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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The Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship 129-120 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. A pointless 3-pointer in the final 15 seconds affected millions of dollars in bets.
But while the victory was enough to please Warriors fans, those who bet on Golden State to cover the spread in Game 5 left the game with a brutal taste in their mouths, all thanks to the Cavaliers’ JR Smith.
Going into the game, the Warriors were listed in most sportsbooks as 9- or 9.5-point favorites, meaning that for Warriors bettors to cash in on their tickets, the Warriors had to win by 10 or more points.
With the final seconds of the game ticking away, the crowd in Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, rose to their feet in anticipation of the Warriors’ title. The Warriors were sitting pretty with a 12-point lead, then Steph Curry pulled up on a 3-point jumper that would have served as an exclamation point but missed.
At the other end of the court, with nothing but pride at stake, Smith changed gambling outcomes across the country, draining a three with 15 seconds left.
The Golden State Warriors opened as huge favorites to win the NBA championship next year.
The Warriors, fresh off Monday night’s 129-120 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers to clinch the NBA title, are listed as -200, odds-on favorites to win next year’s championship, a historic price on a preseason favorite.
“They’re going to be the highest favorite we’ve ever had going into a season, any team in any sport,” Jeff Sherman, NBA oddsmaker at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, told ESPN.
ESPN recapped the Warriors historic season from a betting perspective.
It was the beginning of a three-week stretch that saw Golden State win and cover the spread in six straight games. Five of those six games went over the total, compounding a rough run for bookmakers that was capped by the dramatic finish to Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
“Yeah, we needed the Cavs pretty bad in that one,” Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading at William Hill U.S., lamented about Game 3.
It’s official: Floyd Mayweather is actually going to fight Conor McGregor later this year. ESPN compared McGregor’s 7-to-1 odds against other underdogs with similar odds.
Michigan State to win 2018 NCAA basketball championship (+700)
Michigan State is the preseason favorite to win next year’s college basketball title at +700. The Spartans have failed to reach the second weekend each of the past two years, but they return the bulk of their 2016-17 roster, including potential lottery pick Miles Bridges.
Holly Holm to beat Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 (+800)
During the height of Rousey’s career, she was a 1-to-14 favorite to beat Holly Holm at UFC 193. Holm (+800) pulled the biggest upset in recent UFC history, handing Rousey her first loss in a dominant knockout victory. Neither fighter has won a bout since, though Holm fights Bethe Correia on Saturday as a -600 favorite.
A former tennis player was charged for his attempt at fixing a match last year.
Tennis player Isaac Frost has been charged with a sports corruption offence after allegedly approaching former Australian Open boys champion Oliver Anderson about fixing a match last year.
Frost, 28, faced the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday and was charged with facilitating match fixing, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail.
Golfers teed off at the U.S. Open yesterday and the betting field was pretty wide open.
Dustin Johnson is the prohibitive 7-1 favorite to win his second straight U.S. Open, but don’t be surprised if a relative unknown emerges to claim the year’s second golf major.
The U.S. Open, which starts Thursday, is being played for the first time at Erin Hills Golf Club, a 7,741-yard layout in Wisconsin that’s the longest in the 117-year history of the tournament. While the length might prove a perfect fit for Johnson, who leads the PGA Tour in driving distance (312.1-yard average), the tall, thick fescue and wide fairways on the unfamiliar track could just as easily lead to a long shot winning the title.
“Ask anyone. If they tell you they know what they’re doing, they’re lying. The course has never been played before in a U.S. Open. The winner could be 2 over or 42 under,” William Hill sports book director Nick Bogdanovich said. “It’s a complete crapshoot because of the unknown venue.”
An online sportsbook has been taking bets on whether or not Star Wars’ Rey is Luke Skywalker’s daughter.
At the time of this writing, the betting market is fairly close, with “no” having a slight advantage of -130. For those fans who participate, it will add just another reason to anticipate the release of The Last Jedi.