With a week to go, there are only 4 teams left to be decided – the Mets, Dodgers, Giants and Mariners.
(I’ll be lucky to finish 6-4.)
All 30 teams have been decided: 15 overs, 15 unders. I’ll tally up the points today to see if anyone pulled out 8 or 9 wins.
Final results:
name TW BB reg total
Greedo 6 3-0 3-4 12 pts
Sarkus 6 3-0 3-4 12 pts
MajorIcehole 6 2-1 4-3 10 pts
Sluggo 6 2-1 4-3 10 pts
Alan Dunkin 5 2-1 3-4 9 pts
Blackadar 5 2-1 3-4 9 pts
Adam B 5 1-2 4-3 7 pts
delirium 5 1-2 4-3 7 pts
MrPeaCH 4 1-2 3-4 6 pts
Prolix 5 0-3 5-2 5 pts
BennyProfane 4 0-0 4-6 4 pts*
Charlatan 4 0-3 4-3 4 pts
Speakwbread 2 1-2 1-6 4 pts
ravenight 3 0-3 3-4 3 pts
* no best bets listed
TW: total wins (out of 10 picks)
BB: Best Bets (3 points each)
reg: regular picks (1 point each)
Grats Greedo and Sarkus, who had the top scores thanks to being the only two people to go 3-0 with their best bets. Interestingly, none of us went better than 6-4 overall. :P
(apologies if I got any of these wrong or missed anyone; I double checked but still might have slipped up somewhere.)
Funny but it goes to show you… those Vegas bookies really know their stuff.
So does that mean Greedo and I share the $1000 cash prize equally then?
;-)
Totally! You guys paid the $500 admission fee, right?
Wait! I see you edited the original post, you bastard. Luckly I saved it just in case. Here’s what you originally offered:
With the season just about here, this seemed like the best time for a pick’em thread. I’ll give the person with the best results a $1000 Applebees gift card.
So pay up!
;-)
To put a bow on this thread, I’ve put together a list showing how far teams were off from their expected totals, split into teams who finished under or over and ranked by largest to lowest margins.
One thing I think a lot of people often misunderstand about Vegas lines is that they’re not predictions. They’re direct reflections of public sentiment, where if too many people are betting on one side, the line moves and changes to encourage betting on the other side so that you get more of a 50/50 split. So for under/over win totals like this, by the time the season starts, these lines are a pretty accurate representation of what the public (or the betting public, at least) thinks of each of these teams.
So without further ado, the lists:
[B]OVER[/B] Line Actual Diff Result
Arizona Diamondbacks 72½ 94 21.5 Over
Detroit Tigers 84 95 11.0 Over
Milwaukee Brewers 85½ 96 10.5 Over
Texas Rangers 86½ 96 9.5 Over
Cleveland Indians 71½ 80 8.5 Over
Washington Nationals 72½ 80 7.5 Over
Tampa Bay Rays 84½ 91 6.5 Over
St Louis Cardinals 83½ 90 6.5 Over
Philadelphia Phillies 96½ 102 5.5 Over
New York Yankees 91½ 97 5.5 Over
Toronto Blue Jays 76½ 81 4.5 Over
Pittsburgh Pirates 67½ 72 4.5 Over
Los Angeles Angels 83½ 86 2.5 Over
Kansas City Royals 68½ 71 2.5 Over
Atlanta Braves 87½ 89 1.5 Over
[B]UNDER[/B]
New York Mets 77½ 77 0.5 Under
Los Angeles Dodgers 84 82 2.0 Under
Chicago Cubs 81½ 79 2.5 Under
San Francisco Giants 88½ 86 2.5 Under
San Diego Padres 75½ 71 4.5 Under
Chicago White Sox 84½ 79 5.5 Under
Boston Red Sox 95½ 90 5.5 Under
Cincinnati Reds 85½ 79 6.5 Under
Baltimore Orioles 75½ 69 6.5 Under
Florida Marlins 81½ 72 9.5 Under
Oakland Athletics 83½ 74 9.5 Under
Seattle Mariners 70½ 67 13.5 Under
Colorado Rockies 86½ 73 13.5 Under
Houston Astros 71½ 56 15.5 Under
Minnesota Twins 86 63 23.0 Under
Obviously, the two top surprises this year, positive and negative, were the DBacks and the Twins. The DBacks found a pitching staff; the Twins spent the year in the hospital.
Interesting stat (to me): out of 11 teams predicted to have losing seasons by the vegas lines, 10 of them finished under .500. Out of that list, only the DBacks finished with a winning record.
Oh, that was the second edit! You missed the original, which said this:
At the end of the season, I’ll give the person with the best results many repeated kicks to their junk!
Huh even with my Cubs addiction I still did ok. Wow Phillies! Thought 96 had to be too high. Must have been a fun year for fans.
Great idea for a thread. Thanks for the wrap up.