So, I am sitting in my home away from home, a Las Vegas sportsbook, enjoying the games and the excitement along with my fellow sports enthusiasts and gamblers.
Next to me is an “average Joe” sports bettor. A lot like politics or even religion, a sportsbook is one of the only places on the planet you can be among a thousand other people and hear as many different points of view on the same exact subject.
Everybody is entitled to their own, but unlike politics and religion, there can be only one true winner – the bettor with the most winnings. It’s hard not to notice the guy sitting next to me, shuffling the day’s odds sheet and crumpling the sports page. Here’s a guy (as he chatted me up) who is an average bettor, betting four favorites of -$2.40, -$2.25, -$1.85, and -$1.80. He bet each to win $10 a game. So the man bet $24, $22.50, $18.50, and $18. That comes to $83 to make $40 (if he goes 4-0).
It’s not my place to butt in on him, so I bite my tongue and go on with my day.
Sports fans, I checked his games at the end of the day, just out of curiosity, and he went 0-4. Friends, sports betting is an investment. Yes, it should be fun. But isn’t it more fun when you make money?
My advice is to never lay above -$1.40. Those pennies really add up. Always measure risk against reward – especially if you do this on a daily basis. Speaking of risk and reward, my releases here in GamingToday are at 5-2 with a No Play as one game in last week’s column had off-pitchers due to an unscheduled double header.
Here are this week’s BEST BETS (all stats and trends are as of print and may change, as can starting pitchers):
Tuesday – NY YANKEES over Twins: Minnesota is starting to fade, as the Twins have dropped three consecutive outings. This is the first series with New York in 2018. Historically, the Twinkies have not fared well against the Yankees, losing four straight and going 17-51 the L68 overall meetings. RH, Jose Berrios (2-1, 1.63 ERA) has pitched well.
However, pitching well is much different than pitching well as a visitor in the Bronx. Seasoned starter, CC Sabathia gets the start at home. The LH is 0-0, with a 2.70 ERA in three starts on the campaign. New York accounts for over 6.17 RPG at Yankee Stadium. The Twins are 1-4 their L5 games played on the road and 2-8 their L10 games played vs. AL East opponents. New York is 38-18 their L56 games played at home and 5-2 their L7 games played overall.
Wednesday – BRAVES over Reds: There is not much I can say about Cincinnati that doesn’t reflect in the 3-18 record. This is a team that ranks 27th or worse in just about every major offensive and defensive category, including 30th in scoring (2.90 RPG) and 28th in Team ERA (5.55). Brandon Finnegan takes the mound here. The LH is 0-2 with a whopping ERA of 11.05.
Despite playing in the competitive NL East, Atlanta (12-8) is playing good baseball, winning 6 of their L9 contests. Matt Wisler makes his second start. The RH is 1-0 with a 1.29 mark thus far. The 25-year-old looked sharp in his season debut, earning the victory, besting Matt Harvey and the New York Mets, pitching 7.0 IP, and allowing just 2 hits, on 1 run (1 ER), with 8 K’s and 0 BB’s.
Good luck and have a winning day.