Broke Even

Ended up breaking even with the Giants winning and the Rockies losing.

Betting: $965 (4.8% return)
S&P 500: 895 (-2.8% return)

Today's Picks

Philly (+150) @ TB (-170)
Texas (+150) @ ARI (-170)

In the first game Joe Blanton is matched up against Matt Garza. Although Garza has an ERA about 1.5 points lower than Blanton, I think they are having similar years. Both K/BB ratios are about the same, but Blanton is giving up more hits than normal while the opposite is true of Garza. Both will eventually regress to the mean. Philly just came off a big win after being in a big slump and I think they will keep it going tonight. At +150, with two equal pitchers, I think it's a solid play.

The second game has Vicente Padilla going up against Dan Haren. Padilla is having his worst season in terms of K/9 and BB/9 which tells me his skills are deterierating. Haren on the other hand is probably having the best season out of any pitcher, it's just that he hasn't received any run support. With the game being played in the National League the Rangers will have one less hitter. With the Rangers lineup being potent and Haren being dominant, I think Haren will be up to the challenge. Great pitching beats good hitting. Padilla is a fastball pitcher so the Diamonbacks should score more than 2-3 runs. I usually don't like to pick favorite's this heavy, but at -170 I think it's a great deal. The line should probably be -200 with the way Haren is throwing.

Bets

$20 PHI +150
$34 ARI -170

My sports gambling blog

I'm bored, just finished up an 0-3 day, and it just hit me I have to go to work tomorrow. My job is pretty laid back. I basically sit in a cube for 8 hours a day, and have been thinking about starting a sports gambling blog for quite some time to see if I can help people out. I love sports and love to gamble. I really only like to gamble on things that I believe I have an advantage on, like sports and poker. The odds are stacked against you in all other types of gambling. If I see a bet I like, I'll let you know. I'll start an imaginary portfolio at $921, which is equal to the S&P 500, and track its performance against the S&P 500. I'll usually bet around 2% of my portfolio and will never exceed 5%.

Portfolio as of 6/21/09:

Betting: $921 (0% return)
S&P 500: 921 (0% return)