High Street Headache

December 29, 2009

An Introduction To NFL Totals

Filed under: Gambling — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Ross Everett @ 9:42 am

For the NFL handicapper, understanding the methodology behind NFL totals (also called over/under numbers) is also a crucial component of his wagering arsenal. For those not familiar with NFL totals, its the large number youll see accompanying most pointspread betting propositions. For example, the 2009 Superbowl line opened with Pittsburgh a 6 point favorite over Arizona. The total was set at 47. Simply stated, the total allows the better to decide whether the combined score between the two teams will go OVER or UNDER. In the case of the aforementioned Superbowl, Pittsburgh won by a final score of 27-23 meaning that bettors who backed the OVER cashed their tickets.

NFL totals are a favorite tool of serious sports handicappers. Many are of the opinion that its easier to accurately foretell the *type* of game that will transpire between two teams rather than who will actually win and by how much.

To set the NFL total, a bookmaker looks at the offensive and defensive scoring statistics for the two teams and calculates a number based on points allowed and points scored. If one team had scored 275 points and allowed 350 in their previous sixteen games thats a total of 625. Divided by 16 and thats an average of just over 39 points per game. If their opponent had scored 285 and allowed 400 (685) over 16 games that translates to just under 43 points per game. Add the two numbers together, divide by two and youve got a base total of 40.5.

At this point other factors are considered such as the significance of key numbers like 3 and 7 on final scores, weather conditions, injuries, playing surface, etc. Another component that is important is the qualitative matchup between the offense and defense of each team”meaning that a team with a strong defense will be more likely to dictate the tempo’ of a game resulting in a lower final score. All of these factors weigh into a final NFL total that is posted for betting.

Of course as in the case of the NFL pointspread, public perception is a crucial component of the linesmaking process. For example, the conventional wisdom is that bad weather like rain, snow, or sleet results in lower scores and for that reason a bookmaker will shade the total accordingly. However, its not quite that simple–some handicappers would maintain that sloppy weather can produce higher scores in certain situations.

In conclusion, NFL totals are a very good opportunity for a hard working handicapper to leverage his information about a situational matchup to find good wagering value. Like most elements of the sports handicapping discipline, its not easy to stay a step ahead of the bookmakers who have access to the same weather and injury–and have factored it into the number–but is a very entertaining and potentially rewarding challenge for the NFL bettor.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected sports betting authority. He is also a consulting handicapper for Sports-1 Sportsbook and is in charge of setting NFL lines. He has written extensively on sports betting theory along with a wide range of other topics including fencing, self defense and falconry.

Green Bay Trounces Detroit

Filed under: Gambling — Tags: , , , , , — Ross Everett @ 8:51 am

The Green Bay Packers didn’t do a good job protecting their quarterback last Sunday, but against the lowly Detroit Lions it didn’t really matter. Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times, but Green Bay used a big first half offensive outburst to coast to a 26-0 NFL victory over the Detroit Lions. Rodgers threw two first half touchdown passes which was complimented by four Mason Crosby field goals as Green Bay improved to 3-2 on the season. The Lions slumped to 1-5 with the loss.

NFL football betting enthusiasts who backed the Packers as -14 home dogs easily cashed their tickets with Green Bay’s third pointspread cover in five games. Detroit slipped to 2-4 against the spread.

In the victory, Packers’ receiver Donald Driver passed Sterling Sharpe for first place on the franchise reception list. Sharpe finished his career with 596 receptions, Driver now has 602. After the game, he talked about the accomplishment:

“It couldn’t it come in a better place — at home in front of the fans I’ve played in front of for so many years. It feels good. Now I just have to wait on Sterling to call me and congratulate me.”

Despite the convincing victory, cornerback Tramon Williams wasn’t happy with the relatively narrow margin:

“It feels like a 50 to zero game, but we didn’t quite get there. I felt we should’ve put more points on the board.”

For the Lions, their quarterback woes continued. Backup Daunte Cullpepper injured his hamstring in the third quarter and was replaced by the Lions’ third string quarterback Drew Stanton. Cullpepper is now listed as ‘questionable’ on the official NFL injury report. After the game, he talked about Detroit’s lack of offense:

“It’s very disappointing, very frustrating. It’s embarrassing to me not to be able to move it on the field and get points on the board. We’ve got to figure out a way to do that, simple as that.”

The Packers will play on the road this Sunday, heading to Cleveland to face the Browns. The game is currently off the board as linemakers try to get a handle on the personnel impact of the Browns’ struggle with a flu bug making its way through the locker room. Green Bay will host the Minnesota Vikings the following Sunday followed by a trip to Tampa Bay on November 8. Detroit has a bye this weekend and will return to action as they host the St. Louis Rams on November 1. They’ll play their next two on the road, with games in Seattle and Minnesota.

Ross Everett is a consulting handicapper for Sports-1 Sportsbook as well as a widely published freelance sportswriter specializing in MMA, boxing and how to bet on NFL football. He is a respected authority on Internet sports betting, cigars and fencing. He lives in southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a pet wallaby.

July 18, 2009

Gamble Confidently with Virgin

Filed under: Gambling — admin @ 8:27 pm

Despite the goatee, there’s something fairly trust-worthy about Richard Branson. Whether it’s the fact that he has the reputation of a multi national billion pound company to think of is another matter. Knowing that though, makes picking Virgin Casino for your online casino UK, seem like a prudent and smart choice. Virgin is a company that can afford to be generous and has no need to scam you with unreasonable odds or conditions.

As soon as you load up the main screen you can see that this is a site that has more investment put into it that many of the competitors. There’s an instant Vegas feel from the front page alone owing to the burgundy colour and gold colour schemes. Currently you’re also greeted by a video of Elvis himself singing. It stinks of a classy establishment.

Richard Branson himself that to be successful you have to take risks. If you don’t take risks you can’t make a profit. What better casino UK to use than his very own, Virgin Casino? Just remember what he also said – only take calculated risks and protect against the downside. Take Branson’s attitude to the virtual tables and only gamble when you can afford too and are minimising the risk. With these thoughts in mind, Virgin Casino is perhaps the safest casino UK to gamble at.

June 3, 2009

Realiza llamadas de larga distancia y ahorra cientos de dólares con Ukash

Filed under: Gambling — admin @ 3:51 pm

Muchas de las compañías de telecomunicaciones del mundo están utilizando Ukash como una verdadera y atractiva alternativa para recibir pagos por servicios de telecomunicaciones así como telefonía móvil, residencial, televisión por cable, pago de líneas y rutas de trenes, autobuses e Internet. Muchas de estas compañías puedes recibir servicios de llamada de larga distancia y si pagas mediante Ukash puede ahorrarte muchísimo dinero en tan solo unos pocos meses.

Si eres de esas personas que habitualmente llamas a algún familiar que tienes a distancia en otras ciudades o países (llamadas de larga distancia) puedes salir bastante beneficiados si haces esos consumos de telecomunicaciones a través de Ukash. Ukash hoy en día es mucho más popular y la manera de realizar pagos y recibir descuentos es una forma de estimular el uso de Ukash como forma de pago. Ya que muchas personas utilizan tarjetas de crédito para realizar consumos similares, Ukash no solamente te brinda seguridad y facilidad de uso, sino que también promueve a Ukash como el nueve efectivo donde no tendrás que pagar ningún cargo adicional y a la vez puedes acceder a todos los servicios que este te brinda completamente gratis.

Por otro lado, los servicios de telefonía a larga distancia que pagas con Ukash te favorecen en caso de que antes lo hacías con tarjeta de crédito o debido. Ukash es completamente seguro y te ofrece las garantías de trabajar desde tu casa y hacer tus pagos directamente. Un solo cupón de Ukash es suficiente para realizar muchas llamadas de larga distancia a cualquier país del mundo y a su vez recibir descuentos que en muchos casos son de más de un 50% en todas las llamadas que realices. Definitivamente Ukash te beneficia más de lo que tu mismo puedas imaginar y te ofrece ventajas que son grandemente irresistibles.

January 31, 2009

UK Casinos

Filed under: Gambling — admin @ 3:47 am

People in Britain love to socialise, despite what popular conceptions would have us believe, many of them also like a flutter and the online gaming sites are just the thing for some people. There is no beating about the bush, read any gambling news report and you will soon discover that there are two types of online casinos, those you shouldn’t get involved with, and those that are safe to get involved with.

Most online gambling sites are professionally set up and professionally run, while the site owners do want to make a profit, they also want of increase players’ online gaming experience. Take a look at any UK online casino, many of them have great graphics, good promotional offers, but little information about the site itself. Always check a site’s credibility if you can, there is many a UK online casino that offers a good deal and wants to enhance member’s enjoyment of the game. These kinds of sites are the sites that stay the course, unlike the here today gone tomorrow site that is also part of the online scene.
If you do decide to join a UK online casino try word of mouth recommendations, most sites are perfectly legitimate, make sure that you use one of those and don’t make the gambling news because of your losses.

August 16, 2008

Giga Media announce growth

Filed under: Gambling — Tags: — admin @ 4:48 pm

Finding the best gambling news is now easy with several sites having been setup dedicated to publish the biggest stories within the online gaming industry.
Giga Media are one of the leading online software providers for the gaming market. They design, marketing and maintain their products for some of the industry’s biggest online gaming operators. Giga Media have recently announced a impressive rise in profits for their second quarter. Revenues rose 31 % to $52.5 million with operating profits rising to $11.9 million demonstrating the growth of the company.
The Hong Kong based company created the everestpoker.com site and have several large online operator clients.
Arthur Wang, Chief Executive Officer for Giga Media said, ‘We delivered solid results in the second quarter despite a difficult operating environment,’

“Looking forward, EverestPoker.com’s sponsorship of the World Series of Poker, ever stronger casino software results and new game launches in Asia should ensure strong growth and momentum in the second half. In addition, our new Everest Sports betting offering will launch in the fourth quarter and drive growth from the strong crossover and tie between poker players and sports bettors.”

‘Our new partnership with Electronic Arts to run NBA Street online in China consolidates our position as the top sports game operator,’ said Thomas Hui, President for Giga Media.

Giga Media provide software to some of industries best gambling sites and will be looking to continue their impressive growth in the next quarter.

Mecca Bingo workers sky dive for charity

Filed under: Gambling — Tags: — admin @ 4:46 pm

It’s not the most conventional way to raise money for charity, getting all your employees to jump out of an airplane, but Mecca Bingo is hoping their latest effort will do the trick – but I don’t think they’ll play bingo on the way down.

Mecca workers from across the country are taking part in the effort and are quite literally putting their lives on the line in the name of charity. It may sound like a strange idea but the company is already seeing positive results because of the generosity of many bingo players as well as friends and families of the employees taking the dive.

“We’ve been holding a number of fund raising events over the past months and this is probably one of the most exciting and certainly the most nerve-racking,” said Mike Travis, a worker for the Mecca Bingo in Blackpool, who is taking part in the charity event. “Colleagues, club members, friends and family have all been extremely generous so far with their donations.”

Their goal is to raise £250,000 over the course of the year, which is a rather large goal, but seems to be reasonable compared to their recent results – especially considering how many people in the UK play bingo.

The funds raised for the sky diving event will go to support a children’s mobility charity, Whizz-Kidz, and has already managed to generate a large amount of £100,000. Mecca Bingo is also putting on many other charity events throughout the year in support of the charity. One of these events involves workers wearing rollerboots at the Mecca Bingo club in Blyth for a whole day – I guess they just like putting their employee’s lives at risk for charity.

The rise of mobile casinos

Filed under: Gambling — Tags: — admin @ 4:44 pm

As our lives become more hectic and it seems we’re always on the go many online gambling casinos are providing a solution that is beginning to take the gambling world by storm. These new mobile applications allow users to play their favourite online casino games on their mobile handset, which provides the consumer with a convenient alternative to the sit-at-your-computer version of the game.

Not everyone is hot on the idea of being able to gamble on the go, but many are saying it will certainly be the way of the future. The new technology allows people to access online casino operators from just about anywhere in the world – anywhere they can get a phone signal. This is all very exciting and should change the way we view online gambling.#

One of the companies heading this new technology offering is Spin3, which is now launching its second mobile casino. The success of their first mobile casino is a testament to the markets potential and the users’ appreciation for the technology.

“Having launched two Fortune Lounge brands into the mobile casino market is yet another confirmation for us that our total mobile solutions are a great asset for companies looking to take the lion’s share of the mobile casino market,” said Matti Zinder, head of Spin3.

If you can’t seem to find the time to sit in front of you computer screen to play uk online casinos, then maybe this mobile solution is for you. It will probably make waiting at the airport a little more fun, and who knows you could end up winning a huge sum of money right from you phone.

3/1 for the “Big Two”?

Filed under: Gambling — Tags: , — admin @ 4:40 pm

With the Premier League back on our screens, the online sports betting bookmakers and doing their best to attract new punters for the coming season. Totesport is one such online bookie, who have come up with an interesting bet for those that think the Premier League may not go the favourites’ way this season.

Totesport, like most other online sports betting companies, are convinced that the title will be going to either Manchester Untied or Chelsea. As a result, they are offering odds of 3/1 to that any other team in the Premier League will lift the trophy come the end of the season. So for punters that are getting behind Liverpool and/or Arsenal, 3/1 will be tempting odds with the whole of the field to back them up.

Unsurprisingly a majority of the money is behind Manchester United and Chelsea, and Totesport have chalked up the either of the two teams to lift the title at just 2/7. There is some divided opinion on who exactly will be the winner, with some pundits suggesting it is Chelsea’s year after coming so close on so many fronts last season, and improving their squad since. It’s a tough one to call, but one thing is for sure, more value is to be had by doing your sports betting online, as the bookmakers look to get you signed up ahead of the season.

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