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.
Stumble upon something you think we should include? Email info@bettingtalk.com.
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MMA fighter Tito Ortiz won $77,500 on a bet for Amanda Nunez to beat Ronda Rousey at UFC 207.
As the brief caption on the picture above suggests, this wasn’t a tough decision for Ortiz, who takes on Chael Sonnen at Bellator 170 on January 21.
Like many who favored Amanda Nunes coming into the fight, he no doubt thought her superior striking would be too much for Rousey. And it definitely was.
Unfortunately for Ortiz, this might be his last chance to make money off Rousey. She released a statement after the fight saying she needs to “think about the future,” but her mother was much more straight forward when asked how Rousey should proceed with her career.
A 31-year-old Starbucks barista won the 2016 Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest.
The champion won under the contest alias “pops2008.” His real name is Damon G. (though he says he doesn’t want me to spill the beans on his full name until the obligatory “picture with the big check” gets published) and he went 5-0 against the Westgate’s contest spread in Week 17 to finish with an overall record of 54-28-3 (65.8 percent).
First place was worth $895,482 and he added $10,000 for sharing a mini-contest title by going 13-2 ATS (86.7 percent) over the last three weeks of the season. He actually had two entries in this year’s SuperContest with the other one — actually his “main” entry — named pops3284. He said he got the nickname Pops from a resemblance to a character by that name on “The Wayans Bros.” show.
Legal Sports Report recapped the biggest news in sports betting and daily fantasy sports from 2016.
The past year was a transformative one for the daily fantasy sports industry. The two biggest DFS companies — DraftKings and FanDuel — determined they would become one. Legal and legislative battles were fought on a variety of fronts. The industry went from one that was totally unregulated to getting governmental oversight for the first time.
On the US sports betting front, it was largely a year of the status quo, although hopes are high for its future legality.
A Covers columnist looks at what changes he wants to see in the Las Vegas sports betting scene in 2017.
Sports bettors in Las Vegas were treated to a great year. In 2016, there were more ways to bet on the games and better experiences when watching the games in a casino. As we roll into 2017, I want to make some wishes for what I’d like to see next year for sports bettors in Las Vegas.
A New York Post article suggests that Trump might help legalize sports betting across the country to spite the NFL.
Trump could decide that sports gambling is a state issue, not a federal one. That would give Christie’s effort a major boost, sources said.
It would also make the NFL mad.
“I think, knowing Donald, there is a part of him that would like to get even with the NFL by saying, ‘Let’s allow gambling’ ” on NFL games in New Jersey, a source said.
Almost all of the early action on the Clemson-Alabama national championship rematch has been on the Tigers.
In fact, out of the first $11,020 bet at the Westgate SuperBook on the money-line for the College Football Playoff National Championship between Clemson and Alabama, $11,000 of it was on the underdog Tigers.
“Twenty bucks on Alabama,” Ed Salmons, SuperBook assistant manager, said Sunday night.