ESPN's Streak for Cash

[samifan24]

Team USA's win over Spain killed my streak.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Looks like this month's winner is going to come down to the wire. We've got 31, 30, 29, and 28 all in FOFC.

For the record, 60, 60, and 59 are leading in the game overall.

SI

SI, looks like we do have a good battle going on this month. And our overall records are near-mirrors at this point.

[sterlingice]

It came down to the wire, but we ended with a tie for the month. Streakmaster called the final showdown due to time (it was over 10 hours long at that point) and we both ended up with 42 wins

That pick made 27 "sports" and tonight, there's a CFL matchup so hopefully I'll get #28

Sports on list so far: NHL, Hoops (some high school All-Star game), Hockey (Frozen Four), MMA, NBA, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, MLB, Curling, NCB (NCAA Basketball), NASCAR, PBA, NCW (NCAA women's basketball), Cricket, NFL, Boxing, Horse, M Vol (College Volleyball), Track, ADHOC (they didn't classify the Indy 500 and something else), Rugby, WNBA, LAX (lacrosse), CSOFT (college softball), CBASE (college baseball), and now Poker.

SI

[hoopsguy]

Poker is still going - I hope that they would have kept it open if it was not the end of the month. But, in hindsight, it seems like a poorly conceived bet to put out there yesterday.

Good month, SI. I hope to be able to stay with you again in July.

[sterlingice]

Yeah, this ended up being a lot longer than than the long 8 hour cricket matches and I don't think SM expected that. This is going on 16 hours now.

Apparently there was no insane streaker like last month. The top in the game for July was 76.

You should be able to beat me this month- we played dead even last month and I'll be on vacation for a week and a half in July. I might check it once or twice those days

SI

[BrianD]

I didn't know I was in the hunt for wins until it was posted here. Since that time I went on a major losing streak and fell out of the hunt. Hopefully next month will be better.

[Swaggs]

Manny Ramirez won me a T-shirt.

His otherwise meaningless, 9th inning homer extended my streak to 13 (I had him to have 2 or more bases in last night's game).

After I got to 12, I got a message saying that winning one more game would earn me some type of fantasy currency points that you can use to buy things from the ESPN fantasy store. I think you win 100 points once you hit 13 and there are like three T-shirts available for that price (there are other "prizes" that go all the way up to 50,000+ points).

[molson]

Nice job Swaggs.

I've been spectacularly horrible at this since I had a 10W streak snapped.

In one stretch I went 4-15.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

I have now tied my longest streak, at 4.

/notgoodatthis

[Radii]

keep it up Swaggs!

[JeeberD]

I had a streak of seven straight losses at one point. Which is sad, but even more so considering my best win streak is merely five...

[hoopsguy]

From what I've seen, people have been tearing it up this month in terms of winning percentage.

[Swaggs]

Heh... glad to have you guys around to share this with. When I tried to explain, to my wife, what a spectacular feat 13 in a row is, she looked at me like I had two heads.

[kingfc22]

13 is very tough.

Still not sure how I managed 14 straight losses though.

[Jas_lov]

The highest winning streak I've had is 4 games. I've been trying to go for top 10 wins in a month and I've got 18, but I'm 10 behind the leaderboard. Has anybody here managed to get in that top 10 for wins? It seems pretty hard to keep remembering to check it and get picks in. I check it here at work during the day, but I've already forgotten a couple times.

[hoopsguy]

Negative, Jas. I've got a friend that is a picking machine but his % is never high enough to give him a shot. You have to pretty much pick all possible games and be 60%+ to hit top ten on that, I'm guessing.

[sterlingice]

13 is great. I had forgotten you get a shirt for that. Congrats

Unfortunately, that damn WNBA game with the hurt superstar killed it just like it did my 5 gamer

I've been having a pretty nice July as this was my 3rd W5 of the month already

SI

[JeeberD]

Woohoo! Got my fifth straight win for the third time. Hopefully I can get that elusive sixth tonight...

[sooner333]

Who are you taking today. I'm trying to break my record winning streak tonight with Lesnar. I don't know much about MMA, but his odds were pretty favorable on sports betting sites.

[hoopsguy]

Here are the games I think are attractive, for whatever the heck that is worth (about 55% winning over couple of hundred games):

Angels over Yankees - strong history here in Anaheim over last couple of seasons. 57% Accuscore.

Twins over White Sox - extremely strong history in Minnesota over last decade. Based on that history, this is my most confident pick. 59% Accusocre.

Rockies over Braves - I'm a fan of 60+ games on Accuscore when I can find them and they agree with my gut, this one is 60% on the nose.

Henderson (UFC) - after doing some reading on the "comments" across the UFC fights it sounds like fans of the sports are much more in agreement on this pick than the Lesnar/Mir matchup.

[Radii]

I make most of my picks based on the vegas lines. I hate the win or tie stuff in soccer but Seattle seems a solid favorite today in the MLS game coming up. I don't like any of the baseball today, the Mystics and Liberty in WNBA are both pretty solid favorites, though I really don't know what to make of the WNBA lines. I see MONSTER favorites, like -275 and such, go down all the time there and I don't watch the sport to really have a strong opinion myself. I just hate picking baseball games that Vegas considers tossups and try to look elsewhere unless they're putting out a decent(-140 or better usually) favorite.


Sorry to see your streak end, Swaggs, I was hoping you'd make it up towards the top 7.

[sterlingice]

Just a note: I used to use Accuscore a lot, realizing that 60% still only meant 6 of 10, not some mortal lock, but it has a lot of games where it just doesn't make sense so I stopped really paying attention to it. I look at it as a novelty, but I like betting lines that are posted in the threads more.

EDIT: Radii was typing the same thing with a better explanation as I was, it looks like

SI

[sterlingice]

WNBA games seem the easiest to pick, frankly, just as the NBA regular season games were pretty good odds- not the prop bets, tho. Problem is, no one really knows anything about the WNBA so it's hard to spot a trap and SM is still pretty good about throwing those out.

SI

[hoopsguy]

I don't think that I would ever pick a game based on Accuscore if it did not align with what I already intended to pick. But if I see anything more than about 55% the other way I'll stay off of it, figuring that there is something I'm missing.

If I'm looking for a game to pick and don't have any strong feelings on the games I'll probably take a flier on a game that is 60% or above on Accuscore.

Bottom line - my picks are normally gut-driven, not Accuscore driven. But I'll use it to "sanity check" my thoughts. I would certainly agree that betting lines can/should be used in the same capacity and probably represent at least as good a tool for that purpose.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

WNBA games seem the easiest to pick, frankly, just as the NBA regular season games were pretty good odds- not the prop bets, tho. Problem is, no one really knows anything about the WNBA so it's hard to spot a trap and SM is still pretty good about throwing those out.

I haven't watched the WNBA lines very closely, I've just seen some very strange ones early in the year, something like a 2-7 home team a -250 favorite over a 7-3 road team, wondering how the hell the line ends up there, and then seeing the road team winning by 20, etc.

[Radii]

dola, there are a few things that I tend towards regardless/without even looking at lines. I have taken every giants game or prop available when Lincecum is pitching, I take Halladay every chance I get, and I always pick against Tiger Woods on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday(and just don't touch him on Sundays). They know that everyone is going to take Tiger all the time, I bet he's been the single best streak buster on the site this year.

[hoopsguy]

I'll add a couple of rules that I have:
- no 9 hole golf (total crapshoot)
- every golf 2-versus-1 that is out there (Tiger comes up in these quite a bit)
- any K's/Hits prop where the pitcher has leaned one way or the other more than 2/3 of the time over the last 7 starts
- any basketball scoring prop where one player averages more than 2 points per game more than the other (barring injury)
- pick against Cubs on the road

[sterlingice]

I don't know golf, but I like some of the 9 hole challenges, particularly the first day or two before SM has had a chance to gauge the players well. Usually looking at the last year or two on that course is very instructive.

SI

[Swaggs]

I decided to leave my streak up to a WNBA game, since I really feel like most MLB games and props are crapshoots on here, and blew it last night. Getting to 13 was ridiculous -- I don't see how anyone gets over 20. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Time to build up a losing streak.

Banking on Tiger and Federer has been pretty high percentage for me.

[hoopsguy]

So, Angels are down 4-0 - on my way to an 0-4 on the games I listed earlier. I'm sure that there is some kind of negative karma impact from having suggested games ... as it I was saying I actually have some level of skill in picking games and the sporting gods have decided to discipline me for my arrogance.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by Radii

dola, there are a few things that I tend towards regardless/without even looking at lines

...

and I always pick against Tiger Woods on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday(and just don't touch him on Sundays). They know that everyone is going to take Tiger all the time, I bet he's been the single best streak buster on the site this year.

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

I'll add a couple of rules that I have:
...
- every golf 2-versus-1 that is out there (Tiger comes up in these quite a bit)

Got one of these for 1st round of British. Good to see that you followed your own rule here, Radii. Still three holes to play in this one, but Tiger needs to make up four strokes on Westwood while holding off the other guy at the same time.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

I'll add a couple of rules that I have:
- no 9 hole golf (total crapshoot)
- every golf 2-versus-1 that is out there (Tiger comes up in these quite a bit)
- any K's/Hits prop where the pitcher has leaned one way or the other more than 2/3 of the time over the last 7 starts
- any basketball scoring prop where one player averages more than 2 points per game more than the other (barring injury)
- pick against Cubs on the road

Additional rules that I have, or have added:
- no picking soccer games where I cannot name one player, off the top of my head, who plays in that league
- no picking exhibition games
- no picking NASCAR unless they offer yet another Kyle Busch vs Carl Edwards prop for a Nationwide race

Also, going to be hard not to pick my Cubs on the road tonight against the Nationals. But I'll try very hard to find another game that tempts me.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Got one of these for 1st round of British. Good to see that you followed your own rule here, Radii. Still three holes to play in this one, but Tiger needs to make up four strokes on Westwood while holding off the other guy at the same time.

I was happy to see the scores when I woke up this morning.

[hoopsguy]

Radii, you passed on a chance to pick against Tiger on Friday?

Looks like your pick is coming in anyway - just like everything you touch this month - but I'm surprised you passed on it.

I'll be very impressed if Tiger gets his 68 today with the weather conditions that have rolled in, according to the ESPN blog. Sounds like scores are headed north today and the course is only going to play tougher later in the day.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Radii, you passed on a chance to pick against Tiger on Friday?

Most picks I pass on have to do with having a fucked up sleep schedule Didn't wake up in time.

Looks like your pick is coming in anyway - just like everything you touch this month

Heh yeah, it seems like its been a solid month for a lot of us, but my success rate has been ridiculously high this month. The WNBA is killing me, but everything else seems to have been going quite well.

[Radii]

hoopsguy and I both going for our first 10 pick streak today,good luck!

[stevew]

I wish there was some sort of app where you could have it set to tell you when your latest result has happened, or tell you when a pick is <10 mins away from happening.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by Radii

hoopsguy and I both going for our first 10 pick streak today,good luck!

Thanks, you too! I'll be going with Team USA in women's softball to beat up Canada. Hope that my initial foray into this sport goes better than most of my 1st time efforts. I'll be kicking myself if it does not.

Originally Posted by stevew

I wish there was some sort of app where you could have it set to tell you when your latest result has happened, or tell you when a pick is <10 mins away from happening.

I'm just about positive that ESPN has something that will text you or something along those lines when your result goes final. I think it is at the top of the page on the "pick game" page, although maybe it is a browser-specific option? If you aren't seeing this I'll double check later tonight when I'm working from a PC that isn't a dog like the one I'm at right now.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by stevew

I wish there was some sort of app where you could have it set to tell you when your latest result has happened, or tell you when a pick is <10 mins away from happening.

I know ESPN has a "text me when my current selection is over" option but I've never used it.

[henry296]

Just joined as I finally started playing. 3-1 so far, just losing on Watson this morning. I should've stuck with the softball pick as it was a no brainer.

[hoopsguy]

Unless something silly happens against Nathan in the 9th, the Rangers will have put a stop to my streak at 10. Time to add Texas to the teams to just not pick, as it seems that I lose with or against them.

I passed on one of my prop rules - take Busch vs Edwards on Nationwide race when it is offered. I have little doubt I'll end up kicking myself over it.

[sterlingice]

Just a bump since I'm back and the thread is languishing a little

Radii is going to run away with the month and with a couple more wins will have 50 for July. Unless I'm mistaken, I think that's the most for any month in the FOFC group.

SI

[hoopsguy]

I've been trying to catch up to guys like samifan and Swaggs in winning percentage. Both of those guys, but especially samifan, have pretty impressive records.

[JeeberD]

How do I join the FOFC group? I don't feel like digging through this thread to find the post with the info if I don't have to...

Edit: Ok, what I'm really asking for is the password, if anyone knows it off the top of their head.

Edit again: Nevermind, I found it...

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

I've been trying to catch up to guys like samifan and Swaggs in winning percentage. Both of those guys, but especially samifan, have pretty impressive records.

I'm very selective when I make picks. I was surprised to find out that some guys race for most wins in a given month. I just want to win a free t-shirt now that I know you get one for 13 straight. My longest is 11 straight.

[sterlingice]

One of the comments I saw somewhere said they ran out of shirts. But I haven't tried to verify that and the comments are full of all sorts of crap like fake odds.

SI

[hoopsguy]

The other group that I play with has three competitions each month:
- winning %
- games over .500
- longest streak

We previously had most games per month but dropped it as there was an imbalance on available PC time. The one guy won it every month by picking substantially more games.

That league has pretty significantly altered how I pick each month. For example, this month I've had a really good percentage so I haven't been picking more than a couple of games per day in order to protect that margin. Obviously picking gets more selective when riding a longer streak. And the "games over .500" can encourage a ton of picks or some discretion, depending on the inclination of the player.

The Streak has become a pretty big part of our conversation in the summer downtime leading up to fantasy football season. It is nice to have a reason to stay in touch with those guys.

[sterlingice]

I like to bludgeon with quantity over quality

I kindof like the games over .500 measure, tho. It encourages both quality and quantity. I wish ESPN would keep track of that.

SI

[hoopsguy]

You can see it in the monthly, but there is nothing that tracks that once you roll over to the next month.

We have three guys that are +27, +27, +26 - so that category is really going down to the wire this month. I think the previous best was something like +18. Crazy, crazy month.

[Swaggs]

When I got to 13 straight, I got a message saying that I had earned (I think this number is correct) 100 credits from their "store." The streak shirt and a handful of other shirts were available for 100 credits, while there were a lot of other prizes for much more credits(I think you can win them by playing in their fantasy leagues and such -- I'm guessing they must have some pay leagues available), like trips to various sporting events and personal chats with their experts and such.