Redneck High

What a lousy day of betting this turned out to be. Seven bets placed resulted in one win and one push. That makes five losses on the day. Even harder to take, on two of those losses I picked the winning team but they didn't win by enough.

A single losing day doesn't ruin a season — and if both of my Sunday NFL plays win, I would only be down 1 unit on the week — but I do need to take a step back and reexamine my methods. One thing I see is that I still have a tendency to make a few bets just to have action. That's somewhat understandable, because it really is fun to have a bunch of bets working on a Saturday, but I shouldn't be playing MAC games where I'm only halfway familiar with one of the teams (see today's Akron at Central Michigan game), or putting money on games I'm interested in, but undecided on the outcome (for example, the Oklahoma at Oregon matchup).

The test of a bettor's discipline is not how they behave on a hot streak, it's how they react when things turn cold. Today was a cold day for me, so we'll see how I bounce back next week. Until then, I'm hoping the Giants and the Saints win on Sunday to cushion the blow of this cruel Saturday.

9/16 RESULTS

Nebraska (+18) at USC - Push, $20/$0

Florida (-3.5) at Tennessee - Loss, $21.20

Oklahoma at Oregon (-4.5) - Loss, $21.20

Michigan at Notre Dame (-4.5) - Loss, $22

Miami (+4.5) at Louisville - Loss, $22

Cincinnati at Ohio State (-29) - Win, $22/$20

Akron (-1) at Central Michigan - Loss, $20.80

(For final scores, see the season record page.)

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Sep 16, 2006, 6:45pm

What a terrible turn the day has taken with the afternoon games. Not only have I gone 0-3, I was not even close on two of them. I greatly misjudged Miami and Notre Dame. I've been tempted to double up on the evening's Florida/Tennessee game or making a second-half bet on the Texas game, but that's undisciplined betting. I'll hope to close with a 2-0 run in the night games, which would get me out of the day with only a 1-unit loss.

Some days it's not about winning, but about being disciplined enough to accept a small loss, rather than being stupid and turning it into a large one.

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Sep 16, 2006, 3:23pm

With action on 7 games, it'll be a long Saturday of football watching. My first two settled bets of the day have resulted in a split, with Ohio State being a winner and Akron losing. I really need to stop betting those MAC games. I don't get to watch them enough to get a strong feel for them, even if they weren't so wildy inconsistent (which they are).

Five plays remaining, with three going on right now. I'll update as the games are completed.

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