By Timothy An

Moneyline: Moneyline is where you be on what team is going to win specific games. If the Spurs’ odds to win are -130 and the Warriors’ odds to win are +110, it means the Spurs are favored to win.

- If you bet $130 on the Spurs, you would win $100.

- If you bet $100 on the Warriors you would win $110.

a). (z/100) = (y/x) b). (100/z) = (y/x)

If you want to calculate how much you would win if you bet a value other than $100, use the equations above to calculate. The equation in (a) is to solve for the odds if it is a negative number. You put the odd in (z), then how much you want to be in (y), then solve for (x). So, let’s say you want to bet $50 on the Spurs winning and their line is set at -140.

(140/100) = (50/x)

X = 35.71

In this particular case, you would get a payout of $35.71.

Betting the Line: Betting the line means that you are essentially betting to double your money. An example of a line would be Los Angeles Lakers -9.5 and Miami Heat +9.5. This means that the odds are set at the Laker’s winning by 9.5 points. You can either bet the Lakers -9.5, which means you are predicting the Lakers will win by 10 or more points. Or you can bet Miami Heat +9.5, which means you are predicting that the Miami Heat will win, or lose by 9 or less. If you are correct, you double your money, and if you are incorrect you lose it all.

SUREFIRE BETS OF THE WEEK:

Cincinnati Bengals (+1.5) vs. Washington Football Team

The strength of the Washington Football Team has been their pass rush and pass defense thus far into the season. However, Joe Burrow has proved himself to be a good decision-maker in his year, and he should be expected to continue his great performance this week against the Football Team. The Washington Football Team will be able to apply pressure on Burrow, but it simply won’t be enough to slow him and the Bengals offense down on the day . On the other side of the ball, the Bengals defense isn’t anything special, but the Football Team’s offense is nothing to be afraid of either. The Bengals should be able to slow down the Football Team’s offense enough to let Burrow carry them to their third victory of the season.

New England Patriots (-2.5) vs. Houston Texans

The Patriots face the Texans on Sunday in one of the more intriguing matchups of the week. The Texans have been one of the worst run defenses throughout the year, and we all know the Patriots strength offensively is their running attack featuring Damien Harris, Rex Burkhead, James White, and Cam Newton. The Patriots will be able to dominate the Texans defense in the run game and will score over 25 points on the day. On the other side of the ball, a Bill Belichick defense is one you can always trust to slow down players like Deshaun Watson and the rest of the Texans offense. 

*Bet at your own risk

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