Millions of Americans will be marking this year’s edition of the annual Thanksgiving Day holiday later today by taking to backyards, sports fields and vacant lots in order to enjoy a game of ‘pickup’ football.

These informal semi-athletic contests are often referred to as a ‘Thanksgiving Bowl’ and involve squads of families and friends engaging in friendly football battles to determine who will walk away with the gridiron bragging rights.

Pleasurable pursuit:

The local William Hill US subordinate of British sportsbetting giant William Hill has now reportedly released a whimsical odds tutorial that it hopes will add even more fun to these casual and often pre-meal competitions by allowing participants to generate points spreads for the purposes of conducting friendly wagers.

Opening opportunities:

According to a Tuesday report from the Associated Press news service published by The New York Times newspaper, William Hill US is the largest sportsbook operator in Nevada and is also active in Mississippi, New Jersey, Iowa, Rhode Island, New Mexico, West Virginia and Indiana. Alongside encouraging the growth of ‘pickup’ football, the firm is purportedly moreover hoping that its new formula will help it to increase its profile is the United States’ rapidly growing sports wagering market.

Points particulars:

The Associated Press detailed that the tutorial from William Hill US advises participants trying to work out the odds of a particular ‘pickup’ football contest to add 3.5 points if any of the competitors were once collegiate athletes. The formula purportedly moreover advises adding one points to the spread for teams containing no former gridiron warriors alongside two points if any of the other competitors are intoxicated or hung over.

The news service is furthermore due to have reported that William Hill US’ formula advises adding 1.5 points to the spread of any team featuring a player who happens to be over six-foot in height while suggesting that squads with smokers or out of shape participants be docked one point.

Further consequences:

The fun points spread tool from William Hill US additionally suggests subtracting two points if any of the ‘pickup’ players have participated in a Thanksgiving Day run or if their team happens to be down a competitor.

As if this wasn’t enough, further criteria purportedly call for 1.5-point penalties for squads featuring injured competitors or those recovering from a recent surgery as well as one-point punishments for each player found not to be wearing cleats and gloves.