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.
For those who haven’t signed up yet: New users can bet $5 at FanDuel Sportsbook and get $100 in bonus bets.
Here are our best bets for Wednesday, July 19:
TOP PLAY
The play: British Open, Jordan Spieth to finish in the top 20
The odds/bet: +140 ($30 to win $42)
The book: Caesars Sportsbook
Our take: Here’s your “flying under the radar” kind of pick for the week.
No question Spieth has been anything but the Jordan Spieth we thought he was getting back to earlier this season. But if any non-European knows how to tackle the conditions we’ll see at Royal Liverpool this week, it’s him.
He has four top-10 finishes in his last five outings with the outlier being a tie for 20th in 2019 at Royal Portrush. He has five overall top-10s in nine overall outings with no worse finish than 44th, and that came in his first try in 2013.
Spieth knows how to play in Britain, and his short game will help keep him in contention all the way through Sunday. It might not be enough to win, but this price seems like a freebie to finish top 20.
BRITISH OPEN WINNER
The play: British Open, Rory McIlroy to win
The odds/bet: +800 ($10 to win $80)
The book: DraftKings
Our take: In this case, we saved the best for last. I tried very hard not to like Rory this week. I came up with all sorts of reasons why he won’t win: He won last week, favorites rarely come through in golf, he has been stuck on four majors for nine years … and on and on.
But then I came back to: McIlroy simply is the best golfer in the field this week, and he’s basically at home. Royal Liverpool is the site of his only other Open championship in 2014, and that win last week at the Scottish Open shows that he’s ready to play in whatever weather conditions come at him this week.
Don’t love the odds – even for a favorite – but even so, there’s still some value.
HOW WE’VE FARED
Tuesday’s best bets
MLB total: Tigers at Royals under 8.5 runs (LOST $36)
MLB money line: Padres over Blue Jays (WON $10)
Tuesday’s profit/loss: -$26 (1-1)
Total for the week: -$70 (1-3)
Total for July: -$97.50 (13-18)
Total for 2023: -$486.30 (163-181)
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).
