Basketball Betting
The most popular basketball league to bet on is the NBA although there are lots of international basketball leagues that can be wagered on at many online sportsbooks. The NBA season runs for 82 games, but this doesn’t include the playoffs. Millions of people every single year wager on the NBA and the two main bets that people make are straight wagers and point spread wagers. Just like in football, basketball using a point spread system that helps limit the juice that the player needs to pay. Often betting on the moneyline in basketball entails paying heavy juice which isn’t always a smart thing to do.
Betting the moneyline in basketball is fine when the juice isn’t that high, but when the juice is over -200 you should really consider playing the point spread. It’s fine to pay heavy juice once in awhile when you feel really strongly about the game, but don’t become in the habit of betting heavy favourites all the time. When you bet on heavy favourites all the time you need to win a huge percent of your bets. When you bet on the point spread in a basketball game there is hardly any juice to pay and you only need to win around 55-60% of your bets to do well.
When you bet on basketball there are several factors that should come into play when deciding on which teams to pick everyday. You want to make sure you find out the recent trends between the two teams as well as the recent trends from both teams past 5-10 games. Knowing how an online sports betting team performs against another team is very important. When you’re looking at the trends and stats you should also see if they are split up by home/away court. Sometimes teams will win at home against certain teams, but lose when they’re on the road. This is especially true when east coast teams travel out to the west coast.
On any given night any NBA team has the chance to win and there is never going to be a season where one team wins all of their games or even close to all of their games. Betting on the team that should win often isn’t enough in basketball and you’ll end up losing money more then you win money. There are several websites that track the public betting percentages for every basketball game throughout the season. I would recommend bookmarking one of these websites so that you can see where the public money is being placed on each game. When the public is betting heavy on a given team it’s often a smart decision to go against the public.
A lot of professional basketball betting cappers make a lot of money by going against the public. The public is often influenced by the media and the public also bets on the favourite a lot. When the public is heavy on a small favourite the game will often go the other way. With lots of betting options to choose from in basketball you’ll never have a day where you can’t find something that stands out too you. Remember to do your research before making any wagers and try to always follow the stats/data and not what other people tell you too pick.
Humberto Brenes
Humberto Brenes was born in Costa Rico and currently he still lives in Costa Rico with his wife and three children. Brenes grew up playing the game of baccarat and played baccarat regularly for money which at the time was his source of income. Once Humberto seen that poker was gaining popularity around the world he started playing poker and left the game of baccarat behind.
Humberto focused on cash games for about the first decade of his poker career although he still played in some of the major events as well. In 1988 Humberto decided to start playing in more of the major events and the decision was in large part due to the prize pools becoming more worth playing for. In the 70’s and the early 80’s poker was nothing like it is today and the prize pools were minuscule compared to the size of the prize pools now.
Brenes has won two WSOP bracelets in his career and both of those came after playing in tournaments for more then a decade. Both the bracelets came in the same year as well which was 1993 when he won the $2500 Limit Holdem and the $2500 Pot Limit Omaha. Humberto has also finished in the money more then fifty times in his career on the WSOP circuit which is amongst the leaderboard of most cashes in WSOP history. The closest Humberto ever came to winning a WSOP Main Event bracelet was in 1988 when he finished in fourth place at the main event.
Humberto has also spent some time playing the WPT and has managed to accumulate three final tables and four money finishes. He hasn’t been able to win a coveted WPT title, but he has come close on numerous occasions. Brenes has made over $5 million from playing in live tournaments throughout his career and when he played the prizes were much smaller so it took many more cashes to reach the $5 million plateau. Humberto still plays poke from time to time, but for the most part has retired and you won’t see him playing much anymore on television.
Brenes has made appearances on multiple television shows as well as competed in the NBC Heads-Up Championship Series. He used to always get lots of television when he played regularly due to his outspoken nature which people love to watch. Brenes is loved by many poker fans and players, but many people also disapprove of his tactics. He is very talkative at the table and will use any advantage he can in order to get into your head. Once he gets into your head he becomes even more difficult to play and this is why he has seen so much success playing poker.
Humberto Brenes has also adopted the PartyPoker nickname “The Shark” and this is because he usually has a toy shark which he uses at the table to protect his cards. His weird sense of fashion and outrageous tactics has formed Brenes into one of the most recognized and popular poker players in the world.
World Series of Poker – Hellmuth
You know what makes a cake poker player great? It’s not only the record, not only the bracelets or the millions, or their face up on some Internet gambling site. It’s the poise, the politeness, the kindness while they murder you. It’s losing to them and still wanting to be them.
All glorious traits that completely elude one Phil Hellmuth. I’ve seen enough rants to last me a lifetime from him, but this one in particular is just sickening to watch. From the 2008 World Series of Poker,
So, early table, Hellmuth, of Ultimate Bet Poker gets pocket eights and raises $15K pre-flop. Adam Levy, whom the commentators say is a powerful online player, calls with Queen, 10 of clubs. Everyone else is out. Flop is nine, six, jack. Hellmuth bets $20K and Levy calls, which we come to find Hellmuth didn’t like at all. Turn is an 8, giving Hellmuth a set. Fast forward to after the hand, because the river is no help.
Levy wins a good-sized pot, which sends Hellmuth into a rampage, berating Levy for his moves during the hand, knocking the dealer of all people, thinking he was a different dealer who’d been there longer than one hand, and lecturing the other players who dared chime in while Hellmuth cuts this guy to shreds.
At the end of it, none of what he said matters, of course. He was venting like a little baby, and each time it happens the interest in him as a superstar poker players sours worse than sun-tainted milk. You can’t watch him without shaking your hand. Give me an epic Negreanu/Ivey battle any day of the year over Hellmuth vs. anyone.
The bottom line was that Levy outplayed him, quite convincingly. As Hellmuth unloads on him with childish comments like “idiot” and “probably won’t even make the top 200,” Levy just sits there, exercising impressive restraint and control.
Just because you’ve won in the past and obviously are an expert at understanding the game doesn’t ever give you the right to let your petty emotions get the best of you and treat other players like that.
And, for the record, I would’ve called Hellmuth’s $20K bet, too. A straight draw with two to go, nobody’s betting over the top, only one player to beat…why the hell not? It’s poker, sometimes you have to take a chance. What was it Alexander said in Oliver Stone’s movie? Fortune favors the bold.
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