With Ben deciding to throw gift interceptions to Dallas and Cincinnati essentially ending the Steelers’ season, my thoughts surprisingly turn to Suzanne and my football pool.
I’ve blogged about the pool before (I can’t find the specific post now, and am not going to spend the time looking). But, Suzanne and I, in the many years we’ve been in the pool, have occasionally won the week and made enough money to break even for the year. I think at one point I won twice in one year. You pick the games and then weight your picks; 16 for the pick you are most confident in, 1 for the least….
And I think, at one point, Suzanne had the chance to finish in the top four of the season pool. The stakes are $5/week; $2.50 goes to the weekly pool, $2.50 goes to the season aggregate. If my memory serves me right, Suzanne needed a really good week at the end to climb into fourth and didn’t get it.
This year, though, I’ve been in the top three for most of the year. And going into Week 17, I was tied for first. The prize for winning 1st? About $1700. So, yeah, no pressure.
My strategy this year has been consistent; look at the odds and sort out all the teams who are favorites are 6 points or more. Of those teams, try to pick at least one upset (most people will put their big points, 16, 15, 14, on those games) and only put 1 or 2 points there. Try and put bigger points on smaller favorites I am more confident in.
I should be up in the pool by more points….for someone tied for 1st I had one week that I finished dead last in the pool; only picked five games correct out of sixteen. I knew when I was doing the picks I was very unsure on any number of games and hopefully learned a lesson, if I have that feeling again, just hand over the picks to Kevin or something.
I should be up in the pool by more points….but I placed 13 points on the Steelers against Dallas, 11 points on the Steelers against Cincinnati. Died with the black and gold in more ways than one…..
And, typing this in at 6:38 pm, it looks like I will have to root for the Cowboys tonight to even have a shot to stay in the money slots and finish fourth. Picked both Atlanta and New Orleans with semi-big points and lost…..
Oh it will hurt to root for the Cowboys (I’ve picked Washington…but with one point. Others have Washington with more…so I profit if the Redskins lose…)
