Analysis by Matt Youmans, Las Vegas Review-Journal, with series predictions added by ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor Doug Kezirian.
Betting
During a season of instability, reports circulated about the Cavaliers’ demise. Players posted cryptic messages on Twitter, trade rumors swirled, the media hit the proverbial panic button and LeBron James talked of someday forming a new dream team. And, of course, there was a coaching change in January.
Bob Baffert has won the Arkansas Derby twice with American Pharoah (2015) and Bodemeister (2012). Bodemeister ran second in the Kentucky Derby. American Pharoah won the Triple Crown last spring.
The NFL released its 17-week regular-season schedule Thursday night. Within an hour, with kickoff 147 days away, oddsmakers at the Westgate posted opening lines for Week 1.
There are 14 games on the schedule as the NBA wraps up the regular season. No game will be hyped more than Kobe’s career finale, although there probably will be no playoff implications when the Lakers host the Utah Jazz.
South Point oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro posted this proposition bet Monday: How many games will the Golden State Warriors lose in the NBA playoffs? The total is 5½, with the under favored at minus-130.
After 27 grueling weeks of regular-season action, it’s time for fire on ice. The Stanley Cup playoffs will crank up the heat on NHL betting action over the next two months.
This is the definition of a Cinderella story: The Leicester City Foxes soccer team is close to winning the English Premier League and cashing at odds as high as 5,000-1 in England and 2,500-1 in Las Vegas.
In late October, before Stephen Curry sank his first 3-pointer of the season, oddsmakers were casting a skeptical eye on the Golden State Warriors. There was absolutely no talk of a 72-win season for this jump-shooting gimmick team.
At the turn Sunday, Jordan Spieth held a five-stroke lead and seemed destined to win his second straight Masters.
Jordan Spieth’s only annoying quality is that he’s too good. Just when it appeared safe to bet against him, he went out Thursday and fired a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Masters.
The Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, the Blue Grass at Keeneland and the Santa Anita Derby offer a $1 million purse on Saturday. But more important, the first three finishers will earn enough points to make the Kentucky Derby field.
So, how odd is this? Tiger Woods is absent from this week’s Masters, but he’s not really missed because the business of golf betting is booming.
Handicapper Brian Blessing is using a mythical bankroll of $200 to bet the Masters futures board at the Westgate.
Golf’s future is in the hands of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and several other young guns, yet Augusta National might as well be Phil Mickelson’s backyard, and he still has enough going for him to make believers out of the bettors.
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