Thursday thoughts...

New rule:

I am not betting any plays when I am super-busy at work and then become rushed to make bets at the last second...

It just doesn't work...

I was swamped yesterday and had a meeting at 7:00 and it was just too hectic with 13 games on the Board, trying to decide which games to bet, so in the future, I am simply going to stalk 2nd-half lines on busy days at work with semi-big or big boards...I rushed to bet CHAR right before my meeting and when I got out of the meeting about a minute before halftime and saw them getting beat by double-digits, and then the Bkn/Mia 1Q finished as an Under, well, it took the wind right out of my sails and I didn't feel like betting anything else the rest of the night...And I usually get out of work around 9 to 9:30, but I didn't leave till after 10:30 last night due to being swamped...

Now the Brooklyn/Miami 1Q Over I had circled the day before, so I was not rushed on that play at all...No excuses there...The 1Q was the highest-scoring quarter of the game, but hey, it simply didn't make it over the total...I didn't see any of the game so I couldn't see how the flow of the game went, but the Pace did look relatively slow from the boxscore so I don't know if BKN slowed things down or whether Miami did...

We have 23 weeks left before playoffs so there will be LOTS of opportunities to make winning bets, but I need to just pass on game plays during busy days at work unless I have the play circled from the night before...I am not an action guy at all, I can pass on plays any day or multiple days and will start doing so as the busy season approaches at work...

Tonight I will stalk for 2H plays...

I lean to PORT as I expect a let-down from the Clips after dominating SA last night, but I haven't looked at the game yet...I watched most of the Orl/Chi game on TUE and CHI just did not impress me at all...ORL looked good at times against them and then they get blown out at Minny last night, so I wonder if CHI just had a bad night or whether they are severely over-rated right now without Rose?...Of couse, I watched most of the Cle/LAC 2 nights ago, too, and CLE looked spectacular, while the Clips looked bad and got outplayed...And of course, the Clips hammer SA last night and CLE got beat by GS and could not cover 6 points...

So (and I have said this before many times over the years), but sometimes, watching games can hurt you as a handicapper because you think what you see is reality, and what you see first-hand on TV can have lasting impressions, which can be bad, because the fact of the matter is you could be watching one team on an off-night and the other team might be clicking on all cylinders for one night...

So the point is to be careful not to let what you see on TV affect your basic handicapping fundamentals...Watching a lot of games on TV does NOT necessarily make you a better handicapper, but it certainly can help you gain more information by listening to what good broadcasters and color-men say during the game and you can see how some teams match up vs. others...The trick is not to let what you see on any given night influence how you handicap those teams moving forward...

Anyway, I say that because with as mediocre as CHI looked against ORL on TUE, I really don't see how they will cover vs. OKC based on that game...But I also know a different CHI team will undoubtedly show up tonight, a more motivated team, so I am staying away from this one as OKC has been inconsistent early this season and I just don't know which OKC team will show up as they continue to adjust to the Harden for K'Mart trade...

I will probably only look at 2H plays for tonight...