Clinton Portis vs. Larry Johnson for $1600

I am currently tied for 1st place in this weeks etopps Pigskin Challenge. BamaEric33 and I each had Westbrook, McNabb and Romo on Thursday. On Sunday I have Clinton Portis and he has Larry Johnson. I actually like LJ much better in this weeks game but I used him in an ealier week and you can only use each card 1 time. The prize for this week is a case of 2008 Bowman Sterling Football cards which is currently selling for over $1600 on ebay. Second place is a Lawrence Taylor Autographed Mini Helmet which is a big dropoff from 1st to 2nd place. There are other teams that could potentially catch us on Sunday but they will need a player to match Westbrook's 4 TD performance and also match the great games that Romo and McNabb had. For those of you that are not in the Pigskin Challenge at etopps it is not too late to join. You can still compete for the weekly prizes and it is FREE to join. You just have to own the cards of the 4 players you play each week on the day the lineups freeze. Once your lineup is frozen for the week you can sell your cards or trade them for cards for the following week. I still think newcomers have a big advantage in the last few weekly prizes because most of the players that been in all year have already used up their good cards and you can only use each card once during the season.

snapdraft no match for FANTASY SPORTS LIVE

Fanball.com has daily games now called snapdraft. They probably stole this idea from FANTASY SPORTS LIVE but where they fail is that the prizes they offer are much less than what FSL offers. They only return 80% of the fee to the winner. So a $10 heads up game will only earn $16 for the winner. At Fantasy Sports Live a $11 heads up game will return the winner $20.

NBA on Saturday

I am going with 5 plays in the NBA tonight. I didn't bet any hockey although I did come close to betting Ottawa, Philadelphia and Buffalo.

NBA Best Bet
Miami/Indiana UNDER 196.5 for $550
other NBA bets
Atlanta/Cleveland UNDER 197.5 for $440
New Jersey -3.5 vs LA Clippers for $330
Utah/Memphis OVER 187.5 for $110
Milwaukee/Charlotte OVER 179 for $110

College Football Picks 11/22

There were about 10 games I was looking very closely at but at the end I decided I liked 2 of the games so much better than the others. I took Boston College +2.5 vs Wake Forest for $550. Boston College is the dog? Look for BC to win the game by 7 or more points. The other game I liked a lot is Indiana +11.5 vs Purdue for $550. Purdue should win this game by 3 or 4 points but I would not be surprised if Indiana pulls the upset and wins straight up. Here are some of the other teams I liked but didn't bet on. Washington, Tulsa, Houston, ND, Boise St., Florida St., Michigan and UAB. I will post my NBA and NHL bets later today.

A 1-1 Day Can Be Good or Bad

On Friday I went 1-1 in the NBA and also 1-1 at Fantasy Sports Live. Even though I had the same won-lost record in both, in the NBA I Won and at FSL I lost. In the NBA I hit my NBA best bet with Boston/Minnesota UNDER to win $400 and I lost my $330 bet on Atlanta as they won the game but missed covering the spread. At FSL I only played 2 heads up games. 1 for $54 which I lost and 1 for $11 which I won.

NBA Best Bet 1-0, +$400
NBA all bets 1-1, +$70

FSL
$54 heads up, 0-1 -$54
$11 heads up, 1-0 +$9
total 1-1, $-45

NBA + FSL
2-2, +$25

NBA Plays Friday 11/21

I made 2 bets today.

best bet Boston/Minnesota UNDER 183.5 for $440/$400
other bet Atlanta -8 vs Charlotte for $330/300

Win Some, Lose Some

After winning over $600 at the sports book on Wednesday I gave it all back plus some on Thursday. This has been a roller coaster week for me with some big winning days followed by big losing days. I feel good about a few NBA games tonight and I like a few football games this weekend so I am hoping for a good weekend. Not only did I have a bad day at the books on Thursday but I had another bad day at Fantasy Sports Live on Thursday. I joined Fantasy Sports Love just over 3 weeks ago. In my first 2 weeks I won 13 of my first 14 days for a profit over $800 and had over 100 total wins. In the past 7-10 days I can't win at all and my total profit has dropped from over $800 to under $100. It guess it was beginners luck. Here are my results for Thursday. I am leaving for the sports books now. I will post my plays when I get back.

NHL
Best bet Lost -$500
all bets 0-2 -$700

FSL (All NBA)
$54 heads up 0-2, -$108
$22 heads up 0-1, -$22
$11 heads up 2-1-1, +$6
$5.50 heads up 1-1, -$1
$3.40 heads up 1-0, +$2.60
$1 ten player, 2 games, T-3rd and 5th -$1
All heads up 4-5-1
Total Losings -$123.40

NHL Only on Thursday

With only 1 NFL game and 2 NBA games on Thursday I just didn't see any side or total that was worth betting on. I did however like a couple of NHL game including a total that should be won before the 2nd period ends. Look for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Atlanta Thrashers to go way over the total of 5.5 goals. If the line was 6.5 I would still bet the over. In the other game I predict Washington will beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2. Here are the plays I made at my local sports book.

NHL
Best Bet - Pittsburgh/Atlanta OVER 5.5 (-125) for $500 to win $400
other bet - Washington (Even) vs Los Angeles $200 to win $200

NBA and NFL - No Plays

Winning Wednesday

Wednesday was a great day. I hit my best bet on the Heat/Raptors game to go over and overall went 4-2 for a profit of $640. One of the games I lost was the Bulls +7 vs Portland. If I am going to lose a game I would rather lose the game that way than by losing by a 3-pointer at the buzzer. I even had a winning day at Fantasy Sports Live by going 5-3 in heads up games. I may play some hockey games at FSL tomorrow because there are only 2 NBA games and it will be tough to pick a good NBA lineup with such a small pool to choose from.

NBA
Best Bet 1-0, +$400
all NBA 4-2, +$640

FSL
$22 heads up 1-0, +$18
$11 heads up 2-1, +$7
$5.5 heads up 1-2, -$6.50
$3.4 heads up 1-0, +$2.60
all games 5-3, +$21.10

Wednesday Six Pack

I just got back from the sports book and I ended up playing 6 NBA games today. Here are the picks.

Best Bet Miami/Toronto OVER 188 for $440

all other bets for $330
Toronto +3 vs Miami
Sacramento +13.5 vs New Orleans
Chicago +7 vs Portland
Denver/San Antonio OVER 180
Utah/Milwaukee OVER 190

Tuesdays Results

On Tuesday at the sportsbooks I had a losing record but I made a profit. Well it wasn't much of a profit, and actually it probably wasn't even enough to pay for my gas to go to the Boulder Station and then to Sam's Town and then back to Boulder Station. In the NBA the Heat was an easy winner but I lost the Cavs/Nets game over as the Nets could only score 30 points in the 2nd half after soring over 50 in the 1st half. In the NHL I won my best bet with Calgary winning easy. In my other 2 bets I had the Lightning and the under. After Florida made it 3-0 I was hoping there would be no more scoring so I could at least win the under. TB made it 3-1, then 3-2 early in the 3rd period. With under 3 minutes to go in the game it was still 3-2 and I thought my chances for the under was still good. Well just then Tampa Bay scored to make it 3-3. With that goal I lost the under but now I have a chance to win my side bet on Tampa Bay. No such luck as Florida wins the game in a shootout. In that game the Lightning had 52 shots on goal but only managed to score 3 goals.

I had another bad day at Fantasy Sports Live and even though I want to win but I have been losing I have so much fun playing there. It makes watching the games so much more interesting. Rather than just watching for the final score you watch every play to see if your players did anything regardless if the game is close or a blowout. I am still showing a profit overall and each day I am learning something new that hopefully will help me to get back on another big winning streak. I made a profit in 13 of my first 14 days at FSL and since then I can't seem to put together back to back winning days.

NBA 1-1 lost -$20
NHL 1-2 won +25
total 2-3, but a profit of $5

FSL
heads up 1-2, lost -$17.50
six player 0-2, lost -$44
total lost = -$61.50

NBA and NHL Picks for 11/18

In the NBA I took Miami+2.5 vs. Washington for $220 to win $200. I think Miami should have been favored by 2.5+. My other NBA play was Cleveland/New Jersey OVER 194.5 for $220 to win $200. Cleveland should win this game 103-99.

In the NHL My best bet is Calgary over Chicago. I put $435 on the Flames to win $300. The Flames should win this game by 2 goals. I also took Tampa Bay and the under 5.5 vs Florida. Tampa $150 to win $100 and the UNDER 5.5 $125 to win 100. The Lightning should win this game 2-1 or 3-1.

Monday Night Murder

I got murdered at the Sportsbooks on Monday. I had a chance in a couple of the games but lost late due to big plays. I thought I had the Bills on the money line won until Cleveland kicked that 57 yard FG with less than 2 minutes to go. Then I thought I could win again when Buffalo attempted their FG but they missed. In the Clippers/Spurs game I thought I had no chance at the over then after a big 3rd quarter and start to the 4th quarter I only needed 21 points with 6 minutes to play. After both teams go over 3 minutes without scoring I figured I lost again but wait, the score is 86-86 with under 10 seconds to go so I have a chance to win in OT. Nope, Mason hits a 3 pointer with 8 seconds to go and the Clippers can't answer. Overall it was just a bad day as I lost in all 3 sports and gave back the $600 I won over the weekend plus some. I did't do any better at FANTASY SPORTS LIVE on Monday. I played 10 heads up games and only went 4-6. I am heading to the sportsbooks now and I will post my picks when I get back in an hour or so.

NFL 0-2, -$340
NBA 1-1, -$130
NHL 0-1, -$210
Fantasy Sports Live 4-6, -$52
Total 5-10, -$732

NFL, NBA and NHL Picks for Monday

In the NFL, look for Buffalo to beat the Brown by 6 or 7 points. The line is 5 so there is some value for a small play. I do like the money line in this game much more than the spread. I got the Bills at -230 which is great value as I would have bet all the way up to -300. My plays:

Bills - money line for $230 to win $100
Bills -5 $110 to win $100

In the NBA there are only 3 games tonight. I don't like any of the sides but I do like 2 of the totals quite a bit. The Spurs/Clippers game should be a low scoring game but they got the total too low for this one. Both teams should score at least 90 points and I wouldn't be surprised if the winning team scored 100. My projected score is Spurs 94 Clippers 92. In the other game that I like over, is the Jazz/Suns game. The total for this game is 196 and I project the losing team to score 100 points.

Best Bet = Spurs/Clippers Over 175.5 $330 to win $300
Jazz/Suns Over 196 $220 to win $200

I like one game in the NHL tonight. I love the Detroit/Edmonton game to go way over. The total on this game should be 6.5, not 5.5. If the line was 6.5, I would still bet the over. Final Projected score is Detroit 5 Edmonton 3.

Wings/Oilers Over 5.5 (-1.05) $210 to win $200

eTopps Pigskin Challenge is a FREEROLL

The best part of etopps is the free fantasy games where you can win cases of cards worth as much as $2,000. You just need to own the cards of the players you want on your team. Once your team is locked you can sell the cards if you don't want them. It is not too late to get into the Pigskin Challenge and actually it is even better if you are joining late. You no longer can compete for the season long prize but because you can only use a card one time during the challenge most of the etopps players have used up their best cards. For that reason I believe the new members have a big advantage in the weekly contest. This weeks prize is a case of Stadium Club Football worth over $1500. What if you don't collect cards? Well, just sell the case on ebay if you win it. IPO's are every Monday at 1:00PM EST. Depending on the players available, you usually have to order within the first minute or 2 to get your allocation. Don't bother ordering more than 1 because they usually sell out and limit the orders to 1 per customer. Today's IPO's are Tony Romo and rookie Ray Rice.

Another Winning Day

After going 4-2 for a profit of $360 on Saturday, I finished Sunday 4-2 for a profit of $240. I was up $680 for Sunday going into the Nugget game and if they could have covered I would of had a $1000 day but the line was 9 and they only won by 6. I don't mind that the Nuggets didn't cover because I realize I can't win every game and going 4-2 is a decent day.

Even though I have more action going on at the Sports Books I have so much more interest in the games because of my Fantasy Sports Live matchups. Today I went 1-0 in my only heads up game in the NFL and 1-0 in my only heads up game in the NBA. I played a $33 six player game where I got back $60 for finishing 2nd and I played a $33 ten player game in which I didn't place. I got killed in all my other smaller multi-player games including my entry in the blogger battle and Sundays w/Dr. Pauly. I think I am going to cut back a little on my six and ten player games and play more heads up games.

Here are my final results for Sunday.

NFL
Best Bet 1-0 +$300
All games 4-1 +$680

NBA 0-1 -$440

NFL + NBA, 4-2 +$240

Fantasy Sports Live
Heads Up 2-0, risk $33 and got back $60 (+$27)
six player games, 6 entered for $73, 0 1st and 2 2nd for $66 (-$7)
ten player games, 5 entered for $64, 0 1st and 0 2nd (-$64)
Overall -$44

NBA Play for Sunday

I just bet the Denver Nuggets -9 over Minnesota. I project the Nuggets will win by 15+ points. So far I am having a great day in the NFL. I won my best bet and went 3-0 overall in the early games. I will be satisfied if my 2 late NFL games split although I would love to sweep today. Early glance at my FSL games looks like I will end up about even but I still have an outside shot to finish 1st in a couple 10 player games which will put me up quite a bit.

Back on Track

My losing streak is finally over. At the sports book on Saturday I went 4-2 in College Football for a profit of $360. At FSL, I broke my 3 day losing streak. I didn't win much (+$9.50), but I am hoping this is a start of a long winning streak. I am getting ready to go enter my contests now at Fantasy Sports Live for Sundays games. I am going to enter mostly the football games but will probably enter a few hoops games. Here are my final results for Saturday.

NCAA Football
Best bet 1-0, +$300
All bets 4-2, +$360

Fantasy Sports Live
Heads Up 2-1, invested $49.50, cashed in $70 total = +$20.50
6 player game - 0-1 lost $11
Overall +$9.50

Anthony Morrow???

WOW, What a game Rookie Anthony Morrow had for Golden State on Saturday. Unless someone really goes crazy tonight, Morrow is getting my vote for FSL Daily MVP tonight. Tonight at Fantasy Sports Live I entered 3 Heads up games and 1 six player game. My biggest game is a $33 Heads Up vs Tippy. Here are the Rosters:

1 - etoppsfan (you) PG D. Rose CHI 42 PG R. Fernandez POR 9 SG J. Johnson ATL 40 SG B. Gordon CHI 28 PF K. Garnett BOS 32 PF E. Brand PHI 29 SF T. Young PHI 27 SF P. Pierce BOS 42 C G. Oden POR 30 279 2 - Tippy PG A. Brooks HOU 9 PG M. Williams CLE 28 SG J. Johnson ATL 40 SG R. Allen BOS 31 PF M. Williams ATL 19 PF E. Brand PHI 29 SF T. Young PHI 27 SF L. James CLE 56 C B. Lopez NJN 17 256

NFL Plays for 11/16

I didn't play any NBA games today (Saturday). I was tempted to take Cleveland/Utah to go over but there are too many players out for Utah. I am stilling monitoring the line and if it drops a couple more points I still may play the over. Here are my plays for week 11 in the NFL.

Best Play - Carolina/Detroit Over 40 for $330
other plays:
Green Bay/Chicago Under 41.5 for $220
Tampa Bay -3.5 over Minnesota for $220
San Diego/Pittsburgh Over 42 for $220
Arizona -3 over Seattle for $220

College Plays 11/15

Here are my College Football plays for Saturday. I will have NBA Plays in the early afternoon.

Best Play = Auburn +10 vs Georgia $330
Other Plays -
NC St. +3.5 vs Wake Forest $220
Clemson -10.5 vs Duke $220
Kansas St. +6.5 vs Nebraska $220
New Mexico -2 vs Colorado St. $220
Utah -30 vs San Diego St. $110

So far for the season I am breaking about even in College Football (37W-33L) so I am hoping for a good day today.

The Cold Streak Continues - Rookie Lopez FSL MVP

I won my top NBA play On Friday but I lost my other 2 plays losing a total of $160. At FANTASY SPORTS LIVE I cut back on my games for now. I was lucky to win 1 game as I had Deron Williams on all my teams and he didn't play. I won my $33 Heads Up game but lost my two $11 heads up games and didn't place in a $5.50 ten player game. What a difference a day makes. On Thursday Eric Dampier killed me in all my games with 41 fantasy points as just about all my opponents had him vs me. On Friday he only scored 14 fantasy points at FSL. Rookie Brook Lopez is my choice for Daily FSL MVP on Friday. Lopez scored an amazing 48 fantasy points. Here are my final FSL results for Friday.

Heads Up - 1 win 2 losses - total invested $55, returned $60 for a $5 profit
ten player games 0-1, lost $5.50
Overall for the day -$0.50

NBA Plays
Top Plays 1-0 +$500, Season 1-0 +$500
Total Plays 1-2 -$160, Season 1-2 -$160

NBA Plays Friday 11/14

For those of you that don't know me, I live in Las Vegas and I bet sports for a living. I play tournament poker at some of the local casinos and although I have cashed in a few tournys I am a break even player at best. Hopefully with a little more experiance that will change. Basketball is by far is my best game. NO, I am not rich but the most important thing is that I am not homeless. Not yet anyways, lol. I am going to start posting my plays each day. These are the games and lines that I actually bet on.

BEST PLAY - Utah vs Charlotte Over 178.5 for $550
Other plays - Utah -4 vs Charlotte for $330
Houston vs San Antonio Over 172.5 for $330


My season to date record in the NBA is 28-17 but since those picks were not documented I am going to start over at 0-0 for this blog.

Dampier Dampens My Night at FSL

Who would have thunk that Eric Dampier was the center to choose at Fantasy Sports Live on Thursday Night? Well, it seems like everybody except me. I went with Ilgauskas on every one of my teams and Dampier smoked him 41-20. I projected Ilgauskas to score 27 and Dampier to only score 20. Boy, was I wrong there. Now for the damages. In heads up matches tonight at FANTASY SPORTS LIVE I was terrible again with a 1-5 record, including anther $107 loss to Jag. My total invested in heads up matches was $250 and I only got back $60. In my 3 six player games and 2 ten player games I think I came in last place or next to last in each.

Heads Up = invested $250, return $60 for a loss of -$190
six player games, 0 for 3, total lost -$20
ten player games, 0 for 2, total lost -$2

Overall I lost $212 for the day and that is back to back days losing over $200. I haven't decided what to do on Friday yet. Should I scale back and just play small games until I get back to winning again or do I go all out and try to win it all back on Friday?

Lee wins Cy and Yanks Make Trade

As expected, Cleveland Indians left hander Cliff Lee won the American League Cy Young Award. What an amazing turn around for Lee who was 5-8 with 6.29 ERA in 2007. Roy Halladay finished a distant 2nd and Francisco Rodriguez finished 3rd in the voting. It was easy to predict the early awards as most expected Longoria and Soto to win Rookie Of The Year and for Lincecum and Lee to win the Cy Young Award. The MVP for both leagues is no so clear cut. On Monday I am predicting Ryan Howard to edge out Albert Pujols to win the NL MVP and I still have no clue who will win the AL MVP on Tuesday. It could be any one of the following, Josh Hamilton, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Justin Morneau and I wouldn't be surprised if Jermaine Dye or Francisco Rodriguez got a lot of votes. On Thursday Outfielder Nick Swisher was traded from the Chicago White Sox with Kanekoa Texeira to the New York Yankees for minor league hurlers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez, along with first baseman Wilson Betemit. It is not clear if The Yankees got Swisher to play the outfield or 1B as he can play both and the Yankees need both. They sure are hoping Swisher can improve on his 2008 batting average of just .219. Free agency officially starts tonight at midnight. Let the signings begin.

Great Day for Howard, Bad One For Me

Dwight Howard was a man among boys on Wednesday night. He scored 71 fantasy points at FANTASY SPORTS LIVE to earn the honor of Daily MVP. He could have scored more but Orlando had such a big lead that he spent much of the 4th quarter on the bench. I am very impressed with the way that the Atlanta Hawks hung in there with the Boston Celtics. I predicted the Celtics would win by 10+ points but the Hawks proved me wrong. That was not the only thing I was wrong on for Wednesday. I had an awful day at FANTASY SPORTS LIVE. It was only my 2nd losing day in my 15 days I have been playing there but it was huge. I went 1-4 in Heads up games including two $107 losses. I don't play many $107 games but congrats to Jag and Jovan Musk for kicking my butt. At least I was able to cash 1 ticket in my Heads Up games as I was not so lucky in my 4 six player games and my 1 ten player game as I didn't place in any. Here are my final stats for Wednesday.

Heads Up (1-4) risked $261 and got back $40 for a loss of -$221
six player games (0-4) lost $60.50
ten player game (0-1) lost $5.50

For the day I lost a total of $287. I can't complain too much as I still am showing a profit of over $500 in my first 15 days here.

Horford Wins MVP!!!

Al Horford scored an amazing 59 fantasy points at Fantasy Sports Live on Tuesday night and is an easy choice for Daily MVP. In that game Horford led his Atlanta Hawks to a road victory over the Chicago Bulls as the Hawks remain undefeated at 6-0. Wednesday will be much tougher on Horford and the Hawks as they must play the Boston Celtics. I predict the Hawks will lose their first game by at least 10 points and Horford will score 25 fantasy points or less in that game.
On Tuesday I was out most of the day and only had time to enter a handfull of games (all basketball) at Fantasy Sports Live. I entered 3 Heads Up games, 1 for $54, 1 for $33 and 1 for $22. I ended up going 3-0 for a return of $200 for my $110 investment. I didn't do so good in the multi-player games. I didn't place in my $22 six player game or my $5.50 ten player game however I did finish 2nd in $5.50 six player game for a return of $10. Overall for the day I invested $143 and got back $210 for a $67 profit.

Fantasy Sports Live

This is my first blog and I hope to report here daily on topics such as etopps, OneSeason sports and my new found love, FANTASY SPORTS LIVE. I am a sports fanatic and have been looking for a web site like Fantasy Sports Live for a long time. I have been a member at FSL for 14 days now and am proud to have cracked the Leaderboard and now have over 1oo wins there. I didn't keep detailed stats/results the first 12 days other than knowing my total profit so far is over $700. On Monday Nov 11th I started to keep detailed stats on how I did in each type of game and I am also starting to track to see how I do vs. certain FSL members. Here are my results from Mondays games. Starting with the NBA I went 7-5 in Heads Ups games. The total I had invested in those 12 matchups was $267 and with my 7 wins I got back $320 thanks to going 2-0 in my two $54 games. I entered a total of 5, six player games. I ended up with one 1st place and one 2nd place finish. My total invested was $29 and I got back $32 for a whopping $3 profit. Although I haven't followed hockey in many, many years I have been entering a few of the hockey games here and there. On Monday I actually did very good in some low budget games. I went 2-0 in my 2 Heads Up games, getting back $16 on my $8.90 investment. In my 2 six player games I cashed in one of them with a 1st place finish. I invested $2 in those 2 games and got back $4. Here are my overall results for Monday.

Heads Up = 9 won - 5 Lost, +$60
Six Player Games = 7 entered, 2 1st place and 1 2nd place, +$5