Let me tell you the worst possible loss I suffered in the 2018 Basketball tourney.
I have Syracuse +5 1/2 points for the first half against Duke.This was at the Final 16 stage.
And I had to pull for Duke to win the game because I had plenty on them to win the entire tourney.
So, I took Syracuse in the first half and the 5 1/2 points.
Syracuse had been playing excellent basketball up to that time so I felt I could win both bets, having Syracuse cover the 5 1/2 point in the first half, then afterwards, I'll have a nice sum of cash to unload all winnings on Syracuse in the second half.
Figuring, Duke will be on edge if Syracuse is playing them tight by the half. And they definitely were doing exactly that.
Well, Syracuse was, and with only 2:25 minutes to go in the half. Syracuse had a 1 point lead, so I was feeling extra confident that this money was in the bag--knowing, as soon as I thought of this, soon to be lock, that jinxy feeling started sinking in at the same time. Now I have that legit lead of 6 1/2 with just over that 2 minutes til half.
I have learned so many times, if you start counting your winnings before they are already won, gosh, bad things can and will likely happen, even if it looks like it will take a miracle to lose that particular wager.
Okay, 2:25 to go and I have that 1 point lead. I knew exactly what the math was saying to me at that point in time; "hey, I have a 6 1/2 point lead and I'll have to get outscored by 7 points for the rest of the first half."
Well, in that 2 something minutes til half, Duke got hot and Syracuse did what I was now petrified of, shooting blanks and getting no free-throws at all.
Meanwhile, Duke is racking up free-throws left and right. We know the end of this luckless story don't we?
Duke score exactly 7 points in that 2:25 minutes, and if I recall, including a couple free-throws at the one second mark, giving them that 7 point lead at the half. My team Syracuse, meanwhile, went blank. To make it worse, I no meaningful cash on hand to make any worthwhile play on Syracuse in the second half. I had this bizarre thing happen when halftime came. I could not get a wager down on Syracuse because I had lost 95% of my funds on Syracuse + that 5 1/2 points.
Normally, I could find a way to unload on Syracuse with other reachable methods. Not this time. I was trapped in with no escape because I was in a Vegas casino and could not get my connections working.
So, my major hit didn't get there at the half and the helpless feeling with no way to unload on Syracuse, compounded my soon to be sorry-ass headache. And of course, Syracuse outscored Duke by 3 points the second, meaning, I had the [well, a near perfect as you can get] perfect idea and hunch planned.
This was a sick way to lose and get shutout for any wager for the second half. A loss that will linger for quite sometime.
* Shake some some more salt onto my still-fresh wound the following week. Duke loses in OT to Kansas.
I have Syracuse +5 1/2 points for the first half against Duke.This was at the Final 16 stage.
And I had to pull for Duke to win the game because I had plenty on them to win the entire tourney.
So, I took Syracuse in the first half and the 5 1/2 points.
Syracuse had been playing excellent basketball up to that time so I felt I could win both bets, having Syracuse cover the 5 1/2 point in the first half, then afterwards, I'll have a nice sum of cash to unload all winnings on Syracuse in the second half.
Figuring, Duke will be on edge if Syracuse is playing them tight by the half. And they definitely were doing exactly that.
Well, Syracuse was, and with only 2:25 minutes to go in the half. Syracuse had a 1 point lead, so I was feeling extra confident that this money was in the bag--knowing, as soon as I thought of this, soon to be lock, that jinxy feeling started sinking in at the same time. Now I have that legit lead of 6 1/2 with just over that 2 minutes til half.
I have learned so many times, if you start counting your winnings before they are already won, gosh, bad things can and will likely happen, even if it looks like it will take a miracle to lose that particular wager.
Okay, 2:25 to go and I have that 1 point lead. I knew exactly what the math was saying to me at that point in time; "hey, I have a 6 1/2 point lead and I'll have to get outscored by 7 points for the rest of the first half."
Well, in that 2 something minutes til half, Duke got hot and Syracuse did what I was now petrified of, shooting blanks and getting no free-throws at all.
Meanwhile, Duke is racking up free-throws left and right. We know the end of this luckless story don't we?
Duke score exactly 7 points in that 2:25 minutes, and if I recall, including a couple free-throws at the one second mark, giving them that 7 point lead at the half. My team Syracuse, meanwhile, went blank. To make it worse, I no meaningful cash on hand to make any worthwhile play on Syracuse in the second half. I had this bizarre thing happen when halftime came. I could not get a wager down on Syracuse because I had lost 95% of my funds on Syracuse + that 5 1/2 points.
Normally, I could find a way to unload on Syracuse with other reachable methods. Not this time. I was trapped in with no escape because I was in a Vegas casino and could not get my connections working.
So, my major hit didn't get there at the half and the helpless feeling with no way to unload on Syracuse, compounded my soon to be sorry-ass headache. And of course, Syracuse outscored Duke by 3 points the second, meaning, I had the [well, a near perfect as you can get] perfect idea and hunch planned.
This was a sick way to lose and get shutout for any wager for the second half. A loss that will linger for quite sometime.
* Shake some some more salt onto my still-fresh wound the following week. Duke loses in OT to Kansas.
SBR Pied Piper. The one member who will lead you over the cliff of disaster. 
