After Week 0 last weekend, and with a full slate of college football on deck this week, one phrase comes to mind — all is right in the world. No more waiting or preseason or sub-par spring leagues. The real deal is here, and it only gets better. Next weekend, we'll have NCAAF and the NFL to bet on.
Pick a sportsbook: The best college football sports betting bonuses
For those who like various sports to bet on, the MLB regular season has about 30 games to go, and the playoffs are fast approaching. The UFC is in Paris on Friday night. We may not have a PGA Tour event this weekend, but golf bettors can still get in on the action courtesy of the LIV Golf Boston event. NBA markets are open. We can even talk about some Jai Alai this week.
Football is back. All is right in the world.
2022 College Football Season: Week 1
College sports is far from perfect, but it does get one thing right — it makes the most of a weekend where the NFL is not playing. Bettors can get in on the action tonight with about 15 games. I'm excited to watch the return of the Backyard Brawl, a classic CFB rivalry between West Virginia and Pitt.
The Panthers are 7.5-point favorites (via Caesars).
Friday's slate is not as big as Thursday's, but I'm looking forward to watching Illinois-Indiana. The Fighting Illini are not an exciting team, but people may sleep on them this year.
The real fun is on Saturday, of course. Most ranked teams are taking it easy and playing opposition they should crush, but there are three games featuring ranked opponents (spreads via FanDuel):
No. 11 Oregon vs. No. 3 Georgia (-16.5)
No. 24 Cincinnati vs. No. 19 Arkansas (-6.5)
No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Ohio State (-15.5)
With so many great games, it is impossible to cover them all, but we did cover a lot this week:
College Football Week 1 Picks & Parlays: 3 Moneyline PredictionsCFB Betting Odds: Back Underdogs Central Michigan & Purdue on Thursday
Liberty vs. Southern Miss Odds & Pick: Point Spread Off Mark
Caesars NY Promo Code: Get a $1,250 First Bet for NCAAF Week 1
Louisiana Tech vs. Missouri Odds & Pick: Tigers Face Losing Trend as Heavy Favorites
The Time for NFL Futures is Now
You can, of course, bet on NFL futures throughout the entire season as long as your favorite sportsbooks have odds posted. But if you are betting on a longshot, you may want to put your money down before the season starts. If the team blows up, its odds will drop.
Now, you can take that possibility as confirmation that the team/player has a shot at winning — or you can take it as a lost opportunity because you could have won more had you put your money down just a week earlier.
The following are links to some of the NFL futures markets we've covered:
2022 NFL Offensive Player Of The Year Odds: Jefferson Rising
NFL Betting Odds: Ravens Safety Kyle Hamilton Worth A Wager As Defensive Rookie Of The Year
2022 NFL Defensive Player Of The Year Odds & Predictions: Favorites, Contenders, Longshots
2022 NFL Coach Of The Year Odds & Betting Predictions: Favorites, Best And Worst Picks
NFL Comeback Player Of The Year Odds: Julio Jones Circled After Move to Bucs
There's also each division, AFC South, AFC North, AFC West, AFC East, NFC South, NFC East, NFC West, and the NFC North, along with the AFC Championship, NFC Championship, and — of course— Super Bowl 57.
Did you win your bet, Keanu?
Speaking of the Super Bowl…
Gaming Today’s Marcus DiNitto spoke this week with oddsmaker Ed Salmons from the Westgate SuperBook, who said the hometown Raiders represent by far the largest Super Bowl liability at his Las Vegas shop.
"They (the public) will not stop betting the Raiders,” Salmons said. “... Everyone is drinking the cool aid, let's put it that way. ... The media's talked about Davante Adams and (Chandler Jones), everyone's talked them up, and the people have bought in hook, line, and sinker."
Number two in terms of NFL futures liability at the Westgate is the Steelers and then the Titans
"We've had this money in here forever (on the Titans),” Salmons said. “Their odds were as low as 20 (+2000), now they're 40 (+4000), and the bets have completely dried up. But we had so much money on them; they're still one of the highest liabilities."
While Salmons said nearly all of this is public money, at least one professional sports bettor is on board with the Raiders.
“I like the Raiders this year,” the respected Zack White told Marcus yesterday. “I think they’re just mispriced. Anywhere higher than 20 or so to one on the conference is a great price for the Raiders.”
Food for thought.
Elsewhere in the Wide World Of Sports Betting…
We've got you covered beyond the gridiron. The following links will take you to our sports betting coverage that is non-football related:
UFC Paris Odds & Props: Gane vs. Tuivasa Headlines Fight Night 209 in France
LIV Golf Boston Odds: Backing Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson for the Win
NBA Rookie of the Year Odds: Banchero's Price Tightens With Holmgren Out for Season
What Ted Lasso does when he picks a winner…
This Week On The Sports Betting Legal/Business Landscape…
This week's big news in the legal realm is the launch of regulated sports betting in the great state of Kansas! It will be a lot easier now for bettors in the Sunflower State to bet on the Chiefs, Jayhawks, Wildcats, Royals, or whoever they want to put money on. Many sportsbooks are running promos to help make them feel welcome:
BetMGM KS Bonus Code: Sign Up for $1,000 Risk-Free Bet for Sportsbook Launch
Caesars KS Promo Code: Enjoy $1,250 First Bet for Sports Betting Launch
FanDuel KS Promo Code: Wager $5, Get $150 in Free Bets for Sportsbook Launch
DraftKings KS Promo Code: Claim $1,050 in Sign-up Bonuses for Sports Betting Launch
Best Kansas Sportsbook Bonuses & Promos for September 1 Launch
Kansas is not the only news on the business/legal landscape.
Have you ever thought about rolling the dice on a parlay with a free bet offered as a promotion by a sportsbook? Well, this story about a NASCAR bettor at FanDuel that did and won $1 million may have you ready to do just that.
Prophet Exchange launched this week in New Jersey, and this article, Prophet Exchange Founders Discuss Imminent Launch And Future Of Exchange Betting, is an excellent read on what peer-to-peer betting is all about.
It sounds like it will be easy for bettors in Columbus and Cincinnati to get their bets in once sports betting launches in Ohio, even if they are in a grocery store or bowling alley. The two cities top the list for sports betting kiosks in the state.
If you are like me and know nothing about Jai Alai (yes, that's a real sport), you'll still find this article by Brant James a must-read:
You might even want to learn how to play the game, too…
Sportsbook Promotions: September 1, 2022
The following are some of the promotions sportsbooks are running that could come in handy in the coming week:
FanDuel: The link below is to a post at GamingToday.com and details the promo in the title, but it also references one existing users will like: Bet on college football this weekend, and if you lose, FanDuel will refund you up to $10.
DraftKings has a few good ones available right now, but I wanted to highlight this NFL Week 1 promo: Bet the moneyline on any Week 1 game, and if your team gets out to a 10-point lead, your bet wins. Talk about a good reason to roll the dice on a few underdogs!
PointsBet: Power Hour Countdown. There is a new promotion every day through Wednesday, September 7! Check back every day at 1 pm ET for a new promotion!
BetRivers: New bettors can enjoy a 2nd chance bet with a max value of $500 when they open an account and make their first deposit.
Beginners' Beat: Don't Chase Your Losses
I'm sure I've talked about this before, but with the college football season underway and the NFL coming soon, it seemed like a good thing to bring up again.
Losing sucks. But it is an inevitable aspect of betting on sports. Show me a bettor who claims he/she has never lost a wager, and either they seldom bet or their dishonest nose is growing. It's disheartening when it happens, and it's really easy to fool yourself into thinking you can make it up next week or on the next game with a bigger bet.
If I'm going to be honest with you guys — maybe you will. But that train of thought goes against something else I've discussed in this section: bet with your head, not your heart. Once you start thinking about betting more to make up for losses, you are not using your head anymore. When rational thought no longer guides your decisions, the chance you will lose grows exponentially.
So, if you lose, mourn your loss for a moment, but get over it. Stick to your plan, and you'll have a better shot at making your money back and then some.
The GTP is done for the week, Adam.
That's it for this edition of the Gaming Today Playbook. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much or more as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any questions or want to request a topic to get covered in a future newsletter, you can reach me via email at travis.pulver@catenamedia.com or via Twitter at @FatManWriting.
To close out the GTP this week, I'd like to share this tidbit from Detroit Lions running back Jamaal Williams:
Bet wisely, my friends, and have a great weekend!
Travis Pulver, Sports Betting Writer