Shaka Toney was one of Washington’s seventh-round picks in 2021.
The NFL announced suspensions for several NFL players Friday for gambling violations. Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney was among those suspended.
Toney, 25, is entering his third season out of Penn State. He was one of three players suspended indefinitely — at least one year — for betting on games during the 2022 NFL season.
Toney can apply for reinstatement after the 2023 season.
A seventh-round pick in 2021, Toney has played in 26 career games for Washington, recording 16 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. Toney was a reserve defensive end but contributed on special teams.
Toney’s suspension likely doesn’t change anything regarding Washington’s draft plans. He wasn’t guaranteed to make the 2023 roster, and with multiple defensive ends slated for free agency after next season, the Commanders are expected to target at least one pass rusher in next week’s 2023 NFL draft.
The NFL announced full-season suspensions for Quintez Cephus and CJ Moore of the Lions, and Shaka Toney of the Commanders for gambling on NFL games. The league also suspended Jameson Williams and Stanley Berryhill of the Lions for 6 games for gambling violations.
The PGA Tour is all in on the sports gambling trend. But the WFAN host tells another side.
He stepped groggily out of the van and shuffled inside, golden rock formations and Arizona wildlife bringing no warmth before 7 a.m.
The room made him uncomfortable. The people made him uncomfortable. Craig Carton didn’t belong around the dozen faces finding chairs in a circle around him.
As he sank in his own seat, the gruff sports radio host and self-proclaimed “single greatest blackjack player to ever grace God’s earth” could only remind himself this would make his wife happy. Rehab would look good to a federal court considering his charges of fraud.
He didn’t have a problem, and he certainly didn’t need this group therapy session. He had started wagering nearly $20,000 a hand in blackjack. He could handle multiple tables at once. He illegally gambled on sports online. He could win big, borrowing more than $30 million to fuel all his exploits. No one would ever understand his strategy.
Only, that bravado would shatter.
A woman from Nevada spoke first, outlining calmly her Fridays spent bringing every paycheck to its knees for $5 scratch-offs. She’d cash the check, find a bar, grab a seat and buy lottery tickets until she could only pay for the drinks in front of her.
“She described why she did it, how she did it, what her process was emotionally, mentally, how she hid it, how she lied about it,” Carton recalled, sitting in his studio. “And I was overwhelmed.”
A 24-year-old from Oklahoma was addicted to casino gambling. Then a Chicago kid shared the same, as the circle tightened.
“I was dumbfounded. I felt as if I had written a script — and they stole it.”
Craig Carton, WFAN sports radio personality and outspoken gambling addiction recovery advocate, tapes his weekly gambling show called “Hello, My Name is Craig” in New York City on May 22, 2022. (Photo: Seth Harrison/The Journal News)
A 2017 arrest threatened to send him to federal prison for his role in a concert ticket resale scheme, having in large part fueled his gambling. It forced the now-53-year-old to resign from the No. 1 sports-talk show in New York City, “Boomer & Carton,” after a decade alongside famed former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason. Unlike those sitting around the quiet room, his rock bottom would soon play out on a national stage.
“But this is what addiction is. There’s nothing special about me. There’s nothing unique about me. The money is irrelevant,” he recalled realizing. “That was the first time I was willing to admit that I had a problem.”
Carton may have wagered millions, but he believes his story can not only echo in high-stakes casino gambling — but across everyday living rooms and smartphone screens. At a time when gambling accessibility has grown more than ever before, Carton has fixed himself on a path to humanize an addiction often painted as “degenerate.”
His message meets a changing playing field.
In New York, mobile sports betting launched in January 2022. New Jersey legalized sports betting in 2018. With sports betting now legal in some 30 states, 18 offering online sports betting, roughly $120 billion in bets have been placed — nearly the combined GDP of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
From the Empire State’s launch alone, sportsbooks saw $1.67 billion in online wagers in their first month, $1.53 billion in February and $1.64 billion in March. New Jersey’s sports betting handle topped $1 billion for the sixth time in seven months in March.
And of course, the PGA Tour is all in on the sports gambling trend. The Tour has deals with Draft Kings, Fan Duel, PointsBet and BetMGM as partners. The Tour has said that it may provide an area at tournaments in states where gaming is legal so fans can make a bet on site. And an expansion in technology has allowed for talk of live odds on the golf course, either to win the tournament outright or to be the low player in a pairing on the day.
As an addictive activity fits legally in the palm of a user’s hand, some advocates worry a similar growth is headed toward problem gambling.
“That’s ultimately the story here, as more and more people start gambling for the first time,” said the radio personality nearing four years in recovery this June. “The far majority is going to be able to do it recreationally. … But there’s a group of people that are not going to be able to do it responsibly.
“And they have no idea, until they try it.”
How he failed his test
Carton was back at a blackjack table by June 2018. The second time in a casino since rehab, he still knew he had a problem — but his ego left him with something to prove.
He had a test.
Carton had left cash in the car, hoping to see he could simply walk away from the casino outside of Philadelphia if he lost what he brought in his pockets. But, staring down at the hand in front of him, he knew the right move was to double-down. He just didn’t have enough money.
He ran out to the car. He lost it all in about an hour.
“That’s the last time I’ve ever wagered,” said the husband and father of four. “I failed my own test, where I couldn’t control myself financially. And that was when I decided, I’ve got to really dedicate my life to not gambling.”
Carton’s charges marked a culmination of a roughly two-year period when gambling had seized his life. A dance recital, a kid’s ballgame, a work event: He was always focused on how he would gamble that day. He gambled illegally online. He scheduled vacations to be near casinos. He found himself driving to the blackjack table at midnight or 1 a.m., hoping to gamble without suspicion before starting his 6 a.m. show.
In the spring of 2019, Carton was convicted of fraud, sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison and $4.8 million in restitution. He stepped out of the minimum-security federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, by 2020.
Four months later, he returned to sports radio with WFAN. But he planned to do things differently.
In addition to his show “Carton and Roberts” — where the sports radio head can bring his brash on-air persona in full-force — Carton runs a weekly show centered around gambling addiction and recovery. “Hello, My Name is Craig” airs every Saturday. Also, in 2021, Carton was named ambassador for FanDuel’s responsible gambling initiatives.
An ordered 15 percent of each paycheck goes directly toward his restitution, Carton’s lawyer told federal court in 2021. His current salary wasn’t disclosed in news reports when he returned to airwaves and was not disclosed to USA TODAY Network — though his lawyer has called it “a fraction” of the $2 million reportedly made on “Boomer and Carton.”
“The reason I do ‘Hello, My Name is Craig’ is because of those 12 people,” Carton said, thinking back to his time at Algamus recovery center in Arizona. “My last night at rehab, they came to me knowing what I did for a living … and they asked me to make them a promise — if I ever get back on the radio, would I be the face and voice of gambling addiction? Because it doesn’t have one.
“So, part of my life now is trying to humanize the addict.”
Vulnerable sports betting populations
The newest way to bet is seemingly everywhere.
Social media platforms feed ads between scrolls. Watching any sporting event on TV comes with betting lines and commercials; listening to any radio show or podcast comes with sponsors like FanDuel, DraftKings and Caesars Casino. Where there aren’t physical posters and billboards towering over highways, online campaigns offer $1,000 welcome bonuses, betting matches and “risk-free bets” with strings attached.
Craig Carton, WFAN sports radio personality and outspoken gambling addiction recovery advocate, co-hosts a weekday sports talk show, focuses his 30-minute Saturday morning show on issues related to gambling addiction. (Photo: Seth Harrison/The Journal News)
Even familiar faces like Drew Brees, the fifth high-profile brand ambassador for PointsBet’s U.S. marketing and second from the NFL, stream in living rooms across the country, telling audiences just how easy it is to place a bet.
Carton is all for it — with conditions.
“I’m a huge proponent of legalized wagering, and one of the main reasons is that we’ve taken gambling conversations out of the back alley, and we’ve made it mainstream,” he said. “Now with that, comes a huge caveat: In my opinion, every state that has legalized wagering should set aside a portion of the tax revenue that comes in and set up compulsive gambling support centers.”
In New York, problem gambling services will receive a cap of $6 million annually out of mobile sports betting proceeds after its first year. If profits in New York meet projections of $1.1 billion by 2025, as set by VIXIO GamblingCompliance, that year would see about half a percent of state dollars allocated to support services. In New Jersey, fiscal year 2022 saw just about $3.9 million collected for gambling addiction treatment programs, according to the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Two years before this launch, a New York State survey on gambling prevalence said 14.6 percent of adults who gambled in 2020 met criteria for problem gambling, while just over 4 percent — or about 600,000 people — experienced problems directly related to their gambling.
The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 2 million Americans have a severe gambling problem while another 4 to 6 million are considered to have mild or moderate gambling problems.
The youngest age group, 18 to 24, had the highest risk. Communities of color, alongside lower income brackets, also faced higher rates of gambling addiction.
“We know that young males tend to have the highest rates of gambling participation and gambling problems,” said Keith Whyte, the National Council’s executive director. “And that also appears to be the group that is most heavily targeted for new online sports betting marketing.”
Carton hopes his story helps people see, or feel, the signs of problem gambling — because “it’s only going to continue to get bigger.”
Gambling should be a group activity, the radioman says, if done responsibly. It should not be hidden. If someone is sitting off in the corner on their phone, wagering on a 1 a.m. basketball game they know nothing about, or asking friends to cover a bet they can’t afford, these are signs of a potential problem. That joins noticeable mood changes, constant chasing of losses, borrowing money, opening new credit cards, not following a plan and more.
“There are enough warning signs out there to be aware of, for somebody to say: ‘Hey, buddy, stop. Hey, let’s have a conversation.'” Carton said. “Because if no one does that … there’s no happy ending to compulsive gambling. It doesn’t exist, until you are willing to acknowledge you have a problem.”
Often called the “hidden addiction,” with signs harder to spot than substance abuse, gambling disorders maintain the highest rates of suicide compared to any other addiction.
“The hardest and most important first step was the step that I internalized in that very first meeting, which was: ‘There’s something going on,'” Carton said.
He still sees a long road ahead.
“I’m still upset about some of the decisions I made and some of the things I did, the risks I took and the financial devastation and emotional devastation that I brought,” he continued.
“But I’m proud to be able to tell you that I’m an addict. I own it. And I’m not ashamed of it.”
Kelly Powers is a culture reporter for the How We Live team — covering race, culture and identity for the USA TODAY Network’s Atlantic Region. Contact her at kepowers@gannett.com or 443-694-0770, and follow her on Twitter @kpowers01.
MSU and Caesars Entertainment have reached a deal together
The nature of sports is slowly being revolutionized through the growing sports gambling world. States all over the country are legalizing the use of online sports gambling and fans are loving it. The trickle-down effect means that sponsorships with major sports gambling websites is prevalent and professional sports teams along with university athletic departments are starting to partner up with different companies.
On Thursday morning, announcing via Twitter, Michigan State has released that it will be partnering with Caesars Entertainment in a multi-year partnership to make Caesars Sportsbook the official and exclusive sportsbook of Spartan athletics.
Michigan State Athletics, MSU Sports Properties and Caesars Entertainment Inc. today announced a multi-year partnership to make Caesars Sportsbook the Official and Exclusive Sports Betting Partner and iGaming Partner of MSU Athletics. https://t.co/oEH4ArI4aspic.twitter.com/y7BvmsfGAm
Jordan Spieth and FanDuel announced a relationship which will have Spieth featured in national television commercials and on social media.
Jordan Spieth doesn’t carelessly arrive at any decision.
Think of his entertaining, educational discussions with caddie, Michael Greller, before pulling the trigger on a shot. Listen to him discuss his strategic movements around Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters. Hear him respectfully and thoughtfully tackle a variety of topics during his many meetings with the media.
From the earliest of days on the PGA Tour, when he quickly had stardom arrive on his doorstep after winning his first of 12 PGA Tour titles in the 2013 John Deere Classic at age 19, Spieth remained measured in his approach to any course of action. He did not, for instance, go willy-nilly and rush into putting his signature to partnership deals shortly after leaving his teenage years.
Along with a small group of advisors, he thoroughly considered his options and a roll call of his sponsors impressively speaks to his methods – AT&T, Under Armour, Rolex, Titleist and NetJets.
Jordan Spieth and his caddie Michael Greller look over the first tee during the third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament. (Photo: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports)
Spieth didn’t go changing his ways despite the riches pouring in and major titles piling up – the 2015 Masters, the 2015 U.S. Open and the 2017 British Open. He became the world No. 1 and won the FedEx Cup and he was still the same guy.
Thus, it came as no surprise to learn Spieth did meticulous research before deciding to add another sponsorship association to his resume. Even picked PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s brain. Looked into his crystal ball and considered the future and the possibilities to grow the game. Studied the current landscape.
The result? On Wednesday, Spieth and FanDuel announced a multi-year relationship which will have him being featured in national television commercials and providing content for social media as well as responsible gaming initiatives for FanDuel, one of the largest daily fantasy sites and sportsbooks in the country. FanDuel also will support the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation.
“In my rookie year, this wouldn’t have been something that would have been on the radar given where sports gaming was back then,” Spieth said in a phone call with Golfweek. “But look at where it has gone the last couple of years. It was pretty exciting to look into it.
“Golf has a unique space to get into (gaming) to help bring more eyeballs into the sport, bring (other) sports fans into being golf fans, and with FanDuel being the biggest and doing the best job at responsible gambling, it made a lot of sense.”
Gambling on sports exploded in May of 2018 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on state-authorized sports betting. The decision swung open the door for states to allow betting on sporting events.
The PGA Tour quickly embraced legalized sports gaming, emphasizing its potential to grow the fanbase; FanDuel is an official sports betting partner with the PGA Tour. Spieth said Monahan convinced him golf could not refuse to welcome gaming considering its steady growth throughout the sports world. Spieth said the Tour’s movement into gaming “gave us the confidence as individual players to want to search out and look for opportunities in this space.”
“It was one of those things where you would have thought you were walking on pins and needles a few years ago without the Tour’s involvement, but then with the Tour stepping straight in, it’s given a lot of players the confidence and the opportunity to look into this space,” he said. “I just happen to be lucky that FanDuel had interest me.”
Jordan Spieth tees off on the 14th hole during the second round of the WGC-FedEx-St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo by Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal
As for his work on the course, Spieth’s resurgent 2021 continues this week at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, home to the Northern Trust, the first of three events in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
After struggling for most of 2018 and then in 2019 and 2020, he fell to No. 92 in the Official World Golf Rankings earlier this year – his lowest rank since 2012. He grinded his way through the slump and has returned to his prominent stature in the golf world with nine top 10s in 16 events this year, including victory in the Valero Texas Open to snap a nearly four-year winless stretch, runner-up finishes in the British Open and Charles Schwab Challenge, and third-place finishes in the Masters and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
He’s No. 12 in the world and No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings. Spieth won the 2015 FedEx Cup, led going into the 2017 final playoff event before finishing second to Justin Thomas, finished seventh in 2013, ninth in 2016, and 15th in 2014. But he hasn’t been to the playoffs finale at East Lake in Atlanta the past three years; at No. 2 he’s guaranteed a spot this year.
And he can’t wait.
“You just take a different game plan that you do during the rest of the season, because it’s almost like the three tournaments are 12 rounds in a major,” he said.
After the playoffs, Spieth will rest – for two weeks. At No. 7 in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings – the top 6 automatically make the team that will face Europe at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin the last week of September – Spieth is more than likely to be playing in his fourth Ryder Cup. He made his debut in 2014, was on the victorious squad in 2016 and was in Paris in 2018.
And, again, he can’t wait.
“I would say the Ryder Cup was my No. 1 kind of lofty goal coming into this calendar year,” he said. “I was pretty far down the list. I would have missed out on it last year, potentially, depending on if the majors would have been in the same place and how those would have shaped out. But I almost felt like I got a little bit lucky with an extra half a year to a year to try and make the team (due to the COVID pandemic postponing the 2020 Ryder Cup to 2021).
“So I looked at it as a super lofty goal. And I thought I really had to play well in the majors, and if I can play well elsewhere, as well, that would be awesome.”
Mission accomplished.
“The Ryder Cup is the best,” Spieth said. “We don’t get to play team sports and I love team sports. And that’s our opportunity to do it, in a home arena.
“The ’16 Ryder Cup was such an amazing week for us. To be able to celebrate it with people afterward and all the fans that stick around,” he said. “You don’t have that in our sports very often. In our sport, when you win, you do media, go back to their team and you may go out to dinner with a few people and that’s your celebration. To be able to essentially have your championship parade on the back end if you’re able to close it out, and playing for your country, it’s one of those opportunities that gets you going.”
Sportsbook Wire’s Geoff Clark discusses key numbers and how to use them when betting against the spread or Over/Under.
The saying “professional handicappers don’t bet teams, they bet numbers” has become a sports betting axiom. Even your average Joe understands the importance of key numbers in sports betting. Below, we’ll discuss what key numbers are and how you should factor them into your sports wagering.
Key numbers are the most common margin of victory and/or final scores in a given sport. Because of football’s scoring system, key numbers have more importance in the NFL and college football; however, we’ll also touch on how key numbers surface in other leagues.
Obviously, “3” and “7” are the two biggest key numbers in football since field goals are worth 3 points and a touchdown with an extra point conversion (PAT) is worth 7 points.
Research has found 14-15% of NFL games end in a 3-point margin of victory and 9-10% of games are decided by 7 points, according to Jeff Fogle of VSiN.com.
Getting a line of 3.5 or 7.5 points is known as betting “3 and the hook” and “7 and the hook”. Also, from an NFL wagering perspective, betting 2.5- and 6.5-point spreads are vital since games are often decided by 3 or 7 points.
Finding these numbers requires scouring listed prices across several sportsbooks in order to find the spreads with a hook or below a key number, buying points from a sportsbook for a particular game, or betting what’s known as a “teaser”.
Teasers
Oddsmakers have incorporated key number data into their pricing, which is why sportsbooks usually charge a premium if bettors would like to buy a half-point when a game is lined at either 3 or 7 points.
A teaser is a popular wager that allows you to adjust or move a line in multiple games but requires the bettor to win each game to cash the bet. Six-point teasers are the most common in NFL betting and are often used to move lines through key numbers.
For example, if the Miami Dolphins are 1.5-point road underdogs at the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Rams are 7.5-point home favorites against the Philadelphia Eagles, it could be profitable to “tease” the Dolphins up to 7.5-point underdogs and the Rams down to 1.5-point home favorites.
There are a variety of ways to get down on an NFL side with a key number but typically the most successful sports bettors find a way to profit by betting on, around or through key numbers.
Key numbers in other sports\
NBA
In the NBA, “7” is the biggest key number because that’s a three-possession margin in a basketball game and generally teams will stop fouling when down more than 6 points in the final moments.
Key numbers aren’t really a thing for NHL puck lines but “5” is a key number for a total. This is especially true in the Stanley Cup Playoffs which usually feature lower-scoring games and professionals hammer the Under on 5.5-goal NHL totals in playoff games.
MLB
Similarly, most of the gambling action wagered on MLB sides involve the money lines but the key numbers for MLB totals are “7”, “9” and “11” since around 30% of games end with a total of 7, 9 or 11 runs scored.
If the next step to being a successful sports handicapper is “betting numbers, not teams” then factoring in key numbers is a must for every aspiring sharp.
Follow Geoff Clark on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.
Sportsbook Wire’s Geoff Clark discusses what “hedging” and “middling” mean in sports betting and the optimal times to use those plays.
“Hedging” and “middling” are two of the most popular sports betting strategies you’ll hear mentioned by recreational and professional gamblers. Below, we’ll discuss what these approaches mean and how to use them.
A hedge is a strategy in which a bettor will bet the opposite side of a pending wager in order to reduce their risk and/or guarantee a profit. Hedging is popular with future bets because of its high payouts and multi-way action.
Middling is a method that has elements of hedging but is also used to score bigger payouts. A middle is when a bettor takes both sides of a game at different lines in hopes of scooping both bets.
Some sort of line move is needed to employ this strategy, whether it be within in-game betting or betting the opposite side of the original wager prior to the second half.
For me, hedging is more of a personal conversation in that a bettor’s willingness to hedge usually depends on that person’s bankroll or comfortability with a bet’s outcome.
If you don’t have much skin in the game or don’t feel good about the other lines in that bet’s market then why not let your original wager ride?
Let me give you an example of how to hedge. First, let’s pretend you’ve bet $100 on the Baltimore Ravens (+1400) to win the Super Bowl. They steamroll through the regular season and advance to the big game to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The original $100 wager on the Ravens (+1400) to win the Super Bowl has a $1,400 pending profit. In this mock scenario, the Buccaneers will be favored -130 on the money line. If you’re looking to hedge, the play would be to bet at least $130 on the Bucs (-130) to at least give yourself a “freeroll”.
Depending on how you feel maybe the play is to wager $650 on the Bucs (-130) money line to win the Super Bowl to guarantee yourself a $500 profit if Tampa wins or an $800 profit if Baltimore wins.
Again, this is more of a personal dilemma than a “one size fits all” strategy.
Middling opportunities
The best times to middle is either in-game or prior to the second half of a game you already have action on.
For example, maybe you really like the Tennessee Titans (+4.5) on the road against the Ravens and take Tennessee plus the points before kick-off.
Now, say the Titans catch a few first-half breaks and get out to a 21-7 lead entering halftime, but Baltimore is favored by 6 points for the second half. This would give you an 18-point cushion on the middle.
With the Titans (+4.5) slip already in your pocket, by betting Baltimore -6 for the second half, you could scoop both bets if the Ravens lose by 7 or fewer points and Tennessee doesn’t lose by 5 or more points.
A middle can serve as a “hedge” or profit maximizer depending on how you play it. Either way, it’s a strategy that’ll definitely help your bankroll if properly used.
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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.
Sportsbook Wire’s Geoff Clark discusses the difference between “sharp money” and “public money” and incorporating this intel into your handicapping.
Knowledge is power and being able to decipher between sharp and public money is a powerful skill for any sports bettor. Below, we’ll discuss what sharp money means and how to trace it.
Professional bettors are also referred to as “sharps”, “wiseguys” or “pros” and they are the experts of the sports betting world. While the public bets for fun, the sharps bet to make a living. The only way that can happen is if the pro is winning their bets at a 55% or higher clip.
Most bettors reading this don’t qualify as a “sharp” so the best we can do is to align with the sharp money. This makes figuring out where the sharp money is a vital part of handicapping a sporting event. Aligning with pros is the easiest way for us “squares” to get down on plus-expected value wagers.
These are the people who are grinding daily to find the best odds across several sportsbooks, working with runners or partners to get down big money on a particular game and their action changes lines in the market.
There are plenty of routes to becoming a “sharp” whether it’s via complex algorithms, math models, line originating, or handicapping; however, not being in this select group doesn’t exclude someone from making a sharp wager.
Using line movement to find ‘sharp’ money
Typically, when the wiseguys get down on a game it moves the market. Also, they bring a lot more money to the window than the “square” bettor, which usually explains line movement.
There are three different ways a line could move that would indicate where the sharp money lies:
Steam
Reverse line movement
Line freeze
First, a “steam move” is slang for the entire market (all sportsbooks) moving the spread, money line or total based on incoming action. Usually, this happens when a syndicate or group of pros bet big money on a particular side.
This isn’t always the case and because bookmaking is becoming more “group think” sometimes the market will move as a whole if one of the sportsbooks that knowingly accept sharp money changes their odds.
Second, “reverse line movement” (RLM) is when the odds change in favor of the less popular side. Most bettors understand this concept inherently because it’s fishy if the House makes the more popular team cheaper.
That type of bookmaking suggests the House respects or is fearful of the few bettors who’ve backed the less popular side.
In order to find RLM, you first have to access free betting splits, which are available on websites including VSIN.com and Pregame.com or by the sportsbooks themselves via social media.
Finally, a “line freeze” is simply when the public and even sharp money is backing one side but the oddsmakers haven’t budged from their opening number.
This indicates bookmakers know they are the sharp side and are comfortable taking more action. Finding a “line freeze” on the board tends to be profitable since you’re on the same side as the House and the House usually wins.
Follow Geoff Clark on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.
Sportsbook Wire’s Geoff Clark offers insight on the importance of “Closing Line Value” and how to attain it.
While most recreational bettors look at sports gambling as a results-oriented business, the goal of every professional sports bettor and/or advantage gambler is to get Closing Line Value.
The idea is that no one, not even the “wiseguys”, is sharper than the market so the best-case scenario for someone regularly betting on sports is to get ahead of the market. Below, we’ll discuss what “closing line value” is and its importance.
Closing line value compares the price at which you’ve bet a team or side to the closing line at the time the event starts.
Otherwise known as “CLV”, “beating the market” and “getting the best of the number”, sports bettors bow at the altar of closing line value because who doesn’t like bragging about getting a good deal?
For example, let’s say you jump on the opening line of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -6.5 (-125) at home in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys and, at kickoff, the betting window closes with the Buccaneers favored by 7.5 points. In this case, you’d be able to brag about the price at which you bet Tampa Bay.
On the other hand, one of the worst feelings as a sports bettor is to get the worst of the number. Generally, contrarian thinking is profitable in sports betting but only if you beat the market.
Therefore, the key to CLV is anticipating which way the market is headed because time is money in sports betting. However, this is much easier said than done.
How to get Closing Line Value
The best way to sum up the importance of CLV is the more often a bettor gets an edge, the less they have to write about it.
Meaning, the true testament of a “sharp” is getting the best of the number and, in the long run, that person should be a winning bettor.
What I’m getting at is there’s no one foolproof way of attaining CLV as it’s part of the daily grind of handicapping sports and if there were it would be much easier for the Average Joe to beat the books.
Having “outs” is the most important aspect of getting CLV. “Outs” refers to having multiple sportsbook accounts you can bet through.
Since most oddsmakers copy each other, finding one book that’s number is different than the rest could clue you into the direction in which the market is heading.
The other way to get CLV is both simple and difficult: Work harder. Whether it’s building betting systems, sophisticated algorithms, or acquiring important team information, the goal is to get the best of the number.
Luck or variance comes with sports betting life so don’t expect every bet with CLV to be a winner, but finding it is a skill and the more a bettor hones this skill, the more likely that person is to make money wagering on sports.
Follow Geoff Clark on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
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Sportsbook Wire’s Geoff Clark offers insight on how to fade the public in sports betting and what it means.
“Fade the public” is the most popular sports handicapping angle because of its simplicity and practicality. The concept is easy: Bet the opposite of the more popular side because the recreational sports bettor typically loses.
This is solid logic and a good foundation with which to start when handicapping a particular game but it can be costly if blindly applied.
Below, we’ll discuss how to access the data needed to make a contrarian play against the market and the best spots to employ a “fade the public” strategy.
There’s almost an overload of accessible websites that show the betting splits of a daily slate in a particular sport but, luckily, most of them are free.
My personal favorite is Pregame.com, which shows the opening and current lines, as well as the cash and total bets placed percentages for both the sides and totals of every game. Other free options include TheSpread.com and VSiN.com.
Also, I recommend following the Twitter accounts of the sportsbooks you wager with because the oddsmakers themselves usually post betting splits for key games on a given slate.
When to use the ‘fade the public’ angle
A sweet spot for being a contrarian bettor is being on the same side as the Pros and betting against the Joes. Typically, the presumed “sharp” money is the handle column in the table and “public” represents the total bets column.
Example:
Kansas City Chiefs -1.5 (65% of the money, 33% of tickets)
Baltimore Ravens +1.5 (35% of the money, 67% of the tickets)
The professional bettors are backing the Chiefs in this mock betting split but the public is betting on the Ravens. This would be a good spot to use the “fade the public” angle since the money is flowing in the opposite direction.
The best time to incorporate a “fade the public” angle into your handicap is with the games that draw more public action. These spots include almost all primetime NFL games, March Madness and the NBA, MLB and NHL postseasons.
While the strategy of “fading the public” is simple and sound, it’s often misused or overused. In fact, an argument can be made that overdoing it is more “square” than never knowingly taking a contrarian position.
A bettor who perhaps is a little trigger happy with the “fade the public” angle would be mistaken if they were to use that approach when wagering on most regular-season NBA, MLB or NHL games.
For example, most recreational bettors aren’t rushing to the sportsbook to wager on a Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins game in the middle of July. There’s a chance the “sharp” and “public” money are one and the same.
As the legalization of sports gambling grows the market becomes sharper and it’s less profitable to “fade the public”. However, since consistently making money when sports betting is rather difficult, a contrarian approach will always have merit.
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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.
FedEx Field is among the worst stadiums in the NFL, but Washington is likely to make moves to improve the fan experience in the near future.
It is true that our day-to-day lives have been put on hold for much of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the same can be said of many major business plans, such as moving forward with the potential of a new stadium for the Washington Football Team.
However, the people in charge of the franchise have been talking over the past several months, and it’s becoming clear that there may be some changes in the future for Washington’s amenities, no matter where they may be.
In his weekly blog post, Washington team president Jason Wright dropped an interesting note on Tuesday, saying that there might be some near-term investments made at FedEx Field to improve the fan experience.
The biggest pivot for us is to go from a lens that focuses primarily on our income statement to one that looks at the fan and employee experience. In the long run, a healthier, happier workforce is going to be more productive and creative over time, so it is easily worth making additional HR and talent-related investments to move us in that direction.
Similarly, there may be some substantial near-term investments that will make the fan experience at FedEx Field more enjoyable in the medium term. The in-person guest and fan experience is a major priority for us, and we are in the process of revamping our entire guest experience. And that includes bringing in external sources that have a track record of knowing how to infuse that innovative thinking into our organization.
We don’t know what “near-term investments” refers to, but seeing as FedEx Field consistently ranks as one of the worst stadiums in the entire NFL year in and year out, it’s obviously in need of a lot of improvement. One thing that we might see on the top of the priority list is something that resembles a sportsbook at the stadium; Maryland legalized sports gambling last month in a referendum. While many teams and owners in the NFL look to capitalize on that potential gold rush, it could act as a major infusion to a franchise and stadium that are in need of all the help they can get.
