by Ben Burns * Editor's Note: Ben went 7-1 in Week 1, his only loser was the Bears. He's now 14-3 his last 17 NFL picks. Read more about that game below. Nothing went right in Chicago's 19-14 win over the Lions on Sunday. The Bears should have covered the spread and the total should have gone over. Shoulda, woulda, coulda - welcome to an NFL season guaranteed to produce a plethora of bad beats. Detroit moneyline... Read more

The 2008 regular season began with a defensive affair between the Giants and the Redskins. The defending champs prevailed by a score of 16-7. That set the stage for what would prove to be a relatively low-scoring Sunday. When the dust settled, eight of 13 Sunday games had finished 'under' the total. Both Monday night games went over the projected total leaving under bettors with a modest 9-7 advantage heading into... Read more

I received several emails from readers this week which detailed various "bad beats." It was a difficult choice about which one/s to print, as each story had merit. I decided to include both from a Canadian player named "Derek S." Derek's tale took the prize, largely because he had two heart-breakers on the same evening. Both were underdogs which looked good nearly the entire way. However, in each case he was going against... Read more

Only three of this week's first 15 NFLX games were decided by three points or less vs. the pointspread. As a group, the Week 3 pointspread winners covered by an average margin of 13.8 points. With the average Week 3 spread being covered by two touchdowns, there weren't as many last second heartbreakers as usual. Therefore, for this week's edition of "Bad Beats" we'll be looking at a pair of tough losses (for some... Read more

The first two weeks of the preseason have seen plenty of points and if the opening game of Week 3 is any indication, we could see some more high-scoring contests this weekend. Over bettors held a 10-7 advantage after the opening week, including the Hall of Fame game. Week 2 saw them extend their lead, as 10 of 16 games eclipsed the total. Interestingly, it was the days with fewer games which were generally the... Read more

I have been asked to bring back a column which I used to run, called "Bad Beats." As the name implies, the focus will be on sports betting losses which were particularly hard to swallow. You know the kind I'm talking about. Everyone does, beginners and seasoned pros alike. These type of agonizing defeats are an unfortunate and inevitable part of wagering. Don't forget that, like beauty, bad beats are in the eye... Read more

NFLX goes 2-0 on Thursday - #1 TOTAL OF THE WEEK headlines FANTASTIC Friday card! Documented NFL Champion Ben Burns CRUSHED the books last preseason and he kicked-off Week 1 by cashing BOTH his NFLX picks yesterday. That included an outright winner on the Ravens AND a relatively easy winner with the 'under' in the Lions/Giants contest. The winner on Baltimore brought Ben to a PERFECT 5-0 with his weekly Thursday... Read more

NFLX "Blue Chip" Total kicks-off at 7:00 ET. Thursday "Roasts" are 4-0 YTD! Week 1 of the Preseason kicks-off today and Documented NFL Champion Ben Burns is fully ready. Ben CRUSHED the books last preseason. and he began his commanding NFLX campaign by going a PERFECT 4-0 with his over/under picks in the H.O.F game and the Opening Round. Today, this renowned "Totals Expert" releases his first total of the '08... Read more

Successful NFL bettors understand that there is a significant difference between handicapping preseason football games and handicapping regular season ones. During the regular season, with so much importance attached to each and every game, coaches adopt a "win at all costs" mentality. However, those same coaches typically have vastly different objectives during the preseason. While some coaches emphasize winning... Read more

Preseason football is nearly upon us, which means the "best" time of the sports year is just around the corner. Organizations have spent the spring and summer making changes to try and improve their football team. A year ago, two teams that received among the most accolades for improving their personnel were the 49ers and Patriots, both with several key additions. The 49'ers were so confident of their moves that... Read more