The Bullet-Less4: The Contest of Insignificance WrapUp

The Holidays are over. People are "fully refreshed" and back to work. Santa is back in Hibernation (that's what he does, right? I mean the guy is all the rage for 6 weeks a year, then disappears). The final week of the NFL Regular Season has come and gone. The Packers cracked into the Playoffs in dramatic fashion. Awesome. Yet, instead of talking about my beloved team (I will save that for later), it's time to bring closure to a new game that has captivated my heart for the last 4 months: The Contest of Insignificance. First, let me apologize for not providing the aforementioned weekly updates. Now, here are the Bullet-Less4 to recap the game, in reverse order of importance.



Teaser bets truly live up to their rightful name. For those that are in the dark on "teaser bets," they require you to bet 3 games together, but add either 6 points or 10 points in your favor on each of the spreads for those games. However, you now have to get all three right to win. So you improve your lines, but need to get all three correct. For sh*ts and giggles I decided to see how I would have done in the early stages of the NFL season using teaser lines and the top 3 games I chose from the Contest of Insignificance. Had I put real money on the line, I would have lost 5 of the first 6 weeks...yuck. Very thankful that I didn't do teaser bets in 2010.



The people that set the NFL point spreads in Vegas are soothsayers. I was forced to pick 85 different lines all season long and can only remember three occasions where I said to myself, "If I were in Vegas, I would bet a house on this." Most of the time I was shocked how often the lines were within 1-3 points of the actual outcome. Food For Thought...those House-Betting games were:
NYJ -5.5 @ BUF in Week 4 when Buffalo was looking like a legit 14 game loser
PHI -3 @ WAS in Week 10, aka THE Michael Vick Fantasy Jamboree Game
DAL +12 @ PHI in Week 17 with Vick and other Eagles resting for the playoffs




It helps to have a rival or head-to-head side game within the game. The beauty of the Contest of Insignificance is that it is a season long test of one's gambling prowess. However, you need some type of motivation in weeks 15-17 when you have no shot at winning because one person (Stupid Steve L.) is competing at a level worthy of a $5k prize in the real Hilton Super Contest. My motivation was holding onto 3rd place over my long time Fantasy Foe and Friend, Steve Fenster. As you will see below in the Final Standings, I was able to do just that.




Finally, and most importantly, gambling (and this game in particular) is as fun as all get up. I loved participating in the Contest of Insignificance all-season. Our inaugural year featured merely six players, but we are expecting somewhere between 15-20 for the 2011 Season (knock on wood, pending the lockout). On a weekly basis I found myself strangely engaged with the scores from games in Oakland, Houston or Jacksonville. Games of which I NEVER (repeat, NEVER) would have cared about before. Many say that Fantasy Football makes you follow the NFL more. I definitely agree. However, this game caused me to care more about the NFL and follow the entire league (not just the players). It also made me ruthless. I would find out a starting Quarterback or Linebacker was injured and BAM, pick the opposing team. It's not personal kids, it's gambling.

Final Results:

Standings
Name W L T PTS Fake Winnings (Based on fake $25/game)
1 Steve L 49 31 5 103 +$327.50
2 Mike 46 37 2 94 +$110.00
3 Rob 44 37 4 92 +$65.00
4 Steve F 43 38 4 90 +$17.50
5 Craig 38 41 6 82 -$170.00
6 *Aaron 25 55 5 55 -$12.50
*Did not complete weeks 4, 13-17