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.
A reminder for those who haven’t signed up yet: New users can get a no sweat first bet at FanDuel Sportsbook, meaning that if your first bet loses, you get up to $1,000 back in bonus bets.
Here are our best bets for Monday, August 14:
TOP PLAY
The play: MLB, Braves (-1.5 run line) over Yankees
The odds/bet: -105 ($31.50 to win $30)
The book: Caesars Sportsbook
Time/TV: 7:20 p.m. (MLB Extra Innings)
Our take: Betting on the Atlanta Braves usually doesn’t result in much value since they have the best record in MLB, but we found a play tonight that does.
The Braves will be facing a struggling New York Yankees team whose lineup simply doesn’t strike fear into opponents despite having Aaron Judge back, and the Braves will have one of their top starting pitchers on the mound in Max Fried.
The Yankees will have a quality starting pitcher of their own going in Clarke Schmidt, but he’ll likely run into trouble at some point against a loaded Braves lineup that rarely has an off night.
MLB RUN TOTAL PARLAY
The play: MLB, Mariners at Royals UNDER eight runs, Diamondbacks at Rockies OVER 11.5 runs
The odds/bet: +264 ($10 to win $26.40)
The book: Caesars Sportsbook
Time/TV: Mariners at Royals 8:10 p.m. (MLB Extra Innings) Diamondbacks at Rockies 9:40 p.m. (FS1)
Our take: We’ve got a parlay here involving two games that we see going in opposite directions as far as the amount of runs scored.
The Mariners better lately, but it’s been more due to their pitching than their lineup, and they’ll likely be involved in another pitcher’s duel tonight since Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer tends to pitch well at home.
As for the next matchup, the Diamondbacks lineup should feast on struggling Rockies starting pitcher Chris Flexen to where they might hit the over by themselves even if the Rockies struggle to score.
HOW WE’VE FARED
Sunday’s best bets
- EPL, Chelsea vs. Liverpool UNDER 2.5 total goals (WON $39)
- EPL, Son Heung-Min anytime goalscorer vs. Brentford (LOST $10)
- FedEx St. Jude Classic, Jon Rahm to finish in the top 10 (LOST $31.50)
- FedEx St. Jude Classic, Matt Fitzpatrick to finish in the top 20 (LOST $10)
Sunday’s profit/loss: -$12.50 (1-3)
Total for the week: -$45 (7-9)
Total for August: -$108 (12-17)
Total for 2023: -$625.50 (186-211)
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).
