but I will say that the World Cup was very good to me financially, especially considering how little I know about the sport.
Just for the record in regards to betting on soccer, typically you can bet on either team or for a draw which if you have followed the tournament you know happens quite often. They always have a goal line whereby the favorite may have to win by as many as two goals to "cover the spread" in a match where one team is heavily favored. There is also over/under betting just like in any major sport, and most bookies will take parlays of a side and a total.
One last thing, you can also bet on the first or second half, In hindsight I thing the best bet is to take the draw for the first half and parlay it with the under. I lost track of how many first halves ended up as zero/zero ties. I think it's a good way to make a profit, but watching paint dry is more exciting.
and yes football surpassed baseball as America's pastime years ago. I am one of the very few people I know that wager anything significant on baseball, and I will freely admit that even when I have a couple of grand on a baseball game, I still very rarely watch more than a couple of innings.
Congrats to the Germans, even though I didn't win a penny on today's match.
It's funny, even though I spend a huge amount of time in Latin America, where futbol is the game that every one watches, I rarely if ever pay much attention to "futbol", much preferring "football" Every four years however, despite FIFA being every bit as corrupt as any Olympic committee, I still thoroughly enjoy the world cup. This time was no exception. I was thoroughly entertained, and I am eagerly awaiting the next one.
Ok, back to baseball while I even more eagerly await the start of "football Americano"
I bet on Germany, but they didn't win in regulation so I lost. For betting purposes the match was a tie. For me to have won money on the match I would have had to pick a "draw"which I did not. If you would like, I can give you a detailed tutorial on how sports wagering works, but somehow I doubt you would be interested.
I suppose I could have lied and claimed that I accurately predicted the game, which I guess I did. but I guess lying about my success or lack thereof never occurred to me. As I said in my OP, Germany won, but I did not win my bet. I seriously doubt the Germans care about my bet and congratulations are still in order for winning the world cup.
...doesn't lend itself to wagering as well as other sports. We bet on winners, not draws.
That's why football has passed baseball as America's pastime - it's the sport most conducive to wagering and the US is chock full of Franklin Gibbs.
but I will say that the World Cup was very good to me financially, especially considering how little I know about the sport.
Just for the record in regards to betting on soccer, typically you can bet on either team or for a draw which if you have followed the tournament you know happens quite often. They always have a goal line whereby the favorite may have to win by as many as two goals to "cover the spread" in a match where one team is heavily favored. There is also over/under betting just like in any major sport, and most bookies will take parlays of a side and a total.
One last thing, you can also bet on the first or second half, In hindsight I thing the best bet is to take the draw for the first half and parlay it with the under. I lost track of how many first halves ended up as zero/zero ties. I think it's a good way to make a profit, but watching paint dry is more exciting.
and yes football surpassed baseball as America's pastime years ago. I am one of the very few people I know that wager anything significant on baseball, and I will freely admit that even when I have a couple of grand on a baseball game, I still very rarely watch more than a couple of innings.
...is similarly shaped to the TV screen so it's easier to watch. Baseball is boring as hell on TV - you have to take me out to the ball game to enjoy it.
I watched the World cup by recording them or putting my DVR on pause at the beginning of the games. Then I fast forwarded through the halves watching the scoreboard to see when a goal was scored. Took about 10 minutes to watch a game.
I bet you could catch ALL the highlights in less than five. lol
but yes, American football translates much better to TV than either soccer or baseball. IMO football is best watched on TV and baseball is best watched in person.