With apologies to Winston Churchill, halfway through the NFL season, handicapping the league remains a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
Todd Dewey
Todd Dewey covers sports betting for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
tdewey@reviewjournal.com … @tdewey33 on Twitter. 702-383-0354
Marco Piemonte isn’t a professional sports bettor and doesn’t sell his picks. He’s a Chicago-area car dealer who is married with three daughters ages 1, 3 and 6.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, as high as -600 at the Westgate SuperBook to repeat as NFL MVP, is still available at -450 at Boyd Gaming and -400 at BetMGM.
Lem Banker’s 94th birthday was Tuesday, when his family hosted a celebration of his colorful life as a renowned pro sports bettor. There was talk of a movie being made about him.
The Jets, Giants, Jaguars and Browns are the four losingest NFL franchises since 2015 and the Lions aren’t too far behind. But all five underdogs covered as books had a banner day.
Wagering on the 2020 PGA Championship — the first major in this unprecedented year — is expected to rival the Masters at Las Vegas sportsbooks.
Sharp money on Chicago drove the line from 5½ to 6½ and MGM Resorts took a six-figure bet on the Bears. The Raiders gave William Hill its only win of the 10 a.m. games.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in wagers changed hands at Las Vegas sports books when Chicago kicker Cody Parkey’s 43-yard field goal try hit the left upright and then the crossbar with 10 seconds left.
When Urban Meyer announced Tuesday that he will coach his final game at Ohio State in the Rose Bowl against Washington, Pros and Joes alike quickly loaded up on the Buckeyes.
Stanford running back Bryce Love, the 2017 Heisman Trophy runner-up, appears primed to kick-start his 2018 Heisman campaign against USC, which allowed 308 yards rushing to UNLV in a 43-21 win.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has been baseball’s most profitable pitcher this season.
Charley Hoffman — one of only two players to break 70, along with William McGirt (69) — closed at 125-1 odds to win the Masters after opening at 150-1 odds in August.
