Ramblers

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Joseph J. Gentile Center

OK, Lakers Nation: Your team is stacked like never before in the LeBron James era.
Anthony Davis will be back healthy. Russell Westbrook is coming aboard. So is Dwight Howard, along with Carmelo Anthony, Wayne Ellington, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza and Kent Bazemore.
This team is loaded.
And while they are certain to win the NBA&rsquo;s geriatric award, a championship is no sure thing. But when it comes to dominating the regular season, both in terms of media coverage and watchability, nobody is even a close second.
Bear that in mind for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that the writers and broadcasters who vote for the NBA&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player award watch a whole lot of basketball on TV. And it is safe to say we will see a heck of a lot more of the Lakers than we will of, say, the Thunder.
The Lakers have three legitimate MVP candidates in Westbrook, Davis and James. But for whatever reason, the major U.S. sportsbooks have listed all three of them with very long odds for MVP. At DraftKings Sportsbook, Davis and Westbrook are listed at +2500, to use the new parlance, and James is +1500.
At FanDuel Sportsbook, Westbrook is an astonishing 85-1. He is 55-1 at PointsBet, and 50-1 at WilliamHill.
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And if you think those odds are going to stay that high in the long-term, we have a bridge in Brooklyn that we will sell you for a very low price.
Here is the thing about the legalized U.S. sports gambling market: The books are not all that great at setting the futures odds accurately. They are very good at most things they do. But on some of these future markets, they are off by a country mile. The sharp gamblers know this, and you should, too.
Westbrook, in case you have forgotten, spent last year with a Washington Wizards team that closed the season with a tremendous finishing kick after having their campaign hugely disrupted by COVID-related postponements. They won 17 of their final 24 games, and Westbrook had triple-doubles in 19 of those contests. He was one assist shy of two more triple-doubles.
The guy gets bashed a lot for a variety of things (including switching teams so often in recent years), but do not let the haters convince you that he is a bad player. He remains a super-stud, and there are worse things you can do with one Benjamin than lay it on Russ at 85-1 for the MVP. If he opens the season with three of four triple-doubles in a row, you are going to see that number shrink considerably (perhaps to single digits).
Of course, Davis is a legit MVP contender as well, and there is a chance that the Lakers spread the wealth around so much that these guys cancel each other out. And while that may indeed be the case, there is still questionable logic in having Luka Doncic (+400), Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant (+700), Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steph Curry (+800) and Damian Lillard (+1200) listed with lower odds than any of the Lakers. Also at +1500 along with LeBron is reigning MVP Nikola Jokic (+1800). Trae Young (+1800), Devin Booker (+2000) and James Harden (+2000) are also listed lower than Westbrook and Davis. (All of those odds from DraftKings Sportsbook).
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Jokic won the MVP award last season for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was his durability as he appeared in all 72 games while averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists. But the Denver Nuggets finished tied for third in the Western Conference, and it is pretty rare for a player from a third-seeded team to win the award.
Voters typically look at individual stats first and a team&rsquo;s record second. Last season, because of the amount of injuries around the NBA, Jokic sort of won it by default, getting 91 of 101 first-place votes. Embiid, who finished second, got just a single first-place vote (from Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic). Steph Curry, who finished third, got five first-place votes.
Assuming the senescent nature of the Lakers roster does not lead to the same type of injury problems they had last season, they will finish atop the Western Conference. FanDuel Sportsbook currently lists them as +195 to win the West, followed by the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers at +500, and the Utah Jazz at +650.
The Brooklyn Nets (+230) and the Lakers (+400) are the two favorites to win the NBA title.
But remember: The Most Valuable Player award only takes into account what happens during the regular season. If Westbrook plays the same way for the Lakers as he did at the end of last season for the Wizards, churning out triple-doubles on a nightly basis, he could win MVP in the same sort of runaway fashion as Jokic did last season. Dennis Schroder and Alex Caruso are gone, and Kendrick Nunn (who&rsquo;s more of a shooter than a playmaker) is now the de facto backup point guard.
There are no sure things in the gambling world. But there are reasonable risks.
Wagering on Westbrook, who has 184 career triple-doubles, is not the worst idea in the history of ideas. Give it some thought, especially because others are not.
BetMGM spokesman John Ewing said that Curry has taken a league-leading 14.8% of tickets to Westbrook&rsquo;s 2.3%. PointsBet&rsquo;s Wyatt Yearout said that Doncic is taking a league-leading 10.71% to Westbrook&rsquo;s 7.14% (the same as Antetokounmpo, Durant and Curry).

Russell Westbrook was dominant for the Wizards at end of last season. Now, after joining the Lakers, he's an interesting MVP bet.

Russell Westbrook's MVP odds range from 25-1 to 85-1

The Phoenix Suns head to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks tonight in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. The Bucks stole Game 5 in Phoenix, defeating the Suns 123-119. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way for Milwaukee, scoring 32 points. DraftKings Sportsbook currently has Milwaukee as huge -425 favorites to win the NBA Finals. On the flip side, Phoenix sits at +330 to win it all.
Can the Suns force a Game 7? Let&rsquo;s take a look at who has the edge in Game 6 and find out <a href="https://betql.co/nba/odds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetQL&rsquo;s NBA best bets</a> for this NBA Finals matchup.&nbsp;
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Game Preview
Phoenix Suns at Milwaukee Bucks (-5, 222)
After it looked like Phoenix was going to run away with the series, Giannis and Co. have gone to work. Milwaukee now sits one game away from winning it all at home. Oddsmakers liked what they saw from the Bucks in Game 5 and have made Milwaukee a five-point home favorite in tonight's matchup. The books have also set the total to 222 for this game.
The Suns came out hot in Game 5, but just when it looked like they were about to run away with the game, the Bucks answered with a barrage of buckets, led by their trio of Giannis, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton.
Antetokounmpo was his usual monster-self with 32 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Middleton came up big with clutch shots throughout the second half, pouring in 29 points.
But, the X-Factor for Milwaukee in the vital game was Jrue Holiday.&nbsp;
Holiday&rsquo;s defense has been solid all series, but his offense was nowhere to be found. That all changed in Game 5, as he shot 50% from the field, 60% from three and scored 27 points to go along with 13 assists. Holiday also made the play of the game when he stole the ball from Devin Booker in the final minute of the contest and threw an alley-oop to the Greek Freak to essentially seal the game.
On the other side of the ball, the Suns will need valiant efforts from their Big Three if they want to bring the series back to Phoenix. For what it's worth, Booker has held up his share of the bargain, scoring over 40 points in back-to-back games. But the Suns go as Chris Paul goes, which means he&rsquo;ll need to be more aggressive to start the game tonight. CP3 had a huge fourth quarter in Game 5, so he&rsquo;ll need to carry that momentum into tonight&rsquo;s outing if Phoenix wants to steal this game on the road.
A big X-Factor on Phoenix&rsquo;s side to watch tonight is Deandre Ayton. Foul trouble and inconsistency has derailed Ayton&rsquo;s first Finals appearance. It'll be vital for the big man to be aggressive on both sides of the floor, and we wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised to see Phoenix try to get him the ball early to get him going.
Both teams shot lights out in Game 5, especially from deep, as the Suns hit 68.4% of their threes while the Bucks connected on 50% of their looks from deep. We envision some shooting regression in tonight&rsquo;s game, coupled with the fact that Phoenix will play with more intensity, that makes us lean toward the under.
The public is on the Suns tonight at a slight rate, with 59% of the tickets on Phoenix. Bettors are also liking the over, with 55% of gamblers hitting the over 222.
Phoenix is the best road team in the NBA, as they are 30-16 straight up. On the flip side, Scott Foster is reffing tonight, which has usually spelled doom for Paul in the past. Since 2014, when Foster is a referee, Paul's playoff teams have gone 1-12 straight up and 1-12 against the spread, per @Bet_Labs.
Even though that is a tough stat to get over, we have Phoenix as live dogs tonight, meaning we think they win straight up. This series is too good to not go seven games, so we will gladly grab the five points in this situation.
Leans: Suns +5 and Under 222
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BetQL Model Predictions &amp; Picks
BetQL&rsquo;s NBA model has run 10,000 simulations of this game to provide insight on how the game will pan out, and after all those simulations, the model likes the Suns +5. Currently, the point spread of this game sits at +/- 5 with the Bucks as home favorites. BetQL&rsquo;s model would have made Phoenix a 3.5-point underdog tonight, meaning there is big betting value on them at +5. Keep reading below to get picks from the experts at BetQL.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Against the Spread Pick:
<a href="https://betql.co/nba/sharp-picks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetQL&rsquo;s NBA model</a> is leaning towards the Suns with a 2-star rating on the game, and projects the final score to be Suns 109.5, Bucks 113. As for the expert bettors, they are also backing the Suns, but be sure to check back with BetQL to see the most updated odds, lines and spreads for this game before tip.
Over/Under Pick:
The over/under for this game is set at 222 points. The BetQL model recommends taking the over for this game, and has a 1-star play on the current number.
Prop Bet Spotlight
The BetQL computer model has identified a 5-star prop that we like for tonight&rsquo;s matchup in Devin Booker OVER 4.5 assists. He is averaging 3.8 assists per game in this series and has gone over this number two times already in the NBA Finals.
Pick: We are backing the model and taking Booker to go over his assists mark tonight.
As a Basketball News reader, you can get access to BetQL for 30% off when you use the code BBN30, <a href="https://betql.co/nba/sharp-picks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out BetQL</a> and win the rest of your bets for the playoffs!

Will the Milwaukee Bucks clinch the 2021 NBA Finals on Tuesday? Or will the Phoenix Suns force a Game 7 on their home floor?

Everything you need to know ahead of Bucks-Suns NBA Finals Game 6

The Phoenix Suns take on the Milwaukee Bucks tonight in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Bucks <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/milwaukee-bucks-outhustle-outmuscle-phoenix-suns-behind-strength-and-length-of-giannis-antetokounmpo-in-game-3-nba-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dominated Game 3 from the jump</a>, defeating the Suns 120-100. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way for Milwaukee&rsquo;s squad with 41 points. DraftKings Sportsbook currently has Phoenix as -250 favorites to win the Finals, and on the flip side, Milwaukee sits at +200 to win it all.
Can the Suns bounce back? Let&rsquo;s take a look at who has the edge in Game 4 and find out the <a href="https://betql.co/nba/odds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetQL&rsquo;s NBA best bets</a> for this Finals matchup.&nbsp;
Game Preview 
Phoenix Suns at Milwaukee Bucks (-5, 221)
After it looked like Phoenix was going to run away with the series, Giannis and Co. showed just how effective they could be at home. Oddsmakers also liked what they saw from the Bucks in Game 3, and have made Milwaukee 5-point favorites in tonight's matchup. They also anticipate a similar scoring output, and have set the total at 221.
The Suns were flat from the tip, which allowed the Bucks to take advantage as the game went on. Phoenix players looked a step slow, and it showed in the stats. The Bucks outrebounded the Suns 47-36, and had more assists and steals by the end of the night. Phoenix also was ice cold from three-point land, going just 9-for-31 (29%). The Suns only scored 100 points, too, which isn&rsquo;t like them, as they rank No. 5 in offensive efficiency and No. 7 in points scored.
Antetokounmpo had a huge third quarter in Game 3, scoring 16 points. He finished the outing with his second consecutive 40-point game, carrying the Bucks in what was a must-win situation.&nbsp;The Bucks did get 18 points from Khris Middleton and 21 from Jrue Holiday, which was a great sign for the team moving forward.
Phoenix has a balanced attack and should come out with more energy tonight, so Milwaukee will need another huge game from their Big Three if they want to tie this series up at 2-2.
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One big X-factor to watch tonight is Phoenix big man Deandre Ayton. When he's been on the floor, the Suns have been dominant on both ends, as Ayton has a plus-minus of +17 in the NBA Finals. He had a great start to Game 3, but was limited to just 24 minutes due to foul trouble. As soon as Ayton went out of the game, the Greek Freak took advantage, and Milwaukee's lead ballooned. It'll be vital for Ayton to stay on the floor if Phoenix wants to steal this road game.
Another star player to keep an eye on is Devin Booker. The Suns guard laid an egg last game, scoring just 10 points on just 3-for-14 from the field, including 1-for-7 from long range. Booker averaged 29 points in Phoenix&rsquo;s first two games. He&rsquo;ll need to heat up for the Suns to avenge their Game 3 loss.
The public is on the Bucks tonight, with 65% of the tickets on Milwaukee. Bettors are also loving the over, with 66% of gamblers hitting the Over 221.
Recency bias is definitely kicking in due to Milwaukee&rsquo;s blowout victory in Game 3, and it&rsquo;s hard to see Phoenix going that cold from deep again. The BetQL team likes the Suns to make this a ballgame tonight, which means this one should come down to the wire. Look for Game 4 to be the first real nail-biter of the series, as both teams will try desperately to win tonight&rsquo;s big swing game.
Phoenix has played well after losses this season. Over their last 18 games following a loss, the Suns are 15-3 straight up and 14-4 against the spread. Pretty, pretty good.
The BetQL team has Phoenix as live dogs tonight, meaning we think they will win straight up, so we&rsquo;ll gladly grab the 5 points in this situation.
Leans: Suns +5 and Under 221
BetQL Model Predictions &amp; Picks 
BetQL&rsquo;s NBA model has run 10,000 simulations of this game to provide insight on how the game will pan out, and after all those simulations, the model likes the Suns +5. Currently, the point spread of this game sits at (+/- 5) with the Bucks as home favorites. BetQL&rsquo;s model would have made the Suns 2.5-point underdogs tonight, meaning there is big betting value on them at +5. Keep reading below to get picks from the experts at BetQL.
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Against the Spread Pick
<a href="https://betql.co/nba/sharp-picks">BetQL&rsquo;s NBA model</a> is leaning towards the Suns with a 3-star rating on the game, and projects the final score to be Suns 109.5, Bucks 112. According to the expert bettors they are backing the Suns as of now too, but be sure to check back with BetQL to see the most updated odds, lines and spreads for this game before tip.
Over/Under Pick
The over/ under for this game is set to 221 points. The BetQL model recommends taking the over for this game, and has a 1-star play on the current number.
Prop Bet Spotlight
The BetQL computer model has identified a 5-star prop that we like for tonight&rsquo;s matchup in Bobby Portis OVER 11.5 points, rebounds, and assists. The Bucks big man had 11 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist in his last outing, and the model projects another big game for him.
Pick: The Bet QL team is backing the model and taking Portis to go over his PRA mark tonight.
As a Basketball News reader you can get access to BetQL for 30% when you use the code BBN30, check out BetQL and win the rest of your bets for the playoffs

Here's a betting guide for Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.

Everything you need to know ahead of Bucks-Suns NBA Finals Game 4

The second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs is underway, and the series odds and title odds are already shifting significantly. Let&rsquo;s take a look at some of the biggest adjustments.&nbsp;
SERIES ODDS
Let&rsquo;s start with the most-anticipated matchup of the second round matchup: Bucks-Nets. Most fans and gamblers called this series the &ldquo;real NBA Finals&rdquo; since it featured two powerhouses. Unfortunately for fans and bettors alike, the series is looking like a dud through two games, even with the Nets missing star James Harden. Milwaukee lost the first two games in embarrassing fashion, so we&rsquo;ve seen the series price jump considerably toward Brooklyn.
&ldquo;Going into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Nets were -140 to win the East,&rdquo; said Mike Korn, a Sports Analyst at PointsBet Sportsbook. &ldquo;Despite winning Game 1, with Harden&rsquo;s injury, we pushed the Nets out to -130 to win the Eastern Conference. That being said, after a dominant showing in Game 2 without Harden, we shifted the Nets price all the way to -290 to win the East.&rdquo;
The other Eastern Conference matchup featuring the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks has been fun to watch thus far. The Sixers opened as -165 favorites at most books before losing to the Hawks in Game 1. The price then came down to the point that you could&rsquo;ve had Sixers in the -115 range to win the series at PointsBet before Game 2. After Philly took care of business on Tuesday night, they&rsquo;re now back to being commanding favorites in the series at -250.
One huge question mark heading into the Hawks-Sixers series was Joel Embiid&rsquo;s health. Would he be able to play and, more importantly, perform at a high level with a partially torn meniscus? Considering The Process had a 39-point, 9-rebound, 4-assist, 3-block performance in Game 1 followed by a 40-point, 13-rebound, 2-steal outing in Game 2, the answer is a resounding &ldquo;yes!&rdquo;
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As for the Western Conference, if Game 1 between the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz was any indicator of what&rsquo;s to come, we should be in for a fun ride.
The Jazz opened in the -160 range before the win over the Clippers. The odds have now shifted a little more in Utah&rsquo;s favor, as the Jazz now sit at -210 to win the series at DraftKings Sportsbook. If you do like Los Angeles to bounce back or think this series will go the distance, now would be a good time to grab the Clippers at +170.
For what it&rsquo;s worth, the betting public seems to have cooled off on L.A.
&ldquo;Bettors are still shying away from the Clips, probably because of their early exit and string of underwhelming performances in last year&rsquo;s playoffs,&rdquo; the PointsBet oddsmaker said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The Suns are currently the most popular bet in the Western Conference,&rdquo; he added.
Speaking of the Phoenix Suns, they looked great in the first two games of their series against the Denver Nuggets. Phoenix&rsquo;s 122-105 victory in Game 1 put them in the driver's seat to win the series and oddsmakers took notice. The Suns moved from the -220 range to -400 at most books to take down the Nuggets in Round 2. We&rsquo;ll see if their 25-point victory in Game 2 shifts the odds even more.
There is definitely an opportunity to buy low on Denver, if you see them coming back in this series. Remember, the Nuggets became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in back-to-back series en route to last year's Western Conference Finals, so perhaps it&rsquo;s too soon to count them out.
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TITLE ODDS
As of right now, which team is the favorite to hoist the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy? It's the Nets and then everyone else. Brooklyn is on a tier of their own, coming in at +105 to win it all at PointsBet. The Nets are followed by the Utah Jazz (+300), Los Angeles Clippers (+700), Phoenix Suns (+800), Philadelphia Sixers (+900), and Milwaukee Bucks (+1600).
Two longshots to win the title are the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets, whose odds are +4000 for both, respectively.
In terms of liabilities, the team from the Mile High City could cause the most damage for the books.
&ldquo;The Denver Nuggets represent the biggest liability remaining,&rdquo; Korn said. &ldquo;The Nets would be a slight win for the futures book, while the Clippers, Bucks, and Jazz winning would all be great results for PointsBet.&rdquo;
If you are looking for the most updated <a href="https://betql.co/nba/odds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA point spreads</a> before tip-off along with data like <a href="https://betql.co/nba/sharp-picks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which side the pros are betting</a> and <a href="https://betql.co/nba/public-betting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which side the public is on</a>, you need to check out BetQL. On a nightly basis, BetQL has the most data to help you win all of your NBA playoff bets.
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NBA MVP
Nikola Jokic was officially declared the league MVP on Tuesday, and deservedly so. The Joker had a brilliant season, averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.3 steals.&nbsp;
Even after Jamal Murray tore his ACL, Jokic was able to lead the Nuggets to the third seed in the Western Conference and a second-round postseason appearance. The team lost its second-best player and then proceeded to win nine of 13 games to finish the regular season.
Entering the season, Jokic&rsquo;s MVP odds were anywhere from 25-1 to 30-1 at most books, making him the player with the longest preseason odds to win the award since Derrick Rose won it in 2011 at 25-1.
The Joker winning was a bad result for PointsBet (which is headquartered in Denver, Colorado), but overall, he was a winner for them everywhere else.

The NBA championship odds are shifting as the oddsmakers watch these second-round series. Which team is the best bet?

NBA title odds: Who's the favorite? Who's the best dark horse?

FORT LEE, N.J. -- &ldquo;Which Starbucks?&rdquo; the police officer was asked.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gotta be the one at Linwood Plaza,&rdquo; a friendly officer with the name tag Liguori responded.
&ldquo;We get &lsquo;suspicious person&rsquo; calls on the place all the time.&rdquo;
Those &rdquo;suspicious&rdquo; people are actually New Yorkers with too much time and too much money. They are flocking to Fort Lee, N.J. every single day with so much gambling gusto that they have made the border town of approximately 40,000 people &mdash; the first exit in New Jersey after crossing the George Washington Bridge from New York &mdash; one of the top gambling hotspots in the entire United States.
Sportsbook insiders say Fort Lee is often pulling in more money on any given day than the entire state of Nevada, as the U.S. legalized sports gambling marketplace continues to boom. Often, those bets come in from the parking lots of three Starbucks coffee shops near highway exit ramps. Sports gambling will be legal in New York eventually, but <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/new-york-sports-gambling-law-doomed-to-failure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the law passed earlier this month at the state capitol in Albany is problematic</a>.
&ldquo;I was talking to an [NBA] owner who told me in three-to-five years, we will not even need the TV money. That&rsquo;s how big this thing is going to be,&rdquo; Charles Barkley said to BasketballNews.com, who quipped after the 2007 NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas that the oversized $50,000 check he was handling represented &ldquo;two hands of blackjack.&rdquo;
Barkley is well-versed in gambling, and so are more and more Americans as the nation continues to pass gambling legalization laws nearly three years after the Supreme Court overturned PASPA &ndash; the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, allowing states to make their own rules.
New Jersey, which was the plaintiff in Christie v. NCAA &mdash; the lawsuit that led to the overturning of PASPA &mdash; is one of two states, along with Michigan, that allows gamblers to wager on both sports and casino games from their phones.
New York has legalized sports gambling, but will not have it up and running for several months, and New Yorkers are seeking someplace to have a little action. They are ponying up the $16 toll to drive to New Jersey and back into NY via the George Washington Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel or Holland Tunnel, or are boarding trains that travel under the Hudson River and heading into New Jersey&rsquo;s border cities and towns, including Hoboken and Jersey City. As a result, they&rsquo;ve become the gambling capitals of America -- in terms of where the most money is being wagered.
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Sports gambling industry insiders explained that smartphone technology allows them to &lsquo;ping&rsquo; with high levels of precision to discover where wagers are coming from, and a small strip mall in Fort Lee with an H-Mart, a pizzeria and a teeny-tiny Starbucks is lighting up the geo-locator boards at the books.
&ldquo;What we also are seeing consistently is that East Rutherford, the Meadowlands, has become the No. 1 sportsbook on the East Coast in terms of the number of bets, and anecdotally, it is bigger than anything in Las Vegas on a daily basis,&rdquo; said Kevin Hennessey, a spokesman for FanDuel. &ldquo;Twenty five percent of our customer base is New Yorkers, and 50% of our daily handle comes from the Meadowlands.&rdquo;
PointsBet spokesman Patrick Eichner said the border town phenomenon in Northern New Jersey is similar to what they were seeing before Pennsylvania legalized sports gambling.
&ldquo;We were getting heavy traffic from Camden and Cherry Hill, places just across the water from Philadelphia. Now, going on the PATH train to New Jersey and placing bets on games, then grabbing breakfast and going back to New York on an NFL Sunday has become a ritual.&rdquo;
All of the sportsbooks guard their financial information very closely, and none were willing to quantify exactly how much money they are handling on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. But sports gambling stocks have been very strong since the pandemic shut down most of the world, with Penn National Gaming closing at $99.94 on Friday on the NASDAQ. It was trading at $7.89 on March 20, 2020.
DraftKings stock closed at $57.98 Friday, up from $12.25 on March 30, 2020. Roundhill Sports Betting &amp; iGaming is up 96 percent since debuting on the market last June, and tracking the hottest sports gaming company stocks <a href="https://money.usnews.com/investing/stock-market-news/slideshows/stocks-to-bet-on-sports-gambling">has become a bit of an obsession</a> for day traders and large investors alike.
Talented gamblers are known as &ldquo;sharps,&rdquo; and semi-retired New York sportswriter and broadcaster Andy Roth is now making a living by gambling, having to cross state lines to do it.
He is sitting on several Most Improved Player tickets on Julius Randle of the New York Knicks at odds as high as 65-1, and his Defensive Player of the Year Strategy was to play Ben Simmons of Philadelphia at 40-1, Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers at 100-1 and Rudy Gobert at 3-1. Simmons ($17,000) and Turner ($14,000) would provide the biggest payouts, and Roth feels fortunate to have gotten those wagers in because BetMGM and Borgata have tagged him as a sharp. The last time he tried to wager at BetMGM, they limited his maximum wager to 70 cents.
Last season, Roth made $3,000 on a $150 wager on Nick Nurse to win Coach of the Year and the Toronto Raptors to win the Atlantic Division.
&ldquo;The trick is being able to ID talent that bookmakers cannot see and odds that are the wrong price, and it&rsquo;s no secret that the oddsmakers are not all that good at pricing the futures market,&ldquo; said Roth, who also has an open ticket on Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers to win the National League Cy Young Award at spring training odds of 50-1.
The odds on Burnes, who has 30 strikeouts and no walks allowed on 18 &frac12; innings this season (allowing only four hits with an ERA of 0.49) have dropped to 5-1.
Obviously, Roth &mdash; a New York resident &mdash; has found a way to make it work. Judging by the amount of action we're now seeing in New Jersey, scores of others are, as well.

Believe it or not, some small municipalities in New Jersey are now seeing more sports gambling action than any casino in Las Vegas.

New Jersey border towns surpass Las Vegas as sports gambling hotspot

Legalized sports gambling is coming to New York sometime this year. Whether it will work and exactly when it will be up and operating remain open questions. That means New Yorkers will have to drive to New Jersey if they want to wager on the Brooklyn Nets to win the NBA championship.
Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, a Democrat who works with state governor Andrew Cuomo, has some serious doubts and concerns about the law. He wonders whether New Yorkers will even want to use the new system whenever it is up and running.
&ldquo;New Hampshire did not make a single dollar on Super Bowl Sunday, and Governor Cuomo is using New Hampshire as his model,&rdquo; said Pretlow, whose own proposed legislation calling for a responsible gambling law (which included a &ldquo;kill switch&rdquo; for problem gamblers) did not get enacted during the prolonged budget process in the State Capitol of Albany.
As a result, the exact dates and rules for New York&rsquo;s new law are complicated and fluid.&nbsp;
There will be at least two operators that will be issued licenses through an auction process, but what that process will look like remains vague. There will be at least four &ldquo;skins&rdquo; &ndash; lingo for smartphone gambling apps on which New Yorkers can wager -- by the time the system becomes operative.&nbsp;
Exactly how many skins? Nobody knows. The proper acronym is TBD (to be determined).
The Nets are currently the favorite to win the title, listed Wednesday at +250 (wager $100 to win $250). The Los Angeles Lakers are +350, and the New York Knicks are 250-1. Julius Randle of the Knicks is the favorite to win the Most Improved Player award at -200. Michael Porter Jr. of Denver, who was 150-1 Sunday when this site <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/can-michael-porter-jr-beat-the-odds-and-win-most-improved-player" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted his recent surge</a>, dropped from 100-1 to 20-1 on Wednesday following the news that teammate Jamal Murray is out for the season with a torn ACL.
New York politics are complicated, and Cuomo is fighting for his political life after several former female staffers accused him of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/nyregion/alyssa-mcgrath-cuomo-harassment.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inappropriate comments and sexual advances</a>. But he retains enormous power, and as a practical matter, he gets whatever he wants in the state budget process. That budget was passed on April 7 &ndash; seven days late.
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The gambling law negotiations included a number of compromises and verbal agreements, but the 3,000-page state budget document includes pages and pages and pages of vague language. The process now goes to the state lottery commission, which falls under the auspices of the state gaming commission (which is run by Pretlow but has several members appointed by Cuomo who answer to gaming commission executive director Rob Williams, a Cuomo ally who earned $166,393 in 2019, <a href="https://govsalaries.com/williams-robert-t-89173702" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a state website</a>).
The commission has up to 180 days to set rules for a public auction of operating licenses, and Cuomo&rsquo;s press office has said the state will earn $50 million from the auction process.&nbsp;
But if it is an auction, how could anybody know the price?&nbsp;
It is all very complicated, and as a practical matter, we will continue to see New Yorkers wager tremendous amounts of money across state lines in New Jersey. Officials at various U.S. sportsbooks say the amount of money being wagered daily in New Jersey is astonishing. (New Jersey and Michigan allow online sports gambling and online casino gambling). Sports gambling stocks have been rallying since the pandemic began, and is an enormous growth industry in America.
New York remains in a state of semi-lockdown, with bars and restaurants continuing to close at 11 p.m. under an executive order issued by Cuomo early in the pandemic.&nbsp;
So New Yorkers have been watching a lot of basketball.
New York has an acute information void caused by a 13-month suspension of traditional news meetings at mainstream media entities whose employees have been working remotely for more than a year. Pretlow complained that when it comes to media coverage of this story, roughly 60% of what he reads in articles and sees on television includes blatant inaccuracies. He tried to explain this legalized gambling story to all of the major New York newspapers, but he was met with disinterest, which is astonishing given the growth of the legalized sports gambling industry in U.S. states where it has been legalized.
The District of Columbia and 20 states now have various sports gambling laws.&nbsp;
New Jersey&rsquo;s law allows gamblers to wager on just about anything with the exception of New Jersey's college teams (such as Rutgers and Seton Hall). It is also illegal in West Virginia, which basically copied and pasted New Jersey&rsquo;s law and enacted it.&nbsp;
Since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 14, 2018, New Jersey has processed $13,548,845,123 in wagers, just shy of Nevada&rsquo;s $13,881,507,631. Gambling has been legal inside several of New York&rsquo;s upstate Native American casinos, and Pretlow cast the first legal bet in New York. But when he went to check the ticket (a $20 wager on the Seattle Seahawks), it was unreadable because someone had forgotten to change the ink cartridge at the casino&rsquo;s ticket printing machine.
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Legal gambling in New York &ldquo;is not going to start for a while,&rdquo; Pretlow said, adding that Cuomo wanted to allow only one licensed operator, but yielded during budget negotiations.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The state, being the bookie, actually can lose money,&rdquo; Pretlow added. &ldquo;There is no enthusiasm for this new law from the betting public, and everybody I have spoken to in the gambling industry said this just won&rsquo;t work.&rdquo;
The legislation includes language calling for a &ldquo;minimum&rdquo; of two licenses, which in actuality could become as many as 10 or 20 licenses depending upon how the process evolves. Gambling apps (a.k.a. skins) were going to be limited to four. But after reviewing the legal documents during a three-and-a-half-hour interview at Pretlow&rsquo;s office in Mount Vernon, N.Y., it was discovered that the language could allow many more.&nbsp;
The gaming commission has until July 1 to set the auction rules and alert all of the sportsbooks about what the exact rules will be, and the sportsbooks will then have 30 days to apply for a license. After that, the commission has up to 150 days to accept bids.
The political appointees on the gaming and lottery commissions can speed up the process if they choose, so all dates remain fluid. But given that many industries in New York are not operating at optimal efficiency because of the number of people working remotely, having a wagering system that is up and running efficiently will likely take several months.
Pretlow said the goal was to have the system running by the beginning of the NFL season. But because of the peculiarities of New York politics, he does not expect that to happen. Sometime around Thanksgiving is more likely, he told BasketballNews.com.
And if it fails, it might be fixed next year when the legislature reconvenes in January.
&ldquo;I hate to wish against myself, but I just don&rsquo;t see this working. But we do have a built-in fail-safe that if this is not successful under the governor&rsquo;s proposal, we can revert back to the legislative proposal, which is all-inclusive,&rdquo; Pretlow said.
In the meantime, New Yorkers who choose to gamble will continue to place their bets across the Hudson River in New Jersey for the forseeable future. And the tax dollars from those wagers will go to the State Capitol instead of Albany.&nbsp;
Clearly, this story will evolve over the remainder of the NBA season and beyond.&nbsp;

Chris Sheridan spoke to Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow about the future of sports gambling in New York and his concerns about the law.

Is New York's sports gambling law doomed to fail?

The first No. 1 seed in this year's Men's NCAA Tournament has fallen.
Eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago took down Illinois to open the Round of 32. The Ramblers (26-4) advance to the Sweet Sixteen behind a dominant wire-to-wire effort. Senior center Cameron Krutwig notched a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead his team.
First team All-American Ayo Dosunmu finished with just nine points for the Fighting Illini as Loyola Chicago effectively stopped one of the best all-around players in the country. Illinois fell behind by double digits early in the second half, and inefficient scoring coupled with costly turnovers proved too much.
Ramblers icon Sister Jean uttered a gameplan-heavy pregame prayer before the contest:
"As we play the Fighting Illini, we ask for special help to overcome this team and get a great win," she said. "We hope to score early and make our opponents nervous. We have a great opportunity to convert rebounds as this team makes about 50% of layups and 30% of its 3 points. Our defense can take care of that."
Evidently, Sister Jean's wisdom paid off.
&nbsp;

The Ramblers were led by a double-double from senior Cameron Krutwig.

Loyola Chicago upsets top-seeded Illinois to open men's Round of 32

Part of the joy of March Madness for most fans is falling in love with mid-majors that prove they belong and rip apart people&rsquo;s brackets in the process. It wouldn&rsquo;t be March if one or two mid-majors didn&rsquo;t burst onto the scene and become an immediate fan favorite. While there is no shortage of candidates who are capable of winning a game or two in the Big Dance, here are a few mid-majors you&rsquo;ll want to watch closely in March.
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Loyola-Chicago Ramblers
In 2018, the Ramblers made a Cinderella run to the Final Four, and they have a team that&rsquo;s capable of doing the same this year. Senior center Cameron Krutwig, who averaged 10.5 points per game on the team that went to the Final Four during his freshman year, still leads the way for Loyola-Chicago. He averages 15 points per game and provides a consistent post presence. Of course, it&rsquo;s not just Krutwig who has carried Loyola this year. Four of the team&rsquo;s top five scorers are seniors who bring a ton of experience to the table. The Ramblers are also one of the most efficient defensive teams in the country. As long as that defense holds up, Loyola should be able to get by without elite guard play with Krutwig being able to make a difference in close games.
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Liberty Flames
The Flames have won the Atlantic Sun regular-season and tournament titles in three straight seasons, so this team has proven itself time and time again. Liberty also knocked off Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament two years ago, so the team&rsquo;s confidence level will be high. As a team, Liberty shoots 39.1% from the perimeter, so they can do some serious damage if they get hot from outside. Junior Darius McGhee scores 15.6 points per game to lead the way, as both he and Elijah Cuffee shoot 41% from the three-point line. Meanwhile, senior Chris Parker scores 10.3 points per game, giving the Flames a driver who can balance out the team&rsquo;s shooters and add another dimension to a high-powered Liberty offense.
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Winthrop Eagles
It doesn&rsquo;t matter how good or bad the Big South was this season -- Winthrop&rsquo;s 23-1 record is impressive. The team&rsquo;s only loss of the season was a two-point game against UNC-Asheville. The Eagles may not have one star player who carries the team, but they have 11 players in their rotation who average at least 10 minutes per game, as well as four players who average at least 10 points per game. With that depth, Winthrop can push the tempo, which is why the Eagles averaged just under 80 points per game this season. That depth also helps their defensive intensity, explaining why they gave up just under 67 points per game. In other words, they averaged a 13-point win in their games, which is the sign of a team that can go toe-to-toe with just about any major-conference team in the tournament.
If you are looking to bet on a mid-major for the tournament this season make sure you check out BetQL. With BetQL you can get public betting data, expert picks, and predictions for every game of the tournament. Check out <a href="https://betql.co/ncaab/public-betting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetQL&rsquo;s public betting dashboard</a> to find a favorite that is overbet and you can fade the public with one of the recommended mid-majors above.&nbsp;

While there is no shortage of candidates who are capable of winning a game or two in the Big Dance, here are a few mid-majors you’ll want to watch closely in March.

Mid-Majors to watch this March

Joel Embiid is not the NBA MVP favorite anymore. He is not even second. That spot now belongs to Nikola Jokic. 
The All-Star center for the Philadelphia now sits in third place after injuring his left knee -- the team is calling it a bone bruise. The Sixers said he will be re-evaluated in two weeks, and multiple media outlets said he could be back in three weeks.
DraftKings, the No. 2 sports gambling site in the legalized U.S. marketplace, took down its MVP odds overnight and then put them back up at midday Saturday. LeBron James is back to being the favorite at 3/2 (+150), and Jokic of the Denver Nuggets is second at 2-1.&nbsp;
Embiid is +426 at DraftKings and +600 at FanDuel, where spokesman Kevin Hennesey said he has the book&rsquo;s single biggest liability all season in the MVP market. 
DraftKings had its own sentiment. 
&ldquo;The news could have been worse,&rdquo; said Johnny Avello, head oddsmaker at DraftKings. &ldquo;The guy was putting up MVP numbers every single night, but LeBron was right behind him, and money continues to flow in on LeBron. Also, three weeks could turn into something more, whereas there are no unknowns with the other two guys (James and Jokic)."
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Philadelphia has a one-game lead over the Brooklyn Nets as the top team in the Eastern Conference heading into Saturday night&rsquo;s games, as Doc Rivers and Co. have won four in a row. In fact, the top four teams in the conference &ndash; the Sixers, Nets, Bucks and Heat &ndash; have all begun to string together winning streaks.
The Nets have 3/1 odds and the Sixers are 12/1 to win the championship, a sign that gamblers are putting their team bets on Brooklyn even though Embiid has been drawing a large percentage of the MVP money.
&ldquo;LeBron James is now the favorite at +150 in the MVP market at the FanDuel Sportsbook. Embiid&rsquo;s recent injury news has moved Jokic (+230) and James ahead of the 76ers' big man. Embiid has been a customer favorite all year," FanDuel's Hennesy said. "He opened the season at +3600 and Embiid&rsquo;s impressive season has seen his MVP odds go below +550 and garner 20% of all bets in the MVP market. The MVP race is going to be interesting to watch."
The news also comes as gamblers are turning their attention to the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, where most of America will get its first extended look as projected No. 1 draft pick Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have reached the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament and will be on ESPN tonight against Texas.&nbsp;
But back to the subject matter -- the Embiid injury looked quite serious when it happened, and a stretcher was brought onto the court before Embiid walked off under his own power.
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Despite the sportsbooks pretty much making it look like a three-man race, NBA writers typically do not make up their minds about an award this early in the season. They did last year with Giannis Antetokounmpo, but that was under different circumstances because the Bucks had a 53-12 record when the season was halted due to the pandemic. Nine times out of 10, maybe more, the award is up for grabs at the midway point of the season.
This season, James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets is a viable candidate, as is Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, who took a five-game winning streak into Saturday night&rsquo;s game against Indiana and have won 17 of their last 20. Like Harden in Brooklyn, Booker faces the prospect of a teammate (Chris Paul) getting equal credit for his team&rsquo;s success.
But this award is going to be won over the second half of the season, and Booker is currently 150-1 at DraftKings. That is not a misprint.

Chris Sheridan checks into the NBA MVP race following Joel Embiid's latest setback.

LeBron James reclaims lead in MVP race, Joel Embiid drops to third after knee injury

Ever since Adam Silver published an <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwixxc3cm4DuAhUOq1kKHcCVCHsQFjAAegQIBhAC&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2014%2F11%2F14%2Fopinion%2Fnba-commissioner-adam-silver-legalize-sports-betting.html&amp;usg=AOvVaw16flQ2nso2RpoA_-DTVnAL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">op-ed column in the New York Times in 2014</a> calling for the legalization of sports gambling, the NBA has been at the forefront of making sports gambling a mainstream activity &ndash; which it has become in about half of the United States.
This is why Charles Barkley is making picks on TNT every Thursday night, why local broadcasts in many markets are cluttered with sports gambling site commercials and why the odds on any particular game are posted on any popular websites prior to tip-off.
In the year of the pandemic, sports gambling was one of the few major growth industries in America. Much of the money that people used to spend on gasoline, game tickets, commuting costs and restaurant meals was not put into savings accounts, but rather was wagered on all sorts of professional sports.
Sports gambling was illegal in every state except Nevada and Delaware until the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 14, 2018. Since then, states have been allowed to set their own rules, and sports gambling is now legal in 26 states along with the District of Columbia.
NBA basketball accounted for a large percentage of those wagers, and the amount of things you can wager on is dependent upon where you live. The biggest states -- New York, California and Texas -- have not passed sports gambling legislation, and thus are no-fly zones for the sportsbooks competing for all of the gambling money that is out there.
But more and more states are legalizing the industry, most recently in Michigan, Louisiana and Tennessee, where pro sports teams have been quick to partner up with sports gambling companies.
What follows is a primer on what can be wagered on in the NBA on a daily and season-long basis.
Point Spread: The books set this line with the goal of having half of the money wagered on each of the two teams, thus allowing the book to make money through its cut of the total amount wager (the percentage varies state by state and company by company). Tonight, for example, the Portland Trail Blazers are 5-point favorites over the Golden State Warriors. If Portland wins by 6 or more, Blazers bettors win. If Golden State wins or loses by 4 or less, Warriors bettors win. If the game ends up being decided by 5 points, all money is refunded.
Over/Under: This is the total amount of points scored by both teams. For Portland-Golden State, the number is 233 &frac12;. So if the final score is 120-113, that adds up to 233 &ndash; meaning the &ldquo;under&rdquo; hit. If it ends 120-114, then the &ldquo;over&rdquo; has hit. On Saturday night, of the six games that were played, the &ldquo;under&rdquo; hit in four of them. On Friday, the &ldquo;under&rdquo; hit in 9 of 10 games.
Futures: These types of bets concern a team or a player&rsquo;s long-term prospects. For example, even though the Orlando Magic are near the top of the Eastern Conference standings, the odds of them finishing in first place are currently +6000, also known as 60-1. The odds of Steve Clifford&rsquo;s team winning the title are 150-1. (The favorite is the Los Angeles Lakers at +230, meaning a $100 wager would return $230).
Among player futures, these are usually tied to postseason awards. Luka Doncic is currently the favorite at 4-1, followed by Giannis Antetokounmpo at +450 (or 9/2). Trae Young&rsquo;s odds have dropped from 50-1 to 25-1 in the past two days. James Wiseman (+250) is the favorite for Rookie of the Year, followed by Anthony Edwards (+350). Christian Wood of the Houston Rockets is a heavy favorite for Most Improved Player at +240, followed by Michael Porter Jr. at +800. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the preseason favorite.
Experienced gamblers in states where the practice is legal often like to bet quarter-by-quarter and half-by-half, charting different teams&rsquo; tendencies (i.e. early in the season, the Knicks were getting clobbered every second half). So called &ldquo;sharp&rdquo; bettors -- who are monitored by the books because they have a high rate of success -- have an infinite number of determining factors in making their wagers, including the tendencies of some referee crews to call more fouls (thus awarding more free throws) than other officiating crews.
Gambling is a slippery slope and is not for everyone, but making small bets in states where it is legal is a way to make each game a little more exciting. But it is not for everyone, and <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj90K-Qm4DuAhVRU98KHR1hCmMQFjAAegQIARAE&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamblersanonymous.org%2Fga%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw20hyjhMqlj3PI8PBgVUt6A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gamblers Anonymous</a> is always there for people who believe their wagering has gotten out of control.

Chris Sheridan explains how bettors can gamble on the NBA and the types of wagers that can be made.

Loyola Chicago Ramblers