Clean up your Contests

Question

First, I think this is the most fascinating site for sports betting. Can I say it's ahead of its time? The consensus page alone is an interesting study from day-to-day. Just simple facts: 4,000 people "bet" on the Notre Dame Alabama compared to 4,500 for a regular season NFL game, 1,700 on typical college basketball games and 2,300 on typical NBA games. Would have never thought that college football was that low. Would never have thought that 64 % of the public would have taken Notre Dame.

But why are the winners of the league contest based on these people who bet on EVERY SINGLE GAME: both over/under and pointspread. I mean consider our NFL regular season champion, elizalovesolly. Bless her heart last Saturday - she thoughtfully placed 143 separate bets across the board. If I was to track her, I would have lost 30,000 dollars in December and this was prime time for her "skill" sport, NFL football. Is this really the sign of a champion? Is this how Billy Walters bets on a given sports Saturday - laying 143 separate bets for 500 (or 5,000 or 50,000) a pop?

But, in 2012, she did go 261-181 on NFL games equating to being up 30,000. It's just that in every other sport since March 2012 when she joined, she's down 22,000, 28,000 and 24,000.

I've got nothing against Eliza. But she's an average nobody like the rest of us, myself included. She happened to get a cross section of her upside picks in the NFL contest. Overall, nothing special except stamina to day-after-day fill in 100-200 dots.

So here's to the league contests becoming just a little more realistic compared to real betting. Give each person a "budget" of 5,000 a day to bet. If they want to spend it all on one game, let 'em do it. If they really have the inside scoop on 100-200 picks, like Eliza does, they can spend 50 a game and go for it. I'd honestly like to see if among our amateur crowd we have a future (or current) Billy Walters. With the current contests, we don't know what we have.

biff37 · Answer

First, I think this is the most fascinating site for sports betting. Can I say it's ahead of its time? The consensus page alone is an interesting study from day-to-day. Just simple facts: 4,000 people "bet" on the Notre Dame Alabama compared to 4,500 for a regular season NFL game, 1,700 on typical college basketball games and 2,300 on typical NBA games. Would have never thought that college football was that low. Would never have thought that 64 % of the public would have taken Notre Dame.

But why are the winners of the league contest based on these people who bet on EVERY SINGLE GAME: both over/under and pointspread. I mean consider our NFL regular season champion, elizalovesolly. Bless her heart last Saturday - she thoughtfully placed 143 separate bets across the board. If I was to track her, I would have lost 30,000 dollars in December and this was prime time for her "skill" sport, NFL football. Is this really the sign of a champion? Is this how Billy Walters bets on a given sports Saturday - laying 143 separate bets for 500 (or 5,000 or 50,000) a pop?

But, in 2012, she did go 261-181 on NFL games equating to being up 30,000. It's just that in every other sport since March 2012 when she joined, she's down 22,000, 28,000 and 24,000.

I've got nothing against Eliza. But she's an average nobody like the rest of us, myself included. She happened to get a cross section of her upside picks in the NFL contest. Overall, nothing special except stamina to day-after-day fill in 100-200 dots.

So here's to the league contests becoming just a little more realistic compared to real betting. Give each person a "budget" of 5,000 a day to bet. If they want to spend it all on one game, let 'em do it. If they really have the inside scoop on 100-200 picks, like Eliza does, they can spend 50 a game and go for it. I'd honestly like to see if among our amateur crowd we have a future (or current) Billy Walters. With the current contests, we don't know what we have.

thetomcat1 · Answer

AGREED!

roondog248 · Answer

I see where you have a point.I look at the weekly leaders and say wow that guy is 28-3 or whatever, then I look at his 52% overall record. there are so many people placing wagers that a small % of them are bound to go on a run. it&#x27;s like hitting the lotto. but the person at the top with a 60%&#x2B; record has to know something about something...otherwise they are hitting the lotto every day.

Sinthetix · Answer

Check the RSI if it bothers you so much and leave her alone........

cheeser · Answer

i agree wuth you &amp;moondog  biff. i have thought of the same thing.it would be more like betting with a book.

DreaCo · Answer

This is SOOOO TRUE.. While Covers is what I thinck is by far the best sport betting site on the net, this is by far the biggest flaw... What makes the site so special is the ability to work on your skill in the field that soo many of us wish we could go professional at.. Now the key thinh to me is how real the simulation is and must be.. IT IS A SIMPLE FIX AND ONE I HOPE COVERS WILL NOT IGNORE AND FIX... WHEN AN ACCOUNT IS OPENED IT SHOULD START U OFF WITH A BANK ROLL, SAY $6,000 Give or take a few thousand. . This is perfect because this forces bettors to build on their pots and the ability to wager more and more... Also as in real life there must be a higher limit.. if one man wants to put $2,000 down on a game and they have built the kind of money because of their success they should be able to do so... ALSO AS IN VEGAS THERE SHOULD BE THE ABILITY TO PARLAY, AS ANY SPORTS BETTOR KNOWS THE ABILITY TO MANAGE ONES MONEY/INVESTMENT IS ALMOST SS IMPORTANT AS THE BET ITSELF... KNOWING WHEN TO AND WHEN NOT TO PARLAY OR LAY DOWN THAT BIG TIME BET.....

WHILE I DOUBT THE HEADS AT COVERS WILL EVEN READ THIS I THINK ALMOST ALL OF US DIE HARD SPORTS INVESTORS WOULD DEMAND THE ABOVE IDEAS I HAVE PUT FORWARD....

I BEG ALL WHO READ THIS TO REPOST, REPOST REPOST...

ALSO, PAYOUTS, PAYOUTS, PAYOUTS.. EVERYDAY I ASK MYSELF "SHOULDNT THE BIGGEST GRAND PRIZE (Other than Streak Survivor) BE THE WINNER OF THE OVERALL MONEYLIST AT YEARS END.. ULTIMATELY THATS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT... WHEN IT IS ALL SAID AND DONE WHAT MATTETS IS BIENG PROFITABLE OVERALL... PLEASE PEOPLE REPOST REPOST REPOST

Bennyup · Answer

The problem with allowing parlay betting is it takes one mug punter to hit 50000-1 multi and they&#x27;re winning the comp by a country mile. With so many people betting its pretty likely someone will do it and then everyone will be whinging that they don&#x27;t know betting, just got lucky, which sounds similar to most of the comments already being made with the current system.Each system has positives and negatives. Like what happens when average joe loses his $6k start up? Is he out for a month and then can re start with $6k, which is similar to a real-life scenario? I can assure you then he won&#x27;t come back to the website, meaning less customers etc. is not good for business!Just my two cents on the flip side to having a limited bankroll...

unclebingo · Answer

i like it i dont have time to place 200 bets a nite

--phillyfan-- · Answer

they should have a limit each day on the # of plays u can make in each League Contest, i play in a few of them but u can never finish near the top UNLESS u pick every side and every total of every frigin' game the have, no real gamblers play that many games.

they definitely need to tweak it but i highly doubt they will, do they ever listen to any good idea's we have here.. sh*t, we still have the same emoticons we had 4 years ago.. at least upgrade the avatar's here and the emoticons, did u guys ever see the stp*d as* avatars they offer ?

no contest or "League Champion" should be forced to play every side and total to have a chance at the Prizes.. but thats what they do here so we have to deal with it

eggy45 · Answer

That&#x27;s why you don&#x27;t see back to back contest or "League Champion" winner from season to season.

FIRSTand13 · Answer

Put a bankroll limit on this site and 99% of us would be out of business the first week. The 4500 who participated in the Notre Dame game would have been 20. It would defeat the entire purpose of the site.

Parlays, now that's crazy talk.

To me the biggest weakness of the site overall is that there is no career rankings and thus no incentive to not start a new identity every day/month/year.

My next gripe is that whatever RSI is it doesn't work for moneyline sports and a simple ROI is obviously needed...

run157 · Answer

the winner should be based on win % with a minimum number of bets made. like most others agree that you have to bet every game and o/u. was doing well at 70% or so for the first few days until i saw that other players units were growing to much even though they were only getting 55% so i bit the bullet and the last three days bet everything. winning % took a huge nose dive ofcourse. but when its free how much can we really complain

warcameagle56 · Answer

I like the contests really how they are.I do wish there was always an ultimate race going..I mean its free.Most of us dont have the time to play the contests everyday to play.This a great site and I love talking to sports bettors like myself when I feel like it.

lucky leo · Answer

I agree I often have the highest percentage of winners but I don&#x27;t lay every game no chance to win

gkastanza · Answer

Just some more food for thought. When I am in Vegas during MLB season, I bet a lot of run lines laying 1 &amp; 1/2 runs in many of the heavy favorite games. This greatly cuts down on your exposure and yes you might lose one on occasion but for the most part if the huge favorite loses SU, you save a lot of $$$$

T99 · Answer

ALSO, A GOOD MANY ( GAMBLERS?, BETTORS?, OR WHATEVER THEY CONSIDER THEMSELVES)  JUST BET EVERY GAME HOPING TO FLUKE OUT ON A WEEKLY PRIZE IMO.

Daddy_Freddie · Answer

I agree with Biff and many other posters here. Giving people a monetary sum or giving them only one pick a day makes it more of a test of overall handicapping skill which is admired more than making random selections.

The way it is now, it's equal to filling out 100 contest slips with the knowledge that the odds are lessened by the number of times you have "placed your name in the barrel" so you will win a prize at least.

yisman · Answer

I wish they would award prizes based on overall record. I only enter some plays.

blacksheep · Answer

Is this the Boo Hoo I can&#x27;t win, so they should change the rules thread, because it seems like it? Every contest on the internet has at least one of these threads ( or more likely many of them).&#xD;&#xA;This site has been up and running for at least 10&#x2B; years running this same format. Highly doubt that is going to be changed because a few people that spend a few seconds a day here want to make one pick and brag about their brilliant 4-0 record for a month. I am sure the people running this site want you here longer than that to see their advertisements. Otherwise this site goes away. &#xD;&#xA;They have Streak Survivor and Ultimate Race (occasionally) for those that want a limited number of picks per day to choose from. As far as making 4 picks a month cherry picking from the best games and posting a "stellar" 4-0 record, and winning something for it, that isn&#x27;t going to happen here, or almost anywhere for that matter. These sites need you to be here more than 2 seconds a day to be profitable, and thus make the money necessary in order for there to actually be prizes to be won.

yisman · Answer

[Quote: Originally Posted by blacksheep]  Is this the Boo Hoo I can&#x27;t win, so they should change the rules thread, because it seems like it? Every contest on the internet has at least one of these threads ( or more likely many of them).&#xD;&#xA;This site has been up and running for at least 10&#x2B; years running this same format. Highly doubt that is going to be changed because a few people that spend a few seconds a day here want to make one pick and brag about their brilliant 4-0 record for a month. I am sure the people running this site want you here longer than that to see their advertisements. Otherwise this site goes away. &#xD;&#xA;They have Streak Survivor and Ultimate Race (occasionally) for those that want a limited number of picks per day to choose from. As far as making 4 picks a month cherry picking from the best games and posting a "stellar" 4-0 record, and winning something for it, that isn&#x27;t going to happen here, or almost anywhere for that matter. These sites need you to be here more than 2 seconds a day to be profitable, and thus make the money necessary in order for there to actually be prizes to be won.  [/Quote]lol, who&#x27;s talking about 4 picks a month? Check out my record. I make a hell of a lot more than 4 picks a month, yet still not close to enough to be in contention for the season prizes. https://contests.covers.com/Sportscontests/profile.aspx?user=54103&amp;sportid=04 picks a month my behind.

trust-me · Answer

Does anybody no of a winner who won some sizeable amount and who they are?

bearinvegas · Answer

[Quote: Originally Posted by trust-me] Does anybody no of a winner who won some sizeable amount and who they are? [/Quote]&#xD;&#xA;I won the college contest last year and won $2000. They had the $ in my pay pal account very quickly too.

trust-me · Answer

[Quote: Originally Posted by bearinvegas]  &#xD;&#xA;I won the college contest last year and won $2000. They had the $ in my pay pal account very quickly too.  [/Quote]Congrats on that in college hoops or football i didnt notice your name maybe i missed it ,but great job and glad to hear they paid fast ,Covers sent out my hats fast as well ....So great to hear if i ever get good enough to win 1

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