Sports betting: Even Thanksgiving pickup football isn’t safe

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Thanksgiving pickup football games are the latest to be touched by sports betting.

Bookmaker William Hill US has a formula to generate point spreads on the games families and friends play in backyards or public parks on the morning of the holiday.

Someone on your team drunk or hung over? You’ll get 2 points for that. Have a player taller than 6 feet? You’ll give 1.5 points.

Other criteria include whether anyone ran a Turkey Trot race earlier in the day and would be sore or tired, whether someone is recently injured, whether anyone was a college athlete, and whether team members include smokers or those badly out of shape.

Add and subtract the numbers, and you’ll come up with the point spread for your game.

It’s all just for fun.