HOW TO BET THE FINAL WEEKS BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS By Rob Crowne © Rob Crowne Assoc. December 23, 2012 NFL Playoff time is almost here again. Sports bettors always seem surprised by some of the results in the final 2-3 weeks before the playoffs. Just this past Sunday, for example, New England, one of the best teams in the NFL this season, was favored by 14 points but struggled to beat one of the worst teams in the... Read more

The Hilton Consensus “Everything is relative.” -- Albert Einstein This past week Minnesota was selected by 145 contestants. Only 16 contestants picked against Minnesota by selecting Arizona. Despite the 129-contestant differential between those picking Minnesota and those picking Arizona, Minnesota did not make it into the Top 5 Consensus posted around the net. Instead, Tennessee was installed in 5th Place in the Consensus... Read more

The Preseason Admonition warns against using Preseason NFL performance to handicap the regular season. As with almost every admonition, however, there are exceptions. One of those exceptions occurs in cases in which a team tries to win in the Preseason, but can't beat an opponent that is simply going through the motions. One of the most important factors in handicapping NFL exhibition games is the intention of each... Read more

Normal 0 Normal 0 BELMONT STAKES: Does the Post Matter? Copyright Robert Crowne Assoc, June 10, 2011 The post position draw for this Saturday's Belmont Stakes took place Wednesday, and final jockey assignments were announced. Here are the results: 1 Master of Hounds 10-1 Garrett Gomez Aidan O'Brien ... Read more

There are three sets of statistics from which to choose for the purpose of handicapping a Bowl game being played on a truly neutral field: 1. Neutral field statistics when they are available. 2. Away statistics for both teams 3. Overall statistics including Home, Away, and Neutral field games. Many handicappers make the mistake of assuming that because both teams are playing on the road, that the most accurate... Read more

HILTON CONTEST – MORE OBSERVATIONS Coming into this week, after 50 selections, all of the contestants have fallen under 70%. None of the top 5 contestants could do any better than 3-2 this week, and all are now below 69%. This season is no different from every other season in that regard. Remember that the next time some tout claims to have been 74% last season. If he passes the lie detector test on that question,... Read more

Boo hoo! Week One started with a 2-3. The worst part was I was 3-2 at the Crowne Club on late picks. My Contest Points +2. Here are the results of my picks: Detroit Lions +6.5 Won Indianapolis Colts -2 ½ Lost San Francisco 49ers -3 Lost San Diego Chargers -4 ½ Lost Washington Redskins +3 ½ Won Adding the Washington pick didn't change the results that would have occurred anyway. The play that was forgotten... Read more

Normal 0 HILTON NFL CONTEST - A BAD BET © Robert Crowne & Assoc., Sept. 10, 2010 Note: The Las Vegas Hilton Supercontest is a trademark of the Las Vegas Hilton. The Hilton Supercontest has been peopled, in the main, by existing sports services trying to make a reputation for themselves, entrants seeking to launch a sports service career based on the publicity... Read more

Unlike the regular season, won-lost records are one of the most important handicapping tools in the preseason. In some cases, SU won-lost trends are the only handicapping tool available for a preseason game. They must, however, be used properly and with the exercise of common sense. The handicapper uses won-lost records as an indication of coaching attitude. When attempting to discern coaching attitudes, some analysts... Read more

Preseason football is one of the only places in which trends across several seasons can be meaningfully used. The reason is that the winner of any game in the NFL Preseason is controlled almost entirely by which team is playing to win. Which team wants to depends on just three things: 1. The desire of the coach. 2. The desire of the owner. 3. The desire of the players when there is a battle for the starting or second... Read more