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Betting on Week 1 of the AAF is a once in a lifetime opportunity - here are our best bets for the new league

Feb 9, 2019, 22:41 IST

AAF

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  • The Alliance of American Football kicks off play this Saturday.
  • The league sports eight teams competing in a 10-week season, with teams made up of former pros and college standouts.
  • While little is known about the strengths and weaknesses of any teams, as they have yet to play a real game, bettors can still

This weekend the Alliance of American Football kicks off its first week of existence, providing football to fans eager to watch, analyze, and of course bet on their favorite sport.

While the public now knows the rules, rosters, and coaching staffs of each team in the new league, their quality is still unknown, and viewers won't be able to get a real sense of who's good and who's not until the games this weekend, making this Saturday a unique opportunity for gamblers.

Sports bettors are usually attempting to outsmart the books and their fellow bettor to predict the future. No matter how well you think you know football, the sportsbook will always be better informed, making finding an edge in NFL near-impossible for casual bettors.

But the AAF presents a wholly different proposition to bettors this weekend - this is mostly a football version of roulette, and some of the bookmakers in Las Vegas are admitting as much.

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Jay Kornegay, VP of Race and Sports Operations at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, described booking the AAF before a game had been played as "A little bit of a crapshoot," to Vegas Stats & Information Network on Friday.

Nobody knows anything about how these teams play beyond the few players we are familiar with from their NFL or college days. The sport will still be football, and we can even bet on it, but rather than betting the Patriots, Rams, Eagles, or Steelers, we can bet on Mystery Team A or Mystery Team B - in this case, the Orlando Apollos or Atlanta Legends.

For serious sports bettors, this is an excellent opportunity to look for an edge over the books if you think you can find one. Read up and watch all the film you can find, and maybe you can crack the code before Las Vegas does and make some money. I wish you luck!

I think this is too fun an opportunity to waste on studying. It's a crapshoot! I love shooting craps! Except for this time the dice I'm throwing are eight teams with fun names that will play by the rules of football that I know very well, instead of the rules of craps, which still confuse me every time I step up to a table.

Below are our best bets for Week 1 of the AAF season.

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Orlando Apollos (-4.5) over Atlanta Legends

With so little information known about any of the teams playing this weekend, laying a 4.5-point favorite is admittedly, a bit ridiculous — why not take the points that are essentially free?

First, because I do not want to bet against Apollos head coach Steve Spurrier, who, at 73 years old, can still probably coach the heck out of a football game.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Legends were supposed to be led by Brad Childress, but the former Vikings coach abruptly left the team in January, leaving Kevin Coyle to take over the role.

Again, it's insane not to take the points in this spot, but this entire endeavor of betting on a brand new football league is rather insane to begin with, so why not lean in?

San Antonio Commanders (-2.5) over San Diego Fleet

While the Legends were cut short by the premature departure of Brad Childress, the San Diego Fleet lost quarterback Josh Johnson, who was likely to be one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league, to the NFL after he took over for the Redskins amid a slew of injuries.

With the Fleet working to replace the most important position on the field, I'm backing the San Antonio Commanders to win in their debut.

Memphis Express (+3) over Birmingham Iron

Christian Hackenberg is back playing meaningful football.

After flaming out in the NFL, Hackenberg has found a home with the Memphis Express, leading to one of the most intriguing storylines the league has to offer — could the AAF offer players an opportunity to prove they're still NFL-ready?

Both Hackenberg and Iron running back Trent Richardson will likely be looking to do so, but in this game, we're taking the points.

Salt Lake Stallions (+4) over Arizona Hotshots

This team hasn't even played a game together yet but they've already embraced the defensive family photo. Shut up and take my money!

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