Over/Under

Kyle+Gagnon

Gunter Kleist

Kyle Gagnon

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The NBA playoffs are set to kick off this weekend, and to say that there is an electric charge in the atmosphere would be an understatement.

My time spent living in Milwaukee has my feet planted firmly in the camp of the defending champs, the Milwaukee Bucks. My love for this team, however, presents a classic conundrum for the next month of my sports gambling career, and I hope to briefly discuss the issue in this column. At what point do we allow our sports biases to influence the way we wager our hard-earned money?

There are teams I never bet against. Burnley FC, the Montreal Canadiens, USA Soccer, and yes, the Milwaukee Bucks. Betting against Burnley would have won me a million dollars this year, but I could not bring myself to do it even when a neutral version of myself would have made a sizeable wager.

On the other end of the spectrum, one can bet too much on a team they love. The Milwaukee Bucks are storming into the playoffs healthy, winning, and ready to repeat their domination of the eastern conference. I would take every pro-Bucks bet I could if I didn’t have a ninja-like discipline over my gambling habits.

All this being said, I will most certainly be placing some Bucks bets over the coming weeks. Every single Giannis points over will be bet on. Middleton points overs will be invested in as well.

Bobby Portis points, rebounds, and assists over will obviously be wagered on.

Each and every Bucks first quarter line, as well as first half, and total game.

Holiday, Portis, Connaughton, Giannis, Middleton, and Lopez 3-pointers made overs will all have to be bet on every single home game. Come to think of it, we will take the away games too.

Futures bets on the Bucks to win the eastern conference finals and the championship were placed months ago, and I’ll almost certainly double down on those before Saturday.

This places me at around 5,000 bets so far and we haven’t even considered any of the non-Bucks games and series on the slate. What a time to be alive!

After losing all fifty of my Master’s bets over the weekend, we need some hoops to bring us back to even so I can keep losing money on soccer. This ecosystem is very delicate and winning a bunch of money on the NBA playoffs is what keeps the lights on in my sportsbook account. Once the Milwaukee Bucks bring me back from the dead, I will once again be able to wreak havoc on my account; placing horrible bets on golfers and NASCAR drivers with the longest of longshot odds.

Best of luck to my fellow NBA enthusiasts, and may the Giannis, the Greek God of dunking it on your effing head, bring us all great wealth and prosperity.