In this week's P.O. Box:

It’s been quite the week for sports betting.

We discussed the wild NBA illegal gambling ring on LOLz, so I won’t beat a dead horse here.

Instead, I want to discuss a less sinister element of sports betting that has been making me laugh recently.

I’ve started to see more and more casual sports betting bros ask if they should “hedge” or cash out their parlay after a few of the legs hit. Some of them have even tagged me, asking for advice on their specific longshot wager turned financial instrument.

First, let me just say thank you. I’m flattered. Let me go ahead and crunch your parlay into my proprietary algorithm and I will let you know the optimal hedge allocations based on the Kelly criterion, your bankroll, and the available markets.

Setting aside that most of these inquiries are just veiled brags (Bro, can you believe I slid Bo Nix to 2 rushing TDs…and it HIT!), the 180-degree pivot from YOLO to fiscal prudence in the span of a few hours is something else.

These bros who fire off 19-leg Hail Marys from their app of choice—and I’m not judging this part, I full send multiple vibes-based Pick ‘Em entries every week—suddenly go from being the most reckless, risk-seeking homerun hitters on the planet to an ultra-conservative, risk-averse nit looking for a financial advisor to help them re-allocate their position into a Vanguard index fund.

It appears I had wrongly pigeonholed these individuals as one-dimensional degens chasing a quick sweat, little did I know that we are actually dealing with a bunch of megamind Mattress Macks out here.

Of course, the cherry on top is that hedging out in most cases—and cashing out, specifically—is one of the worst things you can do to capture the expected value on the original bet (the sportsbooks will happily let you take pennies on the dollar to reduce their liability on a longshot hitting).

Here’s an idea, because I’m a problem solver…maybe just do one less leg if you think you’d be tempted to bail before the last leg hits lol.

Anyways, may all your dreams come true.

⚔ Eliminator update. We ran incredibly pure in Week 7 with all four of our Eliminator entries advancing. I’m projected to get 2/4 through, so let’s hope that holds:

🏀 Hoops pick. I recently received a mysterious package in the mail from Underdog with a challenge that could win my promo code Pete people a free pick on UD. Here’s how it went:

💎 Week 8 Gems. My favorite sleepers on Underdog this week. YouTube members can grab them here, Masterclass subs head here.

🤯 BLOCK PARTY & BULLY THE SIMS: Week 8 DFS Strategy: Top Plays & GPP Angles. Sharp takes from JMToWin and Youdacao.

⏰ OFF & ON THE CLOCK: Week 8 Battle Royale Strategy & Sleepers. Scrolls, draft angles, and spicy pick ‘ems. Check show notes/description for link to pick ‘ems.

🔮 FANTASY LIFE: Week 8 Draft Strategy for Underdog. Topics: small-field strategy, my favorite stack in Week 8, the best RB sleepers, and a sneaky vomit stack. Also, check out the draft stream I did on the FL YouTube channel.

🤓 FANTASY LIFE: Newsletter Roundup. This week in the newsletter we got hyped on Oronde Gadsden, took a look at the new Gibbs/Monty in Chicago, and suggested three QB streamers.

I regularly write the Fantasy Life Newsletter. Get it in your inbox free every morning:

💪 THE SWOLECAST: Week 8 NFL DFS Picks. Do you think Josh Allen has figured out?

🎉 BATTLE ROYALE BASH: The Fastest Drafter In Fantasy Joins The Bash. Fun cast of characters, including a dude who blew my mind with his mile time.

☣ LOLZ: How Deep Does This NBA Gambling Rabbit Hole Go? Watch Bric and I try to make sense of this story in real time…

📈 STAT CHASING: Surprising Breakouts & Week 8 DFS Plays. Sack and Drico sift through recent usage and efficiency trends to help you set your lineups.

☕ POURTFOLIO REVIEW: We Finally Sniffed The Top Of The Leaderboard. Week 8 DFS recap, including some shots on goals in the BR.

After Dark is back Saturday night (8pm ET) with the man behind the Solver, Galin Dragiev. He’s also one of the hottest players on the site right now. Excited to pick his brain:

For After Dark shows, you can become a YT member for access or subscribe on Spotify for a private RSS feed (I post the video/audio there directly after the show).

Then we’ve got the Week 8 DFS Cram at 10:30 am ET on Sunday:

And then we’ll have the ShipCast at 4pm ET. It is always a treat when Jakob’s Colts are in the late window…

I think we might try to tackle a Pynchon novel for our next selection. Any suggestions? Sounds like The Crying of Lot 49 might be good…

🏃 Book #8 for September (70%): Endure by Alex Hutchinson.

Lots of great stories/anecdotes in here, but surprised there isn’t more on how to actually improve your endurance.

🤼 Book #7 for August (COMPLETED): Playworld: A Novel by Adam Ross.
🚶 Book #6 for July (COMPLETED): Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir by Craig Mod.
☁ Book #5 for June (COMPLETED): Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
🐊 Book #4 for May (COMPLETED): Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades by Rebecca Renner
🍌 Book #3 for April (COMPLETED): The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen
💉 Book #2 for March (FINISHED): Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe.
🐃 Book #1 for February (FINISHED): The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry

Got a question for me? Reply to this e-mail and I’ll get back to you…