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Aug 24, 2026
A Numbers Game | August 24, 2026 | Hour 1
A Numbers Game | August 24, 2026 | Hour 1
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0:59
[upbeat music] This is VSiN, the sports betting network. [upbeat music] The numbers told the story, they always do. It's one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a Numbers Game, with Gil Alexander on VSiN.
1:17
Good Monday morning to you. This is Numbers Game with VSiN, the sports betting network. Vsin.com, Game+, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course SiriusXM channel 158.
1:26
However you're taking us in, we are sincerely grateful. It's Gil Alexander, and that right there, ladies and gentlemen, is the triumphant return- Yes... of Kelly Bidlin in his seat, in his proper seat. Let's go.
1:39
Football's allowed to start now. Allowed to start. I'm back. Yep. Now that you're back? Yep. Football's allowed to start. How was, uh, how was Nash Vegas? Nashville was awesome, by the way. I was, I w- w- Great town.
1:48
You've been there before. No, no, I never had. Oh. Never been there before. Same. There for what, five, five days? Four or five days? Five days. Uh, was awesome. Awesome nightlife, awesome music.
1:59
Uh, not just country music. It was just great to see live music everywhere. Yes. It's, uh- Awesome food...
2:05
I went there three times in a span of a year when I was in my one year of country music radio back in the- Mm-hmm... it, just fantastic town. Yeah, I, it was. Every which way.
2:13
And, and, and they do it, kind of Vegas does too, right, just so well with, like, the knowing there's gonna be a billion people here- Mm-hmm... and how do we handle it.
2:21
It, it always impresses me when cities do that better than others. It's kind of a perfect place for the NFL draft when they had it there. Really was, yep. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.
2:28
Um, sweet tea abundant- Mm-hmm... wherever you go. That's for sure, yep. You can certainly, uh, uh, order that. Good barbecue, hot chicken, all that stuff. Great place to live. Our buddies, uh, Adam Stanko lives there.
2:39
He's never looked back. Was in, was in the Bay Area for, you know, his whole life. He was like, "I'm in Nashville, I'm never leaving." Oh, my only complaint, it was so hot. Like, it was- Oh, meaning humid? Yeah.
2:50
They had, like, a heat wave going on, so it was like 105, Gil- Oh, and humidity... with the humidity. I, you, you have never seen someone f- f- for, from Las Vegas complain about the heat as much- [laughs]...
3:03
in Tennessee in the middle of the summer as I was, that's for sure. Ah. Now ask me, now ask me how my weekend was. How was your weekend, buddy? Uh, what's the quickest you've ever read a book? Like, a 350-page book.
3:14
That's a great question. Uh, probably some deadline in school back in the day. [laughs] It's like the, the day before. Well, well I guess there's a sort of deadline of sorts on this show this week. So, um,
3:24
I read the book Odds Man Out, which is Jay Cohen's book that just came out a few months ago.
3:32
Jay Cohen, for those who don't know, not sure if you're aware of who this is, Jay Cohen is one of the three, was one of the three founders of the World Sports Exchange, which so, which so many of our listeners here to this show
3:44
used back in the day, who are of a certain age, used back in the day.
3:47
Really the pioneers of, uh, they w- they weren't the first gambling company online, but they were the one who innovated the most, and they were the revolutionaries.
3:58
Um, Jay, along with his two cohorts, c- two cohorts, worked in San Francisco at the Pacific Stock Exchange, and they came up with the idea to start this, uh, this book in Antigua. Everything you see now- Mm-hmm...
4:11
from prediction markets- Mm-hmm... at le- just on the, on a basic level. I mean, we've talked, you, you've talked a lot about this before. Yep... is, is, is from them, right? They did it 30 years ago.
4:21
Um, the, the notion of cash outs which we have now, they, you know, they, they didn't have a cash out button, but you could cash out. They did live betting.
4:29
Live betting, um, innovators, uh, in addition to everything that you see in prediction markets now. Anyway, I say all this to say, this book, Kelly, I didn't do it in one sitting, I did it in two sittings.
4:41
Like, Saturday and Sunday. 350 pages, I could not put it down. 'Cause I was familiar with the story, but I wasn't familiar with the story. Mm-hmm. Right? There's so many details in there.
4:50
And I say all this to say, Jay Cohen will be on the show this Thursday with Crack. Fantastic. Cur- courtesy of the Crack Man, Bill Krackomberger.
4:57
Uh, Jay Cohen will be on the show on Thursday, and I got a, I got so many questions, and I'm so pumped to have him on. Um- That'll be great. That'll be a great chat... to this day, not allowed on American soil.
5:11
He had something to do with that by renouncing his citizenship, but yeah, he, he is not allowed to come back.
5:16
So we'll have him from, uh, I believe he's in Eastern Europe, and, uh, ask him a bunch of questions, some of which will not be that friendly in terms of how he may take them, right? Hmm.
5:25
Because I have to ask him hard questions as well. Mm-hmm. 'Cause a lot of people, not only if, who listen to this show, not only played at World Sports Exchange, they might have gotten stiffed at World Sports Exchange.
5:35
So we gotta talk about that as well. But it, just a remarkable story. If there was ever a human being railroaded by the confluence of professional sports league and government and law,
5:48
hard-pressed to name someone more than him. Just, just so, I mean, there's so many examples, though, of just, like, and that's one of them, of, of what if this occurred at a different time in history- Yes... right?
5:58
Like- Yes, of course, and now yet he's, his, his life sentence- Is to watch the very- Right... same people who went after him profit in the billions if not trillions.
6:11
You know, i- being in bed with, with gambling companies, talking about the leagues, and then of course all these other companies who, uh, yeah, to your point, 30 years later, different ballgame. Mm-hmm.
6:19
I mean, this is the whole thing with, like, you know, you could say this in other industries too, right? Um,
6:24
Napster and w- the revolution of, of online music companies in the early part of the century, and now w- what record companies were, were okay with now that they weren't then, they weren't ready for then.
6:35
I mean, this is, it's, it's an amazing story. God, it's wild, yeah. Um, there is breaking news this morning, and I'm not talking about the Astros firing their GM, which is something with five weeks left in the season.
6:45
The one game below 500 Astros who are tied for [laughs] the lead in the AL West. I am actively rooting for a losing record team to win the AL West. Actually, I'm not, 'cause I have a Rangers over, so never mind.
6:57
Take that back. But the big, uh, I think I- All right, I am then. [laughs] What's it, what's that? [laughs] All right, I am then. Yeah, yeah.
7:03
But the, the, the big breaking news this morning, I don't know how big it is, but the breaking news is, and this is according to Jordan Schultz, who got this first, uh, via the Schultz Report, Schultz_Report on Twitter.
7:13
The Browns are officially naming, Todd Monken has made his decision. Browns are naming Deshaun Watson as their starting quarterback per multiple sources. Shedeur Sandal- uh, Shedeur Sanders will be the backup.
7:25
By the way, neither will play in the Browns' third preseason game. Dylan Gabriel will get the start there. But as far as the regular season, Kelly, this is, this is what I'm, I was saying the whole time, right?
7:36
As, as the odds came down, 'cause this was something you could bet on. Mm-hmm. And it was, it was a curious thing, because we did it several times.
7:44
We did heat checks on, you know, who would be the starting quarterback of teams all throughout the summer, multiple teams.
7:48
And I always said, "It's gonna be Deshaun Watson," because it doesn't make sense to do it the other way. Just from a, from an arc of a season. You don't wanna start the kid,
8:00
have Shedeur mess up, and then go Deshaun Wat- to Deshaun Watson. It's much more comfortable having the, the return of Deshaun Watson from injuries, plural. Mm-hmm. Achilles, shoulder.
8:16
By the way, two Achilles surgeries, not just one, right? Famously here on the show, he said, "Well, there's only one thing a setback on Achilles surgery, that means you re-rupture it," and that was in fact the case.
8:26
Coming off injuries, coming off off-the-field scandal. It's much easier that if he has trouble, to take him off the field and then go with Shedeur. Shedeur can come on with his cape on. Mm-hmm.
8:37
Um, and as far as the preseason performance this past weekend, 'cause Deshaun, you know, you look at the box score. By the way, the Browns have gotten beaten by 24 points two straight weeks.
8:46
I don't, I know preseason- [laughs]... preseason scores don't really matter. That is pretty incredible, though. [laughs] But, but you got beat by the Bears by 24 and, uh, the Bills by 24.
8:55
But in the first week, if you look at the box score, Deshaun's box score is better than Shedeur, but a lot of that was one pass, I think it was to Dylan Sampson, and he went 43 yards with it. Mm-hmm.
9:06
So it wasn't really Deshaun so much. This week, Shedeur kind of outplayed him. Shedeur nine for 11, 74 yards, a touchdown, and a pick. Deshaun Watson five for 12 for 36 yards, one pick. Not good, Bob. No. Not good.
9:21
[laughs] Not great. Um- I don't know about you, Gil. Yeah. This, this would've been, like you said, we, we kind of s- saw this coming. Yeah. We thought we did for a long time.
9:31
It, it had, it had gotten down, by the way, betting odds before you continue. Right. Deshaun, we got down to minus 130 as the starter. So, so this was, this is where I was gonna go with this. Oh.
9:38
For Friday, right, th- before this game. I- if, if you had told me we were sitting here t- today talking about this, I wouldn't have been shocked at all. But then this game occurs. Deshaun Watson speaks afterward- Oh...
9:51
which was not a good idea. That, that's a whole nother thing. We'll get to that at some point here. Yeah. Uh, he speaks, and these odds plummet.
9:59
I mean, I mean, this becomes basically a coin flip on who's gonna be the week one starter, and then Todd Monken, very, like, very aware, I think, that he was going to announce Deshaun Watson today, tried to walk that back a bit.
10:11
Like, just because what guy, one guy said in front of a microphone isn't gonna affect this decision. I felt, it got way more entertaining to me over the weekend. I was very excited to talk about this this morning.
10:21
What you are referring to, for those who missed it, is that Deshaun got booed. Yeah. First home game, right, of any kind since the injuries.
10:30
Um, got booed, and then had a press conference afterwards where he used the word, that was disrespectful. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Do we have the audio on that? We do. Oh, we do. Here we go.
10:42
I think you guys know, too, and I think the whole world knows, is it, it has nothing to do about the performance. It's, uh, [laughs] it's a little bit personal than that, so I think that's, uh,
10:51
it's a disrespectful thing. Um, so yeah, I mean, I'ma keep whatever I feel with me and my family internally on how I feel about that. Um, and yeah, just move on.
11:02
But don't you think, Deshaun, that, that winning and, and playing better would eliminate some of that booing?
11:10
Um, last time I played on this field, I tore my Achilles, and that same fan base, they cheered when I got hurt. So does that, does that have to do with, what does that have to do with anything about performance?
11:24
When a person get hurt, especially for your own city, and they cheer. Does any of that make you regret coming here? Nah, I don't regret anything in my life.
11:36
You know, I, I think the Lord put me through situations for a reason, so I don't, I don't regret anything. Well, that doesn't sound very good, does it? That does not sound great, Gil.
11:46
[laughs] That sounds like a relationship between a quarterback and a city that is gonna be very hard to ever recover from, if any of us thought there was a chance of that happening still.
11:56
And again, the elephant in the room, not again, 'cause we haven't mentioned it, but the obvious elephant in the room has nothing to do with his performance or the Achilles injury. Has to do from the fact that
12:07
that stems from his massive 2021, 2022 civil lawsuits all- Mm-hmm... all against him, and allegations brought by over two dozen massage therapists regarding sexual misconduct. And so
12:21
that does not sound like a very healthy relationship, but, uh, in case you missed it, once again, the, uh, official announcement this morning, Deshaun Watson, no surprise to us here on The Numbers Game, Deshaun Watson, for reasons that I think you just from a how you manage a season- Yeah...
12:36
standpoint, is going to be the starter week one for the Cleveland Browns. I think that was always going to be the case, but [laughs] but the relationship is brutal. Over/under three and a half starts for Deshaun Watson.
12:49
Ooh, good number. I think so. I think it is right around there. Okay. It's right around there. Under. More Browns news on the other side. We'll update August in baseball as well. Next on The Numbers Game.
13:00
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13:35
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14:33
This is, uh, let's see, Scott Cupp, "55 years of Tennessee summers." Gotta love it. Smothering. As a k- Yeah, that's for you, Kelly. We love Tennessee. It, it w- it was... Gil, we had... I, I was there from Las Vegas.
14:46
I had a friend there from Miami. We, we both couldn't shut up about how brutal it was. Try growing up in a town that was built on a swamp with mosquitoes. It w- it was, it was rough.
14:55
I couldn't go to DC in the end in the summertime. My mom, I, I regret it, right? Yeah. Because my mom was like, "Oh, come visit me." I was like, "It's July. I ca- I cannot." [laughs] They're going, they're going to...
15:04
The mosquitoes call the airport to see if my flight arrives on time. Yeah, man. Then I came back here and just sat at the pool in, like, 108-degree weather. It was great. And you loved it. I loved every second of it.
15:13
Shrek McPhee, "Happy US Open draw week. LFG" Yes, it is. See if Drew, Zach, and I can't get together, Zach back from his, uh, vacation, his European vacation. US Open draw on a f- Thursday. Thursday.
15:28
So we're gonna try to do a pod on Friday maybe. Get up to Vegas, Zach. Come on. Well- Need you live in studio. Drew's gonna be here. Drew's gonna be here. Yeah.
15:35
Chris Heath, "Gil, you can talk about anything today as long as there's no mention at all of the VSiN NFL Futures Draft." [laughs] Way to win. Well, what's... Kelly's here, so I'm not gonna talk about it either.
15:44
How'd that go this time around? It was great. I'm legit asking. I didn't see a second. We had, we had a great time. I'm assuming Dustin did a wonderful job as always. Dustin was fantastic. He's fantastic.
15:53
Uh, Ryan Thompson, "Did Deshaun Watson say he doesn't regret anything? Really? Nothing?" Yeah. Yes. He said that into a microphone. I believe he did say that.
15:59
Recorded into a microphone, Deshaun Watson said he regrets nothing. Someone stop him from talking. Yeah, someone tackle that man. Really? Do you think it was the Achilles that the, the... That's why they were booing you?
16:11
Uh, James Sott, "Update, Deshaun, it's all based on your performance, but glad you don't regret being a creep."
16:16
James also asks, "Ooh, week three, his first home game, so maybe over/under should be set at two and a half games." Ooh, interesting comment. Okay. I, I, I like that number. I like that number.
16:24
By the way, uh, update on week one, where I've had this game circled for roughly three months now, for Browns at the Jaguars, uh, market has not reacted to this news at all, Gil.
16:35
Seven and a half still and 40 and a half your total. [laughs] That's how much it moved the needle? Uh, yeah, exactly.
16:41
And Buddhist Man, "Best part of the World Sports Exchange experience was when they added their poker app.
16:45
Sunday night after the last football game ended, there would be some wild big money shorthanded limit Hold'em games. Um, I made enough money in a month to buy a new car and put the down payment on my first house." Nice.
16:56
Uh, again, uh, Jay, Jay Cohen from World Sports Exchange, one of the three founders of World Sports Exchange, will join us on Thursday. That was the... The beauty of it was the simplicity of it.
17:05
Like, the, there was no bells and whistles. In the, in the '90s, when you had all those offshore books, it was nothing but pop-ups. Yeah, yeah. Just pop-ups everywhere. Not World Sports Exchange.
17:12
They were just like, "This is you see... What you see is what you get. We're gonna make it as easy to use as possible," which was kind of a stroke of genius at that time.
17:21
Um, I'd mentioned before the break that the Browns... Here's some more Browns news. It's not really Browns news so much as it is a player who was suited up for the Browns this past weekend. Um, for those who missed it,
17:35
the NCAA instituted the, uh, the new five-for-five age-based eligibility model in June. I think I was on vacation when they did it. Maybe it was right before I went on vacation. But they basically did it to modernize
17:48
its chaotic framework and to eliminate subjective red shirts and hardship waivers, and combat a wave of antitrust lawsuits. In, in the, in the era of [clears throat] NIL, this just became more ridiculous, right?
18:03
And the, the whole notion of Four season rules were sort of rendered obsolete. So you basically had this situation now where this was supposed to be instituted, the five for five, starting next season.
18:19
And a bunch of players, [laughs] a bunch of players are like, uh, "Hey, wait a minute. Why should it start next year?" So they filed a lawsuit
18:32
and that says, uh, th- that basically granted most division one athletes five years of eligibility over five years, but doesn't fake, take effect until next season. They basically said, "Hey, what about us?
18:40
Why can't those of us who started in the 2022 season, why can't we sort of grandfather into this? Why can't we get in the middle of this before next season?" Right. There was a, there was a Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
18:53
ruling this past Friday morning reversing the federal judge's decision that had opened the door for all those athletes who started college in the 2022-23 academic year and played for four consecutive seasons to return for a fifth season.
19:06
But that stay does not wipe out the cases of dozens of athletes who successfully petitioned for it already for the restraining orders to play a fifth season in state courts around the country.
19:15
Long story short then, here we have the Cleveland Browns, and it, [laughs] it's, it's just an amazing story because, man, this is so trippy.
19:26
Daquan Wright, who put on a Browns uniform, did not play this past weekend, but put on a Br- Browns uniform. He is set to go back to school and to play at LSU. He played at Ole Miss right under Lane Kiffin. Mm-hmm.
19:38
Todd Monken said, "You know, I got a call from Lane Kiffin this week, and I didn't pick up the phone. Maybe I should have." [laughs] Now I get it.
19:45
And even Todd Monken is, I think appropriately so, he's like, "Wow, is this the weirdest thing ever?" It is. Like, we've never seen this in, in our lives of North American- That's insane... sports.
19:53
But h- that's the case now. So Daquan Wright going to back to school and, uh, that's sort of the, the first player that has fil- you know, has gotten in th- the, the restraining order.
20:04
The stay is, is going to take place in effect now. But the players who petitioned for it already, who started in 2022, they actually have the option to go back. So he's the first. I mean, this was, this was
20:17
100% or, or mainly all his call, right? Yeah. Okay. I mean, he didn't play, right, didn't play in the first two preseason games, hadn't practiced in more than a week. Yeah, the coaches say all the right things about him.
20:29
Right. Yeah. Oh, he's all good. True. He was like, "Nah, I'm going back to school. I'm gonna go play for Lane now at LSU." Man, it's crazy.
20:36
Remember I was all freaking out about the G Leaguer who was going back to, what was it, Alabama or Arkansas? Uh-huh. Can't even remember anymore. This is like that 10X.
20:45
Like, this is a co- Like, this is an NFL player going back to college. He was practicing against NFL players. [laughs] It's fantastic. Well- What a world...
20:54
once again, Gil, I will raise my hand and say I was one of these people screaming for years that these kids needed to get paid in college. Never once did I claim to have all the answers and have it all figured out, okay?
21:05
They, they don't have any answers. [laughs] They sure don't. They haven't figured out anything. This, this is getting messier and messier.
21:11
Uh, we got two tennis plays today for those who are, uh, into the, the FAKKTA hardcore tournaments that precede the US Open. In other words, it's always DC, Canada, Cincinnati, and then we think it's the US Open next.
21:24
It's actually not true. There's this weird week in between where the men are in Winston-Salem- Mm-hmm... and the ladies are in Monterey. The ladies is actually a 500, not the worst thing in the world.
21:33
Um, by the way, congratulations to Arthur Fils, who, uh, we'll do country clubbing because we gotta talk US Open, uh, because we had breaking news on Friday when Jannik Sinner said he's not playing in the, uh, US Open, so we'll update that.
21:43
But congratulations to Arthur Fils, who beat Frances Tiafoe in Cincinnati for the men's title. Coco Gauff beat Jessie Pegula for the ladies' title yesterday.
21:51
Uh, so I've got, uh, two in Monterey, none in Winston-Salem, but I got two in Monterey today. Renata Zarazua. Zarazua, I believe, maybe you pronounce that. I don't know. Nice. Let's go with Zarazua.
22:02
Renata Zarazua, two, uh, plus 250 versus Chl- uh, Clara Tauson, is the big dog play today. Love Zarazua's, uh, hardcore numbers. Clara Tauson not having a good stretch at tennis. And then your girl, Diane Parry.
22:15
Diane- Go Diane. Diane Perry. That's how it appears on your screen. [laughs] Diane Parry, plus 135 versus, uh, Donna Vekic. What, uh... Is Monterey newer?
22:26
Winston-Salem, I feel like I always remember that- Oh, Winston-Salem always... the oddity of that right before the US Open. 'Cause there was, there was, like, a match fixer at Winston-Salem once upon a time.
22:33
That's right. Yep, that's right. Yeah. Monterey, I don't remember. I don't remember that one. I seem to remember Winston-Salem more, but Monterey's also got something. But there had to have been a women's- Yeah, yeah...
22:41
tournament going on the whole time, so. Yeah. So those are the two plays. Zarazua is a big dog. Parry is a, you know, not negligible dog either in her match.
22:50
Uh, if you are, if you are down to play FAKKTA tournament tennis right before the US Open. M- uh, MLB most wins month of August. Man, did the Tigers play crash and burn. Mm. Let's just start there.
23:03
Now, here's the thing with the Tigers. The Tigers got swept by the Royals. [laughs] I mean, that play looked great for 15 days, for half the, half the month, and then crash. So we're done.
23:15
And by the way, I said last week, I'm like, well, I think my August play is done, but at least those of you who have Tigers to, like, make the playoffs, you guys still have a shot.
23:23
I'm not sure you have a shot at this anymore either. As far as August is concerned, how about a nine-game winning streak for the Phillies? 16 and five with a plus 44 run differential.
23:34
They would be running away and hiding if it were not for the San Diego Padres, who are just one game back, one win back at 15 and six. So for those who have the Phillies, I know Mark Borchers' play was the Phillies.
23:46
So I hope if... Since I can't win, I hope Mark Borchers should win. Well, I, I'm actually still live. What do you have? I rarely play this. I followed your advice when you came on here and mentioned- Oh, the Cubbies...
23:54
mentioned the Cubs. A- and I waited f- I waited f- a few games in and jumped o- uh, jumped in on them. Good for you. So I have them eight to one. It's not the sexiest number, and obviously work to do.
24:03
They're three wins back at 13 and eight. Red Sox, Cubs, Rays, Brewers, and Blue Jays all have 13 wins. Three wins back of the Phillies. Yeah. Phillies look like a truck right now though.
24:17
Only, uh, a week's left worth, right? That's it. Mm. Seven, eight games, six games. Six, seven, eight games left, depending on which team.
24:23
Phillies and Padres right now looking at a mano a mano down the stretch in the month of August. Speaking of baseball, Greg Peterson with his Fab Five next on a Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network.
24:34
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24:49
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25:00
Uh, Chuckism1, "Although there's incredible shame in going to a massage parlor to get a happy ending, there is hope. A chance of becoming a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns."
25:07
How about a starting quarterback, week one at Jacksonville? Hmm. Uh, Torch D, "The one who put the satin in your panties. Did y'all see Brian Daboll tear through three different spittoons up in the booth last night?
25:19
And Salad just had the, uh, the six g- Titans under six and a half wins." Oh, I missed all that. Did you see any of it? I, I didn't see Daboll. Oh. I, I mean, I had that game on, on a TV on mute.
25:29
I was just laughing because the, I mean, what, the Titans were pretty big favorites, right?
25:34
And they threw out, like, all the starters and oh my gosh, the Seahawks backups just went through them like Swiss cheese- [laughs]... the start, like, the first quarter.
25:42
I tried wa- I started watching Hard Knocks on people's recommendations. I got through five minutes and then, uh... Yeah, it's like this, okay, you know my problems with, with Hard Knocks. Am I gonna love Mike McDonald?
25:52
'Cause I already loved Mike McDonald before. I feel like that's all I'm- He's pretty likable... that's all I'm hearing from people is like, "Oh man, Mike McDonald's such a genius." I got dis- "He looks so great."
26:00
I got distracted. It's not that I didn't like it, but I, I'll, I'll try back again. Okay. Yeah. Uh, Brian's Breaking News and Intel. Oh, thank you for this, Brian.
26:07
He, he reminds us it used to be n- the New Haven WTA stop this week. That's right. [laughs] New Haven. Ah. Uh, he says, "Now it's Monterey and new tourney Philadelphia WTA." When's the Philly WTA tournament?
26:19
I was thinking about that the other day, like, what cities, what big cities don't have the tennis tour? Philly's a good one, yeah. Um, Seattle and Vancouver, like nobody, uh, does it rain too much up there?
26:29
Is that why they don't have it? I don't know. Anyway, thank you, Brian. Boston? Yeah, there is no Boston stop. No, no Boston. [laughs] Not anymore. We can come up with a lot of these.
26:39
Well, well, New Haven would be the closest though. Yeah, I guess. [laughs] Uh, Greg- Los Angeles, but then you go out to the desert for that, I guess. Yeah, you got the fifth major really in, uh, for Indian Wells.
26:48
Ladies and gentlemen, Greg Peterson joins us now courtesy of the Progressive guest line. You can follow him on Twitter at gunit_81. Greg, looking good as always in front of a, what would we call that?
27:00
Like, a light blue or a purplish background today? Eh, blue. What's happening, Greg? Not too much. It is blue, by the way. I could go more purple if you'd like. That's okay.
27:09
We always take recommendations, but we went with the blue today. I respect, again, Greg, full coat and tie, also with slacks every appearance on the network. Very much respect that.
27:20
Um, before we get into your Fab Five of baseball plays, Kelly brought this up, uh, on, off air. You had done something earlier this summer on your Twitter about, like, accepting challenges.
27:34
What w- give us an example of, like, the weirdest challenge you have fulfilled thus far. All right, we are up to 43 running streak challenges. My gosh. I've been taking one a day.
27:46
Some of them are very, very small, like you have to listen to, uh, heavy metal music or something like that, drink this energy drink before you run or something like that.
27:56
Our good friend Koby Marshio does great work over at Covers. I know that he made quite a few appearances on the network over the weekend. He said you need to do your 12 miles inside your own living room.
28:06
[laughs] That has to be the weirdest challenge because you're sort of, like, taking five steps as, like, "Oh, I'm at the end of my living room. I now need to turn around."
28:14
So I was just doing, like, very, very little laps around my living room. That has to be the weirdest challenge thus far. Honestly, how did you m- uh, I did see footage of that. How did you mentally get through that?
28:24
Like, how many times did you say to yourself- For real. [laughs]... "I am ridiculous for doing this?" All the entire time. Yeah. The entire, uh, time I'm just there like, "Why am I doing this? What has my life become?"
28:37
[laughs] But you know what? We got the job done, and that's all that matters, and that's why it's a challenge. Because even though you're just there like, "What the heck am I doing?
28:45
I am a ridiculous human being," the challenge had to be completed, and the challenge was completed. And so 12 miles indoor, so normally 12 miles outdoors takes you how long, and then how much longer did this take you?
28:57
Typically, I'm down to about nine minute 30 second miles even with this heat. That one took me more than two hours for sure, if I remember correctly.
29:05
I don't remember the exact time offhand, but that one was certainly much longer because you're turning around after, like, every five steps. Did you even sweat on that one? Were you even moist at all?
29:16
Oh yeah, you're getting a nice little bit of a lather. Lather.
29:19
Like, if you're doing 12 miles and plus, I, when it comes to inside as well, sometimes the AC is, like, hit or miss when it comes to Las Vegas because you either get it too cold or too hot.
29:30
There's really hard to be able to get it just right in the summertime. It always does have a little bit of a residual effect, so I was still able to get a nice, nice little bit of a lather.
29:40
I hope, hope my interview with Jay Cohen later this week is this hard-hitting. I, well, I was sitting over here thinking, okay, I'm gonna- Yeah... we're, we're gonna workshop this throughout the show. Uh-huh.
29:49
I haven't, I haven't given my own challenge or quest yet to Greg. Oh. So I'm starting to, I'm over here thinking and just kinda w- what, what could, what could he look the silliest doing outside?
29:57
Will you have it in five minutes? Yeah, I've got it right now though. Uh. Oh. Say it right now then. I don't know.
30:02
If, if Wyatt Tomchek can help me out with this, and he, I think, I think Greg Peterson in full football pads and jerseys with a football running 12 miles out on the Las Vegas just regular streets would be a really, really good look.
30:14
Okay. Greg, you accept? I need to find the pads and the football first- I'll, I'll provide that... since I don't own them. Yeah, I'll provide that, Greg. All right, to baseball. We need the equipment provided.
30:24
[laughs] To baseball, uh, Red Sox, Marlins. Red Sox, um, they, I mean, it's, it's, it ain't July, but they're having themselves a, a fine little August as well. They're up there with 13 wins this month as well.
30:37
They're still six games out of the AL East lead, still designs on that, certainly in the playoff picture, uh, on the way, uh, looking out. Marlins on the outside looking in in the National League.
30:47
What are you doing with this ballgame in Miami today?
30:51
Yep, I'm gonna be looking at the moneyline here of the Red Sox, especially now that after it was overnight more like minus 130, minus 135, it's now down to minus 120, minus 125. But also like the over.
31:02
Sandy Alcantara, career low, 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings, and Rogers Suarez is coming off the Angels, hasn't been sharp. Five and a third innings or fewer in each out of his last five starts.
31:12
You do have a Marlins team that really doesn't have a lot of power, especially with Liam Hess getting traded, but Red Sox lead the big leagues in terms of run creation ever since the All-Star break.
31:22
So like the Red Sox here on the moneyline, and I'm taking that total to the over. All right, uh, Rockies and the Nationals. Uh, neither team going anywhere anytime soon. Rockies are big dogs on the road in DC.
31:37
Yep, but there's at the very least one pitcher that has been really shining, that'd be K. Cavalli. He has been very good for the Washington Nationals recently.
31:45
He's got an ERA down to a sub 3.35, over nine strikeouts per nine innings. Ryan Felder is not that. 1.9 home runs, 3.8 walks allowed per nine innings.
31:54
In his last seven starts, he has 133 innings and he has given up 33 runs. That is not a place where you want to be. These are two bottom bullpens in terms of ERA as well.
32:05
With the Nationals, they should be able to get a lot more length out of K. Cavalli, and I do think that this game is inducive to runs as well, so I do like the over.
32:14
But that said, for the Nationals, I bypass the moneyline since it's very chalky, minus 170, minus 175. Think that they should be able to win this game by multiple runs. Lay the run and a half on the run line.
32:24
Got that at a plus 120. Texas Rangers are one game below 500. You know what that gets them? A tie for first place in the AL West. White Sox still hanging on in the AL Central.
32:33
They still have a three-and-a-half game lead, uh, these days over the Guardians. How are you playing this one, Rangers and White Sox?
32:39
Now, if it was Texas Roadhouse, I would definitely be backing that, but instead it's the Texas Rangers. Texas Rangers? We can't get odd with that. [laughs] No, I said- Oh, okay... Texas Roadhouse.
32:48
[laughs] That was my joke right there. But I, and I like Jose Urquidy.
32:52
The form that he's in right now, he's been able to give you two rock-solid starts since being, I should say, just promoted up from the minor league level, because he was down there for so long.
33:02
But Kumar Rocker, throughout his career, a, about a 593 ERA away from home. Rangers have really slip-slid with their bullpen. It hasn't been that great.
33:12
Meanwhile, for the White Sox, top 16 in terms of bullpen ERA since July 1st. Additionally, top 10 team in terms of run creation. Like the White Sox here on the moneyline. Okay, Pirates at the Padres.
33:22
We just went over the August numbers. Padres one win behind the Phillies. Padres still, I, well, one, one game behind the Phillies in the August numbers, that is.
33:29
Padres still way back in the NL West now that the Dodgers have decided to play good baseball again, and man, did this went to, uh, did this season sort of...
33:37
It, it hasn't gone in the toilet completely for the Pirates, but man, they had designs on big things, and now it seems like it's slipping away from them. This is a coin flip at Petco today.
33:47
Yeah, the pitching has been hit or miss. They haven't been able to win a Paul Skenes start to save their lives. And for Braxton Ashcraft, four-plus runs allowed in five out of his last seven starts.
33:55
Robbie Ray, low-key in his last 11 starts, his sub 2 ERA has rounded into form. Think that there might be a little bit of regression there, but Pirates have still been very shaky with their bullpen.
34:05
And the Padres, since the All-Star break, averaging about 5.2 runs per game. Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr. have been absolutely tremendous. Like that seven and a half total to the over.
34:16
I do like the Padres as the relatively pick of mine to the moneyline. Phillies trying to get there now, just three back in the NL East. Uh, and they are, have a nine-game winning streak going on.
34:28
They're going, uh, to Seattle to take on the Mariners. Boy, the Mariners not doing anything.
34:33
They're still, like, a few games back in the AL West, and are just, when they lose, man, they have a couple games [laughs] this, this month where they're just getting bombed, including this weekend.
34:45
Mariners are an even money home dog here at T-Mobile. To your point, the last two George Kirby losses, they lost by combined score of 41 to two, so- Yeah... not great to say the least there.
34:57
Don't think that you get 19 runs here from the Phillies, but six and a half, two low of a total. Logan Gilbert at home, 4.91 ERA with about 1.8 home runs allowed per nine innings.
35:07
Zach Wheeler, four-plus runs allowed in now three out of his last four starts. Take the Phillies on the moneyline at about a minus 110, and that total to the over of six and a half.
35:15
Red Sox, Marlins over seven and a half. Nats run line versus the Rockies. White Sox over the Rangers. Padres, Pirates over seven and a half. Phillies, Mariners over six and a half. Greg Peterson's Fab Five.
35:26
Greg, Texas Roadhouse, since you mentioned it, let's do it this weekend. Cool. Appreciate it. Sounds good. Thank you. Greg Peterson, everybody. Coming back, Country Club, next on our Numbers Game.
35:36
[upbeat rock music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
35:52
Back on The Numbers Game live from Circa Resort Casino, downtown Las Vegas. Gil Alexander. That right there is Kelly Bedell, and everybody. Hey-o. Back from his trip.
36:00
I should say his, his assignment in Nashville, Tennessee. Kelly was on assignment. Right. Did your assignment go well? Yeah. Went, went well. Hmm. Went great. Uh, Twitter
36:10
Uh, Jizzy or Gizzy1344, "I think Greg wearing a hockey jersey with football pads and helmet on with a baseball glove would be a better look." [laughs] My only issue with this is- Ah, that's pretty good, yeah...
36:20
you, it, it's too hot out here. You guys are gonna get him killed from heatstroke. All right, so I'm gonna give him some options. Yeah.
36:24
The, the, what I'm really going for here though is, is you drove by somebody running, and you had to do a double-take and be like, "What did I just see?" That's what I'm going for here. Yeah, well, I was gonna do this.
36:34
It's gotta be less than triple digits. The other thing, I, I have other ideas written down. Would you like to hear them? Oh, please.
36:39
I, like eating an ice cream cone while running would be hilarious, 'cause, 'cause it would be dripping all over him. Uh-huh. Someone would have to, like, constantly refill an ice cream cone 'cause he runs for 12 miles.
36:48
I nominate you. That's fine. Uh-huh. I would do it. I mean, it would be in a car- Yeah... or a golf cart or something, but I would be doing that. Uh, anything else, like, extremely childish.
36:57
Like, if Greg was just running down the street, like flying a kite, that would look hilarious to me, or like blowing bubbles, something like that. He's a good kid, that guy. [laughs] He really is.
37:07
Can't wait for Texas- I, I can't believe he's doing these. Can't wait for Texas Roadhouse. Uh, and then, uh, Shrek says, "You should see if that Eric Cohen guy is available for the US Open Megapod."
37:16
What he's referring to is, uh, my plays on Friday were listed under Eric Cohen, who I guess is a guest on, on another show on this network. Oh. We had, uh, Balik who won as a plus 191 dog, but, but the weekend was tough.
37:29
Lost on Paggula on Sunday. Um, and then who did we lose on, on, oh, on, on, uh, Nakashima, Saturday. That wasn't fun.
37:38
Again, today, the only two tennis plays, Sarasua +250 versus Clara Tauson, Dion Paris +135 versus Donna Vekic. All right, you ready to do this? Let's do it. Let's go country clubbing. Let's go.
37:49
[air horn blaring] Oh, yeah. [upbeat music] I suppose I could've waited for the tennis picks on the other side of the tournament- Eh, whatever... but yeah. Sure, yeah. I got other tennis things to talk about.
38:00
Can't get the picture of Greg flying a kite now out of my head. [laughs] It's very exciting, very exciting. So Friday on the show- I totally missed this...
38:10
while we, it was the first hour, and the news came down, and this, by the way, th- this was
38:15
the, a poor tent of things to come was on the prediction markets a few days earlier 'cause Jannik Sinner's no participation in the US Open q- just absolutely got pounded. Mm.
38:26
So somebody knew something, and sure enough, right- His participation? Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, and so f- I think that was Calchi that had that market.
38:33
And then Fr- so then, yeah, Friday morning, first hour, it was announced officially by Jannik Sinner himself on his Twitter, "Yeah, I'm not playing. My knee, my knee hurts," I believe was the exact words.
38:44
And so it's Carlitos, and so I, I immediately said, "Run, bet Carlitos," but guess what? Um, later in the show I also said, I go, "Yeah, but if you're looking for a long shot, it'd be Rafa Nadal or Arthur Fils."
38:55
So Arthur Fils went ahead and won Cincinnati, and so Alcaraz is, i- this is DraftKings. DraftKings is +195, a little bit of a tick up, like it met resistance because I think people saw Fils and are like, "Oh, boy."
39:11
I mean, here's the thing. It is Carlitos who should be the favorite here, and you're seeing him as the short shot here, uh, at +195. By the way, I don't think that, uh, Alcaraz at +195 is universal.
39:21
I think that's about the longest you'll see. A lot of people on Friday got him at +225. Um, so he should be the short shot, but he's coming off a wrist injury. We haven't seen him play in four months.
39:32
You never know, right? You never know. Still the best player in the world not named Jannik Sinner. You never know, but have it in pocket. You'll be thrilled you have it come business portion of this tournament.
39:43
The question then becomes who else might be justifiable bets? I think Novak Djokovic is the first name. Novak Djokovic still trying to get that elusive 25th Grand Slam singles title. If he's ever going to do it again
40:02
or ever, this is his final shot. This is his final best shot. No Sinner, Alcaraz off four months, open field. Djokovic is 7/1. You can justify that. Can you justify Sascha Zverev at +350?
40:17
I, I think that number's too short, quite frankly, but could he win it? Of course. Of course he could.
40:23
Man, Djokovic- The f- the fourth best player in the world, Sascha Zverev, if you, if you give Novak third, which some people might not. Will this be the year that an American wins?
40:32
If so, w- it's gotta be Ben Shelton, one would think, 8/1. But I still go, as I said on Friday, with Hodar and Fils as the best bets, and these are down now. Remember, they were about 18/1-ish on Friday. Hodar's 12/1.
40:46
We just don't know about him in best of fives. Remember, men's Grand Slams are best of fives, so we don't know if he can get through a whole seven matches that way. He's 12/1,
40:57
and Arthur Fils, who just came off Cincinnati. Do you believe that Fils can win Cincinnati and the US Open back to back? I know people can justify other bets too. Joao Fonseca's potential has never been realized.
41:09
Daniil Medvedev won this tournament before. Some people like FAA, but to me, Alcaraz is still the, is still the justifiable short shot. If I were to play anybody else, it's either Hodar or Fils.
41:22
Um- Although, although Novak is tempting, man... I was gonna say. I, I mean, this feel, like, I was trying to f- do you remember what his odds- I just can't, I just can't bring myself to do it.
41:31
Do you remember what his odds were, what, at the French? Um, I don't. With no Alcaraz, Sinner in. Yeah. I wanna say they were somewhat similar. Similar, similar. And this is a better surface for him, right?
41:47
Or have we not gotten to that point in his career? As he's gotten older, has clay become better for him, Djokovic? No, I think, I think the hard courts- Okay... is still his, his jam. That's tempting to me. Yeah.
41:57
I s- Like, but should Ben Shelton only be, he should only be, he should be that close to where Novak's at? I know he just won. Yeah, for him.
42:05
Yeah, but Ben Shelton on serve alone can get it all the way to the semis, you know? So it's just, it- Wow, he's single digits. Yeah, it's, it's not, it doesn't, it doesn't excite me as much as Hodar and Fils do
42:17
I'm just saying, this, this is a really, I mean, Alcaraz has got to bring it for sure.
42:23
But I am, I'm surprised that this didn't crash a little further, but I get it when Feast goes ahead and just stomps Cincinnati, 'cause it's gonna be spread around a little more. And you- 'Cause you don't know.
42:34
After four months, you don't know with Carlitos. Daniil's just not done anything all year, huh? On the other hand, you could see Carlitos play the first week and just be like, "Oh yeah, I'm glad I have this ticket.
42:43
No one else is even closest to as good." But it's, it's, it's as, let's put it this way. It's fun, uh, you know, you want Sinner to get better. You obviously don't want his knee to, to be messed up.
42:54
But from a betting standpoint, it becomes much more fun. Yeah, like, j- just even from a casual tennis fan interest, right? Yeah.
43:01
With all due respect, and I do mean with all due respect to the great Drew Dinsick, the joke has gotten a little tiresome of, "Well, we're gonna wait two weeks for the fi- uh, for the tou- tournament to start."
43:10
Well- Like, no, it, it would be nice to see one of these longer shots in action. Women's side, Aryna Sabalenka, world number one, is your sure shot at plus 370. Um, Iga's down to five to one.
43:20
She lost in the semis to Jessica Pegula after winning 10 matches in a row. Um- Oh, Jess needs that money. Come on. Jessie needs the money. She needs the cash. Um, Iga's still the player to beat to me.
43:31
Although Coco Gauff wins in Cincinnati, man, she's playing great tennis. She's six to one. And then there's everybody else, like look, again, if Rybakina won, would you be shocked? Of course you wouldn't.
43:40
Osaka, winner of four hard court Slams, I just can't see it. Jessica Pegula at 11 to 1, always in play, but I don't think she can win it.
43:51
I don't think any, uh, to be honest with you, the only other name on there that I would consider would be Amanda Anisimova. Oh, I thought you were gonna go Yala. At 20 to 1. No, I just, here's the thing with Yala.
44:01
She's great. She's great for tennis. She's unbelievable how she manages to win matches, but she, I, she does not have the serve to win a Slam, in my humble opinion. But man, is she fun to watch. Iga bets are in.
44:15
We already have her at seven to one. That's the player. She's still, she's still the best player in the world. She's a truck. But I'd, I'd say there's about four or five here who could potentially win it,
44:25
and their names are Swiatek, Gauff, Rybakina, Anisimova. Start with those four. Yeah, may- maybe it makes- Aryna Sabalenka's got trouble between the ears right now.
44:36
Maybe it makes it a little bit more fun on the men's side being more wide open, but oh boy, this has just been a tough puzzle to solve seemingly all, all year on the women's side.
44:44
Well, this is the weird year where, like, nobody you think has won, nobody you would think has won the Slams. You know? Mm-hmm. Linda Noskova won Wimbledon, which
44:55
you could see how she could potentially win, but you certainly, most people wouldn't have predicted it. Um, but it's, it's been a, um, it's been a really strange year. The, the big names have not won Slams.
45:08
Will Sabalenka get off the schneid? Will Swiatek get off the schneid? Will Gauff get off the schneid in terms of Slams? We shall see. How'd you do this weekend in golf, sir? Oh, terrible.
45:17
You're, you're glad I wasn't here for it. Uh, Wes Reynolds coming up though. I believe he hit, uh, Wyndham Clark, uh, at the BMW Championship. Oh, nice.
45:26
Wa- I think he was in the winner without Scottie Scheffler market, but yeah, Wyndham takes home the BMW. Patrick Cantlay slides into solo second, uh, right at the end there.
45:35
Patrick Cantlay, who I don't, whenever I think of the FedEx Cup playoffs, Gil Alexander, I think of Patrick Cantlay for some reason. It's like the only time of year he shows up.
45:44
Like, I thought he was gonna stumble, possibly stumble into a victory yesterday. Didn't happen though. Wild round. Wyndham Clark had a ma- well, a five-shot lead to start the day, gave it up basically all the way back.
45:55
Uh, and then finally rallied. I think his first birdie came on 16. Finally rallied [laughs] and had three great cl- uh, closing holes. Uh, shut out Rory, goes on to win this.
46:05
So we head over to East Lake and the Tour Championship all wraps up this week. Top 30 in action. Scottie Scheffler, your short shot at three to one. Wes Reynolds coming up. Oh.
46:15
Long Shots, the podcast, of course, tomorrow and every Tuesday out there. By the way, the, uh, the standard sorta for, uh, Carlitos right now, I'm still seeing plus 150 consensus.
46:26
That DraftKings number's pretty out there. Coming back, Wes Reynolds and more Adam Bert part of that more on A Number Two-
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