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.
* * *
A Green Bay fan has been letting a $300 bet ride on the Packers since Week 11 when Aaron Rodgers said the team could run the table.
According to Jonathan Shecter, founding editor of The Source, current editor of Medium’s Cuepoint, and former director of programming at Wynn Las Vegas, a friend of his placed a $300 moneyline bet that the Packers would beat the Eagles in Week 12. At that time, Green Bay was just 4-6 and in desperate need of a six-game winning streak to even have a chance at salvaging their season and making the playoffs.
When Green Bay won that game, Schecter’s friend decided to let it ride and bet on the Packers again in Week 13. When the Packers won that game too, he let it ride again. Then he did it again, and again, and again, and again.
Heading into Sunday’s game against the Cowboys, the original $300 bet had turned into a $10,259.50 bet with a payout of $28,213.60.
The Packers-Falcons NFC championship game could have the highest ever total for a playoff game.
As of Monday morning, the total points wager for the game was set at 60 points. Bettors wager whether the combined points scored by the teams will be over or under that total (a tie results in a push and bettors get their wager back).
According to a database compiled by VegasInsider.com handicapper Marc Lawrence, the previous high “total” line for a playoff game was 59.5 for the 2011 wild-card game between the Saints and Lions. The total went way over when the Saints won 45-28 at Detroit.
Las Vegas sportsbooks report they had another losing week against the public.
The upsets didn’t prevent the betting public from enjoying another winning NFL weekend after it cashed in Saturday on the Falcons and over and the Patriots and over.
“Didn’t help us much,” Wynn sports book director John Avello said. “We lost on the first game. We had a ton of Packer money lines and a ton of parlays on the over. It was not a good weekend overall.”
Kansas City closed to 18-16 on a late touchdown run by Spencer Ware and appeared to tie it on a 2-point conversion pass by Alex Smith. But the score was negated by a holding penalty and the ensuing attempt failed. Ben Roethlisberger then completed a key third-down pass to Antonio Brown before running out the clock.
“The worst game of the weekend for us was the Steelers,” CG Technology sports book director Jason Simbal said. “There was so much parlay liability for the Steelers. And the teasers all cashed.”
Sports bettor Billy Walters’ attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss an insider-trading case.
Walters, who has denied any wrongdoing, is charged with multiple counts of wire and securities fraud stemming from an investigation into a series of stock trades on dairy company Dean Foods made in 2012. Golfer Phil Mickelson and Thomas Davis, a former executive of Dean Foods, also were targeted in the investigation.
Mickelson was not criminally charged but did agree to pay back $1.03 million in “ill-gotten gains” he made from the stock trades.
Davis is a cooperating witness, according to court documents.
The case took a dramatic turn in December, when prosecutors acknowledged that an FBI agent had leaked confidential information to reporters at the New York Times and Wall Street Journal while the investigation was ongoing.
When the defense originally brought up the possibility of media leaks to judge Kevin Castel, prosecutors responded by saying it was a “fishing expedition” — claiming, in other words, that Walters’ side was fishing for clues without knowing if anything was there.
The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Walters’ motion to dismiss. Their response to the motion is due in in late January.
Jay Monahan, the new PGA Tour commissioner, said the PGA has an open mind toward sports betting and daily fantasy sports.
Rich Lerner, Golf Channel: I was reading an article about the NBA. They are embracing sports betting. It’s a huge revenue stream. Is that something you would look at in the future, or is that absolutely off-limits?
PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan: Is it something we look at? Absolutely. We always look at something that other sports are doing, having success with, trends in the industry. It’s something we’ve spent a lot of time on up to this point in time. You look at DraftKings and FanDuel, you look at gaming in the international markets, there’s a lot of opportunity there. There’s some complexity, and that complexity has held us back from moving forward. But we will look at it and have an open mind towards it.