Stay Classy, Boston
Sports betting news and information for bettors by bettors ...
How 'bout those Boston Celtics? After a lackluster effort in Game 2, fans had to be worried going into Game 3. But Boston rebounded with a 116-100 win in front of a raucous home crowd that made sure the Warriors knew they were in a hostile environment. Game 4 is scheduled for Friday night in Boston at 9 p.m. ET, and the Celtics are 4-point favorites, per early betting lines.
There is lots more to talk about in the wide world of sports betting than the NBA Finals, of course ...
NHL fans know one team that will play in the Stanley Cup Finals and could know the other by Saturday night (Tuesday at the latest).
College World Series Super Regional action kicks off Friday afternoon.
Saturday's UFC 275 card features two title fights.
Let's not forget the first tournament in the LIV Golf Invitational Series (which started today).
As usual, it's a busy time for sports betting.
After listening to Klay Thompson’s comments about the “rude” fans at TD Garden “dropping F-bombs with children in the crowd. Real classy, good job Boston,” during Game 3, let’s recognize fans and athletes celebrating the right way — silly but classy.
NBA Finals: Golden State Or Boston?
The odds have shifted in favor of the Celtics after Wednesday night's win. DraftKings now has the Celtics listed at -240 to win the series and the Warriors at +200. That translates into an implied probability of 70.59 percent for Boston and 33.33 percent for Golden State.
Yeah, that doesn't make it look too promising for the Warriors. But Gaming Today’s Craig Williams says bettors may not want to jump off the Golden State bandwagon just yet.
He's got a point. A win in Game 4 will send the odds moving the other way as the Finals essentially become a best-of-three series, with two of those games in San Francisco.
For more on the NBA, check out these articles at GamingToday.com:
Sportsbooks Offer Big Sign-up Bonuses for NBA Finals Betting
Odds To Win NBA Championship 2022: Celtics Take Command At Home, Now Favored Over Warriors
2023 NBA Futures Odds: Warriors, Celtics, Nets Open As Betting Favorites
Stanley Cup Playoffs: Avs Waiting To See Who They Play
The Colorado Avalanche made quick work of the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals with a clean sweep. But it remains to be seen who they will play. Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals is scheduled for tonight at 8:10 p.m. ET, with the New York Rangers hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden.
Each team in the East Finals has won a game by multiple goals and one by a single goal. One thing that has stayed consistent in this series: The home team has won every game. In fact, the Rangers have yet to lose a game at the Garden since the series opener in the first round against Pittsburgh. They are short underdogs tonight, however.
Kris Johnson has you covered on Game 5.
Drama in Pro Golf
When talking about golf, I can't just refer to the PGA Tour anymore with the new LIV Invitational Series getting underway this week. Some of the biggest names in golf have joined the Saudi league — and have been suspended by Tour for it.
Now, the PGA Tour does not run the majors, so we’ll likely see Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Sergio Garcia still competing in those. The USGA announced earlier in the week that golfers playing in the LIV tournament in London will be allowed to play in the U.S. Open next week.
For more on the dramatic world of professional golf, check out these articles at GamingToday.com:
U.S. Open Odds: Tiger's Out, DJ's In, Morikawa Leads Betting Handle At BetMGM
Phil Mickelson Admits To Sports Gambling Addiction As U.S. Open Approaches
Elsewhere In The Wide World Of Sports Betting…
Not feeling the NHL, NBA, or golf? No worries, because there are plenty of options for sports bettors this week.
MLB fans can find the betting lines for the day's games on our MLB odds page.
Are you interested in the latest World Series odds? We've got you covered here.
MLB MVP: It's looking like Aaron Judge may win his first AL MVP. As for the NL, it's shaping up to be a three-player race.
Tennessee is favored to win the CWS, but the No. 1 national seed has won it only once (Miami, 1999), and national seeds have won the CWS only nine times since 1999.
Two title fights are featured on a compelling UFC 275 card in Singapore on Saturday night.
The 154th running of the Belmont Stakes is scheduled for Saturday. We The People is the 2-to-1 morning-line favorite.
The NFL season is just three months away, and Coach of the Year odds are among the markets open for betting.
Like I said, you've got options.
Pulver's Parlay: USFL Week 9
Last week's attempt was better than the previous ones but still a failure. This week I'm presenting a couple of options. I don't see any of these teams slacking off because they are on track for the playoffs, but it is still hard to say how well anyone will play.
Every team can play better than they have. Players on the losing teams need to ensure they have a roster spot next year, either in the USFL or XFL.
It is clear who the better teams are in most of the weekend's matchups. The Generals shouldn't have too much trouble against the Panthers. The Stallions should handle the Gamblers with ease, and the Stars should cruise over Maulers. Whether they can cover the spreads is tough to judge.
The only close contest figures to be Bandits vs. Breakers. While I like the Bandits, it is hard to ignore how bad the Breakers crushed Tampa Bay in Week 2 (34-3). The football fan in me wants to see the Bandits win, so Week 10 will have some meaning, but I don't see it happening.
Here are my parlays for Week 9 of the USFL season:
Generals (-350 ML), Stallions (-600 ML), and Stars (-380 ML), Breakers -3 (-115)
Generals -7.5 (-115), Stallions -12.5 (-110), Stars -8.5 (-110), Breakers -3 (-115)
The first four-team parlay would pay out at +254 odds. The second four-teamer, +1173.
Sportsbook Promotions: June 9, 2022
The following are some of the promotions sportsbooks are running that could come in handy this weekend:
Caesars: UFC Parlay Insurance. Place a 4+ leg parlay on UFC 275, and if you lose exactly one leg, receive a free bet equal to your stake, up to $25.
FanDuel: Place $5+ SGP Wager(s) on any NBA Finals Game(s), and if you have a winning bet with the longest odds, get $30 n free bets. Plus, earn free bets if you don't win but finish in the Top 100.
DraftKings: New users, bet $5 on the NBA Finals and get $150 in site credits.
BetMGM: Overtime Insurance. If you bet on a team to win in the NBA Finals or NHL Playoffs and they lose in overtime, receive your original stake back, up to $25 in free bets.
Beginner's Beat: Three Ways Sportsbooks Present Odds And How To Convert Them
You may see odds expressed in these three forms: fraction, American (+ or -), and decimal. In the U.S., you will typically see +/ - odds, but that is not always the case. You may see, for example, the Celtics at 5/1 to win the 2023 NBA Finals, which is just a different expression of +500.
Books in Europe, Australia, and Canada typically list odds as decimals. Using the same Celtics example, Boston’s 2023 futures odds are expressed 6.0 in decimal form, because this form of expression includes a bettor’s original $1 wager. The $5 profit is the same.
So, what do you do if odds come in one form and you want to see them in another? Your sportsbook app may allow you to toggle between the different expressions, and you can also use our handy odds converter.
Follow the link and plug in ‘5/1’ in the fractional odds and hit enter, and you'll see that the American odds are +500, and the decimal odds are 6.0. You’ll also see implied probability of 16.67%.
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.
This week I'd like to leave you with these words from W.C. Fields:
“Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.”
So true. So true.
Until Next Week,
Travis Pulver, Sports Betting Writer