Friday was another long day as I had to drive back home from Phoenix to pick up my son Maddux at the bus stop at 3 p.m. PT.
That was after being up to 4:30 the night before and the 5-hour drive made it more than 16 hours of driving in the prior 52 hours. After taking a tiny nap, I went out to sign up some proxy clients in the football contests at the Westgate and Circa.
In the meantime, I was following my plays posted here yesterday. Unfortunately, I love my Best Bet on the Bills + 6.5 as they went from scoring 42 points last week to getting shut out 21-0 by the Panthers. I ended up passing on the Seahawks (opened -3, went as high as -7) but mentioned for the chalk players out there, but it ended up being a case for my dog-or-pass philosophy as they lost outright, 27-26.
At least I won my lone MLB play as the Angels 1st 5 + 150 came through with the Angels leading 7-0 after 5 innings on the way to a 12-0 upset.
Let’s recap the rest of Friday’s (full-game) betting results and then look for more 1st 5 plays on Saturday in addition to my picks for CFB Week 0.
Friday’s recaps
NFL: Faves went 3-1 SU and ATS Friday as Panthers (-5 vs. Bills), Saints (-4.5 vs. Chargers) and Raiders (-2 vs. Patriots) covered as home faves. The only upset was by the Cowboys (+ 7 vs. Seahawks) as home dog, so home teams 4-0 SU and ATS. Unders went 2-1-1 with the push in the Chargers-Saints (37) game.
More NFL: Faves/dogs are back to .500 at 3-3 SU and ATS in Preseason Week 3. Home teams are 6-0 SU and ATS. Unders 4-1-1. Overall, faves improved to 21-16 SU with 2 pick-’ems, but dogs still lead 18-17-2 ATS. Home teams 21-17 SU and 21-15-2 ATS. Overs dipped to 23-15-1 (60.5 percent).
MLB: Faves went 9-6 Friday with upsets by the Orioles (+ 174 at Astros), Angels (+ 168 at Blue Jays), Diamondbacks (+ 147 at White Sox), Cubs (+ 138 at Brewers), Reds (+ 135 at Nationals) and Mariners (+ 105 vs. Guardians). Road teams went 9-6. Overs went 11-4 .
More MLB: Faves lead 1,118-737 SU (60.3 percent) on the season with 27 pick-'ems (faves usually win around 59 percent; still ahead of pace; gap had been narrowing but now well over 60 percent). Home teams lead 994-886 (52.9 percent, usually closer to 54 percent but on the rise). Unders lead 920-860-99 (51.7 percent).
Saturday’s Takes
Wyoming + 10 at Illinois: I gave this out in the last issue of Point Spread Weekly on Wednesday. I’m being contrarian as I’ve heard some of my VSiN colleagues on Illinois, but I think this line was too high at 10 and like it even more at + 14 (14.5 at South Point) as everyone continues to bet Illinois like they know the final score). I don’t see it as being this big of a rout.
Vanderbilt-Hawaii Over 55: I made the case in PSW for the Over at 55 and liked it even more at Over 53.5 at several books during the middle of this week. The number has settled at 54.5 at most books as of early Saturday morning.
Angels 1st 5 + 135 at Blue Jays: I’m wheeling back on the Angels after they crushed the Jays 12-0 on Friday, especially because it snapped the Angels 6-game losing streak, so they’re a swagger play in our book. We also get Shohei Ohtani starting for the Angels as he’s a match for Alex Manoah, especially for 5 innings. A play on the Angels + 145 for the game looks good, too.
Good luck today (and every day!).