Syndicate 2014

Syndicate rallies late to post a small loss, $1.08 per share

When the first snap of the Super Bowl sailed past Denver quarterback Peyton Manning for a safety, we had no idea that it was a sign of things to come.

The Syndicate was $600 in the hole in the first 1:02 of the game when we lost the coin toss, when the Broncos gave up the safety, and then when Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch only got three yards on his first carry. From that point on it was an uphill battle that never quite got us on the positive side.

Nonetheless, we hit a couple of our parlay cards and one of the higher paying propositions to come within $150 of breaking even.

Here's the rundown:

Parlay Cards. After going four years without hitting a single parlay card, we nailed two of them to keep the game from being a total disaster. We got over 47 points, over 1 fumble lost, and most points in the second half to collect $1,200 on Parlay #1. The deciding leg of that one was the fumble the Seahawks recovered with 3:44 left in the game. We weren't sure about the play because it happened on a fourth down and the Seahawks were getting the ball anyway. But the official stats list two fumbles lost, and the play-by-play has a recovery by the Seahawks on the play. Incidentally, this was the parlay ticket we lost. Incredibly, we got a call shortly after the game from the LVH Race & Sports Book where we made the bets. They let us know that someone did try to cash the ticket, but they were unable to because we had initiated the lost ticket claim. They were letting us know we had a winning ticket and all we had to do was show up with our claim receipt and we can collect.

The other parlay we hit was Parlay #3 for $1,000, a four-leg parlay. That was one saved when the Seahawks, holding a 43-8 lead in the fourth quarter, didn't try to rub it in with meaningless field goals on two possessions in Denver territory late in the game. They went for it on fourth down twice and didn't convert, preserving their point total ending in an odd number. That is only the third time we have ever collected a four-leg parlay.

Proposition Parlays. We took a beating starting with the coin toss. If you were watching, you saw Joe Namath flip the coin before anyone called the toss and referee had to catch the coin. They flipped it again and it was tails for the first time in five years. We had heads parlayed with a score in the first 6½ minutes of the game. We got the score on the first play from scrimmage but it didn't matter and it was a $200 loss. When the Seahawks scored three times in a row to start the game, we had one leg of Prop Parlay #3. We just needed Seattle QB Russell Wilson to throw an interception to complete that one, but it never came. Of the eight wagers in the four proposition parlays, we only hit two.

 Propositions. We have never lost as much on our proposition bets as we did this year, $1,850. We only hit one prop, the Kevin Love vs. Montee Ball prop for $420. Love went big for us with 43 points and 16 rebounds in his basketball game on Saturday night. Ball rushed for only one yard, so that one wasn't close. Based on the voting, the Syndicate was not expecting the defensive domination the Seahawks imposed on the Broncos. We bet overs on pretty much everything. The only one we got was over on the total points on the parlay cards. The closest we came to any of the overs in on tghe props was on Manning's passing yards. We needed nine more yards to cash that ticket, but with the game out of hand late, the Broncos pretty much ran the ball and we fell short.

The Syndicate crew takes full responsibility for missing the first player to score a touchdown. The voting for the Seahawks player was heavily in favor of running back Marshawn Lynch, and he was the one who scored. But we had taken wide receiver Doug Baldwin on the theory that wide receivers had scored the first TD in 11 of the last 20 games. On top of that, Lynch's odds were only 5-to-1 so it was an unattractive bet. But when the Broncos were called for pass interference in the end zone, they got the ball at the 1-yard-line and it was an easy score for Lynch. We actually came close on Baldwin. He caught a deep pass in the first quarter but was tackled at the 5-yard-line. He also caught a pass inside the 10-yard-line on a later drive but didn't get in the end zone.

So there you have it. We will collect $2,620, and it looks like we just let it ride again for next year. As always, if you want to cash out, let us know by e-mail at jaygonzales@comcast.net and we'll send your money. Otherwise, if we don't hear from you, we'll keep this on account and do it all over again next year. We hope you had fun.

Syndicate 2014

Click here for a printable version of the wagers

Click here for images of tickets

Winning picks are highlighted in gray.

All wagers in a parlay bet must be winners to pay

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