From DFS to DraftKings Sportsbook in New Jersey: Monday, August 27th
The DraftKings Sportsbook is now a very real and completely legal entity in New Jersey. As originally laid out in the intial article, the purpose of this piece is to decipher which daily fantasy skills translate well to sports betting. This journey will also be about acquiring additional skills necessary to success in a sports betting endeavor.
Please note that I do not profess to be good at this. Follow along at your own peril.
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Today’s Plays (Favorites to win per unit – i.e. 1.5 units to win 1 if -150, dogs risking per unit)
Phillies 4.5 Over (+115) 1 unit to win 2.15
Nationals/Phillies 9 Over (-105) 1.04 units to win 2.04
Phillies +102 1 unit to win 2.02
Blue Jays/Orioles 9.5 Over (-109) 1.09 to win 2.09
Athletics +170 1 unit to win 2.70
Check back later once lineups start to roll out for updates.
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6:50 ET Update
No additional plays right now. Watching the west coast lines and might consider a play. There is one line that looks slightly interesting right now. Will tweet any additional action from @FreelanceBBall instead of updating again here. So this will be the final update here tonight. Looks like I may have made a mistake not waiting on the A’s. They’re up to +175 now. Both they and the Phillies climbed a bit after I placed those bets. The Phillies are now -104 though. The vig on both Overs has climbed slightly too.
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5PM ET Update
I rated Gerrit Cole as the second best pitcher on the board this morning. He’s really good. Brett Anderson isn’t as good as his recent numbers, but he has thrown seven shutout innings in three of his last four starts. Both bullpens are very good. An interesting fact is that Cole has allowed the highest rate of exit velocity above 95 mph on the board (41.7%). The A’s have five batters above that rate in terms of hard contact against RHP over the last calendar year. The price seems too high.
Athletics +170 1 unit to win 2.70
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4:15 ET Update
David Hess is the low man on the board today. He pitched well against the Blue Jays last time out, far better than he has in any start this season. With both starters generally not going very deep into games, this will be a battle of bullpens, one perhaps below average, the other the worst in baseball over the last month (6.44 FIP, 6.3 K-BB%). Both starters allow too much hard contact. Some runs should be scored in this game.
Blue Jays/Orioles 9.5 Over (-109) 1.09 to win 2.09
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3:30 ET Update
Stephen Strasburg was down a couple of miles per hour in his first start back from the DL and these Phillies pounced on him. The Washington bullpen is one of the worst in baseball over the last month. We’re getting plus money on the Phillies team total at a reasonable 4.5 runs tonight. Zach Eflin has been struggling as well (5.59 ERA, 5.15 FIP and 18.5 K% with eight HRs allowed over his last seven starts). I’m attacking this game in a number of ways.
Phillies 4.5 Over (+115) 1 unit to win 2.15
Nationals/Phillies 9 Over (-105) 1.04 units to win 2.04
Phillies +102 1 unit to win 2.02
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Friday’s recap:
Orioles F5 +135 1 unit to win 1.35 P – D’Backs 4.5 Over (-107) 1.06 units to win 2.06 L – 1.06
Rays +123 1 unit to win 2.23 – W +1.23
Cardinals -108 1.08 units to win 2.08 W +1
Pirates +118 1 unit to win 1.18 L – 1
Angels +130 1 unit to win 2.3 L – 1
Day Total 2-3 -0.83
Grand Total 18-22-1 -2.14 units
Sides 9-11 +1.94 units
Totals 10-11-1 -2.72 units
Parlays 1-2 -1.39 units
Although the Cardinals tried their damnedest to blow a 7-0 lead, Friday’s swing game ended up being the Pirates, who returned from a first inning 4-0 deficit to tie it at four in the ninth and then take a two run lead in the 15th. Safe to finally go to bed, right? Brewers win 7-6 and that’s the difference between a profit or a loss on the day.
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There’s a new player in town. Sugar House became the latest online sportsbook to open it’s doors in New Jersey (use promo code: GRINDERS). While DraftKings made their name in daily fantasy, The Sugar House is linked with their online casino.
They have a number of deposit options, including debit/credit cards, paypal, bank transfer, and in person at the Golden Nugget casino cage or at a local convenience store.
Plays here will still be made through DraftKings for the next few days until my deposit is set up, but I’ll be reviewing the Sugar House Online Sportsbook software and wagering options right here this week. Competition is a wonderful thing for sports bettors (or really any consumer) and now we’ll be able to shop for the best lines…maybe.
As I write this on Sunday night, only the live betting for the Yankees and Orioles is available for MLB and both lines seem to be the same at each change, which also seems to be occurring simultaneously, so perhaps they’re using the same feed to get their lines, but that should be more clear as I’m able to compare baseball lines this afternoon.
The Sugar House layout is quite different from DraftKings. While possibly not as aesthetically pleasing, it may be more functional and user friendly. By that I mean I have no problems finding exactly what I’m looking for without having to navigate to off the current page most times, especially for single game options. All of the live betting options are right there under the score in a concise space with drop down menus.
Another appealing live betting feature is that each drop down menu tells you how many options are available right there in the title. For example, “Game Lines 22” or “Innings 28” reveals there are that many available options in each category currently. If you just want the more popular options then you have everything you need right at the top in “Selected Markets 7”.
There will be much more to talk about as it’s discovered this week, but we don’t want this portion of the post to go on for too long because updates are coming along with today’s plays later.