DBR Wager Contest - the NCAA Tournament!

[JasonEvans]

If you thought the ACC wagering contest was fun, wait until we get to pick all the NCAA tourney games!

In case you do not know about the ACC Wager contest (http://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?39102-2017-DBR-ACC-Wager-Contest!-Fellow-Degenerates-Sign-Up-Any-Time!) we set up back in December, you can see that pool here (http://contests.covers.com/OfficePools/OverallLeaderboard/7311b6f9-d8f1-463f-9999-a6e30117d226).

Well, now we are doing wagers on the NCAA tourney. I will steal from NYBri for an explanation.

To play:


We are using Covers.com. GO HERE and register (http://www.covers.com/index.aspx) to create an account using your DBR handle (it takes about a minute). Then GO TO THE DBR POOL PAGE (http://contests.covers.com/OfficePools/6e24e369-603b-4f97-87ee-a73600008348) and click on "make picks" in the nav bar and then use the password, "GoDuke" and you're ready to go.

The rules:


You begin with 0 and can run up to a -5000 hole, at which point you will have to drop out. You can wager 100-500 units per bet and you can wager against the spread or the over/under. The person with the largest pot at the end of the NCAA Tourney will be the winner and gain bragging rights and our praise and admiration (or perhaps some other lame award we can think of).

Since Covers.com is a pool web site, you will be afforded on the site the ability to wager on NIT, CBI, and other non-NCAA tourney games. THIS IS NOT ALLOWED FOR THIS CONTEST. WAGER ON NCAA TOURNAMENT GAMES ONLY!
If you bet on a game that is not part of the NCAA Tournament teams there will be a penalty. You will automatically lose your wager and perhaps other penalties (I could kick you out!!).

* Disclaimer: There is no money being wagered and the term units refers only to hypothetical dollars. None of us has that kind of real dollars to bet on basketball games.

-Jason "sign up and get going... we start with the 'First Four' games on Tuesday and Wednesday and it won't be done until one team is left standing in April!" Evans

[NYBri]

Thanks for this, Jason. This will be more fun than brackets. :cool:

[BandAlum83]

Thanks Jason!

Interesting that the winner of the ACC picking contest and one of the first losers (me) are the first to sign up!

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Being the degenerate that I am... can we bet on Tuesday night play-in games?

[timmy c]

Being the degenerate that I am... can we bet on Tuesday night play-in games?



...
-Jason "sign up and get going... we start with the 'First Four' games on Tuesday and Wednesday and it won't be done until one team is left standing in April!" Evans

Dr. R., See Jason's signature for the answer to your question.
Play-in games are for the die-hard degenerates, like myself. Good luck DBR friends!

[JasonEvans]

Being the degenerate that I am... can we bet on Tuesday night play-in games?

I picked the Wake game. Props to anyone who thinks they have any idea about a 16-vs-16 game!!

[peterjswift]

I'm in, and I've completely abandoned any strategy or plan that I used during the ACC wager contest that kept me in second place. Instead of waiting for matchups I feel confident about, I'm going to treat this like my bracket and make a pick for every game until I'm out.

[pfrduke]

Is Covers still capping this at 10 picks per day? I'm going to continue the Pomeroy picks, but will have to find some strategy to selecting the 5 games (spreads + O/U) to pick.

[jhmoss1812]

Is Covers still capping this at 10 picks per day? I'm going to continue the Pomeroy picks, but will have to find some strategy to selecting the 5 games (spreads + O/U) to pick.

That's a really good question. I posted on the help forum asking that question. I'll let you know what they say.

[Troublemaker]

It's not capped. Look at Dsuke17's "Pending" list. He/she picked all 16 games on Thur and Fri.

[jhmoss1812]

It's not capped. Look at Dsuke17's "Pending" list. He/she picked all 16 games on Thur and Fri.

You're right. I just did the same all at max bets.

Could only make 28 picks (at least ATS) for Thurs/Fri because I have to wait until the play-in game winners advance to choose those other 4 games.

Might not matter because I'll probably be -5000 by then.

[JasonEvans]

I had not realized there was a setting last time that defaulted to a max of 10 bets per day. This time I set it to a max of 150 total bets for the entire contest. Seeing as there are a total of 67 games and only 2 ways to bet every game, we will need a max of 134 total bets. I played it safe and set it to 150.

[CameronBlue]

Okay so ESPN.com has the score 22- 17 in favor of MSM at the under 8 TO and the Covers site has the score reversed. Never bet against the house particularly when the house fabricates whatever score it wants. Might explain why I finished 42 out of 43 in the last contest.

[Skitzle]

Is there a link to the Degenerate NCAA contest?

[duketaylor]

Off to a wonderful 0-2 start:cool:

[NYBri]

Is there a link to the Degenerate NCAA contest?

Check out Jason's first comment of this thread. :cool:

[JasonEvans]

Is there a link to the Degenerate NCAA contest?

To play:


We are using Covers.com. GO HERE and register (http://www.covers.com/index.aspx) to create an account using your DBR handle (it takes about a minute). Then GO TO THE DBR POOL PAGE (http://contests.covers.com/OfficePools/6e24e369-603b-4f97-87ee-a73600008348) and click on "make picks" in the nav bar and then use the password, "GoDuke" and you're ready to go.

[BandAlum83]

Gonzaga 25
SDS 22

1 minute left in the half.

My SDST +22.5 and under 156 has to be a lock, right?

[JasonEvans]

It is obviously very early, but exactly 1 person (Lar77) is above breakeven at the moment. I think the struggles of Notre Dame, Wake, and Virginia (all failed to cover and offensive team ND went under while defensive team Virginia went over) has really hit our group hard.

[NYBri]

It is obviously very early, but exactly 1 person (Lar77) is above breakeven at the moment. I think the struggles of Notre Dame, Wake, and Virginia (all failed to cover and offensive team ND went under while defensive team Virginia went over) has really hit our group hard.

Indeed. Harder to pick these with little eyeball history on some of the teams. :cool:

[BandAlum83]

It is obviously very early, but exactly 1 person (Lar77) is above breakeven at the moment. I think the struggles of Notre Dame, Wake, and Virginia (all failed to cover and offensive team ND went under while defensive team Virginia went over) has really hit our group hard.

I just picked up a cool 1,000 off of the Gonzaga game :)

But -270 balance now (all from the vig)

[NYBri]

Okay, I inadvertently selected Furman to win today at 300 units. Ready and willing to take my punishment.

So, sorry. :cool:

[BandAlum83]

So just looked....Everyone is negative now. (other than the 2 who haven't had any bets yet)

Wow.

Jason, You should let us lose more than 5,000, or the fun could be over mighty quickly.

[BandAlum83]

looking for some end of game Florida Matador defense to let East Tennesee get to under 10 in garbage time

[Bob Green]

Halftime: #1 Villanova 30, #16 Mount St. Mary's 29

I'm feeling pretty confident having Mount St. Mary's (+25.5) for 500 units. :cool:

[Fish80]

Okay, I inadvertently selected Furman to win today at 300 units. Ready and willing to take my punishment.

So, sorry. :cool:

Ha. Been there.

Now you have to try to lose 300.

[Troublemaker]

Halftime: #1 Villanova 30, #16 Mount St. Mary's 29

I'm feeling pretty confident having Mount St. Mary's (+25.5) for 500 units. :cool:

They made you sweat it, but you probably have it now, Bob.

[CameronBlue]

I inadvertently wagered on the St. Pete-Albany game and lost 440 samolians. Any way to retrieve the loss?

[devildeac]

Where's richardjackson199?

(lol)

[Troublemaker]

I inadvertently wagered on the St. Pete-Albany game and lost 440 samolians. Any way to retrieve the loss?

I think the rule is you suffer a penalty if you win, but you have to eat the loss if you lose. Because I don't think the admin can do anything about it. Jason can correct me if I'm wrong.


Where's richardjackson199?

(lol)

Richard is busy with work from what I understand. However, I am available to consult for bad picks, and I'm off to a nice and tidy 1-8 start!

Here are my picks for tomorrow if someone wants to go oppo:

http://i.imgur.com/05Raeqj.png

[pfrduke]

Inputting the Pomeroy-based picks for the day and those numbers like 14 of the 16 underdogs (against the spread). The only favored teams that it projects to out-perform the spread are SMU and WSU, two teams more highly rated in that system than virtually anywhere else. On pretty much all of the big spreads, Pomeroy projects the games to be a few points closer than the oddsmakers. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[JasonEvans]

Okay, I inadvertently selected Furman to win today at 300 units. Ready and willing to take my punishment.

So, sorry. :cool:

If Furman wins, you will need to find some other game to wager upon in order to lose that 300 bet. Please announce in this thread which game you are wagering upon so we can track your loss. It would be best if it was another NIT or CBI game so as not to muddle the NCAA picks.

If they lose you lose the money and that is that.

The real fun happens when you win and then the team you bet to lose also wins... then you need to lose 600 units. As I am sure you can see, it could spiral out of control quite quickly!

-Jason "meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer that does nothing to change the outcome of the Mich-Okie St game burns everyone who bet on Michigan... backdoor covers are the worst when you are on the wrong side of them!" Evans

[CameronBlue]

If Furman wins, you will need to find some other game to wager upon in order to lose that 300 bet. Please announce in this thread which game you are wagering upon so we can track your loss. It would be best if it was another NIT or CBI game so as not to muddle the NCAA picks.

If they lose you lose the money and that is that.

The real fun happens when you win and then the team you bet to lose also wins... then you need to lose 600 units. As I am sure you can see, it could spiral out of control quite quickly!

-Jason "meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer that does nothing to change the outcome of the Mich-Okie St game burns everyone who bet on Michigan... backdoor covers are the worst when you are on the wrong side of them!" Evans

So sure we'd like the Leaderboard to reflect the true tallies of each bettor but why not just keep a running tally posted in some thread on the EK board and reconcile at the end? If won't matter if someone is completely out of the running. The instances have been few and I'm betting simple arithmetic is within everyone's grasp.

[Bob Green]

...why not just keep a running tally posted in some thread on the EK board and reconcile at the end?

This sounds like a reasonable approach to me.

[peterjswift]

Probably the pick I had the most confidence in was Texas Southern at +26.5 - but the way UNC is beating them, seems like it would have been a bad bet at +36.5

Hope the tar heels step off the gas soon.

[JasonEvans]

So sure we'd like the Leaderboard to reflect the true tallies of each bettor but why not just keep a running tally posted in some thread on the EK board and reconcile at the end? If won't matter if someone is completely out of the running. The instances have been few and I'm betting simple arithmetic is within everyone's grasp.

But it is so much fun to watch folks try to intentionally lose!

In other news, I am making an executive decision that you can lose up to 10,000 units, not 5000. I don't want folks going out too quickly. Poor JHMoss would be toast right now (down more than 6k) if we weres ticking to the 5k limit.

[CameronBlue]

But it is so much fun to watch folks try to intentionally lose!



Oh, the sadistic perspective. Well then I approve.

[du_bb1]

B u m p

[uh_no]

I'm just glad that Troy didn't beat us last night....or else we'd be talking here about whether the trojans can cover the cocks.

[devildeac]

I think the rule is you suffer a penalty if you win, but you have to eat the loss if you lose. Because I don't think the admin can do anything about it. Jason can correct me if I'm wrong.



Richard is busy with work from what I understand. However, I am available to consult for bad picks, and I'm off to a nice and tidy 1-8 start!

Here are my picks for tomorrow if someone wants to go oppo:

http://i.imgur.com/05Raeqj.png

Richard was not busy enough yesterday afternoon to re-watch the ACCT championship game with his lovely bride. ;)

He and I will consult soon on the composition of the winning 6er for the regular season degenerates contest. ;)

[Bob Green]

I went 3-3-1 yesterday for -150. Today I have placed eight 500 unit bets, four against the spread and four over/under.

[richardjackson199]

Richard was not busy enough yesterday afternoon to re-watch the ACCT championship game with his lovely bride. ;)

He and I will consult soon on the composition of the winning 6er for the regular season degenerates contest. ;)

Pretty rough week - I was working 15 hour days. Not Friday though.

Devildeac - if you want go ahead and get with NYBri and come up with a suitable 6-pack of his choice.

I actually owe Trouble a 12-pack. I won't be back in Vegas before Dec. 2017, so go ahead and help him pick a 12-pack or two sixers. Devildeac I'll get you 3 beers for your consult fee.

I'll work on getting/delivering the beer next weekend. Go Duke!

[Troublemaker]

Lol at everyone's performance in this competition.

Good job, Fish80, to be the only one above water right now.

[curtis325]

Lol at everyone's performance in this competition.

Good job, Fish80, to be the only one above water right now.

Don't fish prefer to be under water?

Sink or swim for the rest of us--mostly sink.

[Troublemaker]

Vegas sportsbooks had a great weekend: http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/18959558/college-basketball-david-purdum-recaps-vegas-lucrative-week-ncaa-tournament-betting

Not surprising considering the results of our contest.

[Fish80]

Don't fish prefer to be under water?

Sink or swim for the rest of us--mostly sink.

This fish would prefer to still be in it.

Now I can bet without emotion. Or can I?

[Troublemaker]

Bump.

A good way to remain interested in the tourney, degenerates.

[rasputin]

After squeaking by on a few bets last night, I couldn't resist looking at the leader board. And, even though it will be my death knell, I can't resist posting the current list (I pulled out the zeroes of folks who signed up but didn't bet):

1 rasputinDBR 37-31-1 54.41% +510
2 Fish80 12-10-0 54.55% +500
3 TroublemakerDBR 12-14-2 46.15% +230
4 brownsnomore 10-7-2 58.82% +200
7 DrRosenrosenDBR 3-3-0 50.00% -60
8 peterjswift 25-24-2 51.02% -410
9 curtis325 57-53-2 51.82% -650
10 krzyzewskiville 1-3-0 25.00% -690

A couple of points here and there sway the results wildly.

[Troublemaker]

Congrats Fish80 for killing it! Great job!

Also, only you and brownsnomore finished in the positive

[curtis325]

I'm here to claim the title! For the tourney I made maximum wagers on all 67 games both against the spread and over/under. Over the course of three weeks I risked 67,000 of my hardly-earned fake dollars. After a particularly bad stretch I bottomed out at -5500 quatloos, then I recovered somewhat to almost make it to the break even point, finishing 4th at -150 piasters.

I did lead the league in wins and in the O/U but did exceedingly poorly ATS. I must admit that it was basically all guesswork--I noticed today that I tended to pick the over pretty frequently for some unknown reason. In fact, if I had picked the over for every game I would still have led the league (I was 11-10 when picking under).

Congratulations to Fish80 on some shrewd wagering, but you need to pick up your game if you wanna be a true degenerate.

Those entrants who never placed a fake bet were smarter than most of us.

[Fish80]

Confucius say, fish who swim under over usually get wet noodle.