Category: BetFTW

Shakur Stevenson misses weight ahead of what he claims will be his final fight before jump from 130 to 135 pounds

Stevenson won’t maintain his titles due to missing weight.

When 25-year-old superstar boxer Shakur Stevenson steps into the ring on Friday night to fight Robson Conceicao, he will do so without his WBC and WBO super-featherweight world titles.

Stevenson weighed in on Thursday at 1.6 pounds above the 130-pound weight limit. The penalty for missing weight is a loss of title(s).

But not all is bad.

For Conceicao, he’ll still have an opportunity to claim the titles with a win over Stevenson. However, his odds (+600 Tipico Sportsbook) suggest that he’ll be in for quite the challenge against the undefeated Newark native.

As far as what this all means for Stevenson? He’s identified that his body just can’t make 130 pounds anymore. After this fight, he says he’ll be moving up to 135, a weight division that includes many household names in the sport.

Assuming Stevenson gets past Conceicao on Friday, his future at 135 pounds should be fun.

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College Football Week 4 betting trends: Iowa-Rutgers Punt-A-thon, Oregon State getting love over USC and more

We asked oddsmakers for a line on the total punts in Rutgers-Iowa. The over feels safe.

Week 4 of the college football season has given us plenty to get excited about.

Among the primetime games scheduled for Saturday, a number of conference matchups should have the nation’s intrigue. No. 3 Ohio State vs. Wisconsin, Kansas State vs. No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 23 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Arkansas may be the highlights, but they aren’t the main attraction.

Not for bettors, at least, and not when Iowa and Rutgers are on FS1 at 7 p.m. ET live from New Jersey.

That’s right, two of the worst offenses in the country has already attracted a ton of action. Of the 6000 (and counting) bets tracked by Action Network on Iowa-Rutgers, 88 percent of bets placed on the point total have Under 34.5 along with 85 percent of the money. Another 68 percent of bets on the spread have Rutgers (+7.5) with 63 percent of the money.

Meanwhile, Iowa is scoring just 13.7 points per game and has a team total points line of 20.5 at Tipico Sportsbook.

This is Puntmageddon on national television and we cannot wait. The Hawkeyes have punted 23 times in three games this season. Rutgers has punted 12 times over the same span.

It’s enough to make you wonder: just how many punts will take place in Piscataway this weekend? We checked with oddsmakers at Tipico to find out where the punt total line would be set. While not an official offering, Tipico told BetFTW the line is set at 9.5 combined punts with the over as a slight favorite at -120.

Big Ten football!

Let’s check out some other trends around the sport as Week 4 kicks off.

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What are the odds Aaron Judge hits home run No. 61. against Boston on Thursday?

True or False: Aaron Judge will hit home run No. 61 on Thursday?

Aaron Judge is still sitting on 60 home runs after neither of his two hits on Wednesday night left the yard. And while his night was productive, it was a rough end of the day for the many who wagered on him to crack his 61st homer of the season.

Judge and the Yankees are back at it again, though, on Thursday night when they host the Boston Red Sox. Should you bet on him again to hit a home run and surpass the mark Babe Ruth hit in 1927?

If you think the answer is yes, know that his odds are hovering around +230 at BetMGM, which are longer, but more rewarding, than his +195 odds from Wednesday.

Also know that Judge is going to face Red Sox starter Michael Wacha on Thursday, who he is 0-14 lifetime against.

But there’s a first time for everything. Are you betting on tonight to be the night?

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NFL fans had their brains melted by Jason Kelce’s explanation of D-line alignments

What on earth is he talking about?

Jason Kelce probably wouldn’t be a perennial All-Pro and the NFL’s arguable best center blocking for an ascending Jalen Hurts if he didn’t know the ins and outs of football terminology.

Unlike other positions on the offensive line, a center must understand their responsibilities and what everyone else is accounting for on every play. Like their peers, they also have to be prepared for what the giant defensive lineman in front of them might be trying to accomplish. Even something as simple as alignment could tip off plans.

In the very first episode of their new podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, the two eponymous brothers — respective offensive stars with the Eagles and Chiefs — discussed defensive line alignments. And when Jason went on a short tangent about the nitty-gritty of the different techniques, he seemed to confuse Travis and himself:

You might be asking yourself right now, “uh, what?” after hearing Jason Kelce’s “random” about defensive line alignments.

That’s why I’m here! Because I’m an encyclopedia of football knowledge, and so everyone knows, here’s what Jason means. The numbers are essentially shorthand for where a defensive lineman positions themselves pre-snap, and it goes in sequence:

  • A “0” technique is lined up right on top of a center. They’re directly in line with them.
  • A “1” will be on either shoulder of the center.
  • A “2” will be straight up on a guard, a “2I” will be on the inside shoulder of a guard, and a “3” will be on the outside shoulder.
  • A “4” will be head up on a tackle, a “4I” will be on the inside shoulder, and a “5” will be on the outside shoulder.
  • There is no “5I” (I don’t know why, and the NFL superstars don’t seem to either).
  • Finally, a “6” will be head up on a tight end, and a “9” will be all the way outside of them.

Why there’s no “8” or this knowledge seems to skip a few numbers, who knows! If you’re still confused, I get it. Take solace that the Kelces don’t seem to completely understand it themselves.

Roger Federer and doubles partner Rafael Nadal are slight favorites in Federer’s final career match

How to watch Roger Federer’s final career match.

Roger Federer is putting a bow on his illustrious tennis career Friday after 24 years, 103 titles, 20 grand slams and so many more incredible accolades.

His final match will be a doubles competition in the Laver Cup, an event that puts Team Europe against Team World every two years. And his partner will be none other than close rival and friend Rafael Nadal, who has 22 grand slam titles himself.

However, despite the 42 grand slams between two tennis giants, their match against Americans Jack Sock and Francis Tiafoe is essentially a pick ’em at Tipico Sportsbook, with Federer and Nadal only slight favorites at -125 odds. The odds for Sock and Tiafoe are -102. Set winner odds are -120 for Federer/Nadal and -110 for Sock/Tiafoe.

Tiafoe beat Nadal in the US Open Round of 16 earlier this month. Can Federer turn back to clock and help his team get the win? The action starts Friday at 3:20 p.m. ET on the Tennis Channel, which can also be streamed on Sling TV or FuboTV for those without cable.

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Best bets from awful Steelers-Browns prime-time matchup actually involve the quarterbacks

Best bets from Thursday night’s game between the Browns and Steelers.

What Thursday night’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns lacks in being good, it should make up for in intrigue. Neither of these teams is so much better than the other that we don’t get a tight finish.

The Browns -3.5 are the home favorites, and they should absolutely win. But their inability to put teams away is why I’m picking Pittsburgh to cover.

The 1-1 Steelers could very easily be 0-2, but they edged the Bengals in overtime before falling to the Patriots by a field goal. The Browns are also 1-1 and could just as easily be 2-0 after spoiling a Panthers comeback in Week 1, but they couldn’t do the same against the Jets on Sunday. And so combined, these teams have a +1 margin on the season. Coming off a short week of preparation, I expect them to have another close game on Thursday.

I also lean towards the under in this game despite the small 37.5-point total. The strength of both offenses is in the rushing attacks, and that’s for different reasons. Cleveland is a legitimately good running team, leading the league with an average of 200 yards per game on the ground. Pittsburgh is not great, averaging just 83 yards per game. But you’d rather the ball in Najee Harris’ hands than with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who the Steelers should consider benching already.

Where Pittsburgh has been better than Cleveland, though, is on the defensive side of the ball, which should even things out a bit for how the offenses perform on Thursday. And it’s not like Jacoby Brissett is much better than Trubisky. These teams are likely to lean on the run and eat clock, making a low score very likely.

Finally, for all the reasons outlined above, I also like Trubisky to finish under 198.5 passing yards and Brissett to finish under 195.5. Both defenses rank in the top half of the league in pass rush win rate, and the only time one of these quarterbacks finished with more than 194 yards this season was Brissett’s 229 against an awful Jets defense.

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Best fantasy hockey team names 2022: The 9 best (that we could print)

Some fantasy hockey team names for your squad this season.

Yeah, it shocked me too: NHL training camps are in full swing, which means … it’s fantasy hockey prep season.

And, as usual, we’re sure you’re already hard at work on the research for your upcoming draft before the 2022-23 season starts in October.

The only thing missing? You need the perfect team name as the season approaches.

That’s where we come in. As we’ve done with other sports like fantasy football, we’re rounding up the best, punny team names (that we could print), a collection of gems from around the internet, with credit to the sites and tweets that came up with them.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Fantasy football Week 3 streaming options: Joe Flacco will continue to air it out against Cincinnati

Let these guys sub in for a week to provide your roster with some fantasy football juice.

Trying to craft the perfect fantasy football lineup each week is tough to do. Whether you loaded up on running backs and receivers but left the quarterback spot thin, or stacked up on the skill positions and bypassed a quality defense or kicker in your draft, there’s that one spot in your weekly lineup that’s driving you crazy.

Lucky for you, streaming is an option. And we’re here to help you figure out the best players to stream on a weekly basis.

Take a look at the best streaming options that can fill the gaps of your roster deficiencies in Week 3.

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The Rhode Island Scumbag NFL Locks of the Week: 6-1 on the season and rolling with the Jets

After a 3-1 week, our betting “expert” is 6-1 on the NFL and searching for awful teams Vegas doesn’t know are awful yet.

Since the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Rhode Island Scumbag is up something like 70 units with his locks. This is absolutely wild, because he’s only written five articles since then.

Week 2 of the 2022 NFL regular season added more fuel to a truly epic heater. Despite dropping a bet on the New Orleans Saints thanks to Marshon Lattimore’s ejection and Jameis Winston’s overarching Jameis-ness, he still went 3-1 thanks to the Lions win over Washington and both Patriots-Steelers and Giants-Panthers being exactly as boring as expected.

This, mercifully, saves me from the 12-0 start at which he was promised a podcast. It does not, however, save me from the ridicule of a man whose NFL picks last season finished the year at 7-21. Welp, better settle in for my weekly lecture and see what this week’s process is:

My boy Christian D’Andrea has been learning a lot of tough sports betting lessons this year. You don’t lay points on the road when there is a full slate of games to choose from, you don’t back the Steelers vs. the Patriots (I guess he squeaked out a push there) and you should certainly avoid the squarest of square plays by parlaying a small favorite with a high Vegas total. Sharp bettors take underdogs and unders and that is what the Rhode Island Scumbag did (sure, Detroit was a slight favorite). I now sit at 6-1 and am feeling good about the start to the season.

[Ed. Note: 1. it wasn’t a parlay, it was three separate bets that went 1-1-1, which still sucks but slightly less. 2. oh (expletive) he’s referring to himself in the third person now this cannot be good]

This is the time when NFL analysts will start to look at which teams are contenders. That is the direction of the mainstream conversation. We live where most of my 60-yard approach shots end up, in the fringe, baby.

Sports betting is as much about identifying the really bad teams as it is about finding good teams to back. I have identified a few teams that are being overvalued. I’m not wasting time evaluating who is going to win the Super Bowl. I don’t dabble in the futures market. I’m looking to find teams that are really bad.

I also want the public perception of these bad teams to still be somewhat positive. That way, we can bet against these bad teams, but still retain value because the lines haven’t caught up to the utter ineptitude of these squads.

Let’s see who’s utterly inept in Week 3.

The best 5 NFL survivor pool picks to consider for Week 3

Who you should target this week in your pool.

Week 3 of the NFL season is here with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns kicking things off on Thursday night.

That means it’s time for you to lock in your survivor pool (or knockout pool or whatever you call it) pick for this week and continue on and avoid elimination. So we decided it’s time to give you some help with that by ranking the five best teams to target, while trying to factor in those leagues that require you to only use a squad once per season.

Here’s who you should be considering ahead of Week 3 in descending order:

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