Swisscom Challenge

Although one could argue there are a ton of stats that are important to consider when betting on basketball, looking at a team’s performance at home and on the road could well be the most important statistic a basketball bettor can rely on. Many individual teams appear to be two entirely different squads when they play at home than they are on the road when looking at the numbers. When a team demonstrates a Jekyll and Hyde type of personality, a basketball bettor is wise to bet according to their personalities.

Sure, it is natural for a team to perform worse when on the road than they do on their home court. However, a good team’s record will deviate minimally when they are on the road. In the 2008-2009 NBA basketball season, the world champion Los Angeles Lakers possessed a 36-5 record on their home court, while dropping twelve and winning twenty-nine on the road. The San Antonio Spurs lost only two more away games than they did home games in the same season. When compared to teams such as the Dallas Mavericks, who were 32-9 at home and 18-23 on the road, or the Sixers (24-17 home, 17-24 away), there is a huge difference.

The public expects good teams to play well regardless of the venue. Additionally, when fans see their team win regularly at home, they expect the same results on the road. For most teams, this is not the case. Teams like the Spurs demonstrate consistency regardless of whether they are home or away. The Sixers and the Mavericks, both of which made the playoffs and had at least .500 records, are a tale of two teams.

When the Spurs played at home during the 08-09 season, they averaged 97.9 points per game. On the road, they scored an average of 96.2. The difference in their average score was less than two points between their home and away games. By comparison, the Mavericks netted an average of over 106 points per game on their home floor. On the road, their offence produced nearly ten points less on average, as they managed to score an average of 97.3 points when on enemy court. The difference in the points the Mavs put up in home vs. away games is often the entire point spread for even the most lopsided of NBA match ups. When a team plays well on their home court but poorly when on the road, often it is profitable to follow these teams, bet them at home, and bet against them when they are on the road.

I’m excited about the ALCS. The two teams that deserve to be there are there. The Yankees are the powerhouse of a few years ago returning to glory, and the Angels are the powerhouse of the past few years who have yet to get over the hump. Both teams are disciplined and win the right way.

Jered Weaver, who pitched game 2 against the Red Sox, will take the mound for the Angels in Game 3 and face battle-tested veteran Andy Pettitte. Andy was solid in his one game pitching against the Twins, giving up just 1 earned run in more than six innings of work. His overall numbers for the season were average, especially for being in the Yankees, and you do have to wonder about age vs. experience at this point in the sportsbook.com playoffs with a guy like him. Still, he knows how to win. Is there anyone else on their staff right now you’d want with the ball in his hand in a big game?

Weaver, likewise, was a start in Round 1. He matched the one earned run, but over 7.1 innings, and K’d seven in the process. Weaver had four complete games this season, two of which were shutouts. He knows how to keep the ball on the ground and force the Yankees to make a play on the bases.

I’m guessing the line will be very tight, perhaps slightly in the Angels favor. -115 Angels, +110 Yankees. And depending on whether they can manage a split in New York, the Angels will have incredible drive to go up on the series when they return home, or prevent themselves from falling further into an 0-3 hole. The Yankees know all about those.

Playoff baseball is usually pitcher-driven by this point, and the over/under in the sports betting world will reflect that. I’d be comfortable taking the over here, though, as it might be too adjusted, and I think both offenses are clicking to the point where you’ll see a few runs on both sides.

The New York Jets started off the season with a perfect 3-0 record and everyone was talking about how the Jets were looking unbeatable. Fast forward a few weeks and the Jets are now sitting with a 4-3 record and are second place in the AFC East behind the New England Patriots. The Jets had such a promising start to the season, but now they are barely in the playoff picture. In order for the Jets to make the playoffs this season they’re going to need to go back to playing simple football.

In the first few weeks of the season the Jets played simple football and it paid off with wins. The Jets outscored their opponents 64-33 in the first three games. A lot of this had to do with the defence playing amazing, but it also had to do with the Jets playing smart on the offence. The past few weeks we have seen the Jets move away from what works and it has cost them some games. Overall this season the defence has played pretty solidly minus one game against Miami, but the offence has been struggling lately.

With Brett Favre gone from the Jets this year they brought in a rookie QB by the name of Mark Sanchez. If you didn’t know who Mark Sanchez was before the season started you definitely know who he is now after the online football betting season now. Sanchez played pretty good football the first few weeks by keeping things simple on the offence. Since then Sanchez has been anything but consistent. He has been turning the ball over a lot more lately and it is costing his team dearly at this point. There has been some speculation about whether or not Sanchez should sit for a bit so the Jets can try and salvage their season. I personally think that Sanchez needs the experience and that the Jets should keep him in for the entire season so that he can be better for next season.

One thing that the Jets were missing most of the early part of this season was a WR. They have since added a number one receiver by the name of Braylon Edwards, but it hasn’t quite worked out yet. Braylon had a huge first game for the Jets on Monday night, but since then he hasn’t done that much really. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have been making sure the Jets offence keeps the ball as long as possible. Between the two of them they have combined for a total of 931 yards. Jones already has 7 TD’s himself as well, but Washington has yet to get a TD under his belt. The Jets have the #1 rush game in the league thus far and if they want to make a push for the playoffs they will need to continue running the ball down the throat of their opponents.

We already know that the Jets defence has been performing great this year and they shouldn’t really be a question mark heading into the second half of the season. The Jets main concern right now should be whether or not Sanchez is ready for the NFL odds. He has been doing great considering this is his rookie season, but we all know that QB’s in the NFL don’t get that much time to prove themselves.

BlackJack is one the most popular casino games, being played across the world. The combination of a game of luck and certain elements of chance make it the favorite casino game for many gamblers.

With the advent of the internet, gambling reached a new era, the online casinos allowing gamblers to play from the privacy of their own homes. In fact, the main advantage of playing online black jack is anonymity: for the blackjack site you represent just a betting value and an IP address. No one else knows that you play blackjack.

Being able to play from the comfort of your own home is great for developing your blackjack strategy: it’s hard to focus on the game in the noise of a land-based casino, but if you’re at home, you can listen to your favorite music while playing your favorite casino game.

Another reason to play blackjack online is that it is generally safer. There are risks with online transactions, too, like if your computer gets hacked, but generally, it is much safer than carrying around cash for playing at a land-based casino.

Some websites allow you to play for free, to be able to master the game before you make a deposit and play for real money. This is not possible in a brick and mortar casino, where you will likely lose some money before you know the game well enough.

Online casinos are cheaper to run because it costs a lot to build an upkeep a land-based casinos. That’s why, when you sign up for playing blackjack, they are able to offer you many bonuses (such as 100% of the first deposit), something which is unseen at brick and mortar casinos.

You can play online blackjack at anytime: it’s available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, you can play it during a break as a way to relax in your own home. You don’t need to go many hundred miles to play it and you’ll save a lot of money you’d otherwise spend to go to places like Las Vegas.

Some casinos also offer live blackjack, which allows you to play your favorite game with a real live dealer. This is an excellent option for people who like to play with a real cards deck and not get the cards generated randomly by a computer.

Online casinos offer far more variety than any city may offer: each casino website may offer many variants of blackjack and there are hundreds of casinos from which to choose from.

The fact that your decisions actually affect your chances of winning makes blackjack one of the most fun casino games. Whether you play it for entertainment or for trying to get lucky, you’ll have a great time.