Redneck High

It's 100 degrees here in Texas, but it's almost football season. And that makes me think of two things: 1. The weather will cool down before too much longer, and 2. It's almost time to start betting again. I did well last year, rolling up decent profits on the college game and playing slightly above break-even in NFL. Then I promptly gave all the money back on college basketball and baseball (Is anyone making money on MLB this season?). What my football profits were, I don't know exactly. I really didn't keep track, and I also blew some of the cash making longshot bets for fun — bowl game parlays on 6-5 teams I wasn't that familar with, putting bets down against Tampa Bay time and again just because I believe Chris Simms is a punkass and should be bet against on principal. I'm going to do things a bit different this year. My plans are to start small, stay away from "what the hell" type bets and, most importantly, document all my plays here. I'll keep track of my wins and losses, the upwards (or downwards… please not downwards) progression of my bankroll and, before I place any bet, I'll share my reasoning behind it. Here are the basics:

WHERE I BET

I use a couple of different online sportsbooks. I'll let them remain unnamed here, because I don't want to be seen as endorsing them over any of the other reputable books, of which there are several. There are also a lot of fly-by-night joints online, where it's a gamble if they'll even stay in business. Anyone interested in betting online should do their research before depositing any money.

STARTING BANKROLL

My starting bankroll will be $500, divided between the two books. That's not a ton of cash, but it strikes a nice balance between being enough to have fun with, but not so much that it would hurt me to lose the whole thing. My base bet at the start of the season will be $20. That's higher than the 2 percent of bankroll that serious gamblers usually recommend, but it's still not exceedingly high. And I can always adjust downward if need be. If I manage to increase my bankroll with winnings, my base bet will also climb.

WHAT I BET

College football is my game. I enjoy it much more than NFL, and follow it much more closely. I'm more familiar with the teams, the players and the trends. Most of my bets will be on college games, but not exclusively. I will make NFL bets, but typically not as many, and I might bet smaller than my base bet. I figure it's fun to have action on Sundays, but I know full well I'm not an NFL expert, so I don't want to go broke betting just to bet.

BETTING ON TEXAS

If you pay attention to my bets, you may notice I never bet against the Texas Longhorns. That's my team and my alma mater, and I can't bring myself to bet against them, no matter what. All my bets involving the Horns will either be on Texas, an over-under bet or some sort of prop bet. That means even if the point spread has Texas as a 70-point favorite against Ohio State, I still wouldn't place my bet on the Buckeyes. I'm a superstitious guy, you see, and I would never want to feel like I had jinxed the Horns.

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