Say again why Vegas always wins

[T]

How many of these pro athletes are betting on sports ? More than you would want to believe...

Maybe not their OWN accounts but these athletes hang in large groups of friends & family.

There is 110% NO DOUBT the outcomes of games are altered. I am not crying fixed...Though it does happen.

But I can tell you this much. I watch multiple NBA games daily. When a team is up 12 with 2 mins and the other team has stopped fouling and they are trying to cover that -12.5 spread they are still bombing 3's.

Too many examples....Of refs blowing their whistles on phantom fouls to get make a total or spread...Call it what you want but BE SURE IT'S HAPPENING IN THE NBA....

If you don't want to admit that...Many of Tim's fellow cohorts are still in the NBA.

Also if you think he was a LONE WOLF then....:shrug:

 

[Bombs]

How many of these pro athletes are betting on sports ? More than you would want to believe...

Maybe not their OWN accounts but these athletes hang in large groups of friends & family.

There is 110% NO DOUBT the outcomes of games are altered. I am not crying fixed...Though it does happen.

But I can tell you this much. I watch multiple NBA games daily. When a team is up 12 with 2 mins and the other team has stopped fouling and they are trying to cover that -12.5 spread they are still bombing 3's.

Too many examples....Of refs blowing their whistles on phantom fouls to get make a total or spread...Call it what you want but BE SURE IT'S HAPPENING IN THE NBA....

If you don't want to admit that...Many of Tim's fellow cohorts are still in the NBA.

Also if you think he was a LONE WOLF then....:shrug:

not saying that games are not altered (better word than fixed i agree) but its impossible to spot AND in a lot of these examples that you are giving, many times its happening on the level. either way, its going to be for and against you at an essentially even rate so for someone to whine that you can't win because the games are fixed just ignores that perhaps (just perhaps) the person making the wagers flat isnt good at this.

 

[Bombs]

What the Hell is a square fest? Because the better team wins that makes it a square fest? Crazy stuff.

yes so what percentage of time does "the better team" win against the number. if they cover the single isolated result, does that make them definitively better? wouldn't you think if the better team covered all the time this would be really easy?

 

[Trentwalker]

Thanks for the classy post, Steel City! You are absolutely right that it makes no sense to believe in this fantasy of games being fixed.

It is just mindless laziness for the most part, a lazy answer to why some things happen.

If someone wants to say this, fine, but the burden of proof is on them.

Never post, but this is B-I-N-G-O. The games are not fixed. Full stop. Could some pg from SW Missouri state shave points once in a great while? Sure. But the NFL isn't fixed.

As Bombs said, we humans need to come up with reasons to make sense of a chaotic world. That leads to faulty reasoning and going down the fixed road.

It is just silly.

 

[TennisTapir]

The NFL isn't scripted, but it isn't completely unscripted either. It's in the middle, closer to the unscripted pole - a shade of gray. This is too subtle for 90% of the public, obviously. I'll pose a simple question, and think about it.

What is this "flex" deal if not a form of scripting?

If the NFL is willing to alter the circumstances of a game to make it more compelling for fans (read: advertisers), do you really think they would draw the line at in-game manipulation?

The NFL should be thought of as an entertainment product, first and last. It uses athletics, and competition, but above all, it is money-making entertainment business enterprise. And if you don't think that figures in how the games are scheduled AND OFFICIATED, you're naive.

Those who watch carefully can often predict and profit from how the NFL will skew things. A good example is the comeback game that started Cousins and skins on road to success. They were greatly helped by penalties against Tamba Bay that never would have been called if the score hadnt been what it was. The NFL does this kind of tweaking pretty often.

Notice, with all the 24/7/365 sports reporting, you don't see anything about what the leagues are telling officials, and that's where the TWEAKING comes in, just as Donaghy talked about in his book about NBA. Think arcs, and storylines that generate interest - this is where the NFL can subtly alter things. Not in throwing this or that game, that's far too crude and not necessary.

The difference between pro wrestling and NFL is one of great degree - but still degree rather than kind.

I left out the best example: who won the first super bowl after 9/11?

 

[StevieD]

yes so what percentage of time does "the better team" win against the number. if they cover the single isolated result, does that make them definitively better? wouldn't you think if the better team covered all the time this would be really easy?

Of course the number is the great equalizer in all this. A good team to beat a bad team by 14.5. That is fair. But then lose outright. That type of stuff happens way too much. It happened a lot this weekend.

It doesn't always happen. Most times the good team beat up on the little sisters. I dunno. It just seems very strange to me.

Whatever I all ready feel the shakes coming on as we only have about another month to bitch and moan about all this.