Syndicate 2012

New England Patriots		New York Giants
	February 5, 2012

We hope you had $5.72 worth of fun

The game went just about the way we expected, relatively low scoring with both defenses playing better than expected. It translated into having a lot of bets alive at the very end. But in the end, we came up short by $5.72 per share. That was the amount each $25 share lost, including expenses for making the wagers.

We got off to a good start when we hit the coin toss. The toss had been heads five years in a row going into this year's game, but we bucked the odds and picked heads again to collect $201. But we played from behind the rest of the game.

As always, the game had a bunch of "what-ifs" so here they are:

• The biggest "what-if" of all came when the Giants tried a two-point conversion with 57 seconds left in the game. On Parlay #1, we were sitting on a push for Most Points Scored in the 2nd Half. There were 19 in the first half and 19 in the second. If the Giants get that conversion, we get to 21 points in the second half to cover one of the picks. The Giants would have had 23 points, an odd number for another pick in that parlay. And when Tom Brady got sacked on the Patriots last drive, that would have given us the over on sacks. We would have collected $1,200 on that parlay. In addition, we had a separate bet on a successful two-point conversion and we would have collected $150 for that.

• On one of the Proposition Parlays, we bet that the opening kickoff would be a touchback. We just thought adrenaline would take over for the kicker and he would boot it out of the end zone. Instead, the kick only made it to the goal line and it was returned. We got the second half of that parlay when the first punt of the game went under 44½ yards. The short opening kickoff cost us $651.

• With our last $30, we considered picking a safety or a successful two-point conversion for that wager. We went with the two-point conversion. There was a safety in the first quarter which would have given us a $270 payoff.

• In the fourth quarter, Patriots receiver Wes Welker dropped a pass that would have put him over 80½ receiving yards and would have given us another $210.

• On the Patriots' last drive, one play decided two bets and resulted in a wash. When Brady completed a fourth down pass for 19 yards to Deion Branch, we won a bet that the Pats would convert a fourth down, but we lost the bet with LeBron James points+rebounds+assists (41) vs. Branch's receiving yards. The catch gave Branch 45 yards receiving. You might remember that we initially intended to put LeBron against Eli Manning's pass attempts. We would have lost that bet as well.

• Thinking the defenses might step up, we also bet there would be over two interceptions. There was one, and that was the only pick we missed out of four on Parlay #3.

So those are the things that didn't go our way. But we had enough good things to keep the Syndicate alive.

With a loss of only $5.72 per share, pretty much everyone in the Syndicate has enough left over in their accounts that we can set shares at $20 apiece next year and just wager what we have. So we'll keep everyone's money on account unless you want to cash out. If you want your dough, send us an e-mail at jaygonzales@comcast.net and we'll cash you out. Otherwise, we'll just get a hold of you when next year's game rolls around and do this again.

The tables below show how the wagers turned out and how much everyone has in their account.

We hope you continue to have fun with this. We'll be in touch.

Syndicate 2012

Winning picks are highlighted in gray

On parlay bets, all picks in the parlay must be winners to pay

*Per share amount includes $136.50 for expenses in making the wagers