Hello friends.
I have returned from Las Vegas. Sin City. The entertainment capital of the world.
Whatever you want to call it, I have returned from it, only slightly addicted to roulette!
Look, I knew Vegas was going to be expensive, but holy shit. I ordered my girlfriend a piña colada at the poolside bar soon after this picture was taken and all told it was $28.
Not saying it wasn’t worth it necessarily, but shit!
This kind of extreme heat is actually a lot more bearable than I thought it would be. The pool was quite cool and if you get a spot in the shade (we had one) the breeze made the experience very nice.
I was too excited and put a lot more on both of these than I should have on these two unofficial plays. You live and you learn!
Took that $6 profit and bought a donut for my girlfriend and me to share. We are modern-day hunter-gatherers.
The summer league was so fun. I saw Kenny Smith and Festus Ezeli in the crowd at this game too.
There was a full mariachi band playing music during the game right next to this thing. Definitely not something I had seen at a basketball game before.
The caption says it all for this one. Congrats if you saw me tweet this one out on Twitter and tailed it!
Getting to the Aces stadium is very confusing. It is inside the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and there are little to no signs telling you where the entrance is, so it took us a while to get there, but once we were inside it was AMAZING! I saw Kenrich Williams, Paul George, Bam Adebayo, Donovan Mitchell, Coach K, and Grant Williams at this game. I also saw Najee Harris at SFO on my way home!
As you can see, it was quite an amazing time. I will absolutely be going back. I stayed at the Cosmopolitan, and WOW it was awesome. 10/10 would recommend that place to anyone. I even saw James Wiseman at the fried chicken place there on my last night. Cool shit.
Since I haven’t had much in the department of official plays since the last time we spoke, my profit chart remains mostly unchanged.
The last week or so has been absolutely dead in the sports world, so I am a little out of practice with my handicapping. Am I rested or am I rusted?
Only one way to find out.
Today’s plays1
1.5 units - NFL 9/10 1:25pm - Rams +6 @ Seahawks (-120)
Yes, I am really deploying units on NFL Week 1 already. And yes, it's easy to be down on the Rams this year. While the Rams have superstars in key positions, they don't have the depth that is likely going to be needed to have sustained success throughout the season. But with that in mind, are the Rams going to risk injury in the preseason to any of their marquee names? My guess would have to be a resounding no. Given that, I see no reason to not bet this now. Seattle is a solid squad this year and they’ve had a solid offseason. But last year when the Seahawks were playing great and the Rams were bad, both of the games between these two were within 6 points. Also, I don't think McVay & Stafford would be coming back this year if they didn't plan to get down to business in a winning way. While I don’t think the Rams season on the whole will be too great, I have faith in them to cover spreads in the first half of the season. By mid-season they should be a public favorite, just in time for an epic losing streak caused by lack of depth. Let’s be on the right side of their season and bet this +6 ASAP.
At +5.5 to +4, 1u, at +3.5/+3, 0.5u. Sprinkle the +195 ML too if you’re feeling brave.
1 unit - NFL 9/10 10:00am - Panthers @ Falcons -3 (-110)
The Falcons did things the right way with Desmond Ridder. They started him in the final 4 games with an emphasis on getting experience and not hurting his confidence. Atlanta did this by giving him 2 reads, both on the same side of the field. Arthur Smith has now had a year+ to work with Ridder and prepare him to be the full-time starter. On the other side, Bryce Young may very well be a great NFL player, but he’s not ready to go on the road in his first-ever NFL start and come away with a win. You cannot simulate the game speed increase from college to the pros no matter how much you try in practice. Young will also be throwing behind an average offensive line and without a true #1 receiver. Carolina’s defense wasn’t anything special in 2022 and I’m locking in the key number of 3 with confidence that Atlanta gets the job done to kick off the season. Take the Falcons for 1u at -3, and 0.5u at -3.5/-4. No play below -4.
1 unit - Allsvenskan 7/16 6:00am - Kalmar @ Hammarby ML (-110)
Kalmar have won just one of their last five games away from home and have the league's lowest offensive xG output on the road this season as well. Hammarby has won both of the recent meetings against Kalmar in this venue by convincing multi-goal margins and I’m expecting more of the same in this one also. This ML price is way off. Reduce to 0.75u at -120 and 0.5u at -130. No play at -141 and lower. Alt-spread -1 at +165 is also a good option for those seeking adventure.
0.75 unit - MLB 7/14 4:05pm - Marlins TT o3.5 @ Orioles (-145)
(Alcantara/Kremer must start)
Kremer is not a good pitcher at all and the Orioles bullpen ranks 12 of 30. The Marlins are recently hitting better than even the Braves as they are ranked #2 in my last 10 days’ MLB rankings. Take the Marlins team total over 3.5 for 0.75u, and reduce to a half unit if this climbs to 4.
0.5 unit - MLS 7/15 4:30pm - DC United @ NE Revolution over 2.75 (-105)
New England has been super hot offensively of late, scoring at least two goals in five of their last six matches and seven of their last nine. At home, they have scored at least two in five straight and on the season, have scored at least two in eight of 11. Defensively, they haven’t been the sharpest as they have conceded in six straight matches. Overall, they have averaged 1.75 xG at home this season which ranks 4th in the league. DC is on a nice offensive run as well, though not as strong as New England, they have scored 16 goals over their last ten matches and were only blanked once during that stretch. Over their last nine matches, they have allowed 14 goals including allowing at least two goals on six different occasions. Because of that, DC is on a 10-2 run of matches finishing over 2.5 goals. New England won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in March. Including that match, four of the last five meetings between these teams have finished with at least three goals. Two hot offenses plus tired legs on the side of New England playing their third match in eight days equals an “over” spot! Play good to -115.
Alright folks, that does it for me today.
Thanks as always for reading, and I hope these plays can fill up your wallets this weekend and in September as well!
And if you’ve got any questions about Vegas… Leave a comment below!
Talk to you next week,
8-Bit
A quick note about these bets: only one of them is happening today. Please carefully read the date and time for each wager.
Viva Vegas XD