Had to take a break last week.

Taking a break after basically only 2 weeks into the season might seem lazy to you. Well ... go fuck yourself, how about that?

Like most people I was completed sucked into the election and the circus that went along with it. I was probably one of the 10 people on the planet that liked both Trump and Hillary, so however the election went, I wasn't going to be broken up about it either way. I do have to say it was extremely fun being in the most liberal area of Milwaukee (Riverwest) and be at the bars and watch the meltdown from all the liberals at Trump winning. People were crying, shaking, yelling.... it was nutz!! Maybe I just like to see people happy, maybe I am a bastard.

Anyways I could write 7 books about the election, but this is a basketball blog

I can safely say some of predictions early in the season have looked like a disaster. Pacers might be the worst defensive team I have ever seen, and I have had the pleasure of watching Mo Williams and Michael Redd play in the same back court.

So since I blew up all the money in my account, I need to add more. However I am having a problem with the new site I have been using. They want me to:

To make an imprint of your embossed card:

1. Place card under box outline

2. Rub pencil very lightly over card

3. Ensure your name, number & expiration date are readable.

This um...seems sketchy as hell. I like this site because it posts the lines super early. But I might have to investigate a new site.

Woof.

Last night is why there are skyscrapers in Vegas. Gamblers get impatient and do dumb stuff. I gradually built up $600 in profit only to piss it all way in two nights on 2 big bets. Them's the brakes.

The Bucks absolutely destroyed the Pacers last night. Giannis routinely wrecked Paul George which was shocking to me. George is probably the 2nd best wing defender in the league and Giannis had no problem getting to the hoop. The Pacers defense was just atrocious. Myles Turner got into foul trouble which meant lots of Al Jefferson, who at this point, is a complete disaster. Every time down the court the Bucks seemed to get either an easy look at the rim or get a foul committed by the Pacers.

Other good Bucks news is Parker finally started taking and making some 3's and overall looked dominate on offense. If Parker can keep that up along with becoming passable on defense, he will be a multiple time all star. Plus Monroe is starting to play really well. I like him coming off the bench and then playing big minutes. Needs to be getting the bulk of the minutes at C and Henson needs to never play.

What makes it worse this gambling loss so bad is the Bucks young stars were playing amazing, but I still had to root against them some because of all my bets. That's what I get for breaking my rule about betting on my favorite team. Never ever going to do it again. Not going to be making any bets tonight, going to take a break and reload my account on Monday and get back rolling.

****


Caught the Russ vs Durant vengeance game last night at the bars after the game. The first half was super fun. OKC came out and smacked GS in the mouth and was up 8 points or so in the first quarter. Then Russ had to come out of the game and the wheels quickly fell off. Oladipo for some reason was guarding Durant which is problematic. Especially considering Dipo is like 6'5 and Durant is 6'11. Shortly after that GS unleashed a 21-3 run and the game was pretty much over at that point. It was still fun to watch Durant and Westbrook trade big blocks on each other. If Presit could some how use some of his assets to get a legit wing player , the Thunder would be a super tough out in the playoffs.

A big part of why I wanted to write this blog was to be more thoughtful and careful with my betting habits. Yesterday I was driving for 8 hours and didn't have time to write. So, of course I took it in the ass last night. Down $350 ugh. Basically back to even from the beginning of the season. I made 3 big bets on the Clippers at home against the Thunder and lost them all. Bet them moneyline, -7 and to score more points then their projected score. All losers. Went over way overboard on that game and need to be more in control. I thought they Thunder were due for a loss and really struggled against some sub par competition in their first couple games.

The Clippers starters played like absolute poop. They sleep walked the entire game about was playing about 60% of what they are capable of. It was striking to see the effort level in this game as opposed to when they played the Blazers in the opening game. The Thunder on the other hand played hard as hell. Westbrook's forcefulness really effects the rest of the team. Even though he had 10 TO's, Westbrook had a great game and willed his young team pasted the Clips.

So for tonight's games... I was on super tilt last night when I made these bets. I still feel pretty good about them though.

Basketball - 705 Denver Nuggets +13½ for Game
Basketball - 707 Indiana Pacers +8 for Game
Basketball - 707 Indiana Pacers/Milwaukee Bucks under 223 for Game
$150 to win $76

Basketball - 707 Indiana Pacers -2 -115 for Game
Basketball - 707 Indiana Pacers/Milwaukee Bucks under 213 -110 for Game
$50 to win $128

Basketball - 708 Milwaukee Bucks team total under 53½ -110 for 1st Half
$82 to win $ 75

Basketball - 707 Indiana Pacers -135 for Game
$202 to win $150

Basketball - 701 Sacramento Kings -115 for Game
Basketball - 705 Denver Nuggets +3½ -110 for Game
Basketball - 707 Indiana Pacers -135 for Game
$50 to win $260

Basketball - 701 Sacramento Kings -1 -110 for Game
Basketball - 704 Cleveland Cavaliers -10 -110 for Game
Basketball - 705 Denver Nuggets +3½ -110 for Game
Basketball - 705 Denver Nuggets/Minnesota T'wolves over 205 -110 for Game
Basketball - 707 Indiana Pacers -2 -115 for Game
Basketball - 707 Indiana Pacers/Milwaukee Bucks under 213 -110 for Game
Basketball - 709 Oklahoma City Thunder +10½ -105 for Game
Basketball - 709 Oklahoma City Thunder/Golden State Warriors under 222½ -110 for Game
$3.50 to win $618

So yea that's a lot of bets... and my account is down to zero dollars. I am all in on the Bucks losing at home to the Pacers. I have a couple reasons for this:

- The Bucks would be 3-2 if they win this game, with how bad we are it seems crazy to think we could be over .500 after 5 games.

- Pacers back court D has been their biggest weakness so far this year, but the Bucks don't have the guards to exploit that mismatch.

- Paul George is a top 5 wing defender in the league and will give Parker/Giannis problems all night. With out those guys having big games it's tough for the Bucks to win.

After making all of these bets, I kinda wish I would have just made a $500 bet on Pacers money line. I didn't learn my lesson from the Spurs Warriors game one - don't screw around with the over under if you really like a team to cover/win. Hopefully it doesn't burn me too badly. Either way I will be at the game, so if you see a guy wearing a Bucks jersey swearing profusely that his favorite team won, that will be me.

No post today, driving for 5-6 hours today won't have time today. +200 perfect last night sitting at. $915

Life comes at you fast.

Won $400 on Friday and Saturday and then lost $350 on Sunday and Monday. Bleh. Account sitting at $745. Sitting at about even on the regular season so far. Yesterday I got greedy and put $100 on Denver winning out right in Toronto for +250 instead of taking the 7 points. Ended up losing by 3. Doh. Also bet on Nets@ Bulls under first half.. Bulls scored 38 points in the first quarter

Going to avoid over/unders for a while as they have been burning me again.

Basketball - 704 Indiana Pacers -435 for Game
Basketball - 708 Detroit Pistons -175 for Game

Parlay $100 for $83

Basketball - 704 Indiana Pacers -½ for Game
Basketball - 709 Sacramento Kings +12½ for Game
Basketball - 715 Utah Jazz +18½ for Game

Teaser $100 for $93

Thoughts on these bets -

Pacers have been a defensive disaster the first couple games. I think I underestimated how bad the Teague/Monte back court was going to be on D. Ellis is fine as an on ball defender, but run any sort of motion and his man is running free for a lay up or easy shot. Teague seems to be just not trying. It's sort of confusing. He was the starting PG on a team who was the 2nd best defensive team in the league last year. Also, Al Jefferson looks about done. He got destroyed by the Nets and has been pretty useless all the way around. I think the Pacers will eventually get it together - 3 new rotation players will take some time to gel. Plus Stucky got hurt in the first game of the year which is a pretty big loss for them. He was their first guy off the bench and 2nd unit leader.

Having said that, Lakers at home has to be a win for this group. It's early in the season, but you can't afford to lose to bottom 5 teams at home. Losing to the Nets and Lakers in the first 4 games would be horrible. That's why I have them money line in both bets.

Detroit really misses Reggie Jackson. They have played really well with out him, mostly because they are stacked at every other position. Ish Smith is such a spazz. He is super quick and creates some activity as a result, but he can't shoot a lick and makes a ton of bad decisions. Even so, I think this Knicks team is pretty terrible. Rose and Noah are cooked at this point. If I am a Knicks fan I am holding my breathe at signing Rose to a long term deal.

I like what I have seen from the Kings this year. Jager has these guys actually playing some defense. Having Aaron Afflalo in the starting line up helps them out a ton. Just a solid veteran who can play both ends really stabilizes things for them. I like them getting +12 1/2 against Miami.

Jazz are playing the best team in the league tonight - Spurs. Even so the Jazz play good enough defense to never get blown out. I like having 18 1/2 points in this spot on a tease.

Hopefully tonight I turn around my 2 day losing streak

I have never been a fan of Daily Fantasy.

It always seemed so lame. It felt like gambling for kids. If I was 15 I would absolutely love that shit. OMG I have Chris Paul, Lebron and Jabari Parker on my team! How could I lose?!

It just seemed so random too. Even if your team went nutz, invariably, 50 other people had even better teams. Plus it seemed sort of shady. You read stories about how Draft Kings guys were playing on Fan Dual and vice versa raking in tons of cash. I just didn't trust that shit.

Until last week, one of my buddies popped off 5k in a tournament he entered for football. And of course my buddy is not the sharpest tools in the shed. It kinda reinforced my narrative that it's just random luck and any one can win...... but still $5,000 bucks is $5,000 fucking bucks. It reminded me I still have some money in my Yahoo daily account. I chose Yahoo last year because I have always been a yahoo fantasy player, and love me some Woj. If I was going to donate money to DFS, I wanted it to be to yahoo. So I am getting back into it. Well until I piss away this last $50, then I'll be back to hating DFS.

Another positive night +200 to get the account to $1,089!

Sunday picks -

Not sure what to make of these two bets. Spurs at Miami total over under is 193, but the first half over under is 91. For some reason they have the projecting scoring at 8 more points than 2nd half? The Jazz @ Clippers have the same type of line 194 total and 91 1/2 first half? Seems super fishy, maybe Vegas knows something or heavy hitters are betting the under? Who knows - I'm taking the free extra points and seeing how it goes. + I like the OKC under first half against Lakers. Lakers are bad defensively, but OKC is going to have problems scoring and 57 points is a lot.

Basketball - 701 Utah Jazz/Los Angeles Clippers over 91½ -115 for 1st Half
Basketball - 707 San Antonio Spurs/Miami Heat over 91 -110 for 1st Half
Oklahoma City Thunder team total under 56½ -110 for 1st Half