Yesterday, a buddy of mine named Jumbo, was complaining about the results of his betting weekend, blaming "bad luck." When he included the Houston Texans as one of his losses, I couldn't understand how he had lost that bet-until I found out that in an effort to make his wagers before leaving town for the weekend, he had placed all of his bets on Friday with his local book.

Why anyone would go out of town on a weekend full of football is beyond my scope of understanding, but taking an underdog against the Colts on a Friday is just asking to lose money. Picking winners is hard enough, but not shopping around for the best line only reduces your chances of a win and certainly does not allow the bettor to complain about bad breaks.

During NFL week #3, there were a total of five games that resulted in a 1/2- 1-point difference between a win, a loss or a push. The aforementioned Houston-Colts game was one of these, as the line went from 5.5-7 depending upon when wagered. Indy won 30-24. Kansas City/Minnesota game opened with the Chiefs - 2.5, yet by Sunday I saw some lines as high as 4; the result, KC 13-10.

In the AFC East, the Jets and Dolphins showed lines with Jets as a favorite from 3-3.5 points, Jets winning the game 31-28. Charlie Scott Sports went with the Bengals getting 3.5 points at Seattle. Seattle won 24-21, resulting in a win.

The lines on the Cleveland Browns at the Oakland Raiders ranged from 2.5-3 points, and the game ended with a score of 26-24.

You can be the world's best handicapper, but if you do not shop for lines and get the absolute best numbers available, it will be almost impossible to win over the long run. Imagine that the football season is over and you could change all of your 1/2-1 point losses into wins,and all your ties were wins, if you had only taken longer to look around for the right number-what would your winning percentage look like now? More importantly, what would your bankroll show?

 

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