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 Thursday, Nov. 24:
TOP PLAY
The play: NFL, Giants +10 over Cowboys
The odds/bet: -110 ($33 to win $30)
The book: Caesars Sportsbook
Time/TV: 4:30 p.m. (FOX)
Our take: This line continues to rise and rise and rise. (Disclaimer that this pick is being made on Wednesday afternoon, so we could see a dip below double digits by game time.)
Let’s face reality: Dallas isn’t nearly as good as they looked last week in exposing a battered and bruised Minnesota offensive line. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have the seventh-worst run defense in the NFL, which should open up lanes for Saquon Barkley, who inexplicably rushed the ball only 14 times in the first matchup in Week 3 for 81 yards and a touchdown.
As casual bettors normally do, they put way too much stock in what they just saw, and what they saw was the aforementioned rout of the Vikings for Dallas and the Giants losing to Detroit.
While we’re not advocating taking the G-Men on the money line, we do think they’ll hang around until the end.
THANKSGIVING TOTAL
The play: NFL total, Bills-Lions over 54.5 points
The odds/bet: -110 ($11 to win $10)
The book: Caesars Sportsbook
Time/TV: 12:30 p.m. (CBS)
Our take: It’s not a surprise Buffalo has been far from dominant in November, as this is almost identical to the poor stretch they went through last year. But even in moments of showing they’re human, they still have moments of ridiculousness.
This could be one of those ridiculous offensive days for Josh Allen against a really bad Lions defense. And it doesn’t hurt they played at Ford Field last week and are more than comfortable with their surroundings. Meanwhile, we like the Bills to cover, but we really like a ton of points being scored here, as it wouldn’t be a shock for Buffalo to put up 45 or so by themselves.
HOW WE’VE FARED
NOTE: Due to the holiday, this column was written and set to publish before the end of any action Wednesday. We will fully update our totals in Friday’s Best Bets.
NBA: Spurs +7.5 over Pelicans (PENDING)
World Cup: Canada to defeat or tie Belgium (PENDING)
Wednesday’s profit/loss: TBA (TBA)
Total for the week: -$14 (2-2, 2 pending)
Total for November: +$200.20 (24-19, 2 pending)
Total for 2022: +$216.50 (303-325, 2 pending)
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.)
Conversely, on positive lines, if Team C is +140 on the money line, a $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).
