The first part of Tuesday was spent in the Tuleys’ Take home office writing our regular “Tuley’s Takes” column with our takes on the 6 NFL wild-card games this weekend, while the rest of the day was spent writing my 3,0000-word story on DURBIFY’s long journey to win the Circa Sports Million that actually started around 20 years earlier by winning an offshore contest that mirrored the then-Hilton SuperContest. You can read that HERE.
I took short breaks in the 4 p.m. PT and 7 p.m. PT hours to check in on my best bets for the day. The earlier game, which I suggested for those who want to parlay my NHL First-Period Over plays for a better payout, was the Canucks-Panthers Over 1.5 goals -140 as it easily went Over 1.5 s the Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in just 6:24 while the Canucks added a 3rd goal to make it 2-1 just over 11.5 minutes into game.
Then, our best bet of the day was the Maple Leafs-Golden Knights First-Period Over 1.5 -135 as the teams played to a 1-1 tie in the first 20 minutes with each scoring a goal before 13 minutes had been played. If you just played the best bet, you won 1 unit. If you hit the parlay, it should have paid around 186 or around odds of 8-5.
I was so busy writing that I didn’t get to Tweet out my daily betting results @ViewFromVegas, but we have them here in Tuley’s Takes Today, and then we’ll try to find another best bet for Wednesday.
Tuesday’s recaps
CBB: No. 19 Texas Tech upset No. 1 Baylor 65-62 as 11.5-point road underdog and + 515 on the money line after rallying from 15-point deficit. Stanford upset No. 5 USC as 7-point home underdog and + 235 on ML as the Trojans fell as the last unbeaten major college team in the country. No. 4 Auburn beat No. 24 Alabama 81-77 as 3-point road dog and + 130 on ML. No. 9 Kansas beat No. 15 Iowa State 62-61, but did NOT cover as 13.5-point home fave.
NBA: Faves/dogs split 3-3 on Tuesday, but dogs led 5-1 ATS as the Thunder (+ 6.5 in 122-118 loss at Wizards) and Raptors (+ 4.5 in 99-95 loss vs. Suns) covered in SU losses. Upset were by the Grizzlies (+ 2 vs. Warriors), Pelicans (+ 3.5 vs. Timberwolves) and Clippers (+ 2.5 vs. Nuggets). Overs went 4.2.
NHL: Faves went 6-1 on Tuesday, including Blackhawks closing as shortest of faves at -110 in 4-2 win at the Blue Jackets, though some books had them as short dogs. The only clear-cut upset was by the Predators (+ 120 in 5-4 win vs. Avalanche). Overs went 4-2-1 with the push coming in the Blackhawks-Blue Jackets game (6).
Wednesday’s Take
Maple Leafs-Coyotes First-Period Over 1.5 -125: We have no reason to not stick with 1P Overs. I like this the most on Wednesday’s card with the Coyotes 20-13 on these bets with the Maple Leafs 19-15 (but also on a 9-0 run after cashing for us last night in Vegas) for a combined 39-28 (58.2 percent) hit rate while -125 just requires around 55.6 percent. I’d lay up to -150. Like yesterday, this is clearly the best bet on the board, but if you want to turn this into a dog on a two-team parlay, I’d use it with the Kraken-Stars 1P Over 1.5 -125.