Twice weekly, we’ll comb through as many articles, tweets and podcasts as we can find related to the world of sports betting and daily fantasy sports, and publish the good stuff here.
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Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission said it will attempt to block the merger between FanDuel and DraftKings.
The regulatory body said it would file a suit, together with California and Washington, D.C., in an effort to temporarily stop the two, who own 90 percent of the daily fantasy business, from combining into what its officials believe would be an illegal monopoly.
“The proposed merger would deprive customers of the substantial benefits of direct competition between DraftKings and FanDuel,” said Tad Lipsky, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.
After the Mayweather-McGregor fight was made official last week, sportsbooks in Las Vegas took a lot of small bets on the underdog McGregor before some big money came in on Mayweather.
So, as is typical for prize fights, public bettors flocked to risk small amounts of money for the chance at a big payoff. Jason Simbal, vice president of risk at CG Technology, told Covers.com that action on McGregor increased when the fight was made official, but those bets were of the $10, $20 and $50 variety.
When the accumulation of those bets prompted CG to adjust Mayweather’s odds from -1000 to -900, big bets started coming in on the favorite, including one for $45,000. Mayweather’s odds were then pushed back up to -950.
The MGM Mirage saw a similar wagering pattern.
“When we first put it up, we wrote 68 tickets on McGregor before first Mayweather bet,” oddsmaker Jeff Stoneback said, per Covers. “But first bet on Mayweather: $90K to win $10K. These are all small bets on McGregor.”
ESPN.com reported that by Saturday, Mayweather’s odds had been shortened to -600 at some sports books. That price is certainly cheap enough for sharp bettors to pounce.
Dustin Johnson opened as a 10-to-1 favorite to win the British Open after failing to make the cut at the U.S. Open last weekend.
The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook on Monday opened Johnson as the 10-1 favorite. Per ESPN Stats & Information, the favorite hasn’t won this tournament since Tiger Woods did it back in 2006.
Rory McIlroy and Justin Spieth opened at 12-1, while 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia is 15-1.
Brooks Koepka, who just won the U.S. Open with a score of 16-under, has the seventh-best odds at 25-1.