Last week didn’t go well for the Chargers, but our Gambling friend didn’t do so poorly in the wallet arena. Each week the Degenerate Gambler chooses $100 worth of bets on a particular Chargers game and either learns from or, more likely, doubles down on his mistakes. Let’s take a look at how the Chargers treated him last week, shall we?

Week 2 Chargers @ Lions

• Wager 1 - Chargers spread (-3): $40 [+130] L
• Wager 2 - First half total points (under 23.5): $15 [-120] W $12.50
• Wager 3 - Chargers First Half (-.5): $20 [+100] W $20.00
• Wager 4 - Total points (under 47.5): $25 [-110] W $22.73

TOTAL WIN: $15.23 profit!

Total season: $14.50 profit

He is not going to stick his nose up at a profit when the game didn’t go in the Chargers’ favor! The Degenerate Gambler had this pegged as a low-scoring affair, with the Chargers generally leading the way through the game. Indeed, they had a very realistic chance of giving the gambler a rare win across the board, but that 4th quarter touchdown wasn’t to be. The Chargers are actually in prime 2018 form, which does not speak well for these early season games. It does, however, provide a certain anticipation for the cold of winter.

So now the Texans come to the coast, and the Chargers must deal with this particularly confusing team. Do they have a good QB? Is their defense a monster? Can O’Brien coach his way out of a box?

Depending on the week, these questions are just huge unknowns. The defense is probably their strongest suit in 2019, but the Texans were just one play away from starting this season 0-2. Let’s see what our anti-hero thinks!

Week 3 Texans @ Chargers

• Wager 1 - Chargers win: $25 [-165] Possible win: $ 15.15
• Wager 2 - Total points - Under 48.5: $25 [-110] Possible win: $ 22.73
• Wager 3 - Total Points - Texans - Under 21.5: $25 [-115] W Possible win: $ 21.74
• Wager 4 - Total Points - Chargers - Under 26.5: $25 [-110] Possible win: $ 22.73

TOTAL POSSIBLE WIN: $ 82.35

Welp, this is what four bets look like when you can’t figure out either team. The best that we can determine from these choices are that the Degenerate Gambler is pretty sure that this will again be a defense-centered match.

To those who know the Texans a little bit better, he was quite intrigued by the Alt Lines for total points and win difference. It’s still a little too early in the season to properly gauge whether either side will play lights-out on either side of the ball, hence taking bets that are all ‘favored.’ If you have a bit more confidence that the defenses will shine, the Alt line for 40.5 total points is +240. Last week, for either team, that bet would have won.

That said, the Degenerate Gambler just doesn’t feel it will hit two weeks in a row for either team. What say you??

-Jason “Not this week” Michaels