December 1, 2024
This one is for those in the reading audience who bet on sports. Once again, it’s transition time. It is time to leave a truly exciting baseball season (particularly for Met and Yankee fans) and return to the tainted world of college basketball. Both are important to many of us since sportsbooks have now become front and center for the betting public. For me, it’s DraftKings. For others, it’s FanDuel. In any event, here’s how baseball came down for me and what’s coming up with basketball.
BASEBALL. What a dream season for those of us who are Met fans. It was almost better for the Yankee season (even though they made it to the World Series). But, what about my bets? I probably won a couple of bucks only because of partnerships with two of my dearest friends (who are still around). Mary and I naturally had several bets on the Mets. My key bets were on San Diego and Cleveland. Believe this or not but I had $2 on San Diego to win the National League at 180-1! Ouch! *!@#. Both these two bets lost, although I had a $20 pickup on a Cleveland futures over bet. But, baseball is behind us and it is now time to talk basketball and this season’s basketball bets.
BASKETBALL. As noted last Spring, I caught Connecticut at 40-1 two years in a row. I’m hoping that the 2024-25 season will be another good year.
Keep in mind that there are primarily two types of bets available in sports betting: the point spread and the money line. My recommendation is future bets (that I refer to as seasonal bets). These are bets on a team or individual winning a championship, league, division, award, etc., and the good news is that each of these bets (hopefully) applies over an entire season. In college basketball, it is who is going to win the NCAA Championship or make the Final Four. For example, last year, I had a $2 bet on Yale to make the Final Four at 1000-1, and $5 on North Carolina State to win it all at 50-1. But that was last year. What remains is what do I have for this year?
Here are some of the approximate future odds to win the NCAA Tournament:
UCONN (9-1) KENTUCKY (25-1)
DUKE (10-1) BAYLOR (30-1)
ALABAMA (11-1) INDIANA (45-1)
HOUSTON (14-1) TENNESSEE (50-1)
NORTH CAROLINA (20-1) ILLINOIS (60-1)
Do I have any suggestions? Of course I do! I’ll be putting some money ($2 – $10) on the following teams: Houston, Illinois, and Tennessee (my key).
Whatever you do, if anything – good luck. Kansas (12-1) and Michigan State (55-1) look good, but I can’t bet them since I believe both coaches should be barred by the NCAA. This also hurts: St. Johns will have to be reckoned with this year; but, I hope I’m wrong.
Don’t forget that it is also the season for the NHL, NBA, NFL, and college football. I offer these comments:
NHL: Try the Rangers and Devils to win it all.
NBA: Pass.
NFL: My money is on Baltimore (AFL) and Green Bay (NFL).
College Football: I got in early on Oregon, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
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