The gambler’s guide to surviving Thanksgiving

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.

Happy Thanksgiving, America.

On Thursday when your family is overrunning your house while eating your food and you're longing for serenity, you'll want to be harboring as little animosity as possible.

Being an insufferable, moody shell of a person is generally unavoidable from September to January when you're emotionally and financially invested in the National Football League. But whatever, it's your life, right?

Nonetheless, for a couple of days over Thanksgiving week, your home is no longer your sanctuary. You'll be forced to swallow your pride and suffer through mindless pleasantries, like your sister-in-law raving about her son's immeasurable intelligence based off the finger painting he made in day care while she was out getting her nails done for the third time this month. It doesn't even look like a tree, Carol. Take it out of the frame and off your wall.

"Awesome, kiddo," you mutter. Your tone is hardly convincing.

You glance back at the muted television just in time to see Mitchell Trubisky throw his third interception, making Bears -3 officially dead. You lean over to your cousin and joke, "ha, what's another $100, right pal?" Confused, Simon gives you a disapproving look before going back to his conversation.

By this point, you've pretty much checked out. You promised to be on your best behavior and are striving to keep your word, but Aunt Sheryl doesn't care that you bet the Rams to win the Super Bowl and now they're not even going to make the playoffs. And Uncle Fred hasn't watched a game of football in 20 years and thinks DeAndre Hopkins is "that smart people university in Baltimore."

Who are these people? And why are we sitting at the table when the games are on?

Well, you're not alone.

You're not the only one struggling during a day of football around people who couldn't possibly understand why you're so upset about the 49ers returning a meaningless fumble for a touchdown with no time left on the clock.

Your nephew Liam doesn't care if the Cowboys win and might think Kenyan Drake is "that rapper from Toronto." But like you, others are frantically pacing and intensely sweating the final few minutes.

Seriously, you're very much not alone, even if Uncle Fred is doing his best to make you feel that way.

Does the pathetic Bears offense that can't seem to get a first down have you wondering why you backed them at -5.5? Yeah, you're not the only one Chicago is slowly killing.

So please, take solace in knowing other gamblers are trying to cope during Thanksgiving, too.

That way when Aunt Linda asks what you're thankful for this year, you can feign a smile and say "your cooking," instead of punching a hole in her dry mashed potatoes and storming off to watch Kenny Golladay uppercut your DFS team again.

When it feels like you're the only one out of your survivor pool, losing in fantasy, and incapable of hitting a bet, refer back to this page.

Amari Cooper just dropped a potential touchdown grab and now there's no way you're going to hit that Cowboys and Saints moneyline parlay? Leave your frustrations in the comments instead of bringing them with you to the Thanksgiving table. Linda's green bean casserole has taken enough of a beating.

And remember, it can always be worse.

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.