Category: BetFTW

The Grizzlies’ season is going to end because of Ja Morant’s fluke injury, and that stinks

It wasn’t supposed to go like this.

The Memphis Grizzlies were one of the most exciting teams in the NBA this season. No player exemplified that more than Ja Morant, whose electrifying dunks and fourth quarter takeovers were always a delight to watch. He along with the rest of the team’s young core catapulted the Grizzlies from a No. 8 seed last year to No. 2 this year. That makes the news that Morant is doubtful to play for the remainder of the playoffs all the more devastating to hear.

Morant has a bone bruise in his right knee, the team announced Tuesday. His incredible season, which earned him the Most Improved Player award, is likely over.

This isn’t how anybody wanted to see Morant’s season end, especially considering how it happened. The injury didn’t come on one of his fun aerial assaults that often end with him on the ground. It was fluke. While it didn’t break the code, as he insinuated, you can understand why he’d be so frustrated with the injury.

This isn’t how anybody wanted to see the Grizzlies’ season end either. If they were going to go down, it was supposed to be with guns blazing — as they have been all season. But in all likelihood, they’ll also be done soon.

With Morant, the Grizzlies were giving the vaunted Golden State Warriors a series. They trailed 2-1 but were a layup away from being up 2-1. Morant was averaging more than 38 points, and his presence was cause for optimism that they could bounce back from a blowout in Game 3. Without him, things seem a lot more dire — even if they were 20-5 without him this season.

If blowing a lead they held for all but three minutes on Monday wasn’t deflating enough, Morant’s injury will be. Tipico Sportsbook has Memphis as 4.5-point home dogs for Game 5, and I don’t love their chances to cover. But even if they do find a way to win, they’d have to do it two more times and that’s simply not going to happen. It’s an unfortunate way for their season to end after being one of the best stories all year.

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2022 Kentucky Derby sets Churchill Downs record for money wagered at $179 million

The vast majority was, understandable, not placed on Rich Strike’s winning 80-1 odds.

This past weekend’s Kentucky Derby went above and beyond anything the event had seen before.

According to Churchill Downs, a record $179.0 million was bet on Saturday’s Derby (h/t ESPN’s David Purdum). It’s an increase of 17% of the amount wagered in 2021 and an eight percent increase over the previous track record.

Yet only $501,135 wagered on the win pool was on Rich Strike, the race’s winning horse

The amount bet on Rich Strike was the lowest of any horse in the field, which makes sense given Rich Strikes’ 80-1 odds. But those who did wager on the winner received a nice payout, a payout that could have been much greater if wagered on when the horse’s odds were 300-1 back in March or even 200-1 on Saturday at Circa in Las Vegas.

As the Kentucky Derby sizable increase in wagers over last year, you can bet that next year’s event will receive a huge amount of money in bets.

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This fantasy football manager had to play an excruciating U.S. Open qualifier round for coming in last

This was a brutal punishment.

Humiliation begets humiliation, especially in the world of fantasy football. So for one fantasy manager, finishing last meant entering a new competition where he stood even less of a chance to succeed. That competition, according to a story by ESPN, was a U.S. Open qualifier. And let’s just our guy didn’t have the time of his life.

John Eckert, the fantasy manager who brought up the rear in the SHIVA league, played in the U.S. Open qualifier at Oakwood Country Club in Kansas City, Mo., and again came in last place with a 40-over 112.

Finishing 40 strokes back of the two winners, Eckert did manage to par four holes, but that only means he averaged somewhere between a double and triple bogey over the other 14 holes. It was an absolutely brutal time for his caddie and playing partners, who also had to wait for him at tee time because he went to the wrong hole.

Eckert told ESPN he plays about once a month when the weather is nice and normally scores in the low 90s, so clearly he wasn’t on his game. The injuries excuse he used for his 2021 fantasy performance won’t apply here.

USGA rules require amateurs to have a handicap of 1.4 or lower to play in U.S. Open qualifiers, but Eckert was able to enter by designating himself as a pro player on the registration form. By doing so, he waived his ability to become an amateur in the future (LOL). In one fell swoop, he paid off his fantasy debt, added another last-place finish to his career record, and according to ESPN, likely forfeited his ability to compete in future USGA events because of his high score.

This is one of the best punishments I’ve ever seen attached to a fantasy league. And for as frustrating as his struggles must’ve been out there, I’m sure (I think) Eckert had to relish the experience and probably doesn’t regret a second of it.

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Luka Doncic, Devin Booker and the best player props to bet on ahead of Tuesday’s Game 5s

Finding the best player props ahead of Tuesday’s NBA playoff games.

If you would have told me a week ago that Suns-Mavericks and Heat-Sixers were tied at two games apiece, my first response would have been to ask which superstar got injured. Because there was no way I could envision either the Suns or Heat dropping two straight after the performances they put on in the opening games.

But both teams did drop two straight, and now there are a couple of huge Game 5s on Tuesday whose outcomes could paint a better picture of which teams may advance.

Let’s look at which players could have an impact on Tuesday and bet on their player props.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook.

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Boxer Terence Crawford’s daughter lost her shoe, then dominated the field in a stunning track meet

An absolutely epic victory from a seven-year-old star.

Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford might very well be the No. 1 boxer in the world any day now as far as pound-for-pound rankings go. It’s an astonishing rise for the 34-year-old Nebraska native, who has yet to lose a fight in his professional career (38-0, 29 KOs). Even more astonishing: he might not even be the best athlete in his own family.

At least this week, that title belongs to his seven-year-old daughter, Talaya, who’s track meet on Saturday has gone viral for her incredible comeback victory.

After running out of her shoe on the starting blocks of a 200-meter sprint, Talaya calmly puts it back on as the rest of the pack dashes down the track. The mishap allowed the young Crawford to pull off a Rich Strike-like comeback and demolish the field to the finish line.

Just watch for yourself.

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It doesn’t matter what age group is competing, that is simply remarkable. What could be more inspiring than watching your child (any child, really) find the focus, toughness and determination to push through when everything goes wrong.

As Terence Crawford wrote on Instagram, Talaya let it all hang when faced with adversity.

May we all carry the same energy.

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NBA refs are trying to legislate emotion from the playoffs

Nobody wants this.

Welcome to the Winner’s Circle, a weekly column by Bet For The Win senior writer Prince J. Grimes. Here, you’ll read about stats and trends that can help you make informed betting predictions for the week ahead and beyond.

There haven’t been many moments in this year’s NBA Playoffs better than the exchange between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Al Horford after they traded dunks on each another in Game 4 of the Boston Celtics-Milwaukee Bucks series on Monday.

After Antetokounmpo rose up to throw one down on Horford in the third quarter and followed the slam with a vicious ice grill, Horford nodded in acknowledgment of the perceived disrespect, mentally storing the moment away for just the right time. And sure enough, when he got his opportunity in the fourth, the Celtics big man returned the favor with a giant dunk on Giannis punctuated by a display of emotion we rarely see from Horford.

These are the type of moments playoff basketball is made for. This is why we watch. Giannis’ thunderous jam gave the 1.5-point favorite Bucks a six point lead. Horford’s answer was a much-needed momentum grabber that tied the game in the fourth. It was exciting for everyone who witnessed…and the referees tried like hell to sap that excitement with technical fouls called after each play.

Neither tech made sense, and both only serve as tools to dull the raw expression that makes this time of the year so exciting. The players litigated the tension themselves through basketball. Horford used it as fuel for a career best playoff performance. He scored 16 of his playoff career-high 30 points in the fourth quarter. We want more of that, not less. So why exactly were whistles blown here?

My guess is the chippiness of Warriors-Grizzlies has officiating crews on edge. That series started with a fluke Flagrant 2 foul by Draymond Green on Brandon Clarke, continued with a legitimate Flagrant 2 by Dillon Brooks that broke “the code” and fractured Gary Payton II’s elbow, and then more recently saw Ja Morant tweak his knee on a play by Jordan Poole that Morant thinks broke “the code,” even if it didn’t.

However, only one of those plays was actually egregious. The rest was just playoff basketball and not even really a reflection of how other series have gone. Hard fouls are one thing, but staring at someone after a big dunk like Antetokounmpo did? That should never be whistled for a technical in an NBA game, and definitely not the playoffs. The whistle almost necessitated the tech on Horford because at least there was contact after his dunk. But even there, he simply brought his arm down because, ya know, gravity. It was unfortunate Antetokounmpo’s face was where his arm landed. That doesn’t make it a technical foul.

Antetokounmpo said after the game that “emotions are for movies, not for basketball.” But to thousands of fans watching around the world, high-stakes basketball is a movie. If the referees continue to make these type of calls, the players will be forced to adjust by showing less emotion and being less demonstrative. Not only can that negatively effect their own personal performances, it absolutely will impact the viewing experience.

Personally, I like my playoff basketball with a little spice. So can we loosen up on the whistles and embrace these moments? If this is what the conference semifinals are bringing, the conference finals are going to be a treat…as long as officiating allows them to be.

Here are a few more things I’m looking at in the week ahead.

The Sixers fan caught snoozing courtside at Game 4 explains what led to the hilarious viral moment

Catching Zs > Catching 3s

While some of us have mastered the art of fighting off that uncontrollable urge to snooze after consuming a heavy meal, others simply give in to the heavenly slumber that follows…no matter where they may be.

That’s apparently what happened to the Philadelphia 76ers fan who went viral for nodding off near the end of the third quarter of what was a very exciting Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 4. Or at least that’s a small part of the larger equation, as explained by the fan on Monday.

But for those who missed it, let me catch you up. While Philly was busy putting the finishing touches on its win over the Miami Heat on Sunday, one Sixers fan was busy catching some shut eye right in the front row for television cameras to see.

11 other 80-to-1 longshots across sport to show how improbable Rich Strike’s Kentucky Derby win was

If Rich Strike can do it, so can they, right?

It might be difficult to understand just how improbable Rich Strike’s win at the Kentucky Derby was if you aren’t into sports betting (or math, which I completely relate to). So to put a little context behind the victor’s 80 to 1 odds, we’re going to take a look at some other long shots across sports with similarly long odds.

That Rich Strike wasn’t even entered into the race as of Friday morning helps to begin to understand how crazy it is that the horse was a champion by Saturday evening. The odds of that win were longer than those of the Cincinnati Bengals to win the AFC last season (70 to 1), which seemed impossible after they won four games in 2020.

Here are few more comparable long shots across sports, with odds from Tipico Sportsbook.

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WNBA rookies are already balling, Becky Hammon’s Aces are thriving and more from the W’s opening week

Everything that happened in the W over opening weekend.

Welcome to Bet For The Win’s weekly WNBA column, where we cover everything women’s basketball from highlight plays and signature moments to bad beats and best bets. Be sure to check back here every week for your W fix.

Very few things in sports match the excitement of a season opener. From players to fans, everyone finally gets to move past the offseason speculation of what the upcoming year may look like. Friday’s opening night in the WNBA and the two days that followed were worth the wait. After having soaked in all of the weekend’s happenings, let’s rundown the best moments, examine at what stood out and look ahead to the upcoming week.

This NBA MVP awards column might be the thing bettors need to win money

The odds shifted dramatically once this story was released.

Denver Nuggets superstar big man Nikola Jokic has now won back-to-back MVP awards, but it wasn’t a particularly big surprise.

Jokic was the clear favorite to win the award based on analytics, no matter how much you may dislike those advanced stats. He made massive strides on the defensive end of the floor, and he is who USA TODAY’s experts believed should have won the award.

This wasn’t a surprise because, back in March, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps released a strawpoll predicting as much.  Here is his methodology (via ESPN):

“To gauge where the race stands with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, ESPN asked 100 media members to participate in an informal poll that mimics the postseason awards voting. To make the balloting as realistic as possible, there were at least two voters from each of the league’s 28 markets, as well as a cross section of national and international reporters.”

Golden State’s Stephen Curry was projected to win when the first edition dropped in December, then Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid was the predicted winner when the story was released in February.

According to our partners at Tipico Sportsbook, Embiid (-145) was the favorite over Jokic (+130) on March 22. He maintained those odds on March 29, before the final straw poll was published.

But in the final straw poll, Denver’s Jokic pulled ahead to take the advantage over Embiid. After that article was published, on April 1, Jokic (-200) became the betting favorite over Embiid (+230) to win MVP. That suggests an implied probability shift of Jokic winning the award from 43.5% to 66.7% once the story had been published.

That’s a pretty massive swing, and the story’s release likely played a massive role in why bettors changed their tunes.

One sportsbook was so convinced that Jokic would win that they paid out the bets early.

This isn’t a massive surprise considering that ESPN surveyed the actual individuals who vote on the award. ESPN’s straw poll predicted Jokic would win the award in 2021. The year prior, in 2020, Antetokounmpo was the predicted winner.

Bontemps had a similar poll when he worked at the Washington Post. Before he was at the Worldwide Leader in Sports, Bontemps’ poll predicted Harden would win MVP in 2018. However, it is worth mentioning that the poll did not yield correct results in 2017.

Considering the predictive success of the survey since then, however, it’s worth following this closely when making your NBA MVP bets next year. Wait until the final edition of the straw poll is released, then simply hammer the player Bontemps predicts.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).

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