Each Friday, 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.
Stumble upon something you think we should include? Email info@bettingtalk.com.
* * *
The Los Angeles Dodgers opened as the 2018 World Series favorites.
Westgate opened the Dodgers as 5-1 favorites, with Clayton Kershaw and a strong lineup returning. Bob Scucci, director of race and sports for Boyd Gaming Corp., told ESPN that it opened the Dodgers at 4-1.
“We opened Los Angeles as the favorite because of the quality of the team and other factors, like our proximity to L.A. and their popularity,” John Murray, associate manager at Westgate, told ESPN. “Houston is every bit as good and almost as young as the Dodgers, but they just don’t attract the betting attention the Dodgers and Cubs do.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the federal ban on sports betting is unconstitutional.
Paxton’s was one of 18 AGs from around the country that co-signed an amicus brief that is siding with New Jersey in its US Supreme Court case about sports betting. At issue in that case is whether New Jersey can partially repeal its laws under the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or if that law unconstitutionally commandeers states into upholding the federal sports betting ban.
Paxton and other state officials generally are not supporting the NJ sports betting case because of any desire their states might have to legalize sports betting. Instead, they see PASPA and the case as having a far-reaching impact on states’ rights.
Las Vegas sportsbooks have taken more action on the Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup than any other NHL franchise.
More money has been bet on the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup than any other team at Nevada’s largest sportsbook, William Hill U.S., which is now facing a liability of more than $1 million on the expansion franchise.
The Golden Knights were as high as 300-1 to win the Stanley Cup in the offseason. Heading into Monday’s game at the New York Islanders, though, the Knights were 40-1 at the Westgate SuperBook.
“It’s been consistently brisk,” Westgate assistant manager Jeff Sherman said of the betting action on the Knights.
The New York Times published a feature on Brent Musburger and VSiN.
While the networks and ESPN fill their sports broadcasts with features or opinion and fantasy draft shows, the younger Musburger targeted an underserved audience.
“If you could bring people into the conversation that happens behind the scenes in the sports books, you have a different kind of sports talk,” Musburger said. “This is the nerve center. Their livelihood depends on getting credible information.”