little jet power to avoid colliding with the central object and to land well enough.
‘Does it run our way.’ Nahrl asked immediately, whilst looking around, his mind still set firmly on the journey ahead.
Efor judging even their Scout happy to potentially get away from among the trees, in his case to avoid the increasingly troublesome Sentinel patrols now taxing even his stealthy guidance. Actually Nahrl had long been looking for ways underground ever since they entered the hanging vine jungle style part of the Forest biome, without luck in that side quest until now. The only hollows previously observed being some too obvious animal style - dug out - burrows that Nahrl considered best avoided, a choice Efor firmly agreed with not liking the idea of what might lurk in those locations. Something about those holes, maybe another smell, also giving him the creeps. It probably amusing Nahrl now though that Gryll - by sheer mishap - had perhaps found what he could not, despite all his scouting craft. Although that they had striven to avoid straying off the animal trails, (as much as possible), probably ill helping with locating underworld entrances.
Efor took in the new area. It was a largish, mostly open, space ignoring the elevated central block. Certainly the Pentacle Minus One not crowding it, but it was not vastly huge either. The shaft actually at the apex of a smaller perfect but compact dome shaped void that then widened via a hard edged circumference into a broader flat ceiling. Directly under the shaft and dome now, he looked at it better, in dimensions a suspiciously alter like slab of dark heavily carved stone. The stonework rather overgrown with hardy opportunistic weeds even inside the shaded hollow. Yet glimpses between that unruly growth that also colonised patches upon the wider mud caked stone floor did hint at elaborate - Fox - skill level carvings. Unfortunately, the object itself and the shapes half glimpsed of the things carved in relief soon presented as less Foxy and suggesting nothing pleasant.
‘An old Gek Blood Cult Shrine.’ Gryll stated firmly - but plainly - as if that fact no big deal, whilst playing his torch over the offending weed encased sacrificial alter block. Not, thank The Stars, active Elder Tech, just regular old inert stone - as far as I can tell. No creepy emissions here whatsoever, beyond the natural reactions it causes via association in any dark lore wise mind, or simply any vivid imagination.’ He added.
‘Filthy work.’ Nahrl barked out via a sending. ‘I hate that any of my people were involved in crafting such abominable things.’
The Fox glared at the weed choked alter stone as if its presence alone deeply offended.
‘Grimly, even quite recently Tusks often used enslaved Fox Masons to carve out their unholy Tributes and Shrines to the Dark Dreamer. Can you imagine it? Being forced to do such vile labours knowing your own people likely to be tortured, sacrificed and devoured there - body, mind and soul - at least according to the worst dark myths.’
Nahrl looking like he wanted to spit, or maybe to blast the old relic into chips and dust.
‘I didn’t credit our Father Geskhan promoted such worship - in his time - yet I guess such as this, (as some off world scholars might say), is simply evidence of the old Imperial Blood Cult.’ Jhasq noted.
Gryll shook his head ever so slightly almost below easy biological perception in that sometimes understated Korvax way. ‘I calculate not so deeply official.’
‘Why not?’ Nahrl asked.
‘Many little things don‘t fit. I fear you might be surprised too how the corruption of such darkling worship can spread, even into the most unlikely of places, among the most improbable of folk.’
‘An earlier Tusk corruption than the advent of the Dreamer.’ Nahrl ventured.
‘Perhaps.’ Gryll replied but he did not sound too convinced by that idea either. ‘You know there are even it believed Korvax that secretly worship the Darks and not just Rogue Korvax. Once deemed Lawful Convergent folk too, some at first innocently simply doing research but going a bit too deep in their studies. Some vile doctrines can infect even the cool headed - akin to a contagion - acting as if a disease of the mind. All it takes is to get too close to the same and to exhibit a little weakness of character.’
That idea made Nahrl shudder inside and feel slightly depressed too. Why did evil always seem so pervasive and strong? Corruption so rife? He glared at the stone again with its leafy semi hidden, best not described, hints of dire images of Elder Horrors from Beyond any sane Beyond. Meanwhile, Gryll gave a little start and gazed away for a moment. They could all too easily guess at the cause of that abiding twitch, it becoming too familiar to the entire party.
Surely Gryll was not hinting that…, Nahrl thought, soon finding one fresh idea offended him deeper than the Alter itself - so deep - he could barely bring himself to name it even in the seclusion of his own head.
For a time Gryll seemed distracted. Perhaps his thoughts drawn away by that distant pulse that only he felt.
A little reluctantly but unable to resist Nahrl asked. ‘So what - exactly - is so unofficial about it?’
‘For a start it lacks certain expected hints of the Grand Imperial scale also richness of finish. Plus it is clearly well out of the City proper, hidden away here.’ Gryll noted in full scholar mode.
‘So? The Cults like to lurk on the fringes. That is nothing new, or it could be a minor split.’ Efor injected.
‘In this age you are correct. After all in these more reasonable times sentient sacrifices are judged by most both crimes and moral abominations. Yet during the height of the Gek Empire it was, you might say, a State run franchise, probably even here on Geskhan’s world to some degree. Not practices occurring in hidden places during clandestine gatherings. Although the Cults certainly always retained some secret - sacred inner sanctums - that few ever witness, those even rarer sites well distinctive in their own right. Such housing impressive collections of weird Elder Tech objects and / or a lot of questionable texts.’
‘Is the shaft here ritual then, given its - obvious - orientation with the alter? A tunnel cut out to the sky and all that rests - far beyond it - to those worshippers.’ Jhasq asked.
‘Well spotted. Very possibly, good Fox, you have a fine scholarly mind. Moreover, I suspect it a flue of sorts for the unleashing of unholy smoke. Burned offerings occurring here, not just blood spilling. See here,’ Gryll pointed with his torch, ‘to me that a well contained fire pit though obviously long lost to use.’
‘As if gutting people not creepy enough they had to cook parts of them too.’ Nahrl noted.
‘Very probably whilst they were yet alive to view and smell it. It adds to the terror, the spectacle and the drama.’ Efor stated angrily. ‘I know of a few particularly nasty rituals that veer in that horrid direction. You might say an unspeakable sort of barbeque.’ The Gek possibly grotesquely half joked.
Nahrl felt a bit sick at the concept especially having seen some Dreamer Cult Shrines. Sadly the one at Bhathag’s Fort destined to be only one of many he would later help to uncover, digging for survivors after the bombarding Wrath of the Sentinels.
‘Hateful - so unnatural - so cursed wrong.’ Jhasq complained.
‘Hating the Cults, when you know them, a too easy habit.’ Efor agreed. ‘Let’s not linger here overlong. Is there an underground way onward from this place? A path that might better suit us than the Forest above?’
‘Possibly. As easily noted four equidistant exits depart from this room, each facing a cardinal point, though how far any of those go… That one in our general direction.’ Gryll noted pointing again with his torch. ‘Still that immediate directionality might mean little enough any distance beyond it. This place - given what it is - may have been concealed I will bet by cunning twists and turns beyond.’
‘Give me a moment to scout a little ahead, to see if any of these paths are worth using.’ Nahrl sent. ‘If our luck holds access might be found from here into a main Causeway or some other direct underground route straight into the City Centre. Such a substantial site should historically be well serviced by many such routes. That being why I was so keen to find us a way down. This place despite its former usage a fortuitous find Gryll. You bring us good fortune.’
‘I spawning hope so.’ Efor sent back. ‘I really don’t want to go back up there again, especially in the deeps of night, it gloomy and grim enough in daylight. Anyway, those Sentinels getting too much. We are tempting fate keeping pushing into those patrols. Sooner or later they are going to detect and surround us.’
Perhaps complaining about the gloomy Forest an ironic statement given their current location, yet to the Gek the old Shrine despite its former infamy, (in closer examination), seemed dead. The power of the site - if it ever had any beyond wishful thinking and mundane social manipulation - spent - long ages ago. Its ancient evil kindly banished and buried under healthier intruding growth. The weeds here alone, including a few glowing bulbs shining cheerily bioluminescent almost banishing the shadows of former menaces entirely. Though none of the light makers that brighter traditional Warren lightweed, the glowing flowers still seemed to have turned the place picturesque enough, verging on charming at least through a less tainted lens. You simply had to ignore its old purpose and not look too closely at the semi-hidden carvings. Though the far walls remained shadowy enough, those walls never meant to be well lit. Never dedicated to Light and Life always to Darkness and Death. Nonetheless, defiant life bearing its own light had reclaimed and in that small wonder Efor found cheering glimmers of hope - a rare - good omen indeed.
Still whilst Nahrl departed to do - what he always did - hunting a generally safe way onward - they poked around the Shrine with a certain difficult to restrain morbid curiosity. Though none of them brave enough - not even Gryll - to get up close with the alter stone itself. They all let that arcane object be, not even moving some of those screening plants aside to better view the abominations rendered so skilfully possibly by Fox hands below. Maybe if they did not have more pressing issues Gryll would have taken pains to record it all, as an interesting Blood Cult archaeological find, but compared to the grander moment of the guessed mega archaeology of the City proper beyond, this place seemed an insignificant distraction not worth much effort.
Efor nonetheless found himself scraping away some dirt with his boot at a spot where he had expected to find something more obvious. Then in the end he pulled out his Multi-tool and reducing its power output significantly used a Terrain Manipulator function to clear a layer of earth and plant growth away. It was the slow deposit of ages, soil and so on washed down perhaps from above sprouting seeds too. Not so deep that soil, just a skim really, the MT simply making a quicker, cleaner operation of removing that covering from the patch obsessing him. Rightly enough it cleared a bigger capping stone to the rest of the pattern tiled floor. Yet a block Efor suspected might be less substantive than it looked plus weighted and balanced for easy opening in some manner. Foxes with stone cunning engineers, Efor seen many of their works in action.
Soon he was pressing and prodding around but having scant success at finding a hidden unlocking mechanism. Jhasq however noting his failing work intervened, the Fox seeming to know the exact spot and quickly had the stone door swinging down upon concealed hinges. Though it stuck part way until forced by Efor. The Gek’s violent stomp causing something to give way so that the whole stone block dropped but also tilted at an angle one hinge at the very least broken. There was a little billow of dry dust when the lowest corner’s edge struck down hard accompanied by unsettling snapping crunches.
Jhasq inhaled sharply then coughed out a bark in disgust at the sight revealed, whilst waving offensive particles away given their now visible source. Gryll just nodded as if expecting nothing less, Efor registering little emotion too being yet hidden behind his almost First Spawn style helmet. Perhaps in all the excitement forgetting to take it off or yet still wary of Forest stinks.
Apparently the Gek using his grasp of Blood Cult lore and architecture to uncover the Shrine’s Ossuary a ritual depository of sacrificial bones. They all gathered around to shine their torches down upon the ancient victims to get a better look. Thankfully, there was little in the way of a bad smell as often accompanied tall tales of such finds. Here the surviving bones including many broken chips, all dry and dusty rather than wet and rancid. Among them a few recognisable skulls, some still sporting long distinctive Tusks. Kneeling down to look closer, Efor noted a few of the fragments had charring upon them but far from all. Some also seemed to have wicked tooth marks as if hungrily gnawed upon many such broken open and hollow edged as if the marrow greedily sucked from within.
Had some critters found there way in to feast on the dead? Efor doubted it but ran his torch around the circumference of the pit to be certain, it all seemed lined with unbroken well worked stone.
‘Surprisingly early Tusk cannibalism taken to new depths of - self - abusive horror.’ Jhasq stated.
Efor and Gryll let that go. They both had other thoughts, but if choosing to believe the crimes here committed by Ancient Tusks made dealing with the site easier for Jhasq neither of them saw much point in shattering her delusion. Sometimes a lie arguably better than a truth, when the truth only wounds. In this instance correcting didn’t seem to matter, the crimes - as the owners of the bones - all ancient history.
Sometimes the abused become the abuser. Though given the age of this place Efor not sure which party started any cycle, maybe it would never be known with any clarity. Besides, this specific Cult could be statistically some rarity rather than evidence of a deep trend or any broader movement. Too often singular finds causing wild fancies about an entire society or culture, whilst they might only pertain to a twisted tiny subset of the same. This was Gek Blood Cult work though - from its form - even more so than modern Dreamer Shrines. The Dreamer Shrines had many commonalities with Gek Blood Cults, as Efor better knew them, but they also had their own peculiar kinks that set them distinctively apart. As if the Dreamer Cultists only acting out a faith in part copied from older forms as mere inspirational points of reference. Perhaps the Dreamer once robbing occult lore from Shadow Library files then warping those ideas to his own equally grim cultural desires and purposes.
This site to Efor purer worship of a Dark or Darks, well if you can ever dare to call such actions pure.
‘Come away from it Jhasq.’ Gryll sent as he moved back. ‘Some matters - too deeply studied - can only disturb a soul’s grip upon their better self. You need not go there, recording such evil is not your business. You are a healer, not an Archivist of Cults of the Outer Darkness.’
Jhasq considered that and nodded backing away as Gryll suggested to join him at the far end of the room against one wall.
‘So many.’ She whispered aloud.
‘Such places can be active for a long time thus accumulating a horde of victims even if the killing rituals are rare enough and say calendar based.’ Gryll stated.
‘I’ll never understand these insane arcane wastes of life.’ She confessed
‘Which is a good thing.’ Efor sent joining them. ‘It is a pity the stone broke. Yet I have filled the mass grave in.’ He added holstering his multi-tool after clicking it off the create function. It was amazing what nanotech could do. Some tool functions even making mass out of seeming thin air, although actually it was always about complex processes of elemental compression, decompression, transport and conversion.
After the Geks comment none of them spoke for a time. Not even after Gryll gave another tiny start and habitually turned searching for his ghostly signal. What was it about it? The Rogue mused. Somehow it felt almost familiar, akin to some data deleted but whose void left a distinctive hole in an internal memory space. Why did he feel that pulse fitted as if a key into a gap within his digital mind and soul. The more he thought about it the more it bothered him deeply, again it felt oddly personal and somehow no one else’s business not even his friends. He did not really want to discuss that particular aspect of the experience with anyone else, even though earlier when he had spoken of the pulse in general that had made him feel a little better.
Gryll knew he now felt less isolated in his escalating plight. It was no joke to any Korvax though to feel yourself malfunctioning even due to an external influence. What if the systems of his Casing failed altogether? He would be lost into the keeping of the Atlas and then the Convergence at least such his supposition of belief.
With Nahrl likely gone awhile, they settled in to wait. In truth, they were all a little tired, well maybe not Gryll - not physically anyway - though maybe emotionally he was worn down enough by that periodic pulse through his systems. Soon the Rogue standing with his back to one wall, whilst the others sat sprawled on the floor nearby all far away from the alter. Efor considering eating something but realised he had no present appetite. The Gek did happily take his helmet off though eventually stowing it away in his backpack. First he sniffed at the air hesitantly though, it proving fine only a little musty with but a hint of the malignant jungle scent down here. In fact, the more local weeds predominantly smelling fresh to him - clean - natural - normal. Again, Efor thought of that simple joyous life intruding into this space as a benison. He felt a little bad about clearing some of it away when harvesting the ground to expose the cap stone of the Ossuary. Yet he let it go, done being done and no open pit in evidence had surprised him. Besides, he filled the grave in with untainted freshly generated earth and that might soon enough be re-colonised by seeds and spores. There being some innocent enough fungi down here too. At least one type of which scented edible raw. Yet he was not of a mind to gather either opting to let it be.
They waited in a companionable enough silence, each lost in their own contemplations. None wanting to burden the others with some of their occasionally darker chains of thought. Although overall Efor brightened a little, with the Ossuary buried and if you ignored the alter this place as good a rest stop as they might hope for. No horrid vines down here. Ideally no carnivorous plants at all - at least he hoped so.
When Nahrl appeared he just looked them over and gestured for them to follow. They complied falling into the same single file order of march as before. The immediate way proved as serpentine and tricky as Gryll had hinted. The Rogue also knew his Blood Cults and was perhaps growing well familiar with Fox Warrens as well. Without doubt to casual intruders coming the other way there were ways that would have been easily missed and slants that would naturally deflect. Yet such not designed to hide from the opposite direction. Still there were several side ways Nahrl ignored. Efor wondering if he had explored any of those paths during his initial scouting or if Fox signs, invisible to the Gek, had guided him invariable down the main direction he wanted to go.
At times Nahrl's ability to navigate underworld spaces seeming to verge on the uncanny. Yet Efor positive it was just deep cultural awareness, experience and mundane training. Also now having already scouted this way - it was all mapped in his head - so he moved with even greater surety. For a while no stalking involved the party making good progress at a steady verging on vigorous walking pace. Though all things must come to an end, thus as Nahrl reached the confines of the area he had already scouted he slowed and grew more cautious again. Occasionally having his colleagues wait whilst he checked out a questionable junction or passage. At one point even delineating the confines of an ancient pit trap. Some age old Warren defence against ignorant intruders. Nahrl claiming it a later edition than the working of the passageway itself, though he was positive the whole area long since abandoned to active occupation.
They did find some small signs of life long departed. Some stone urns, a bowl some flint arrowheads and other less definable things that Efor did not recognise but where clearly worked items perhaps once part of something larger rotted away. For example a spill of some stone discs too big to be practical coinage. There was even some lightweed in places overgrowing from its once well sited tracks in the walls. At times due to wild proliferation almost too bright to easily gaze upon. Rather strange to be dazzled by light in deep tunnels.
Disappointingly though the ways, some natural looking others very much Fox architecture, still rather meandering. Occasionally an old route walled off some possibly deliberately, others looking more akin to effects of ancient earth movements. Nahrl seemed intent, whenever possible, upon leading them ever downward. Did all the main Causeways rest at great depths? Before now that a possible fact Efor had not really considered, but now going on previous experience it might prove true. Even Bhargle, thinking back, lay deep enough.