How Professional Gamblers Beat the Pro Football Pointspread

A step-by-step guide to full time sports betting. How the business of sports betting 'works', pointspreads, 'vigorish' & bookmakers. How pros pencil-in a predicted score, how to recognize key pointspreads, how to account for injuries, how to spot motivations, how to beat over/unders, correct money management, how to profit from parlays, how to deal with abstractual factors, how to spot sucker plays, how to beat exhibition season, how to spot motivations, how to form power ratings, how to profit from various special situations...Everything you need to know to beat pro football.

Trade off with yourself. Agree that you'll make an effort to get into a purely social, other-directed activity, in exchange for easing up on the feelings of shame and self-loathing that go with being heavily involved in fandom. (And oh, don't I know those feelings. Every time I am immersed in sports-related chatter and find my mind wandering to fic, I curse myself.) Myself, I have received remarkable intangible results from being involved in fandom and internet communities, including continuing friendships that no longer have anything to do with the original catalyst, and years later, although I can concede that I might have gone dancing some more, I certainly don't regret the time I spent in old fandoms. I hope that you respect your hobby as well as love it.When all else fails, at least you can put on 'Trekkies' and reassure yourself that you're not the guy who mispronounces 'plethora.'posted by Countess Elena at 7:03 PM on February 15, 2011 [1 favorite]Have you considered going to graduate school? You've been honing your research skills, why not put them to better use. You'd meet a lot of people who share whatever interest you pursue there and it should lead to a more satisfying job. Living without internet at home for a while sounds good to me too, it will force you to get out more. Start with regular forays to a neighborhood coffee shop, bring a newspaper, sit for a while, sip your coffee, read. Repeat several times a week, say hello to people who've become familiar. Join a club, take an evening class, volunteer.And don't be embarrassed about the time you've wasted on your hobby. sometime you'll be able to tell friends about it and laugh.posted by mareli at 7:04 PM on February 15, 2011 [1 favorite]Can I ask a question?What if you were a 29 year old guy, and you spent all your free time watching sports, reading sports stats, playing fantasy football, finagling the occasional set of tickets for the local game, etc etc? Would you still be so ashamed of your behavior and down on yourself?In other words, what exactly is the problem here? Are you not able to live a normal life? Have you lost jobs, betrayed loved ones, pissed in a KFC bucket under your computer desk to avoid going to the bathroom because you can't pull yourself away from the fandom to take basic care of your immediate needs? Or is it just that you're a shy person with a commonly disparaged hobby and some self esteem issues? Because, personally, I'm more worried about how down you are on yourself than what your hobbies happen to be.posted by Sara C. at 7:08 PM on February 15, 2011 [60 favorites]Also just want to say:Remember that you have no idea what other people's lives are like. You cannot tell AT ALL just by looking at them. So don't compare what you do with your time to your fantasies about what everyone else is doing. My most conventionally attractive friend, who guys go gaga over, has never had a relationship last longer than a few weeks, and literally spends many weekends cleaning out her apartment drains. I found out the lecturer at my law school with the hardest-to-get-into classes, whom I was totally intimidated by and feared massively because I was worried he'd think I wouldn't measure up, actually engaged in a, frankly, KOOKOO scheme 30 years ago, was prosecuted for it, and found not guilty by reason of insanity!Don't worry at all about what everyone else is supposedly doing, you have no idea what skeletons are in anyone's closet, what facades they have, or what goes on behind closed doors.posted by Ashley801 at 7:23 PM on February 15, 2011 [17 favorites]There are other, real, awkward, shy people who are into the same fandom that you are into. I bet you like other things beside that fandom too... and there are other, real, awkward shy people who are into all those other things. There's nothing wrong with having a nerdy, weird hobby. If you're lonely, go find those other people who are also lonely. Are they at cons? Do they meet at a club night at a local college? do you know where I met my current Long Term Partner... we were members of the same Fencing club. we made friends. He invited me to join him and his friends at table top RPG night. We played D+D and Vampire the Masqurade and I made LOTS of friends who now, years later, I still talk to. and they were all as nerdy, shy, awkward and weird as I was at the time. When I'm bored, I go to SCA events. TONS of other, weird, nerdy people looking to just have fun with others who 'get it'. No one is judging you. You're not fucked up and you're not out of the norm. BUT, you have to make the move to break out of your shell yourself if you're unhappy. You don't need a therapist to do this, but you do have to do it. Start talking to people, you don't have to be bestest friends right away, you can pick and choose who you like and who you want to hang out with, you can start slow with short converesations about st

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