Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer.
Here are our best bets for Wednesday, Oct. 19:
TOP PLAY
The play: NBA money line, Pelicans to defeat Nets
The odds/bet: +130 ($30 to win $39)
The book: DraftKings
Time/TV: 7:40 p.m. (Bally Sports NO)
Our take: There has been a ton of hype placed on both these teams in the offseason, and now Ben Simmons is going to help take all the dysfunction out of Brooklyn? Wait, Kyrie Irving can play at home now, so that’s another reason, right smarty pants?
Think again. If these Pelicans are as good as many of the pundits think they are – (Wait, are we pundits, too?) – then they’re going to be able to not only be able to hold their own against some of the so-called best in the NBA, they’ll be able to win a lot of those games, as well. Why not in the season opener?
We saw how well New Orleans did without Zion at the end of last year, and now he is projected to score somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 points. Meanwhile, this pick is as much against Brooklyn as it is for the Pels.
We think the season gets off to a rip-roaring start, because frankly, we think the New Orleans is a value in all sorts of future bets, and they get a chance to prove it tonight.
SAY WHAT IN ACLS GAME 1?
The play: ALCS Game 1, Yankees over Astros
The odds/bet: +165 ($10 to win $16.50)
The book: DraftKings
Time/TV: 7:30 p.m. (TBS)
Our take: “Are you nuts?” Well, sir or madam, we aren’t. Yes, we get that the Astros won five out of the seven meetings this year. Yes, we also understand that the Yankees are playing on the road about 24 hours in which they had to play a decisive game in the ALDS to advance. Yes, we get they are probably hungover.
Here’s the thing we’re counting on: Houston hasn’t played a whole lot of baseball in the past couple weeks – having only been a part of three games since their regular-season finale on Oct. 5, while the Yankees had to fight and scratch the past week. We think that’s to the Bombers’ advantage.
Besides, anyone who has followed this column (in which we have won 23 of 33 picks this month so far) knows we love to fade the public, and the public is all over Houston (We’re leaving Mattress Mack out of it). There is great value of 1.65-1 on the Yanks taking Game 1, and we love value almost as much as we love betting against Aunt Mabel.
HOW WE’VE FARED
MLB playoffs line: Phillies over Padres (WON $30)
MLB playoffs player prop: Padres’ Yu Darvish over 5.5 strikeouts (WON $10)
Tuesday’s profit/loss: +$40 (2-0)
Total for the week: +$80 (4-0)
Total for October: +$285.20 (23-10)
Total for 2022: +$84.50 (268-293)
NOTE: If a line or odds are minus, it considers the juice one must lay to place the bet. Ex: Team A is -160 on the money line, one would have to bet $160 to win $100 (or $16 to win $10). OR Team B is a 5-point favorite at -110, one would have to bet $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10).
