It took three weeks.

That's how long Vegas allowed bettors to get real value on Alabama before adjusting their lines.

If you were smart enough to bet on the Crimson Tide against Louisville, Arkansas State and Ole Miss, congratulations. You won all your bets by at least 13 points. That's three easy covers.

But market inefficiencies don't last long in sports gambling, especially with huge public favorites like Alabama.

Handicapping Alabama early in the season used to be easy. Back Nick Saban no matter how inflated the season-opening line looks. Then fade the Tide against feisty Group of 5 opponents with something to prove. Then back Alabama against early-season SEC foes.

The thing about Saban is that he's one of the most consistent, predictable coaches in college football.

Until he pulled Jalen Hurts for Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of last year's national championship game.

Now Alabama is almost impossible to predict.

The team built a 29-point lead as a 24.5-point favorite against Texas A&M entering the fourth quarter, and a 56-point lead as a 48.5-point favorite against Louisiana entering the fourth quarter.

In both instances, Vegas appeared to inflate the lines by 4 to 6 points before the game in a desperate attempt to avoid massive liabilities on Alabama. The Tide crushed sportsbooks early in the season, costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It worked, sort of. Both opponents scored in the fourth quarter to win against the spread. Alabama has failed to cover in consecutive games. But in a weird way, the "inflated" lines still may have underestimated Bama.

The Tide built a 49-point lead before halftime against Louisiana on Saturday. The team was on pace to win 98-0 against an FBS team.

The Ragin' Cajuns may have been better off throwing intentional interceptions deep downfield. Alabama blocked one punt, setting up a short field that it converted into a Henry Ruggs III 13-yard touchdown catch. And Jaylen Waddle returned another punt 63 yards for a touchdown.

Those who backed Louisiana at +49 or so must have felt sick to their stomachs waiting on the dagger, which Waddle seemed to deliver with a 94-yard catch-and-run late in the third quarter.

Then the Ragin' Cajuns managed two fourth-quarter touchdowns when Alabama emptied its bench and stopped attacking on defense.

As someone who managed to get a ticket on Louisiana +53.5, watching Saturday's game was not a pleasant experience, even though the ticket eventually cashed.

Aside from three games in November, betting on or against the Tide is an exercise in futility.

You are not betting on the skill level of the individual teams. You're betting on the psychology of Alabama's coaching staff, the strength of the team's third-string players and the will of a long-beaten opponent to get some cosmetic work done on the scoreboard.

Complicating matters, Hurts played in his fifth game Saturday, assuring that he will not be able to redshirt this year under the new NCAA rule. Even if you can guess when Alabama will pull Heisman Trophy frontrunner Tagovailoa from the game, you're left to hope the team will slow its pace or even give back some of its lead with Hurts at quarterback.

Yes, Alabama's backup was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2016. He's 26-2 as a starter. He's rushed for 1,871 yards and 21 touchdowns in his career. And he's completing 70.3 percent of his passes for 10.7 yards per attempt this season, throwing a touchdown on every seven tries despite typically playing with a huge lead.

The aforementioned Waddle is a major threat on punt returns and in the open field on offense, while the placekickers continue to miss field goals or extra points in spurts.

The most predictable aspect to Alabama this season is its first-half offense. The Tide has outscored opponents 197-20 before halftime. To put it another way, Alabama is averaging 39.4 points in the first half this season, which would rank 26th in the country for full games.

The second half, though, has been tougher to predict. Opponents are actually outscoring Alabama in fourth quarters.

Oh, and Alabama wins have been equally predictable. According to ESPN, one bettor backed Alabama and the moneyline against Louisiana Saturday, at -99,000. He risked $1,579.65 at South Point to win $1.60.

Betting on or against Alabama this week as a 34.5-point favorite seems like a fool's errand. The Tide could build a 35-point lead sometime in the third quarter, but could just as easily give back a score or two late.

And that's unlikely to change any time soon. Missouri is the best team Alabama plays in October, but the Tigers have allowed 80 points in two games against Power 5 teams, and must come to Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Tennessee and former Tide defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt have beaten UTEP, possibly the worst FBS team this year, and East Tennessee State, an FCS team. In three games against Power 5 teams, the Vols have lost by a combined 78 points.

The way Mississippi State and Auburn are performing on offense, that may be the case the rest of the year with the exception of a Nov. 3 game at LSU.

Now that sportsbooks have adjusted to Alabama, the best thing to do may be to stay away from the Crimson Tide until further notice. Sometimes the best bets are the ones you never make.

Christopher Smith is a professional handicapper. He's the founder of Sports Locksmith and also works full-time for MyBookie out of Costa Rica.