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Lock in your NCAA Hoops bracket winnings with this bet April 5, 2009

Posted by Vince Mullins in Basketball, sports betting, sports investing.
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Lela can play both sides....

Lela Star can play both sides....

Unless your last name is Neuheisel it is quite likely you put a Hamilton or a Jackson into the office pool, so this post revisits how to lock in big winnings in your Final Four bracket pools.

Your pick for March Madness should allow you to make it rain in April, especially if you are a Tarheel supporter.

If you were wise enough to pick one of the finals participants in either the Michigan State Spartans or the North Carolina Tarheels, there is no reason why you should let your big payday escape you, especially now when times are tight.

All you have to do is hedge your bracket pick by betting the other side with your Sportsbook. Let me explain - in 2008 my good friend Stewie had Memphis to win it all for his $10 entry fee, and he was easily the points leader so he was due for a $300 payday if the Tigers won. That is a huge payday but the risk of walking away with nothing was out there.

I instructed him to put $140 on Kansas straight up to lock in his winnings because now he was bringing home $300 risk-free regardless of the result.

After the jump, how to do this for 2009…

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Sweet 16 picks by Matt Ryan March 27, 2008

Posted by Vince Mullins in Basketball, sports betting, sports investing.
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Live from the Noog (you Volunteers know where that is) is Matt Ryan and his Thursday picks…

hansborough.jpgUNC (-9) vs Washington State (143):
Talk about a battle in contrasting styles. The Heels rate an A+ on the tempo-meter while the Cougs like to slow it down, coming in at a molasses-like D-. For all of UNC’s athleticism, Wazzu gets the edge in tempo control and defense. Look for them to try to keep the total under 120.

As has been the case all tourney long, look for the underdog to get some help slowing the game down from the refs. UNC likes to drive and get to the line, but the Cougs have the depth to withstand.

Both squads are pretty good from the stripe, so if this thing is as close as it looks like it might be down the stretch, they could hit the over shooting a free pair every 3 seconds.

THE CALL: WAZZU (+9) & UNDER (143)

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Quant analysis: March Madness by the numbers March 25, 2008

Posted by Vince Mullins in Basketball, sports betting, sports investing.
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IzzoMatt Ryan coming through strongly again with a detailed ranking of all 65 teams in the 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament.

Better known as March Madness, The Road to 64, The Sweet 16, Elite Eight or Road to the Final Four (consider yourself SEO’d!)

Matt looked at ten different variables (private, of course) and calculated a team score that mimics the Sagarin ratings as in you can match up the raw scores to determine a point spread. In the first 16 games, this system is 65% picking the sides and the totals. Makes you wanna put five on it, yes?

The ranks that jump out at me is the low respect for UNC Tarheels at 32, under such stalwarts as Davidson and Western Kentucky. UConn still alive despite ranked 58th demands an explanation – and it screwed the pooch on Duke, but didn’t everyone? and he is rocking at almost a 2:1 clip!

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