With the NFL returning tonight I figured it was time to return to The Betting Edge. Today I’ll be speaking about tonight’s NFL game, the Camel Clutch Blog Fantasy League, my own personal league’s and my thoughts on the Delaware legislature for gambling.
The fact that the courts overruled the Delaware legislature on gambling is beyond stupid. It’s almost impossible to win one game let alone a 5 team teaser. In the state of the economy currently having additional sources of income is ridiclous to not look at. What better way is it to seep some of the money from Pennsylvania & New Jersey (two of the most populated bookie states on the East Coast) than offer gambling? This goes back to the fact that if Las Vegas wasn’t around… the professional sports you know & love would not currently be in operation. All the sports may say they hate Vegas… but deep down it drives the interest in them.
I run a Survivor Pool with over 40 people in it and so far the consenses top pick is Baltimore to win outright over Kansas City. This is my pick as well to win straight up.
[adinserter block=”1″]I’m also taking part in two money leagues this year for Fantasy Football. Both leagues have 10 teams. One league has this starting setup: 1 QB, 2 RB, 1 RB/WR, 2 WR, 1 WR/TE, 1 TE, 1 DEF, 1 K. The other league has 1 QB, 2 RB, 1 RB/WR, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 DEF, 1 K. I personally like the setup without the WR/TE but what can you do. Both leagues were a simple buy-in of $50. The 2nd league we have sort of a side pot going on. Every add/drop after 5 is $2. The winner of that pot is the person with the team that scores the most points throughout the year. We also have a side bet of $10 from everyone that contributes to a $33 bonus to the person who’s QB scored the most points, $33 bonus to the person who’s RB scored the most points, and a $33 bonus to the person who’s WR scored the most points. Here’s the tricky part. That person has to be starting and active for you to earn those points. So last year Ronnie Brown ran for 4 touchdowns and a sick amount of fantasy points. If you didn’t start him, you wouldn’t get credit for it. All little ways to make the game more interesting and fun.
In my first money league this is my matchup:
Matt Schaub vs. Peyton Manning
Chris Johnson vs. Michael Turner
Frank Gore vs. Thomas Jones
Darren McFadden vs. Willie Parker
Anquan Boldin vs. Steve Smith
Braylon Edwards vs. Derrick Mason
Anthony Gonzalez vs. Josh Morgan
Tony Scheffler vs. Owen Daniels
Miami Dolphins Defense vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Defense
Neil Rackers vs. David Akers
[adinserter block=”2″]ESPN is calling me a 22 point underdog and I agree. I need Schaub & Johnson to pull a really good game out of their ass to even have a shot. I think my WRs will do good and everything else is a push but this is a tough team to face Week 1 when I won the first 7 games in this league last year.
In my other money league this is my matchup:
Donovan McNabb vs. Matt Ryan
Michael Turner vs. Brian Westbrook
Clinton Portis vs. Frank Gore
Wes Welker vs. Percy Harvin
Reggie Wayne vs. Terrell Owens
Bernard Berrian vs. Santonio Holmes
Dustin Keller vs. Antonio Gates
Miami Dolphins Defense vs. Tennessee Titans Defense
John Carney vs. Stephen Gostowski
ESPN is calling me a 20 point favorite and I agree. This is the classic battle that comes up in fantasy all the time. Your home team quarterback (Donovan McNabb) that you draft and expect to produce is facing your home team running back (Brian Westbrook) who you expect he’s going to throw to for a lot. The other classic fantasy battle is the fact that I have Frank Gore on one team and here I’m facing him. That’s why you need to play every league seperate and can’t worry about what’s going on with everything else. I’m worried in my Tight End matchup but if I can get by with a 2 point difference away from me then I think I can handle and win this game easily and start the season off right.
The Camel Clutch Blog has started a fantasy league and you can follow along at ESPN by visiting the following link: http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=404316. I’m a 24 point favorite over Justin Rowland and I plan on almost doubling that to take an early lead onto the championship. I wonder what I win?
This brings us to tonight’s game. Pittsburgh vs. Tennessee. The Super Bowl champs are giving Tennesee 6 and the over/under is 35. The play I would make tonight (and I probably will end up doing it) is teasing the Steelers and the under 6 points moving the line to Pittsburgh EVEN and under 41. I’ll lay $50.
Feedback, questions & comments are always welcome at DerekSabato@gmail.com. I will be back tomorrow with an update on how everything turned out, maybe some college football plays for the weekend and my picks for Sunday’s games.
Don’t forget… feedback always welcomed at dereksabato@gmail.com.
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