Do You Like To Gamble?

Do You Like To Gamble? 

Well another Super Bowl has come and gone and unfortunately, this year I didn’t make it to Vegas for it as I have the past three years.

But I was on Twitter all through the game and with everyone tweeting about it, I felt like I was watching the game with a crowd.

One thing that always interests me is all the prop bets that I see my friends make.  I was amused when I saw that a few folks were putting serious money on the over/under for how long it would take to finish the National Anthem. Do people really feel they have a knowledge edge about this that they can somehow turn into a +EV wager?  Apparently they do.

What about those of you who like to bet on the coin toss?  Do you feel you have an edge picking heads or tails? (It was tails this year, wasn’t it?). 

I’m not much of a sports bettor. but if I was, I think I would personally stick to the bets more directly related to the outcome of the game.  But maybe I’m just too boring.  When I see the bets that people talk about making, I can sort of imagine it would be fun to bet on something that might seem silly just to have some action on it.  I hope my pals don’t risk too much on bets like that—and certainly not the rent money. 

But is it really any different than poker?  I mean, who amongst us hasn’t made a call or an attempted a bluff with a kind of a “what the heck” attitude?  No matter how tight one plays, sooner or later you’re gonna make a play that you know is a real gamble (like betting on a coin flip) more than it is the +EV play).

People do like to gamble.  And the thing with those prop bets, if the game gets boring, you still have an interest in it because some of your prop bets are alive.  I get it.

People will bet on anything.  The Academy Awards are coming up, and people like to bet on that. I heard a rumor that there’s a big election coming in the US in November, and somebody might want to bet on that.  Vegas won’t take those kind of bets, but there’s always an online option for that.

For that matter, there’s an online option for those of you who can’t get to Vegas to bet the Super Bowl, or March Madness, or the World Series, etc.  And of course, there’s an online option for those of you who want to play poker, or slots, or other casino games too..  More can be discovered here. 

As for the actual game this year, I didn’t have a strong rooting interest myself.  I was happy with the result though, Peyton Manning is too good a player to have to retire with only one ring.  It is ironic, however, that he gets that second ring when he is about 1/10^ththe QB that he was in his prime.  But man, what a dominating defense Denver had.

So what about you folks?  Do you like to make prop bets?  Do you bet on the Academy Awards?  Anyone have any money on who are next President will be?  Let me hear from you, what appeals to you about bets like that?

Just Askin', What the Hell Poker