Monday, February 8, 2010

What went wrong...?

This morning, one of my coworkers approached me with a distressed look on his face. He said it was a shitty game yesterday, and he anxiously wanted to know what went wrong?

I quickly realized that I was speaking to a guy who didn't listen to anything I said last week. He lost some money to Vegas. Of this much I have no doubt.

"Nothing went wrong, the best team won. This was as the Madden 2010 simulator predicted; plus a little added margin for the pick-6."

"But all the Las Vegas lines favored the Colts", he said.

"Oh you mean they lied to you?" I asked, "You know they collect money when you lose, right?"

"But how could Peyton Manning play like shit on Super Sunday? How could this happen?", he rhetorically asked in distress.

"Did you know Manning's QB efficiency rating was 115.3% before he threw the pick-6? He played amazing football with the exception of that 1 pass."

"Yeah, but that pass killed the Colts!" He said in distress.

"Remember, a touchdown there only ties the game. The Saints would still have two options for victory; one in regulation; one in overtime." I reminded him.

"Yeah, but that put the Saints up by 14!" He said in distress.

"You lost money didn't you?" I asked.

He did not reply. The looser gamblers are in a recriminating, back-biting state of denial this lovely morning. This is because the gambling bill is going to come due soon. 68.5% of all the dollars bet on the Super Bowl were won by the sports books in Vegas. Did you ever have any doubt that Vegas would make money on this deal?

The best team won folks, and Vegas knows that. They played you for a fool. Nothing went wrong. The best team in the NFL won the game. It basically went as expected. Everybody on the NFL Network (except Moochie) picked the Saints to win it yesterday. They knew the Saints were the better football team. The stats will tell you that, if you know how to read stats.

Never bet money as Vegas wants you too. If you bet the Vegas line straight up and down each week during the regular season, you will lose money on most weeks.