Before I get a whole new group of enemies, let me share with you a secret. My strategy on gambling on sports (particularly horse racing) is just the opposite of playing poker which I do everyday. Honestly, I haven't bet on the ponies in 25 years. My last big bet on the horses was the 1989 Kentucky Derby. It was a two horse race between Easy Goer and Sunday Silence. I drove to Hollywood Park and placed my "earlybird" wager and left.
Google that race, it was one for the ages. The stretch battle was epic! Sunday Silence won by a nose and I cashed a huge exacta ticket. I had back door ed to cover my ass (with Easy Goer on top) but I got lucky when that big black horse held off the charge of Easy Goer at the wire.
Horse racing taught me well about gambling. Many days I lost every race but I kept betting. I knew if I hit one race spot on I could not only recoup my losses but end up with a profit. Many times I was down 1-2 thousand and left the track after a big score in the black after the 9th race. We're talking 30 years ago. Like the Stones once said, "things are different today".
I know you haters will ask "why aren't you still betting the horses"? The truth is back then I was totally involved in horse racing. I parked in the "horseman's" parking lot everyday at Santa Anita. I went to morning workouts, handicapping seminars and always bought the then "Racing Form" as I exited the track. That get's old! It takes over your life.
It's a whole new ball game today with the internet. I can't even imagine handicapping the ponies today. It's like a smorgasbord of menu options. I get lost just trying to keep track of all the tracks much less the horses. I find it much easier to concentrate on sports that I have a feel for. Particularly NFL football, College football, NBA basketball and in particular College basketball.
I'll be the first to admit that I ended up in the red this past CBB season. I made deposit after deposit knowing that sooner or later things would even out. They never did. I did recoup some $$$ on Nova winning the National Championship along with a straight up bet on them @ +2 1/2.
My biggest bet of the CBB season was on the under 151 in the championship game. I lunked on this one early with both fists. I felt confident of a win with 1 minute to go. You all know what happened and I felt lucky to get a push when the buzzer beater 3 gave Nova the crown. The total was 151...
It proved to me once again that there are no "sure things" in gambling on sports. Especially these days when the books have the most astute line makers on the planet. Since you are reading this, please join with me in the battle to beat the books. It reminds me of the John Mellencamp song "Minute to Memories". There was line in that song that went like this... "life took away the dreams that we had planned, so suck it up and tough it out and do the best you can"...
Here's a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7G4BCWPRPA