WARNING: This is not a gambling article.
Don't you love it when online poker advertisements claim they are not gambling establishments because a person can play on their free-play tables with chips that they gladly hand out when you sign-up?
That's like a gentlemen's club saying they don't offer adult entertainment because you could cover your eyes while inside and pretend that you're at a weird, smoky club with soft chairs and unusual musical choices.
So, no, this is not an article about dangerous, addictive gambling. Rather, this is an article about "friendly," non-cash related betting and its effect on sports-watching and life in general.
First, some brief history: sports and betting have gone together for a long time (think Jay Gatsby-like attire at the horse tracks in the 1920s or the Black Sox scandal of 1919). Bookies controlled the business until Las Vegas and its casinos sprouted up. Now, the Internet and Web sites have ushered in the new era in sports betting.
Although it used to be popular only with horse racing, boxing, and baseball, betting can be done on all sports, such as the massively popular football and soccer (it's big in Europe!) and even on some non-sports.
Now, a little betting terminology without getting into serious detail: odds, like in math class, evaluate the probability that something will occur. For example, an online site said the odds on the Boston Celtics winning the next NBA title are 60-1, meaning if you were to bet your roommate nine Goldfish using these odds and they won that 17th banner, you would end up with 540 Goldfish. Snack time!
A point spread determines by how much a team is favored over another team. Like this past week, the Cincinnati Bengals were 9.5 point favorites over the Houston Texans. So, if you bet four points on your final average on Cincy with your psychology professor; well then, your grade is hurting because they only won by six.
Finally, the over-under of a contest usually surrounds the total points scored in a game, and a better can choose to take the over or the under of these points. For example, if the over-under for a Sox-Yanks match-up is 8.5, and you take the under against your girlfriend for the price of a high-class dinner from Dominos, and Schilling shuts down the Bombers and Boston wins 6-0, then you get to enjoy your Cinna-Stix for free.
Now these basic ways to bet do not include parlays and teasers and a bettor's ability to move lines or over-unders, which, for the purposes of this basic, friendly betting, are unnecessary (and I don't want to explain them).
One thing to know about betting is that these odds and spreads, etc. can change over time and vary depending on who is offering the bet. This would be the case if Peyton Manning were to suddenly lose his right hand in a freakish vegetable-chopping incident two weeks prior to Week One. Surely, the odds on the Indianapolis Colts' winning the Super Bowl would decrease as their back-up (Jim Sorgi, in case you were wondering) became the starting signal-caller.
A real life example of varied lines from different sources comes from ESPN betting guru Hank Goldberg, who travels from casino to casino in Las Vegas comparing and looking for favorable odds before he makes his preseason NFL Super Bowl bets.
Of course, the outcome of a game is not the only bet offered for many games, such as one which gave odds as to who would score the first touchdown of Monday's Carolina Panthers 32-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Carolina receiver Steve Smith was the easy choice at 4-1 odds, whereas his teammate and fellow wide-out Rod Gardner was more of a long shot, paying at 18-1 odds. If you were feeling very frisky and had a strong premonition about a defensive battle, you could have taken the 75-1 odds of no touchdown scored at all. This would have been a poor move.
Not a sports fan? No problem! The odds on Jack Bauer and the cast of "24" taking home last month's Emmy for Best Drama Series were 4-1. And you can bet there'll be odds on the next "American Idol."
Now why, you may ask, have I talked about betting when this was not supposed to be an article about gambling? Well it is because I want you to know how friendly betting can enhance your watching of sports and bring joy to otherwise mundane parts of life.
Say you're watching the Patriots game and you want to establish an over-under for the amount of times Bill Belichick smiles or even looks mildly amused. Set that line at 0.5 and watch with anticipation!
How about setting odds as to whether the Indiana Pacers' Ron Artest gets a technical in the game you're watching? If you're actually at the game, take the bet and throw a beer on him, but just make sure you have a concealed weapon.
Outside of sports, betting can also help entertain you here at school. Set an over-under for the amount of people in line at Carmichael for Stir-Fry night or one for the number of people doing the Daily Crossword in your Astronomy class.
Not feeling a party? How about picking teams in a beer-pong match, making the team already on the table a two-cup favorite? You can bet your friend to see who has to forage through the crowd to refill your cups from the keg.
Whatever you do, these little friendly wagers can be fun. Try it; I bet you'll like
