Oxford Dictionary: Wager – To risk money or valuables against someone else’s money or valuables, on the basis of the outcome of an unpredictable event; Bet

Disclaimer: I am not Pez, the Dispenser of Picks, bringing you fresh sage betting advice that Pez’s Picks gives you here on Fans First Sports Network regularly.

I am also not a regular visitor at places like Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, etc.

But what I do like is a gentlemanly wager every now and again.

Now, I’m not the type to drop hundreds of dollars on a single bet, and in fact, it will probably take me to the end of next year to get to the “hundreds” part of all of my COMBINED bets. I just don’t  bet a lot of money on games. I like to bet because it puts extra emphasis on the outcome of the game, and any type of value added to the outcome can make a normal, boring game that I may never want to watch actually palatable, such as this past Sunday’s game between the Ravens/Bengals.

Now, you may say, “Corey, what’s the difference between Betting and Fantasy?”, and I would tell you, “nothing”, except that when I bet, I am putting confidence in my sports fantasy by backing it with cold, hard cash, while most fans are stuck in the conundrum of rooting for their rival team and have NOTHING to show for it.

I mean, who roots for their worst enemy to succeed with nothing behind it? Are they even your rival team at that point? Are you a closet Browns/Ravens/Bengals fan because you were stuck picking Deshaun Watson/Mark Andrews/Macaulay Culkin in the 6th round of your Fantasy Draft, hoping that you didn’t waste your $50 buy-in having to root for a team you hate? I hope none of you put yourself in that compromising situation.

It’s why, even though Lamar Jackson may be one of the best Fantasy QB’s there is, and he may do a bang up job of getting you to the top of the Fantasy mountain, I myself will never pick Jackson, or Derrick Henry, or Nick Chubb, or Jamarr Chase. I don’t want to ever have to compromise my fanhood for bragging rights. OR money.

My Fantasy team may never be #1, but it’s because I won’t take those players from rival teams when it is obvious that I should. I feel great about it, because I don’t have to compromise my principles every Sunday.

And if I never win a Fantasy League because of it? Well, it’s just for fun anyways, right?

RIGHT?!?!

No, I’ll keep my money and my fantasy team in separate domains, and hopefully in the end I will get to have both my money and my greatest fantasies come true.

All this and more will be coming your way weekly in this new article from the Steel Curtain Network. Now, lets have a look at the metrics and try to read ‘Between the Lines.’

All betting lines are brought to you by DraftKings Sportsbook and Casino because, well, that’s what I use.

Week 6 – Pittsburgh Steelers vs Las Vegas Raiders

Spread: The Steelers (-3) are giving 3 points to the Raiders to make this an even game. This means that the final score will be separated by 3 points, with Vegas giving the nod to the Steelers to win by those 3 points.

Over/Under: Vegas has set the O/U at 36.5 Points. This is the total points scored in the game by both teams.

Moneyline: No Spreads are given in this bet, this is just a straight up pick for who will win the game. They like the Steelers to go on the road and take care of business in this game, with the Steelers getting a Moneyline of -166, while the Raiders are getting a Moneyline of +140.

Now, many of you might be saying, “why would I put my money on a negative number?” Well, this is because Vegas wants to make money, and they don’t make money when you win. The higher the negative value, the more confident that Vegas is in that team winning the game. So in this instance, Vegas isn’t going to pay you for picking the Steelers, who they also think will win this game. Why would they? They’d lose money that way, which is why they put the negative value to the bet. They want people to put the money on the Raiders, and give enticing odds so that you will. No risk, no reward, right?

So how can you figure out what Vegas thinks the exact score is going to be? Here’s how to do it quickly:

First: I take the 0.5 Point off. You can do that at the end, or even ADD a 0.5 Point in, but get to the closest whole number for ease of math (36.5 – 0.5 = 36).

Second: Subtract the 3 points from the Spread (36 – 3 = 33), then, divide the difference by the two teams (33 / 2 = 16.5). If you took/gave the 0.5 Point at the beginning, now get it back. Since I subtracted, I add the 0.5 points and my number is now 17.

Third: Add the 3 point spread back in, and my 17 points becomes 20. So Vegas predicts that the final score of the game to be in the 20-17 or 20-16 range. This checks because the Spread is 3 points, and the combined score is 37, but if you chose the under, then you might be picking the 20-16 score instead.

Now that we’ve got an idea of what Vegas is thinking, let’s take advantage of this information and what we know about the Steelers and see if we can come up with a bet or Parlay that can bring us a little pop to our wallet while we watch the Steelers win.

You won’t ever get a parlay from Pez, he is thoroughly convinced, as I am slowly learning, that parlays are a trap altogether whether you build them yourself or not. He likes to take on single bets, and he’s been quite successful at it. In fact, as of this article, last I heard he was on an 8 bet streak. Not too shabby, sir!

I don’t like doing pre-built parlays that the Books give you. I feel like they are the easiest traps to avoid. However, I still believe the idea that building your own parlay is better odds to win on than taking the ‘pre-builts’, as long as you don’t get ‘too far from the shore’ with your odds as you build it. I also like building my parlays based on my Staff Pick of the Week. That way YOU know that I am putting my money where my mouth is.

Corey’s Picks:

I like the Steelers to finally find creative ways to get the ball down the field. This may not necessarily turn into TD’s, but the amount of time spent on offense from turnovers created by the defense has me believing that the Steelers can control the whole game, with O’Connell making mistakes as the Raiders try to play catchup. I won’t give all of my Staff Pick prediction away, but I do like the Steelers to not only cover the Spread, but also to cover the Over.

PIT to win by 1-6 Points: +280

PIT Steelers Alternative Spread (- 4 Points): +111

Alternate O/U (Over 20.5): +114

Parlay Total Odds: +1800 ($2 to win $38)

Jeff’s Parlay:

I haven’t been very lucky in the parlay department since hitting on Week 1, but I have a good feeling about this one:

PIT Total Points: 20.5+ (+114)

Justin Fields Passing Yards: 175+ (-110)

Pat Freiermuth Receptions: OVER 3.5 (+125)

Total Odds: (+525)

Bet $10 = $62.50

If you want to add a 4th leg to this parlay, here is what I like:

George Pickens Receptions: OVER 3.5 (-115)

Bet $10 = $95.00

*** If you or a loved one has a gambling addiction, please ask for help. Addiction to gambling (or to anything, really) can be destructive to lives and families, so please gamble responsibly! ***