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, Aug. 10:
TOP PLAY
The play: NFL preseason, Texans at Patriots over 36.5
The odds: -110
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: 7 p.m. (NFL Network)
Our take: First things first, we do not advocate getting deep in betting NFL preseason – or any preseason games – for that matter.
However, one thing we noticed last year, and we think it will carry over to 2023: Overs early in the exhibition season.
In 2021 in the first week, scores were low and unders rolled against totals set by the books that seemed to be closer to regular-season averages. Last year, they overcompensated, as not a single total was higher than 37.5, and this first week, the totals are slightly higher but not by enough. In the end, the overs hit in Week 1 by a rate of 12-4.
In Houston, expect Texans starters to get a significant amount of playing time, especially rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. Meanwhile, the Patriots haven’t scored fewer than 21 points in their preseason opener since 2015.
MLB PARLAY OF BIG FAVES
The play: MLB money-line parlay, Dodgers over Rockies and Red Sox over Royals
The odds: -130
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Our take: We have done well with our favorite parlays, and it has been a while since we took one of these.
Here, Clayton Kershaw is going against the Rockies, and at -405 or so, it is nearly unplayable to take the Dodgers by themselves. We’ll pair them with the Red Sox, who are taking on a Kansas City team that is sending a young Austin Cox to the hill for his second career start with no wins in 15 previous appearances.
HOW WE’VE FARED
PGA FedEx St. Jude Classic: Jon Rahm to finish in top 10 (PENDING)
PGA FedEx St. Jude Classic: Matt Fitzpatrick to finish in top 20 (PENDING)
Wednesday’s profit/loss: 0-0, 2 pending
Total for the week: 1-3, 2 pending
Total for August: 7-11, 2 pending
Total for 2023: 181-205, 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, $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).
