La Tonique’s NFL Week 9 Surefire Bets

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:

Baltimore Ravens (-1.5) vs. Indianapolis Colts

(Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Baltimore Ravens are coming off a tough loss to the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Indianapolis Colts enter Week 9 after a dominating victory over the Detroit Lions. I think the oddsmakers were clouded by their recency bias and fail to recognize just how dominant this Ravens team is. Their only two losses have come against arguably the best two teams in the entire NFL in the Chiefs and Steelers. I expect the Ravens to brush off their disappointing performance last week by dominating the Colts in Week 9.

Seattle Seahawks (-3) vs. Buffalo Bills

(Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

The Buffalo Bills enter Week 9 with a record of 6-2. However, I believe this is one the most overrated teams in the entire NFL, as their wins have come against weak opponents by one score. I expect the 6-1 Seattle Seahawks to continue their domination and beat the Bills by at least 3 points. This is a team whose offense has been unstoppable with their only weakness being defense. However, we have seen the Bills’ inability to move the ball downfield in the past couple of weeks, and I think the Seahawks defense will be able to hold the Bills under 25 points and come up victorious this Sunday.

*Bet at your own risk

Follow Timothy on Twitter @timothyan1