- It was a day for ‘chalk’ players to remember as the major US sport betting favorites go 20-1.
- In the NBA, favorites went 4-0 SU/ATS.
- In the NHL favorites went 4-0 SU.
- In the MLB favorites went 12-1 SU.
Any experienced sports bettor will tell you that in the long haul it is a brutal game. To remain profitable over the course of a month or two–let alone a season, year or number of years–is extremely hard work. What makes sports betting seem deceptively simple is that there are times when it can seem almost ridiculously simple. Over the short term it can seem like all you need to do is to play the better team, wait until the end of the game and cash your ticket.
Monday, August 17 was a perfect example of this. If you had walked into a sportsbook and bet every favorite on the baseball, basketball and hockey board you would have gone 20-1 on the day. The favorites went 4-0 straight up and against the spread in the NBA. They favorites went 4-0 SU in the NHL playoffs and they went 12-1 in MLB baseball. That works out to a +18.25 unit profit for the day. Here’s the ‘tale of the tape’:
NBA BASKETBALL
DENVER NUGGETS -4.5 OVER UTAH JAZZ WIN
TORONTO RAPTORS -10 OVER BROOKLYN NETS WIN
BOSTON CELTICS -6 OVER PHILADELPHIA 76ERS WIN
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS -7 OVER DALLAS MAVERICKS WIN
NHL HOCKEY
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING -165 OVER COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS WIN
COLORADO AVALANCHE -180 OVER ARIZONA COYOTES WIN
BOSTON BRUINS -125 OVER CAROLINA PANTHERS WIN
ST. LOUIS BLUES -135 OVER VANCOUVER CANUCKS WIN
MLB BASEBALL
CHICAGO CUBS -175 OVER ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (GAME 1) LOSS
CHICAGO CUBS -115 OVER ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (GAME 2) WIN
NEW YORK YANKEES -155 OVER BOSTON RED SOX WIN
NEW YORK METS -155 OVER MIAMI MARLINS WIN
ATLANTA BRAVES -160 OVER WASHINGTON NATIONALS WIN
TORONTO BLUE JAYS -125 OVER BALTIMORE ORIOLES WIN
CHICAGO WHITE SOX -170 OVER DETROIT TIGERS WIN
MINNESOTA TWINS -175 OVER KANSAS CITY ROYALS WIN
SAN DIEGO PADRES -140 OVER TEXAS RANGERS WIN
HOUSTON ASTROS -165 OVER COLORADO ROCKIES WIN
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS -115 OVER OAKLAND ATHLETICS WIN
LOS ANGELES ANGELS -175 OVER SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS WIN
LOS ANGELES DODGERS -360 OVER SEATTLE MARINERS WIN
To make things even more ridiculous–MLB Baseball favorites also went 12-2 on Sunday!
The day was not without at least a little drama. In the NBA, Utah and Toronto covered with relative ease but Boston covered by 2 points and the LA Clippers by a single point. In the NHL, Colorado bludgeoned Arizona 7-1 and St. Louis controlled the game against Vancouver throughout winning 3-1 but the Bruins win over Carolina was by a single goal and didn’t look good heading into the third period with the Canes winning 2-0. The Bruins scored 4 unanswered goals before Teuvo Teravainen pulled Carolina within one in the closing 90 seconds. The Tampa Bay/Columbus Game was a nail biter–all three goals were scored in the first 5:48 of the second period. In baseball, five of the twelve chalk wins were by a single run.
