You Win Some, You Lose More: My Week That Was (or Wasn’t) in Mobile Sports Betting – SportTechie

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The whole experience proved rather Pavlovian.

In the nearly four years since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA and paved the way for legalized sports betting, we atSportTechieand others in the media have repeated talking points from leagues and sportsbooks about its benefits: increased fan engagement, additional viewership and so on.

When Major League Baseball announced its first partnership with MGM Resorts a while back, one high-ranking league official told me, We dont care if fans are betting a quarter. Even low stakes wagers, the research showed, had positive engagement results.

New York finally introduced mobile sports betting earlier this month soto personally gauge its impactI spent last week living the life of a casual bettor. My wagers were modest and, just like everyone said would happen, I watched a lot more sports than I had been, a conditioned response as innate as dogs salivating at the sound of the dinner bell. Woof.

I placed 17 bets during this trial, winning only six of them, but taking advantage of new user promotions at FanDuel and Caesars helped soften the blow, so my overall losses were minimal (Hey boss, I can expense it, right?Obviously,I would have shared any potential winnings. . . ).

One might think that sportswriters, whose livelihoods are contingent on sporting analysis, might be good bettors. But thats often not the case given the vagaries of one-game sample sizes and all kinds of psychological bias that we allow to creep into our thought process. A little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing.

Also, in the interest of full transparency, I lost to my 10-year-old nephew in our family NFL picks poolthis fall. I finished behind his 7-year-old brother, too.

One friend, much more seasoned in betting than I am, gave me a few tips about strategy. But this same guy also added,

My childhood team, the Celtics, made me a little dough, but Nick Saban's Crimson Tide not so much.

All of this is to say Im not exactly surrounded by betting sharps.

The user experience of these mobile sports betting apps is straightforwardbut not for the faint of heart. There was no obvious tutorial or explainer. My only related participatory experience has been season-long fantasy leagues and office pools for March Madness and Super Bowl squares. But Ive been around sports long enough to know the basic parlance and methodology. (I still googled a few terms just to be sure.)

With a little background knowledge, though, navigating the sites ispretty easy. Making winning picks is not. But we all knew that already.Everyones still trying, of course. The four active sportsbooks in New Yorkreceived $150 million inwagersduring the first weekend, with 650,000 unique accounts. Notably, only 9.3% of NY bettors had previously wagered in New Jersey,according to PlayNY.com, suggesting there wasnt much cannibalization and maybe there werent that many people takingNJ Transit to Secaucusordriving through the Lincoln Tunnelor biking tothe middle of the George Washington Bridgejust to bet.

To keep it interesting and geta broadenedexperience, I placed wagers spanning a cross-section of sports and bet types. And the results were predictable: I lost a bit,and I tuned in to watch more live sports, just as Ive done previously when my 5 vs 12 bracket upset pick reached the second half in March and my fantasy starting pitcher took the mound in the summer.

About the only part I didnt foresee wassome minor difficultyat withdrawingall ofmy available balance, as I didnt read all the fine print about how the new user bonuses worked.So,Ill still be betting a bit more here and there. The sportsbooks will welcome my continued business.

Monday, Jan. 10

BETS

*Alabamamoneylinebet to beat Georgia (with new user +3000 promo): $5 to win $150 - LOSS

*Parlay: Alabama +2.5 spread & Over 52.5 points (+280) :$10 to win $28 - LOSS

*Georgia first quarter money line (-130): $5 to win $8.85 - LOSS

*Indiana Pacers (+9) to cover spread at Boston Celtics (-114): $10 to win $8.77 - WIN

The college football national championship seemed like an obvious place to start, although the results show that I had no idea what would happen.

The Pacers-Celtics game may seem like an odd addition to the bet slip, but this will help explain it: I grew up in Massachusetts and have grown discouraged by the Celtics play this season. There was no way theyd win by nine, even at home. But I did sweat a bit when theCstook an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter, at which point I fired up NBA League Pass and watched them squander it way before eventually prevailing by three in overtime.

I felt Alabama's pain in the national title game, only in a different way.

Tuesday, Jan. 11

A day of rest as I wasnt too interested in that eveningsschedulegames.

Wednesday, Jan. 12

BETS

*Boston Bruins (-1.5 goals) vs Montreal Canadians (-122): $10 to win $8.20 - WIN

*Virginia basketball (+1) vs Virginia Tech (-115): $20 to win $17.39 - WIN

Late in the first period, the Bruins Brad Marchand netted two goals within 15 seconds, prompting triumphant texts to my brother and father. He finished with a hat trick as the Bruins won easily. This was probably the first hockey I had watched in months, now that I had skin in the game, which of course is music to sports executives ears.

Even though my alma mater, Virginia, had been inconsistent of late, I couldnt believe the Hoos were home underdogs to theirarchrivals. The 9 pm tipoff did this father of young children no favors, but there I was, up after 11, holding my breath as U.Va. clung to a two-point lead as Techs Hunter Cattoor and Storm Murphy each had a good three-pointlooksin the closing seconds. Both missed. I exhaled, then checked my FanDuel account balance and smiled.

Thursday, Jan. 13

BETS

*Boston Bruins (-1.5) vs Philadelphia Flyers (-102): $10 to win $9.80 - LOSS

*Parlay: Milwaukee Bucks to beat the Golden State Warriors and Giannis Antetokounmpo double-double (+144): $10 to win $14.40 - WIN

I went back to the well once too often with the Bruinswho only won by one and thus didnt coverbut rallied when the Bucks destroyed the Warriors. My only fear was that they led by so much that Antetokounmpo would rest and not complete hisdouble-double. Instead, he played enough for atriple-double. This was also the night I caught myself sneaking glances at my phone in between my sons bedtime stories.

A double-double from Giannis would have been enough, but his triple-double, plus a Bucks win, helped make one of my better nights.

Friday, Jan. 14

Load management day.

Saturday, Jan. 15

BETS

*Manchester City vs Chelsea to draw (+290): $10 to win $29 - LOSS

*New England Patriotsmoneylinebet to beat Buffalo Bills (+172 on FanDuel): $20 to win $34.40 - LOSS

*New England Patriotsmoneylinebet to beat Buffalo Bills (+190 on Caesars): $30 to win $57 - LOSS

*Patriots and Raiders to both win (+800): $10 to win $80 - LOSS

The morning Premier League match was ginger-on-ginger crime. Though Man City was playing at home, it had dealt with a recent COVID-19 outbreak, so I figured Chelsea had enough firepower for the tie. The match was scoreless until the 70th minute when Kevin De Bruyne scored, dashing my hopes. Alexi Lalas wouldnt have done that to our people, Kevin.

The Saturday night NFL game was a classic example of betting with ones heart over ones head. Sure, the Pats had won in Buffalo during the season, but that was an exceptional circumstance. It was so windy that Mac Jones only threw three passes. The trend lines over the final few weeks of the seasonincluding a Bills win in New Englandsuggested Ishouldnt putany scratch down on the Pats. But I did. At least it was such an emphatic blowout that I didnt waste much time watching.

Sunday, Jan. 16.

BETS

*Parlay: Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Ben Roethlisberger each to throw over 1.5 passing TDs (+425): $10 to win $42.50 - WIN

This was by far my longest shot bet to hit, but it didnt feel like much of a stretch. Brady and Mahomes both averaged more than two passing TDs per game, and the presumption was that Roethlisberger would be chucking the ball early and often while playing from behind. This win didnt quite offset my Saturday bloodbath, but I sure felt better.

I was high on the Arizona Cardinals, too high, especially after Kyler Murray's gift pick six from the end zone.

Monday, Jan. 17

BETS

*Arizona Cardinalsmoneyline(+144 on FanDuel): $10 to win $14.40 - LOSS

*Arizona Cardinalsmoneyline(+170 on Caesars): $20 to win $34 - LOSS

*Sony Michel under 58.5 yards (-110): $10 to win $9.09 - WIN

*Kyler Murray over 299.5 passing yards and over 49.5 rushing yards (+750): $10 to win $75 - LOSS

I had already placed my wagers on the Cardinals even before my, ahem, friend so confidently predicted theyd win. I thought Murray was in for a big night. At least shorting Michel worked, albeit barely, as he ran for 58 yards, meaning a more generous ball spot at some point during the night would have tipped him over the threshold.Betting apparently is a game of inches.

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You Win Some, You Lose More: My Week That Was (or Wasn't) in Mobile Sports Betting - SportTechie