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Jun 2, 2025
A Numbers Game | June 2, 2025 | Hour 1
A Numbers Game | June 2, 2025 | Hour 1
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44:35
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat music] The numbers tell the story, they always do. He's one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a numbers game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. [upbeat music] It is a numbers game here on a Monday.
0:15
Matt Brown in for Gil Alexander. Kelly Bidlin right here with me. Hey, man. Thank you for giving us, you know, about an hour and 50 minutes of really good sports talk and 10 minutes of nonsense.
0:27
We appreciate you being here with us. That's right, absolutely. It's good to have you back in the chair you belong, Matt. Filling in what gives- Oh-... Gil's out... man, it is, uh, it's good times being up here.
0:35
Listen, the 4:45 wake-up doesn't bother me too much. It really doesn't. Yeah, you're not- I'm a morning-... that bad. Yeah... I'm a morning, I'm a morning guy. Like, I just- Yeah, you're up, like, an hour later anyways.
0:42
Yeah. We get a lot of weird people that work here at VSiN, actually, that wor- wake up extremely early when they don't have to. Yeah. It's, I, I... Well, I kinda have to to get the day going.
0:50
I, I really don't mind it at all. Paul Spora gonna join us to talk some baseball a little bit later. Catching up with Paul. He, hadn't talked to him- Yeah... in a while. See what's going on with him.
0:58
And Ben Wilson from whatever island that he's at. You know, I mean, the villas that are across the world that is Ben Wilson and his life. Is, is he actually on an island this week? I, I mean, like, we're gonna find out.
1:07
We're gonna fi- It's a video call. We're gonna find out. At one of the family, at one of the family's compounds, at least. [laughs] For sure. He's somewhere across this great nation of ours at, at one of the compounds.
1:14
And so it is going to be amazing to talk to Ben Wilson. We'll get some tennis thoughts from him. We'll get some college baseball thoughts from him as well, and maybe e- everything in between.
1:22
You know, I'm sure he's got some golf thoughts as well. Oh, totally. Yeah. Golf, baseball with Ben. And curling. NBA Finals curling. Yeah. Come on. Yeah. Curling.
1:29
If there was curling going on, we would get his curling thoughts. Ben did grow up curling. Did you- That is not, that is... We, we're not making that up. That happened. Th- uh, that did happen.
1:36
Did you know that there's a c- uh, curling section on Ken Pom's website? This, I, I... This was recently brought to my attention. [laughs] Retouched in. Yes. Yes.
1:44
Recently brought to my attention, which I guess, like, this is something, there must be an edge. There must be an edge.
1:49
I believe Drew Dinsick's the one who brought it up on this show, and Gil and I were both like, "Wait, what are you talking about?" And sure enough, there was a little curling logo over there on the Ken Pom site.
1:57
You can get cur- uh, curling Ken Pom ratings. Go, go at it. I know Gil's not in today, but if you wanna tweet at us and let us know what you're thinking about everything going on in the sports world, we are always here.
2:06
So @MattBrownM2 and of course @KellyBidlin. That's an E. The Kelly, Kelly with an E. Do you say Kelly with an E, or you just go with Kelly Bidlin these days? Uh, I go, I go Kelly with a E-Y is usually what- Oh, okay...
2:16
I'll say, 'cause people ask me, "Do you go with an E, or do you go with two Es?" 'Cause it's not really with an E, it's with two Es, right? Yeah, yeah. But no. Okay. I go E-Y, E-Y.
2:23
It's always the end that's the, uh, the weird.
2:25
It has nothing to do with the fact that Kel- Kelly and I are two of the three golf guys here on the network, that I wanna start things with what Scottie Scheffler did at the Memorial this week in winning by four strokes and taking home another cool $4 million
2:37
for taking that tournament down. He was first in tee to green. He was first in approach. He was first on scrambling. He has won nine straight tournaments when he has had a 54-hole outright lead.
2:50
He has won three of his last four starts. He has nine top 10s in 12 starts this season. He has no finish outside the top 25 in any tournament that he has played, and he is no worse than T8 since the beginning of March.
3:06
We are watching absolute greatness right now, what is happening out there on the golf course. Last year, 16 top 10s in 19 events. He won seven times.
3:17
If you go the season before that, that's when we still had the wraparound season, so it's 2022/2023. 17 top 10s in 23 starts. He has not missed a cut since August of 2022.
3:33
That is the unbelievable streak that we are watching with Scottie Scheffler every single time that he tees it up. Out there against the deepest pool of competition that we've ever seen in professional golf.
3:44
And you can't help but compare him and Tiger Woods. And I'm not going to sit here and get into this massive debate about him and Tiger Woods. It's two different eras. Everything has changed.
3:54
They, the, everybody is longer. The balls are different. The clubs are different. They had to change golf courses for Tiger Woods, but now these courses are longer.
4:03
These courses are built to try and attack some of these bombers, strategically place bunkers, putting some trees in the way, doing whatever they can, pinching the landing zones for these guys.
4:15
And Scottie Scheffler continues to go out each and every week and prove that he is the best golfer in the world, no questions asked. Don't bring Rory up. Don't bring Bryson up.
4:26
And really and truly don't bring up anybody else outside of those two names when we're talking about the best golfer in the world.
4:33
I'm getting to know Scottie Scheffler's kid better than I'm getting to know the rest of these, uh, golfers on the- [laughs] I've seen his kid three, three, three weeks in a row. Like, three starts in a row. Wow.
4:42
We're gonna, we're gonna know when he loses his first tooth. We're gonna know when he gets the full head of hair. Yeah.
4:46
When he starts talking, we're gonna know, because the kid gets more TV time than anybody outside of the final three groups in these golf tournaments because he holds the kid right there at the end.
4:55
I'm like, "Oh, there's Scottie's kid again. Look at that. He looks like he's grown a couple of inches since three weeks ago." I mean, this is what we're getting out of Scottie Scheffler right now.
5:03
And, and again, Kelly, you can't help but compare him to Tiger because it's the only time we've seen a run like this. The only thing I will say, the talent pool is deeper now than it was when Tiger was doing his thing.
5:15
Tiger still went and did it. You still have to go win. You still have to play consistent every single week. Mm-hmm. You still have to go get it done, and he did it. And it is... I grew up through both of the eras.
5:23
It was ridiculously impressive.
5:25
But what Scottie's doing right now against not just three or four or five guys that might tee it up and win, which is what Tiger was going up against, where we have literally 20, 25, maybe 30 guys on any given week that could tee it up and win out there on a tough course in tough conditions.
5:41
We have to at least bring it into the conversation that it's not crazy to compare him to Tiger, because everyone wants to just dismiss it, right? It's like, "You can't compare him to Tiger." Yeah. "There's no way."
5:53
And they just blow it off, right? Well, that is not what we're getting here with Scottie Scheffler. This is actually something truly remarkable. Oh, it really is.
6:01
I think it's, I, I think it's interesting because you're hearing a lot of that conversation today about-[lips smack] comparing it to Tiger and okay, what, the fields that they played in.
6:11
The one I'll say, Matt, is right now, there is weaker competition than what we've had, I think, in a while of where that mid-range and that second-tier, third-tier golfers are at.
6:21
I think there's a lot of question marks on the board right now with... We've seen glimpses from Ludvig Åberg this year.
6:26
We've seen glimpses from Justin Thomas, but the consistency's not really been there, and it's really been Rory and Scottie all season long with Br- Bryson DeChambeau kind of the other guy there.
6:36
Um, and I know we're gonna talk some U.S. Open here in, in a bit on the show, but I, I, I just don't know how you look beyond those three when you, when you are attack- attacking another major.
6:45
We've seen it play out, the, at the Masters and the PGA. Uh, those guys are just so far above everybody else right now.
6:51
And then I think we've, we've gotten to the point in the season, like you're talking about, where Scheffler is another step above tho- where those two are at. So, um, man, it's, it's his tour right now.
7:02
I don't know about you. I regret, uh, not jumping in on him in-game on Saturday. About middle of the round you were still seeing around pre-tournament odds on him, and he was at that point about T3, T4.
7:13
He had three, four shots back. But I, I think you have to, you have to be okay. You're always gonna get taxed on the Scottie Scheffler in-game bets, right? To try to get in on him in the game.
7:23
We've talked about it for years. You and I have said it for years- Yeah... of, hey, maybe let the tournament start, see if he drifts back. You're just not getting the odds that we used to see on that a couple years ago.
7:32
I got greedy because I had so many chasers, and I played the without, I played the without market this week. Yeah. We talked about this on Long Shots. Yep. And so I'm going, "Okay, Scottie can win, I don't care.
7:42
I just need one of these other dudes chasing to finish in second." Well, none of them did, and so, uh, you know, here we are. I just, I just think it's like on Sat- Let's all about...
7:48
so on Saturday I'm sitting there looking at it, and he's about plus 240. And it, it's, okay, there's three guys ahead of him, and he's four shots off. Fine, that's still a better position of where Scottie Scheffler's at.
7:58
Mm. For that number, I'd rather bet into that number than bet his pre-t- uh, his pre-tournament number, uh, at closer to three to one.
8:04
So I, I think it's stuff like that you gotta k- uh, start thinking about when you're betting golf these days. Um, I don't know about you, my betting card, uh, went really, really, really bad.
8:12
A lot of, uh, placement markets about one or two shots off. Luckily, though, Scottie Scheffler did have him one and done this week, though, so that's- There you go, there you go.
8:18
Uh- You get at least cash $4 million in your account for, for that. We have ourselves an NBA finals. It is the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Indiana Pacers.
8:26
The series price minus 700 on the Thunder, five to one if you wanna take the Pacers in this one. Uh, Kelly, I think the pricing is correct.
8:37
Yes, you are getting an offense in Oklahoma City that can match and run and do the different things that the Pacers can.
8:44
I think Pacers under the radar had one of the better offenses that people didn't pay attention to throughout the course of the season.
8:49
Unless you were a hardcore NBA fan, you just don't think about the Pacers in that fashion.
8:53
But it's a whole different animal than what you got with the Knicks now, because you were getting a team that not only is elite on the offensive side of the ball, but is also elite on the defensive side of the ball, which is w- not what you got in this series with the Knicks.
9:05
You attacked Brunson. You attacked KAT. It worked over and over and over again.
9:10
You start getting the reports coming out that the teammates were actually kinda grumbling about Carl Anthony Towns and his defense or lack thereof throughout the course of not only the playoffs, but the season as well.
9:22
Apparently in practice it was kinda like he didn't really care all that much about, you know, doing the switches right [laughs] and all the things that really matter. Shocking. You know? Yeah.
9:32
And, and of course it gets exposed in the playoffs and, and you watch this team go in and just attack these two guys, Brunson from a size standpoint, Carl Anthony Towns from maybe an effort standpoint on the defensive side, and the Pacers move on.
9:43
That's, that's it. Find themselves as massive, massive underdogs here to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it's kinda hard for me to poke a hole in that number. Yeah, totally. I, I, I mean, look, I think this is...
9:54
All credit to the Pacers, they have been incredible to watch in this playoffs, and I think they do have a little bit of that, uh, just winner kind of amazing mojo heading into the finals.
10:05
Like, they are kinda that team of destiny this year. I get it.
10:07
Um, having said all that, if we're just looking at series price, and I made a couple bets, we'll work our way through, through these here the next couple segments.
10:14
But, um, I, I mean, that, that minus 650, and I know it's minus 700 if you're watching at home right now, uh, is what you're seeing on your screen over at DraftKings.
10:21
There are a lot of places where this is sub, uh, minus 700. I know we don't have a lot of people with, uh, the bankroll to run out and bet that. Man, it's cheap, though. It's cheap.
10:31
SGA then compared for finals MVP is cheap. Uh, you're seeing about this series priced like the Pacers and the Denver Nuggets. I had Denver, uh, that was basically the same odds that we were getting on that series.
10:43
I had Denver rated a little bit tougher than this Pacers team. The biggest problem with this, this ga- or this matchup is just the matchups on the court. Mm.
10:51
Everything that the Pacers have succeeded at doing throughout this playoff run, the Thunder can match them or even do better.
10:58
If you wanna go back to pace statistics throughout the regular season, uh, the Pacers were up there top three. Guess what? So were the Thunder. They went even faster than the Indiana Pacers.
11:07
So they're gonna be okay playing them that way. Uh, I think it's a terrible draw for the Pacers. We'll talk through some of this, uh, here the rest of the show.
11:13
But there are, I think there's a couple different ways you can get in on the Thunder. Yeah, we'll look at game one here next segment. That's sitting about nine right now in favor of the Thunder at home, 230 and a half.
11:23
The total, if you think the Pacers win the thing outright, you can get it at plus 320. A bunch of other news and notes we've got to hit on inclue- including a big promotion over in Major League Baseball.
11:36
Could that make a difference there in the AL Central? Just getting going here on a Numbers Game.
11:41
[upbeat music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
12:03
A Numbers Game here on a Monday. Matt Brown in for Gil Alexander to my left. Friend and colleague Kelly Bidlin on the desk with me. That is Kelly with a E-Y- Hey, what-... as you all know out there.
12:15
Here Monday to Thursday, so hang out with us for a couple hours, see what's going on, you know? Listen, we're gonna talk all kinds of craziness, and
12:23
we'll get to golf, we will get to, you know, baseball, we'll get to all of it. Let, l- you know, we continue this NBA Finals discussion here, Kelly, because, you know, we've, we've...
12:33
I've texted with you throughout the course of the playoffs in which I have said, "You know, outside of a couple of spurts here and there, these finals have really been," and I'll just, uh, I'll, I'll censor myself.
12:46
Conference finals? Yeah. Y- yeah, have been not great. I'll just censor myself with, with that. And, you know, you can't help how it all plays out, how the match-ups work.
12:56
Some teams, obviously we know, you know, some teams match up better with other teams.
13:00
Some teams are going to go on ridiculous heaters like the Pacers have in which they shoot 50%, [laughs] you know, from the floor, from three and all of this.
13:08
And, you know, sports are weird in general, but it does get us to a final here, though, in which, like we said, minus 700 in the series price here.
13:17
And so let's try and talk through different ways that maybe we can go about betting this.
13:22
I mean, if you don't want to bet the minus 700, if that isn't for your bankroll, there's always just total games, there's series correct scores out there.
13:31
I mean, if you think Oklahoma City sweeps this thing plus 260, the gentleman sweep is plus 250. If you think the Pacers can get scrappy here, Kelly, and get it out to six games or seven games, plus 450, plus 500.
13:45
Now, if that's your honest belief, you could just bet both of those and you're gonna make mon- you know, and you're gonna- Right, yeah... and you're gonna make money.
13:50
I mean, if that's, if that's your honest belief, you believe that the Pacers can get two games in this series and, and drag it out to six or seven, plus 450, plus 500, go and bet both of them, move on with your life.
14:01
But how are we going to try to attack this? 'Cause again, for most people out there, I know there's some high rollers that listen to the program, but for most people,
14:10
paying $700 to win 100 is just not really within their, their bankroll. Yeah, absolutely. So we'll start, um... Look, I get the luxury of rolling o- rolling into this with some finals tickets already in pocket- Mm-hmm...
14:20
for Thunder. But, look, there's, there's a couple ways I think you can bet this, and you, you hit on 'em. I, like I, I already added one, one other series bet, Thunder 4-1 series correct score. Mm.
14:30
That, that's where I started. I do think it goes five. That's where we're most likely ending at. Yes, it's- That's, uh, plus 250 at DraftKings anyway. Which- Yeah...
14:37
y- which if you have DraftKings available to you, Matt, that is a great price. Okay. 'Cause the best I was able to get was plus 215. Okay. So, uh, plus 250, I think that's a great price on it.
14:45
I think you could combine that with, you know, compare the lay two and a half games, right? Or you could bet, kinda like you hinted at with going longer, you could do that with going shorter too, right?
14:54
You could bet- Yeah... both Thunder to win, uh, win in a sweep, or Thunder to win in five, or Thunder to win in five, Thunder to win in six. I think I like Thunder in five. That's all I'm gonna play, Matt. Mm-hmm.
15:05
Gun to my head, I think this likely goes six rather than a sweep. Yeah. I do think the Pacers have that ability. Um, so I... Look, I think that's ways you could attack it. I, I, I'm gonna play the Thunder in five.
15:17
I think, though, if I had nothing on this series, I'd probably split up a little bit of Thunder in five, Thunder in six, um, or pay the price to lay a game and a half and not the full two games- Mm-hmm... and a half.
15:28
I think another one that caught my eye that I rarely play these unless I'm kinda doing a weird outcome, but another one that caught my eye is there is shops where you can get this under minus 300.
15:39
I saw a minus 290 on the Thunder to win game one and to win the series. Thunder have been incredible at home. I think that's a way to get involved in this series at a cheaper price. Yeah, so I saw a minus 275 on that.
15:51
I think it's a great bet.
15:52
So that could take you down from that minus 700 to at least minus 275, and I think your handicap, if you're playing them confidently at minus 700, is that they're gonna get it done in game one at home as it is anyway, right?
16:03
Right, yes. And so that then just takes it down, you know, well under half of what you'd have to pay just for the series price as it sits right now.
16:11
Again, as we kinda talk this through, there's, there's just the generic game totals, and that's, you know, does cover you at least a little bit should the Pacers go out there and shock the world.
16:21
That being said, Kelly, you look at the Pacers' side of things, they're not gonna sweep. So 45 to one, but I mean- Mm-hmm... I think we're all pretty much on the...
16:28
Four to one, 30 to one, four to two, 14 to one, and then four to three, 15 to one. I'm not playing six games or seven games generically there. I, I'm just... I would play 30, 14, and 15. You know what I'm saying?
16:40
I mean, like, you just do that, right? Hmm. You just play four one, four two, four three all on Indiana at those prices- Yeah... as opposed to...
16:48
Because a, a generic seven games, I don't think that you're, you're sitting here thinking that's going to be the case. So I, I... That's how I would play it if I'm leaning towards the Pacers, right?
16:55
I'll just take, play the Pacers in these, you know, four one, four two, four three scenarios in which we're getting these ridiculously high numbers. I, I like that. I mean, what Matt- You know?...
17:03
what Matt's doing there is you're getting a much bet- you're getting a much better series price on the Pacers. Yeah. You're just assuming they don't sweep the thing. Yeah. Right?
17:09
You're just taking the sweep out and baking in a little extra, uh, money into that. Yeah, I, I think that's a good way to look. I don't know about you, but I do think these first, it...
17:17
Where, where the Pacers, look, they have shown up in these game ones and surprised. I don't expect that to happen on Thursday night. Hmm.
17:23
I think that we are looking at, uh, a, a Thunder team that, that, that is overmatched for them. Um, I think that the only advantage that Indiana really has in this series is the coaching advantage. Right.
17:33
I think Carlisle will be able to make some of the in-game adjustments, some of the, uh, m- you know, in-between games in, in, in the series adjustments, uh, better than D'Antoni.
17:42
I just don't know how much, how many adjustments D'Antoni's [laughs] really gonna need to make throughout the course of this series. Uh, so look, they've got, Indiana's got that advantage.
17:50
I don't think the Thunder are getting surprised or anything like that- Hmm... when we look at the first couple games at home.
17:55
Um, so I do think those are ways of playing, playing that win at ho- win the first game, then win the series. I think it's a good look. Just a reminder what the Thunder have done at home, uh, this season.
18:05
35 and 6 in the regular season, they're 8 and 1 in the playoffs, and the net rating at home in the nine playoff games is at 24.7. That is ridiculous. Um, they're not even...
18:15
Hey, they're shooting 36% from home, uh, from three i, in, in the playoffs, Matt. Mm-hmm. Like that, that could be a little bit better. Yeah. It's not even great. Like it's better than what they've done on the road.
18:25
It could actually be better aga- uh, uh, against this Indiana team. So I think, I think they're a freight train to r- uh, to try to go against at home where you can.
18:33
I think where we've seen the Thunder struggle in the playoffs, and the question is how real is it, is on the road. Four and three on the road in the seven games.
18:40
They've had a minus 6.2 net rating, shot under 30% from three on the road this season. I think if there was any spot that I was gonna, uh, going to try to attack OKC, it would be when this series shifts back to Indiana.
18:52
On a game-by-game basis, game one is sitting nine right now at the majority of books out there, nine-and-a-half at MGM, nine-and-a-half at, um, Fanatics as well, and ESPN Bet.
19:05
So if you wanna get the extra half point with Indiana, those three books are giving it to you.
19:10
If you want the flat nine, DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, Circa out here behind us, if you have access to them, they're all sitting at the flat nine.
19:19
Looking at about 230-and-a-half is the prevailing total here in this one. Kelly, the one thought I think that you could look at here from Oklahoma City is if you're, if you're bullish on Oklahoma City and you're gonna...
19:31
If you're willing to lay nine, probably willing to lay 11, right? Mm. You're probably willing to lay 11-and-a-half. Yeah. You're probably willing...
19:37
Like, so it's, i- if you think that this is going to be a, a l- a clinic from Oklahoma City at home here, sure, put half your bet, 70% of your bet there on the nine.
19:47
But I'm probably playing some alts as well because you're y- if y- when, when you're talking about winning by double digits, you are, you're predicting a butt kicking, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:55
I mean, O- OKC at home, I'm never gonna blame anybody in this series for doing- Yeah... for bet- for making bets like that. Yeah.
20:02
Hon- honestly, it's something that, um, I've probably gotten a little bit lazy with as an NBA bettor of just I think you should probably do, be doing that in most NBA games that you bet.
20:10
Leaning into your convictions a little bit more. Yeah, exactly. Right, right. Le- yeah. How, how often is this, is your number g- or is the spread gonna be off your number by exactly one point? Mm. Mm. Right?
20:19
It's worth laddering up a little bit. Uh, regardless, I'm with you on that. I do think there's a better chance if we see an OKC blowout that it comes in game two than game one. Mm.
20:29
But we are still do- dealing with two younger teams. Uh, I think this also lends to the under a little bit in game one, too. How effective does everybody come out- Yeah...
20:38
is a little bit of a, a, y- you know, the, like the old boxing, uh, boxing expression, right? Getting a feel for your opponent sort of thing in game one. I could see that a little bit more, uh, Matt.
20:48
Maybe it's a second half where the Thunder run away with it in game one. I, I think I could see that more in game two. I do re- I really like the bet. Mm.
20:55
Like, if I had noth- nothing in pocket right now and I had my, uh, NBA finals, uh, tickets on the, on the Thunder, I would be doing that game one in the series. Yeah.
21:03
I think under, at under minus 300, I think that's a great bet to at- to, uh, attack the series. Over on the MVP side of things, it's hard to make a case for anybody other than Shai on the Thunder side.
21:13
If you do believe in the Pacers, we already saw Pascal Siakam took the conference finals MVP, so it's not just going to automatically be Haliburton.
21:23
We're looking at minus 600 on Shai, plus 750 for Haliburton, 16 to 1 on Siakam. Is there a case to be made for anybody else at all? No. Right? I, I mean, it's- I mean, no, but also- Not really, right? I mean, the...
21:38
And this is a keep in mind, like, I, it's, I, I know it's still not an attractive number, but we talk about this a lot with- Mm... a Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, right?
21:46
This number on Shai, almost anything better than what you're getting series price, I, I, I'd almost say pull the trigger, Matt.
21:53
It, it's- Yeah, because there's just n- very, very few Sims out there that are ever gonna land on Chet Holmgren- Yeah... or Williams or whatever, you know what I'm saying? It's just, it's just not gonna happen.
22:02
I mean, most lik- most likely other outcome to me is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets, gets hurt during the series- Mm... and Jalen Williams is probably winning this at 35 to 1. Yeah.
22:11
And if that's the case, you know what? You could put 90% of it on Shai and then put 10% of it on Williams as a cover your rear end. Yeah, [laughs] if you wanted to. As a safe. Yeah.
22:20
I guess it could be Chet, too, but I, [laughs] I think J-Dub's a little more likely. Yeah.
22:24
Guys, uh, we are running a special right now where you are going to get 14 months of everything we do over on VSiN Pro for just $199.
22:31
And if you go in and use the promo code BOOK right now, B-O-O-K, we are going to give you a free pre-order of the NFL Sharp Betting Playbook by Josh Applebaum. So again, go in, vsin.com/subscribe, $199 for 14 months.
22:45
[upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Rolling along here on a numbers game on a Monday.
23:01
Matt Brown in for Gil Alexander as we transition over to Major League Baseball. But first, Kelly, coming through the Twitter machine. 2027 four-star quarterback Gunner Rivers is heading to Texas for a visit today.
23:15
If that last name sounds familiar, yes, it is Philip Rivers' kid. And so if this is the first of them c- so- Oh, boy. Oh, boy... are we about to just- All right, is it number one? Are you sure it's number one?
23:28
Are there... No, I guess I'm not sure, but- This could be middle of the pack by now... we know that he's got, like, 37 kids or something.
23:33
So, like, are we gonna have at one point in college football, like, five Rivers kids quarterbacking various colleges across the country? I don't know. We also are assuming they're all playing quarterback.
23:43
That's the only- Well, they have to, right? That's the only position, right? Yeah. Yeah, they, yeah, they have to. I mean, so Gun- Gunner Rivers. Also, what are all, like, what are all their names?
23:50
Is he naming them appropriately? Gunner, like there's a Gunner. Is there gonna be a Rocket or something? Yeah, I mean, there's, there... Uh, I mean, again, if this...
23:58
We don't know, we can't say for certain this is the first one. This, this could very well be the second one. I don't know. Oh, I'm try- I'm trying to get to the personal details here. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Hold on.
24:05
But I do know, though, it's not gonna be the last one because he has so many of them that we are going to hear about all of these kids going on recruits basically for the next n- recruiting trips for the next decade.
24:15
Yes. This isn't gonna be like, "Oh, hey, you know, that's, uh, blah blah blah's son." You know? N- no, no, no, we're going to get that for Philip Rivers for the next decade is what's going on with this.
24:24
We, we sure, we, we sure aren't. I don't think Gunner's the oldest. I th- I think that's- [laughs] Oh... I think that's what I'm figuring out. Okay. All right. So maybe the first one just wasn't a, a, a prospect.
24:33
That's why we didn't hear. Uh, Gu- Gunner is the third for the Rivers, yes. Whoa. There are two others? Two, two older daughters. Oh, okay. All right. So this is the first actual recruit then from a football standpoint.
24:42
Yes, correct. Yes. From a football standpoint. Well, Gunner heading on a visit over to University of Texas, so. Look out for Pete next. [laughs] Oh, is that who it is? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Peter would be next up. Okay.
24:51
So we'll... Go ahead and buy a future stock in Pete- [laughs] That's right, yeah... in S- in Pete Rivers as ending up as a, as a, a blue s- a blue chip recruit there.
24:59
You might be able to do that, uh, sooner rather than later. Who knows? Uh, c- Over on the Major League Baseball side, Colorado Rockies are heading on the road to the Miami Marlins.
25:08
Um, the Marlins minus 198 home favorites with Max Meyer on the hill for them. Armand Marquez is going for the Rockies plus 164 as underdogs on the road.
25:20
A flat eight is the total, and now is the time for us to read the statistic that we have. We are witnessing history, and it's the worst kind, guys. The Rockies,
25:31
they, they lost on Sunday, and what that did was bring them to nine and 50 on the season. It is the worst record through 59 games, any Major League team in the modern era, so that is since 1901.
25:45
They've been swept 10 times in 20 series. That tied for the most sweeps in, through 20 series since 1962. 1970 Milwaukee Brewers and the 1994 Oakland Athletics.
25:58
So we are witnessing history, but the worst kind of history in this Colorado Rockies team in which now people just bet the run line against them basically every single time out.
26:09
And if you've done that so far, you're swimming in your Scrooge McDuck pile of gold right now because apparently it just keeps covering over and over and over and over again. That said, Max Meyer,
26:20
much better at home, I will say. Much better at home than he has been on the road, but he is not, uh, very consistent any way. Certainly looked much better at a, uh, during April, scorching April for him in that one.
26:32
That said, no way I'm betting the Rockies. No chance, no way, no how. They've only won nine games out of 59, Kelly. Ha- That's not gonna happen... have you been attacking them at all?
26:41
So in Moneyline parlays for teams that I am on the f- kind of like it's a little bit too much for me to lay- Yeah... and then that brings it down to a more palatable number. Okay. All right.
26:54
I've, I've done that, but I have not taken advantage of what a lot of people out there have done with betting against them on their own.
27:00
On our very own Isaiah Von Brenkle, every time he walks through, talks about, like, betting against the, the Rockies- Wow... on the, on, on the run line Just stacking up those run line bets. Yeah, on the run line.
27:07
All right. Good, uh, good for Isaiah. No, I think that's probably how I'd handle it as well. It's just... Uh, look, you're al- you're already behind it, right?
27:15
You're get- every, every game you're getting a worse and worse price [laughs] on the Rockies that you probably should be. Um, if you've been doing it, though, g- good on you. Good on you. No, seriously.
27:24
'Cause y- yeah, you've made some good money. I mean, what was it? Just looking, went over to Covers, minus 1,300 ROI. No, I'm sorry, minus 3,200 ROI on a $100 bet just on the Moneyline this season.
27:35
Was going to pull up run line stuff, too, but it, uh, it's just insane what we're seeing out of that team right now. It is. [laughs] It is a... And here's the problem is, and we'll do- indulge me for 30 seconds.
27:45
This is sports talk radio right here. It's very hard to see a path in which they get better because free agent pitchers are never gonna go pitch in Colorado. Right. So, like, you have to get, like, home...
27:57
You have to, like, home grow everything through the draft and all of that.
28:00
But, like, if you're a, if you're a pitcher and you understand your longevity is putting up good numbers and getting your next contract is putting up good numbers, you would almost take a little bit less money to go to some place that isn't going to absolutely torpedo your career statistics and everything that you have going on for you.
28:17
So- [laughs] Yeah...
28:18
it's very hard for them to get better in the n- I, I, I don't know, I'm not gonna say ever, but, like, unless they figure something out as to how to- Now, now the counter to that would be a, a hitter would wanna go there, but pitching is just so much more valuable than hitting.
28:33
Yeah, well, it doesn't matter if you score seven runs if you're giving up 10 every time. Yeah. You know? And that's, and that's the problem. Now they're not scoring seven runs every game. They don't...
28:41
They're not very good overall, but- I just don't think... I, I don't think it's... And I don't think it's ridiculous at all for you to bring this up.
28:46
If I was a professional pitcher, these are the things I'd be thinking about all the time when I was- Yeah... thinking about what my next team is. Yeah. I mean, it... listen, it's, it's- State, state income taxes. Yeah.
28:54
[laughs] How, how high is your stadium? [laughs] Yeah. It's, and it's not... And the other thing is it's not even so much, too, that the, the thin air and, you know, the long ball and all that stuff.
29:01
But, like, the park is so big and the power alleys and stuff, it gives up so many doubles and lots of triples and all of that, which obviously can kill you as well, right? Yeah.
29:11
And so it's just, it's a place where I just don't see a path to this [laughs] Rockies team getting good anytime soon. Kelly, the NBA finals, Stanley Cup also here as well.
29:21
We didn't bring up the Stanley Cup yet, but we do also have a Stanley Cup finals. I'm not hockey Matt yet.
29:25
Actually, I'm not hockey Matt when I got my teams are gone, so, like, I, I can't be hockey Matt with- My, my teams are in.
29:30
I, I followed the- With- I followed the ultra-sharp N- NHL bettor Jonathan Von Tobel on playing a, uh, Panthers and Oilers exact matchup. Ah. So that was my one- There you go... one and only future, and it cashed.
29:40
Well, if you do wanna bet the series, you can head on over to Profit X. It is a peer-to-peer exchange. It's available in 40 or more states out there. And you're betting against... When...
29:50
What peer-to-peer means is you're betting guys, against guys like me and Kelly. You're not betting against the house. And so you go in, bet against me and Kelly over on Profit X.
29:58
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30:04
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30:19
The Angels are on the road at the Red Sox. Tyler Anderson is on the hill for them. Richard Fitts is on the hill for the Red Sox. They are minus 155 home favorites, plus 130 for the Angels on the road.
30:30
Nine and a half is our total. Mike Trout did sit yesterday for the Angels. Seems like it was just a maintenance day for him after he came off of that long stint on the IL.
30:40
But if you are wanting to back the Angels, maybe you wanna wait for that lineup to come out just to make sure.
30:46
I'm sure if you're wanting to back them on the road over there at the Red Sox, you want Mike Trout in that lineup, so something just to keep note of there in that one.
30:53
The Brewers and the Reds, Aaron Civale, Brady Singer going at this one. About a coin flip, a little bit shaded toward the Reds at home. Nine and a half our total there in that one.
31:03
As we know, we're gonna see higher totals anytime the Reds are playing and the weather starts to heat up, as that, that park tends to play really, really favorably towards the, uh, toward, towards hitters.
31:12
I'm looking right now to see if there's any major weather concerns out there in Major League Baseball today. Does look like [laughs] Sacramento, Sacramento wind's blowing.
31:23
Uh, they're already crushing balls in Sacramento as it is anyway, and now you got the wind blowing out there. So might be some runs in that Twins-A's game today, Kelly Yeah. Let's see. What are we looking at for that?
31:33
Uh, total's n- up to nine in that one. Ooh. Too sh- too short still? Interesting. So it looks like we're getting winds blowing out and h- and, and actually really hot as well.
31:44
So something for, something for the totals bettors out there if you want to, uh, if you wanna play that one. We got the Tigers and the White Sox.
31:52
Jack Flaherty going up against Jonathan Cannon, who you mentioned, a fantastic baseball pitcher name. That's right. You gotta, yeah, you gotta be a pitcher with that last name, Cannon. Yeah.
32:01
I mean, it's, it's b- like Jonathan Peashooter doesn't r- doesn't work. Nah, that doesn't work too well... you gotta be a Cannon. I m- I guess you could be a quarterback, too, right? Yeah, right.
32:06
Like Gunner, but- Could be g- Gunner Cannon. [laughs] Oh, man. A missed opportunity. Jonathan, you gotta name your kid Gunner. [laughs] Gunner Cannon is where it's at right there.
32:16
Uh, the Tigers minus 205 favorites on the road at the White Sox. Of course, White Sox one of the worst teams in baseball as well. They're getting plus 170 at home here in this one. Eight is your total.
32:25
That said, Cannon has actually been decent for them. He's not been good, but he's actually been decent for them.
32:32
So if I was ever going to back a White Sox team, it'd probably be when Cannon was on the road, and certainly not when Skubal was going for the Tigers. The Padres and the Giants.
32:42
This is Stephen Kolac going for the Padres, Logan Webb for the Giants. Minus 180 for the Giants at home. Big favorites here in this one with Webb on the hill.
32:49
Plus 150 for the Padres on the road, a flat seven is your total. I actually played this one, Kelly, from a prop standpoint, though. I played Logan Webb over four and a half Ks.
33:00
Logan Webb not typically the dude that we have known, uh, you know, as a huge strikeout guy, but he has changed a little bit in what he is doing in his approach on the mound.
33:10
And what we're looking at from Logan Webb so far this season is a dude who's up with a 28% K rate so far on the short season. This is a guy who's been s- typically sitting in that 20, 21% K rate.
33:22
He is all the way up to 28%. Swinging strikes way up as well, up to nearly 12%, where he has been sitting more in that 8 to 9%. So something for us to take into account there. Thank you.
33:34
Logan Webb over four and a half Ks. More baseball when we come back.
33:37
[upbeat music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
33:58
Numbers Game here on VSiN. Matt Brown in for Gil. Kelly Bidlin on the desk with me. Thank you for being here with us, whether it's on Sirius channel 158, YouTube TV,
34:09
our very own VSiN Watch app, terrestrial stations across this great country- That's right... as far as Kelly. Yeah. Plenty of ways. We, uh, continue with some baseball talk here in just a second.
34:17
We found out the, the Hot Ball Bingo is, uh, rocking and rolling across the street over here. Uh, Von Brinkle came in and let us know that you can get five figures if you, uh, if you win on the, uh, on the Hot Ball.
34:29
And I guess what we're talking about here is if you're not a bingo player, when you come to town, there is a y- y- when you buy in- A f-... Kelly, is that you don't just buy in for one game.
34:37
So you buy in for a whole session, right? And a session is multiple different games. Okay. And so what he was telling us is, is the very first ball pulled of the very first game becomes the hot ball.
34:49
And then every game there- therefore forward, should you bingo on said ball, you win the hot ball jackpot. So you have to complete your b- you have to complete your bingo.
34:58
So, like, game one's just, let's just say it's just traditional bingo, right? But then game two might be this one where you gotta make like a L or something, or you gotta whatever. They do that?
35:07
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. That's what I'm saying. There's like- I didn't know there was different games... there's like 10, 12 games you play in a session. Okay.
35:13
And so, like, let- This is like poker? It's like dealer's choice? Like you- It's, no, they just have them all, they just have them all ready. Okay. Right?
35:19
Like, they just have them all- You ever played bingo in a bingo hall in Vegas? Yeah. Okay. I never have. That's how, that's how, that's how I know this. I never have. I know we, me and you have talked about it.
35:26
I just had to go look it up, 'cause remember they were doing, like, the, the million dollar or two million dollar one- Yeah... at the South Point we always talked about doing? Yeah. We never did it. No.
35:33
And so basically, so say the next game is an L, and, like, you make your L on the hot ball, that's where your bingo come. Yeah. Then you'd win, then you'd win the hot ball bonus there.
35:43
So nice little progressive- Five, five figures... going, going on at the Plaza. Is that what he said? That's what he said. Five, five figures on that if you're g- if you're able to get that done.
35:49
Hey, downtown's a good place to gamble, man. That is a good place to gamble.
35:53
You know, you bring up poker just a little bit, and actually this is not just, uh, this is not us just sitting here shooting the breeze, because I actually think that there is some implications here for what might be going on out here behind us, but World Series of Poker just started.
36:05
Mm-hmm. It is rocking and rolling all the way through the middle of July, so it will be going for the next six weeks here in town.
36:13
And Kelly, what that does do is bring a whole bunch of people to town who have disposable income. And
36:21
I'm wondering if the timing of the announcement for the 100K Survivor didn't come a little strategically- Oh, good call...
36:29
where you have people coming to town who, by the way, if you didn't look down the schedule this year, multiple 25K events, multiple 50K events, multiple 100K events.
36:39
There is a 250K event as w- these are all buy-ins, by the way, not guarantees. These are all buy-ins. There's a quarter million dollar buy-in tournament at the WSOP this year. Yeah, I'm in that one all the time. Come on.
36:50
Yeah. You're like, "Yeah, I'm playing that one." [laughs] Yeah. Yeah, I got a backer. Um, so you got all these guys coming in with tons of cash. They're winning cash
37:00
along the way, winning tournaments, cashing in these tournaments, right? Yeah. And we have 100K tournament going on out here behind us.
37:09
I wonder if the announcement wasn't timed and coinciding with the World Series getting going, knowing you have a bunch of gamblers coming to town, and not only a bunch of gamblers, but gamblers who are willing to, 'cause they're gonna do it multiple times- Yeah, yeah...
37:22
throughout the course of the next six weeks, put up six figures to gamble with. Well, and then it's y- you win, right? You win a little bit, and it's like, "Well, while I'm here." Yeah. "While, while I'm here." Sure.
37:31
No, I think it's a great call by you.
37:32
I'm sure there is going to be, uh, s- I'll guess multiple- From the poker community that, that end up joining Yeah, I'm wondering between now and the middle of July whenever the series ends, what the number is for entrants and how many of those came from people coming down from, you know, at the World Series.
37:51
We're still at one. Yeah. I just wa- I wanted to double-check. Yeah We're still at one, okay. Yeah. But, I mean, there, there's no urgency for them to get out here. No, no, not at all. Yeah. Not at all. You know?
37:57
But I think we get a few there. I don't know, I like speculating about this stuff- Mm-hmm... 'cause you and I have talked about it, uh, off air, but, uh, a fair- a few, few times. I, I think we get...
38:06
There is some celebrity interest and push that we get involved in that. Yeah.
38:10
But I am really fascinated [laughs] to see what is this, what does this look like by the time we kick off week one, uh, and h- what that number's at. 'Cause I, I honestly have no idea where to project it at. Yeah.
38:20
I, I, I've heard some good arguments for, for going well over 15. Mm-hmm. I, I think we're probably hovering around that 15 mark, but we, we got all summer for people to come in here.
38:29
And for different reasons, like you just said, World Series- Mm... of Poker, I didn't think about that before, and you're right, I bet you there's a couple that end up in, in there because of it.
38:36
They have a contest that has run for about the last five or six years that they just put on amongst themselves. So they do a $25,000 buy-in, like, fantasy draft for World Series people. Mm. Right?
38:49
So it's, and it just goes on total money won, you know, or whatever, and there's some sort of point system that goes along with it.
38:55
But, like, so everybody buys in for 25K, and then drafts their team of however many poker players it is or something like that. So there's already
39:03
people putting up 25K on side stuff that has nothing to do with actually playing around the table. Right. [laughs] Right? And so, yeah, I'm imagining we get some sign-ups out here behind us for sure with, with that.
39:13
And it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be interesting. I will say that there was a... They opened things up with a Mystery Millions tournament, which was a $1,000 buy-in, no limit hold 'em, but it was a bounty tournament.
39:23
Okay. And they actually stuck in two million dollar mystery bounties. Oh. And one of the guys that pulled it, uh, gave one of the best things ever. They're like, "Hey, you know, blah, blah, how excited are you?"
39:33
You know, and stuff. He's like, "I'm super, super excited." He said, "If you're a dancer in town tonight, you need to get to work." [laughs] He was like, "You wanna be at work tonight."
39:41
He literally said, "You wanna be at work tonight." [laughs] He was like, "I am heading, I am heading to the adult club." He was like, "You, you wanna be at work tonight if that's- Oh...
39:49
if you, if that's your, if that's what you do." You know? That's good stuff. Or, or- If that's what you do [laughs]... if you're a living. Yes, if that's what you do for a living. Or maybe try out tonight. Yeah.
39:56
Who knows? Uh, I talk a lot, uh, about horse racing, more than I would maybe even like to, 'cause, uh, my co-host on, on the weekends, Mike Somich, is really, really big into the horse racing stuff. No, Mike Somich?
40:07
Which by the way, which by the way, on Saturday I had another trifecta. I'm, I am, I am now, I'm almost Matty TriBox now. I almost have a, I almost have a, a nickname. Wow. I'm just nailing these things.
40:16
Well, it's gonna be, it's gonna be really hard to figure that one out this week. Yeah. Aren't there a whole six horses racing in this or something? There's eight. S- oh, eight? Eight? We're up to eight. There are eight.
40:23
Oh, okay. All right. All right. There are eight going in this one.
40:25
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40:34
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40:45
So go in, download the app. Again, Firstbet.com, 1STBET.com/VSIN today. Use that promo code VSIN200 and get up to $200 in sign-up bonuses over there. So we did get avoid a sweep in baseball.
40:59
The Yankees got it done against the Dodgers. One thing I think we need to look at with this Dodger team, Ryan Yarbrough went last night for the Yankees, and, um,
41:10
he's doing something different this season, uh, since he's moved over and, and, and got in the starting rotation. He was actually in the pen for them for a little bit, but he's made four starts here.
41:21
Not throwing his four-seam fastball. He is moving in, he's got, got the sweeper now that he's throwing all the time. He's throwing, like, lobs in there, which is, like, really messing hitters up.
41:31
I don't know if you guys watched any of the game last night. We're talking, like, throwing, like, 71 mile an hour, like, sweepers in there- Oof... and things like that.
41:38
Yeah, like, he is kind of really doing the whole keep you off balance thing. And so far so good for him.
41:44
He is actually, has a higher swinging strike rate and a higher K rate than he's ever had in his career, even when he threw harder earlier in his career when he wasn't, like, coming off of all of these injuries and stuff.
41:54
So Yarbrough filling in for this Yankees team very admirably so far. And, and of course, they do get it done last night to avoid the sweep to the Dodgers.
42:03
That being said, the Dodgers are still an absolute beast, absolute behemoth. We'll see what happens with this Mookie Betts thing that's going on. Uh, he is day-to-day. They have not moved him to the IL officially yet, so
42:15
of course, that might change how you think about this team. They're so incredibly deep.
42:18
They have a couple prospects they could call up as well, so I don't think you really have any real concern about this Dodgers team at all.
42:24
But we talked about some news that was coming up in Major League Baseball, and this actually could change how you view some of these teams. We know that that AL Central, nobody's running away with that division.
42:34
All of those teams fairly even in talent level, fairly evenly stacked across with all of that.
42:41
As we look at the standings right now in that AL Central, the Tigers are six games up on the Guardians, seven games up on the Twins, and then eight games up on the Royals.
42:50
And Kelly, Jack Cag Leone is getting called up by the Royals. If you guys were College World Series fans from a couple of years ago, if you remember him playing at the University of Florida, he was a two-way player.
43:03
Yeah Mashed, but then also threw over 90 from the left-hand side.
43:07
They have moved him to strictly an offensive player since, uh, since getting drafted, and he has just been absolutely destroying and absolutely crushing pitching out there.
43:16
What he has done so far is 15 homers and 56 RBI in 50 games between double A and triple A. He's hitting 322 and only striking out 20% [laughs] of the time. So they desperately needed him.
43:31
Kelly, the Royals are second to last in Major League Baseball in runs scored, only behind, only ahead of, I should say- The Rockies There you go. I knew you were going to get that.
43:39
By the way, the news of him getting called up moved him to second in the Rookie of the Year market.
43:44
Okay, so I don't know that I've heard a, a, a bet that's been placed more often than this one in all of baseball this year for Cag Leone to wi- win Rook- American League Rookie of the Year, 9 to 1 over at DraftKings right now.
43:55
Is that still a bettable price? I mean, so to let you know, people woke up and got the push notification 12 to 1 last night.
44:03
So it was 12 to 1 last night, and it's 9 to 1 this morning 'cause everyone woke up to, "Oh, he's getting the call." And bet. Yeah, I mean, it's like, look,
44:14
the swing and miss, that was the, what they were worried about with him, and the swing and the miss is gone. Like, he's only striking out 20% of the time, so- It's great...
44:21
there's a, there's a lot to like about him, for sure. 12 to 1 would've been a bet, definitely. Let's check out what's going on over at Roland-Garros when we come back. [upbeat music]
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