Forget preseason NFL, baseball still the better bet

All Michael Fulmer does is win every time out.

LAS VEGAS -- It sure was awesome seeing those NFL uniforms on the field for the first time over the weekend and the Rams back in Los Angeles.

There’s no denying the power pro football has over most of us, and seeing all those odds on the board made any of the games a major attraction at Vegas sportsbooks.

People just love betting football, but let’s be careful not to forget about baseball where the games are meaningful and just starting to get intense with only seven weeks to go until the postseason begins.

Even with the MLB teams that are out of contention there are still a few starting pitchers – such as Cincinnati’s Dan Straily (+10.7 units) – that are dealing as if they’re in a pennant race.

The sportsbooks have been waiting for the preseason to start to take away some of their daily risk on baseball. The more you bet from your bankroll on preseason games where there is a 20-cent split on the spread, fixed odds on parlay pay charts and choosing sides that are featuring second and third strong players deciding your fate, the more the books love it. They want baseball risk to be limited with its 10-cent lines, true parlay payouts and hot pitchers.

Don’t let the books off the hook just yet. Keep firing away in MLB action. I have friends who love betting the preseason and say they do well with it because of the QB rotations and coaching tendencies.

In the first week of action it looked like a bunch of randomness with exception to Denver’s sick defense shutting out the Bears, 22-0, and Mike Zimmer’s Vikings winning again in the preseason to make him 9-1 in exhibitions as a head coach.

With baseball we’ve got some pitchers that get after it every game and have been piling up lots of money for bettors that have simply been riding them each time out.

Baltimore’s Chris Tillman doesn’t have the metrics to be considered for the AL Cy Young Award, but all the guy does is win and he’s carried the Orioles on his back all year. The O’s have won 20 of his 25 starts for +15.6 units of profit and because he doesn’t have the metrics like a Clayton Kershaw or Cole Hamels, he’s relatively cheap each time out. No starter has earned more money than him.

Detroit has won 16 of Michael Fulmer’s 19 starts and he has the metrics to compare with the best, but yet he’s still underpriced by about 25 cents each time out. His pitcher rating the sportsbooks have been using on him is similar to Tampa Bay’s Drew Smyly. If you’ve been betting Fulmer every time out you’re up +15.4 units.

Read More Here....Gaming Today

Friday MLB Play of Day: Texas Rangers at Houton Astros - 8:10 pm ET

Dallas Keuchel has had a rough go of it lately, especially against Texas.

Lefties square off at Minute Maid Park

Martin Perez (7-7, 4.22 ERA) doesn't like the road too much and Texas has gone 5-12 in their last 17 games overall, but I like what I saw out of Perez in his last start that helped me forget his miserable previous four starts. He allowed only one run to KC in seven innings. Texas has now won 10 of his past 13 starts. 

The last time the Rangers (63-46) were in Texas in May, they swept. They won eight straight against the Astros until losing June 8. Overall, Texas is 9-1 against them in 2016. It's basically the differential between the Rangers being in first and the Astros 6.5 games back. One more note: the Rangers are 30-16 in the last 46 meetings at Minute Maid Park. 

Houston has lost its last three games started by Dallas Keuchel (6-11, 4.92), including his last start at Detroit where he gave up seven runs. Houston (56-52) is 2-8 in their last 10 and and have lost its last three. Oh yeah, Keuchel has lost all three starts against Texas this year. 

Let's go with the Rangers to win in a high scoring game. The top play here is Texas (+156) and a secondary play is on the OVER (8.5).

Updated Las Vegas World Series odds to win (8/3/16)

Detroit Tigers are rolling and look like decent value at 20/1 odds to win World Series.

Below is a list of the current future odds to win the 2016 World Series. The Chicago Cubs are the current favorites to win the 2016 World Series (7/2) at William Hill’s 106 Nevada Sports Books and on the Mobile Sports app.

   

@WILLIAMHILLUS ODDS TO WIN 2016 WORLD SERIES	Opening Odds (11/3/15)	Odds on (6/28/16)	Current odds (8/3/16)
NEW YORK METS	10/1	18/1	22/1
CHICAGO CUBS	10/1	+280	7/2
KANSAS CITY ROYALS	10/1	22/1	100/1
LOS ANGELES DODGERS	10/1	15/1	10/1
TORONTO BLUE JAYS	10/1	18/1	17/2
ST LOUIS CARDINALS	12/1	16/1	20/1
HOUSTON ASTROS	12/1	20/1	20/1
PITTSBURGH PIRATES	12/1	75/1	100/1
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS	12/1	5/1	5/1
TEXAS RANGERS	12/1	5/1	11/2
WASHINGTON NATIONALS	12/1	8/1	15/2
NEW YORK YANKEES	15/1	70/1	500/1
LOS ANGELES ANGELS	25/1	300/1	500/1
BOSTON RED SOX	25/1	12/1	12/1
SEATTLE MARINERS	25/1	28/1	75/1
MINNESOTA TWINS	25/1	2500/1	5000/1
CLEVELAND INDIANS	25/1	10/1	11/2
BALTIMORE ORIOLES	25/1	12/1	15/1
DETROIT TIGERS	25/1	30/1	20/1
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS	40/1	250/1	1500/1
TAMPA BAY RAYS	40/1	250/1	5000/1
CHICAGO WHITE SOX	40/1	28/1	125/1
CINCINNATI REDS	50/1	2500/1	5000/1
SAN DIEGO PADRES	50/1	1500/1	5000/1
OAKLAND ATHLETICS	50/1	500/1	1500/1
MIAMI MARLINS	75/1	30/1	18/1
MILWAUKEE BREWERS	75/1	1000/1	3000/1
ATLANTA BRAVES	100/1	5000/1	9999/1
COLORADO ROCKIES	150/1	75/1	100/1
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES	250/1	300/1	500/1

Tuesday MLB Bet of the Day: Reds at Giants

Matt Cain struggling a reason to side with OVER tonight.

The Giants have lost eight of nine games since the All-star break and heading into Tuesday's action, their once comfortable lead in the NL West has shrunk to only 2.5 games over the Dodgers. They'll try to shake the funk tonight at AT&T Park behind Matt Cain who is a -130 favorite over Cincinnati and left-hander Corey Reed.

The good news for the Giants (58-41) is that the last time Cain (1-6, 5.88 ERA) was favored, they won (June 13 at Milwaukee). The bad news is that Cain couldn't make it out of third inning Wednesday at Fenway Park as he served up three homers and allowed five runs. There's a lot more bad news with Cain, such as allowing lefties to .352 off him and Cincinnati has a couple of hot lefties hitting with Jay Bruce belting his 22nd and 23rd home runs in last night's 7-5 win and Joey Votto extending his hit streak to 10 games. Bruce's 77 RBIs are tied for the NL lead.

A wager on San Francisco in its current form behind Cain doesn't sound attractive at all, especially with the Reds playing well lately winning six of its last eight games. Taking a price with Cain is one thing, but laying it is borderline crazy. But the Reds are no bargain taking +120, either.

Yes, Cincinnati (39-60) is playing well but Reed (0-4, 6.75) has had some issues with the biggest being the team has lost all six of his starts. Five of those starts have gone OVER the total with him being a big part of the reason coupled with a Reds bullpen closing out his games, a bullpen with a 5.34 ERA that is historically one of the worst ever.

Tonight's total is set at a low of 8 (OV -125) at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook with the majority of other books using 8.5 (UN -120).

The total looks like the best angle to play in this one. Let's go OVER 8 runs and hope these two starters do what they have been doing consistently all season -- allowing lots of hits.

MLB Weekend Series Prices and Selections

Angels have lost eight straight to Houston, but are on 6-game win streak. 

The Aliante sports book in Las Vegas has posted odds on the 11 baseball series that begin Friday night, so let's jump right in and see where the best value might be presented based on recent trends and pitchers scheduled to start.

Phillies (+240) at Pirates (-300)
Rotation: Eflin/Cole, Nola/Glasnow, Velasquez/Taillon
Notes: The Pirates are only three games out of a wild card spot and have to take advantage of teams like Philly if they want postseason play for the fourth straight year. They've won 11 of the past 14 meetings including a sweep at PNC Park in June.
Series pick: Pirates

Padres (+320) at Nationals (-400)
Rotation: Perdoma/Roark, Jackson/Scherzer, Friedrich/undecided
Notes: These teams split a four-game series in San Diego last month with all four games going OVER the total. Washington should get a quick leg up on the series Friday behind Tanner Roark. The Nats have won eight of his last nine starts, including the last four. The Padres have lost seven of their last 10 at Nationals Park.
Series pick: Nationals

Diamondbacks (+105) at Reds (-125)
Rotation: Bradley/Straily, Ray/Sampson, Godley/Finnegan
Notes: Arizona has lost 15 of its last 19 games while the Reds have won four of six during their current homestand, winning series against Milwaukee and Atlanta. The only positive for Arizona this weekend is being on the road where they are 23-20 (+8.6 units). Still, the D'Backs have packed it in. Arizona's best shot at a win will be Saturday behind Robbie Ray.
Series pick: Reds

Read More Here.....All Series Price and Selections on TheLinemakers.com

Friday Night MLB Bet of Day: Mets need to take advantage of Phillies

Bartolo Colon allowed two runs or less in eight of past nine starts.

Mets at Phillies - 7:05 pm PT
Line: Mets -125, total: 9

The Mets may be six games out of first-place in the NL East, but being 47-41 at the break might be exactly where they want to be. They were 47-42 at this stage last season and then went 43-30 down the stretch to win the division and eventually made the World Series. To kick off the Mets second-half run, Bartolo Colon is a -125 road favorite against the Phillies (39-47) and Jeremy Hellickson.

Colon (7-4, 3.33 ERA) didn't have his best outing last time out, but still was able to pick up the 9-7 win against the Nationals. In 4.2 innings of work, the Nats hit him harder than anyone this season tagging him for 10 hits, six runs and three homers. The outing halted an eight game run where the hefty 43-year old had allowed two runs of less while the Mets went 6-2 behind him, including outdueling Jake Arrieta July 2 in a 4-3 win against the Cubs.

Hellickson (6-6, 3.92) is currently on the best run of his season allowing one earned run in each of his past three starts -- all Philly wins. The Phillies had lost his six prior starts. He's faced the Mets twice this season and the Phils won both games, including a 5-4 win April 20 against Colon.

The Mets lost three straight before the break, but now it's go time. They're going to have to win series and games like this the rest of the way if they want postseason action again. Losing to Philly right out of the gate wouldn't be the message they want to send to their fans or themselves.

Let's go with the Mets to win and get their roll started. They should be a very profitable team over the next three weeks.

Second-half MLB projections: What team makes that epic run to playoffs?

The Indians are considered favorites to win the American League.

LAS VEGAS — The first-half of the season is in the rear view mirror and the second half of the season starts Friday, so its a perfect time to speculate what might happen the rest of the way. What teams currently leading the division will falter down the stretch like the the Angels and Nationals did in 2015 and what teams will make an incredible second half surge to a playoff birth like the Mets, Cubs, Rangers and Blue Jays did last year? We have a few ideas so let's glance through each division.

AL EAST (Westgate World Series odds: TOR 12/1, BOS 12/1, BAL 12/1, NYY 100/1, TB 1,000/1)
The opening odds to win division at MGM Resorts showed the AL East was expected to be the most competitive division and at the halfway point it's the only division with its second-place team being less than 5.5 games back. Baltimore has a two-game lead over the Red Sox and Blue Jays and 7.5-game lead over the Yankees.

The Orioles were 4-to-1 to win the division when the season started behind co-favorites Boston and Toronto at 2-to-1. The Red Sox bats have been incredible with an MLB-leading .292 average and 5.6 runs a game, but the pitching is horrendous, allowing 4.9 runs a game. The Blue Jays bats have woken up lately and they have a good enough rotation to be able to win the division for the second consecutive year. The Orioles have some bats too, but even with Chris Tillman working wonders every five days, their rotation ranks No. 28 with a 5.15 ERA. Look for Toronto to edge out Boston for the division crown and Boston to play in the wild card game.

Read More Here........all projected division winners on TheLinemakers.com

What's next for the Fertitta Brothers after UFC sale?

Lorenzo, Dana and Frank made a great team with UFC.

LAS VEGAS -- You have to admire the brilliance of brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta who bought a once struggling UFC for $2 million in 2000 and sold it Monday for $4 billion to Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG.

That’s an amazing 200,000 percent return on investment, and if you’ve been around Las Vegas for the past two decades you’ve seen their genius in action several times as they grew Station Casinos from the hole-in-the-wall Bingo Palace on Sahara Avenue into a giant as the premiere locals chain of casinos with 19 properties.

The brothers’ magic touch in both cases was marketing and giving the public what they wanted. For gamblers at their casinos, they listened to everything that would make visits more regular and comfortable. They analyzed the situation and realized the gamblers wanted to be appreciated – not just those with big money on the blackjack tables, but also the nickel slot players who played daily.

They introduced a players club and rewards program that soon everyone in town followed after seeing the success and rise Station was having. Revenues soared and the brothers re-invested in the company by building more casinos.

They dominated their locals market and followed the same plan with the UFC. They were able to market globally with the UFC and found people wanted more, everywhere – Ireland, Brazil, Germany, Poland and Russia. They brought in longtime friend and Bishop Gorman high school buddy Dana White to run the UFC because of his energy and no nonsense attitude. The trio created a market when there was none. When the UFC was at its highest peak of value, they got out at the right time, while still holding a minority ownership.

Read More Here.........Gaming Today

National League MLB All-Star Game Woes Continue?

Las Vegas Bryce Harper will try to win his first All-Star Game

The American League comes into Tuesday's Major League Baseball All-Star Star Game on three-game win streak, but it's the National League who come in as the short -115 favorite. The AL has rolled to a 15-4-1 record in its last 20 All-Star Games, but it's the NL who lead 43-41 all-time since the first Midsummer classic in 1933.

You're best bet for wagering on the game is to drop your regular bankroll at least 20 percent of what you normally bet for a real game. It's an exhibition and while each side wants to win to give home field to their league's World Series participant, I know the players don't care as much about winning as they do daily with their own clubs.

Read More Here.....Free selections on Sporting News

Thursday MLB Bet of Day: Jays have lost last eight at home behind Dickey

Indians can tie franchise record with 13th straight win tonight.

LAS VEGAS -- We've got a couple streaks going in opposite directions when the Indians begin a four-game series tonight at Toronto. Cleveland (47-30, +10.8 units of profit) has won 12 straight and its last lost was when the Cavaliers were down 3-2 in the NBA Finals. Should they win tonight they'll tie a franchise record 13-game win streak set in 1951 and 1942. Another Indians win would also mean that the Blue Jays (43-37, -3.1) will have lost nine straight at home behind knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Despite the lengthy win streak by Cleveland, Toronto still comes in as the -135 favorite to win the series. Carlos Carrasco (3-2, 2.73 ERA) opens the series tonight against Dickey (5-8, 4.23) as a -115 favorite. On Friday, Marcus Stroman will face Josh Tomlin. Saturday will see Marco Estrada against Trevor Bauer and the finale on Sunday will have J.A. Happ against Corey Kluber.

During the 12-game win streak, Cleveland's starters have gone 9-0 with a 1.91 ERA and have been able to cruise in most of the games as the offense has outscored the opposition by a 75-25 combined score.

Carrasco's last start came Saturday at Detroit where he pitched a complete-game, 6-0 shutout. The Indians have won seven of his nine starts this season and he's allowed only seven runs in five road starts (1.95 ERA).

On the other side we have Dickey who the Blue Jays have lost 11 of 16 games behind with all five wins coming on the road, including his last start at Chicago where he gave up four runs in 5.1 innings, but beat the White Sox, 10-8. His home ERA is at a Rocky 5.36.

This is a big moment for Toronto who ended a 2-6 run by winning the past two days at Colorado, but between the Indians win streak where the starters have dominated and Carrasco being a major factor in two of those 12 wins, it's hard to find any reason to support Dickey and his poor home luck at home.

Let's go with the Indians to win again tonight and also take +115 to win the series.

Tuesday MLB Bet of the Day: Greinke, Eickhoff square off again

Arizona is 12-4 behind Zack Greinke this season....all 4 losses at home.

LAS VEGAS -- There's no place like home, unless you're the Diamondbacks, who have posted a 13-26 mark at Chase Field, including last night's 8-0 lackluster loss to the Phillies. But tonight the odds are in Arizona's favor to buck the trend as Zack Greinke (10-3, 3.61 ERA) is a -180 favorite against Jerad Eickhoff (5-9, 3.36) in the second of a three-game set.

Arizona (36-43, -5.59 units of profit) had just just come off a 10-game road trip where they posted franchise best 7-3 record boosting them to a 23-17 road mark. Four of those wins came in a sweep at Philadelphia, including a 4-1 Greinke win 10 days ago against Eickhoff. It was Greinke's seventh straight win and in his next start Thursday at Coors Field, he got a no-decision in the Diamondbacks 8-7 win.

During Arizona's eight game win streak behind Greinke, he has a 2.18 ERA and opponents are hitting just .191 against him with a .224 on-base percentage. However, the home and away disparity exists with Greinke as well who is 5-3 with a 5.06 ERA at home and is 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA on the road. Arizona is 12-4 behind Greinke this season with all four losses coming at Chase Field.

Read More Here....selection on TheLinemakers.com

MLB Betting Notes: Rangers best profit margin club

Rangers were first team to 50 wins on the season.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship, it gave Major League Baseball center stage by itself in Las Vegas sportsbooks and what a first week it was as the feature attraction.

Several storylines have popped up to grip the attention of the most casual of fans, at least until pre-season football begins in August.

The Cubs, Nationals and Mets have all experienced some rough patches lately while the Indians, Rangers and Astros keep winning. The Rays have shown you count on betting against them nightly with an 11-game losing streak through Sunday and Clayton Kershaw finally lost a game after 10 straight Dodgers wins behind him.

Dead part of the betting calendar year? That’s absolute crazy talk, especially if you jump on the wagon with some of these teams rolling through streaks.

The best thing about betting baseball is the 10-cent splits – eight cents at Aliante – and true odds in parlay payouts. Football and basketball have 20-cent splits with a pointspread and use pay charts on parlays.

This is the time of the year that sportsbook directors hold their collective breaths with hopes of escaping with a small win until preseason football starts. It can be extremely volatile when popular teams keep winning together.

Fortunately for the books over the past week, some of those top teams kept large parlay payouts to a minimum because the teams kept losing regularly in a June swoon.

Last Sunday the Cubs had the best record in baseball (47-20) after sweeping the Pirates, but then they went into a season-worst, four-game losing streak, including getting swept at home by St. Louis, and eventually lost six of seven for the week.

In the process, the Rangers were in the middle of winning 10 of 12 games and their 49-27 record is now the best in baseball.

Texas has won 18 of 24 June games for a profit margin of +13 units and their +29.1 units on the season is 12.1 units better than the second most profitable team, San Francisco (+17).

What’s amazing about the Rangers is they’ve been crushing June with three of their starting pitchers on the disabled list. The other thing bettors can trust with Texas is that they’ve won their last nine games coming off a loss.

It’s one of the best situational trends going.

The other trend to follow has been just betting on the Indians to win, especially when they play Detroit. Following the weekend scalping of the Tigers at Comerica Park by a 22-8 combined score, the Indians have now gone 9-0 against the Tigers this season.

Sunday’s 9-3 win was also their ninth win in a row and made them 18-6 for the month to extend their lead over Kansas City to five games in the AL Central.

Read More Here....Gaming Today

Friday MLB Play of the Day: Giants at Cardinals

Johnny Cueto has +8.3 units of profit this season, second-best in MLB.

Line: Giants -108 Total: 7.5 (under -120)

LAS VEGAS -- Who is the best team in baseball? You might be inclined to say the Cubs based on their MLB-best 37-15 record and +2.6 margin of victory per game, but I'll take my chances in any debate with the Giants, who look like strong candidates to win their fourth straight World Series in an even numbered year (2010, 2012 and 2014).

A big part of the reason the Giants (34-22, +9.03 units of profit) look like good bet at 7-to-1 to win the World Series is because of Johnny Cueto (8-1, 2.31 ERA) who takes the mound tonight at St. Louis as a slight -108 favorite over Adam Wainwright (5-3, 5.71). San Francisco has won 10 of Cueto's 11 starts this season, including his last seven and all six of his road starts. In eight of his starts he's allowed two runs or less, and he's done it in his last five.

Read More Here......on TheLinemakers.com

Royals-to-OVER parlay has cashed eight of last nine games

Eric Hosmer has has 12 RBIs during Royals' six-game win streak.

LAS VEGAS -- The Royals have an incredible streak currently going for side-to-total parlay bettors as they begin a four-game series at Cleveland tonight where the Indians are -170 favorites to win at least three of the games. In tonight's opener, Carlos Carrasco — fresh off the DL — is a -160 favorite over Yordano Ventura with a total set at 7.5-flat.

Kansas City (30-22, +8.01 units) has won six straight with home sweeps over the White Sox and Rays to take a two game lead in the AL Central, a division where the top four teams are separated by only five games. Cleveland (27-24, -2.31) has lost four of its past six games — all six went OVER, but have an impressive 14-7 record against AL Central teams.

The interesting part about the Royals run for bettors is that while winning eight of its last nine, all nine games went OVER the total. That's eight of the last nine games where the Royals-to-OVER parlay cashed. The team has hit a red-hot .358 over that span.

Read More Here.......TheLinemakers.com with the free plays on KC/CLEV

William Hill odds to win 2016 MLB MVP and Cy Young Awards

Las Vegan Bryce Harper is having everyone belive he is the next coming of greatness in MLB.

AL/NL CY YOUNG & MVP UPDATED ODDS AND TRENDS

Below are two charts showing the current odds and trends for the top 5 players to win the AL/NL CY Young and the top 10 players to win AL/NL MVP award at William Hill’s 105 Nevada Sports Book and on the Mobile Sports app. The percentage of total dollars wagered are also listed in the chart for each category. Bettors currently favor Clayton Kershaw (51%) and Chris Sale (48%) the most by total dollars wagered to win the NL/AL CY Young award. Bryce Harper (82%) and Jose Altuve (65%) are being backed the most at William Hill to win the NL/AL MVP award.

@WILLIAMHILLUS ODDS TO WIN 2016 NL CY YOUNG	Current Odds (4/26/16)	% of total $’s Wagered @WILLIAMHILLUS	@WILLIAMHILLUS ODDS TO WIN 2016 AL CY YOUNG	Current Odds (4/26/16)	% of total $’s Wagered @WILLIAMHILLUS
CLAYTON KERSHAW	3/2	51%	CHRIS SALE	7/5	48%
JAKE ARREITA	3/2	40%	SONNY GRAY	17/2	38%
FIELD	4/1	5%	FIELD	+225	8%
MADISON BUMGARNER	12/1	2%	DAVID PRICE	10/1	3%
JOHNNY CUETO	25/1	2%	DALLAS KEUCHEL	10/1	2%

@WILLIAMHILLUS ODDS TO WIN 2016 NL MVP	Current Odds (4/26/16)	% of total $’s Wagered @WILLIAMHILLUS	@WILLIAMHILLUS ODDS TO WIN 2016 AL MVP	Current Odds (4/26/16)	% of total $’s Wagered @WILLIAMHILLUS
BRYCE HARPER	EVEN	82%	JOSE ALTUVE	15/2	65%
ANTHONY RIZZO	12/1	7%	CHRIS SALE	20/1	15%
CLAYTON KERSHAW	25/1	3%	MANNY MACHADO	11/2	5%
NOLAN ARENADO	18/1	2%	MOOKIE BETTS	40/1	4%
KRIS BRYANT	17/2	1%	JOSH DONALDSON	5/1	3%
FIELD	4/1	1%	JOSE ABREU	18/1	3%
ANDREW MCCUTCHEN	12/1	1%	CARLOS CORREA	4/1	2%
BUSTER POSEY	10/1	1%	MIGUEL CABRERA	30/1	1%
JASON HEYWARD	75/1	1%	EDWIN ENCARNACION	50/1	1%
PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT	15/1	1%	MIKE TROUT	5/2	1%