This new weekly column had another winner Tuesday as the Cardinals cashed at + 190 in winning their 10th straight game. The fact they closed at an average of + 179 is hopefully a sign that our readers were helping drive down the price during the course of the day.
Let’s get to the general betting recap, plus a few notes on Vegas football handicapping contests and then today’s play of the day (one guess as to who it will be).
Tuesday’s betting recap
Cardinals (+ 179) beat Brewers 2-1 on Tuesday night for their 10th straight win. Favorites/underdogs split 7-7 with Blue Jays-Rays closing consensus pick-’em. The biggest upset on the day was by the Pirates (+ 194 at Reds). Faves still lead 1,300-892 (59.3 percent) on the season with 53 PKs. Unders went an impressive 11-3-1 on Tuesday w/ the push on Nationals-Marlins (8) and increased slim lead to 1,076-1,062-101 (50.3 percent).
Contest Corner
Circa Sports’ Jeffrey Benson and a few followers on Twitter @ViewFromVegas pointed out that my NFL Week 2 recaps didn’t include the race for the last-place Booby Prize in Circa Sports Million III. I replied: FRANKIE BLACK (0-10 through 2 weeks of Circa Sports Million) leads the race for the $25,000 first-quarter Booby Prize for lowest points (a contestant must play every week to be eligible; you can’t just have the least amount of wins by not putting in plays). The first quarter runs in NFL Weeks 1-4. The season-long Booby Prize is $100,000.
For those in the contests or just following along, the Westgate SuperContest has six three-week mini-contests, so the first one (which will pay out $75,000 for first, $25,000 for second and $5,000 for third) wraps up this weekend after NFL Week 3. Circa Sports Million’s first quarter ends after NFL Week 4 and pay $171,750 for first (the strange amount comes from the fact there were 4,087 entries on the $4 million guarantee with the extra $87,000 being split between the four quarterly winners), $50,000 for second, $25,000 for third and the $25,000 for the Booby Prize.
Wednesday’s Take
Cardinals (-101) at Brewers: Last week, we won with Giants’ run-line bets on Monday and Tuesday and backed off on Wednesday (when they lost), but we’re going with the Cardinals for the third day in a row. This isn’t rocket science as the Cardinals are the hottest teams in baseball with a 10-game winning streak. Circa Sports is the only Nevada book with a money line posted overnight (DraftKings has the Cardinals at even money in their states), so that does make them an underdog. Miles Mikolas (1-2, but the Cardinals are 4-3 in his starts, 4.50 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) faces Milwaukee’s Brett Anderson (4-8, 4.18 ERA, 1.34 WHIP).
Good luck today (and every day!).