Betting against your favorite team
 

This was inspired by some posts in the football betting thread. My vote should be obvious to the first few that look at this, and I think I talked about it a few years ago. Otherwise I'll stay out of it.

Makes for some conflicted watching, but I've done it.

My answer was the first one and its very rarely a win, win situation so Im not sure why I do it in the first place. Its usally only in a situation in which the game isnt as important in my eyes such as Vikings/Rams game and the spread is too high so the Vikings can still win the game but not cover the spread.

I don't think I could do it. It really goes like this are you A: A Gambler or B: A Fan.

If you are more of a gambler, then team loyalty is unimportant to winnings; however, if you consider yourself a fan, then you would not in any situation bet against your team (ignore if you are a Kansas City Royals fan).

EDIT: beat=bet

I don't bet on sports because I am too emotional about sports I am knowledgeable about(I'm knowledgeable about them b/c I am such a fan).

Even in 'for fun' games I won't pick against my team. In the NCAA top gun game you'll never see me pick a single player in UNC's sub-regional, in Sab's pick-em game I only pick the Panthers games when I have to or if I am highly confident they'll win, etc.

Good point here! I am not the most loyal of fans but I am also realistic about the situation. For example if the Twins are 10 games out in July I wouldnt feel bad about betting against them. If they are in a pennant race I wont bet against them. So who knows what is is.

Only if I know for certain there is no chance of victory.


Like putting my 90's era Bengals up against the '85 bears. Just no way I'm betting against the Bears there.

I'll bet against me teams. I consider it a case of buying insurance... if they lose, at least I'm getting some drinking money back to help with the rage.

In the mid-90s, I went out to Vegas for my first visit. That week, Mizzou (who was terrible at the time) was playing at Nebraska and was getting a spread of something like 45-46 points. I put down $20 on Mizzou and couldn't believe how many points I was getting.

Nebraska covered the spread by 2-3 points. Ugh.

If I feel it's not a good deal on my team, I just don't bet. I should note that I don't sports gamble often at all. Usually just when I visit Vegas every year or so.

I got burned badly by doing this in the early 90s. ND was going up against Florida in the Sugar Bowl. I went with Florida and wound up losing the bowl pool I was in because of that stupid game.

In confidence type pools I have, but I usually would give a low point value to them.

I'd never do it for a per game bet unless they were giving up an insane number of points and even then it wouldn't be for much.

If I did bet on sports, hell yes, I would bet against my favorite team if I thought it was a good bet. I mean, if I thought they were going to lose anyway, I might as well try to make something of it for myself. To me, betting against them and cheering against them are two different things. I could do one, but I couldn't do the other.

Used to do it but it just made the experience unpleasant. I bet mostly for recreation and if I'm not enjoying the game, it's pointless.

As a Die Hard Cubs Fan, when they were up 3 games to 2 on Florida in the NLCS, I bet every cent in my (then) Bodog account on the Marlins to win. The Marlins were huge underdogs in Wrigley, so it was a huge win-win for me. After the Cubs lost game 6 I did the same on game 7 - every cent on the Marlins.

The Cubs lost, I cried a lot, but the 10x cash in my account made it hurt a little less.

+1,000,000

So it wasn't Bartman, Wood, Prior or Gonzalez. It was you all along... :rant:

You must drink a lot.

To be fair, it was Johnny Toothpick's fault.

Yar!

I feel like I know my favorite teams better than any other teams so I am not afraid to bet on their games.

having said that, I rarely bet on them to win because a loss cn be double heart break...but betting against them, is a win-win.

Either YAY WE WON , I lost the bet but YAY
or..

M*&%% F&%^&(...Hey I made $250....all is well...

The most money I've ever bet (and ever won) on a game was the ND-LSU Sugar Bowl 3 years back. If I had lost the bet I would have had the consolation of my favorite team playing well. I'm actually much more skeptical of betting on my favorite team and have never done it (even when it felt like a lock like ND-Hawaii last year). Not only because I think my heart may factor in too much, but the double-whammy would be too much to take. If I'm betting against one of my favorite teams, I've got a pretty strong feeling it's not gonna happen (and so far have never been wrong.)

No can't do that - just doesn't seem right ...... despite the fact that we lose more than we win at the moment ;)

Where's the "I'm a Lions fan and I have no choice." option?