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May 3, 2024
A Numbers Game | May 3, 2024 | Hour 2
A Numbers Game | May 3, 2024 | Hour 2
00:00
44:33
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Transcript
0:01
The numbers tell the story, they always do. He's one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is the Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Hour number two of the Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network.
0:11
Visa.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV. However you're taking us in, we sure appreciate it. Gil Alexander, Kelly Bittler live from Barcelona. The Barrage at the D still to come this hour.
0:22
Preston Johnson, owner of Crawley Town, making the playoffs in league two. Uh, can't wait to talk to Preston. By the way, when Preston comes on the screen, uh, don't adjust your sets.
0:32
You will not be able to tell the difference between Preston and Kelly. That's not true. His b- his beard puts mine to shame. Okay. All right. Well, you know, the la- last time I saw him, so. Longer beard, Preston.
0:41
I'm gonna guess he didn't cut it down too short. Um, and, uh, you know, other than that, your lives are completely similar. [laughs] Other, other than that, [laughs] we're basically the same guy. Same human being.
0:50
[laughs] Uh, Jason Weingarten under, from a cloud of sp- uh, from Under a Cloud of Smoke, and, uh, Chris Felica joining us here momentarily. Before we go back to Chris, uh, the Pablo Torre phone number.
0:59
For those who, uh, are thinking of some kind of event, uh, in sports history or maybe even beyond sports history that you would like investigated further, he has a actual line you can call, like a suggestion line.
1:12
Um, or not even a suggestion line, just a question. 513-85-PABLO. 513-85-PABLO. And he actually plays some of the, uh, voicemails on his podcast as well. I like that.
1:22
The, the Knicks, the Knicks LeBron pitch, that one's an all-timer. The Matt Ishbia one, I, those, both of those episodes I thought were amazing. I listened to the New York Yankees. I don't know if you know this.
1:32
In the 1970s, in the early '70s, so this was too youn- I was too young to know this happened either, but this was Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich. The Yankees had two pitchers. They swapped wives. It's a true story.
1:49
It, it's not really that they swapped wives. They swapped families, wives and kids. So weird. What? It's an am- it's just an unbelievable story. I know that story.
1:58
And he goes down- I, I haven't, I haven't listened to that one yet. I haven't watched that one. There's a script in Hollywood about it. Like, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon considered it. It's, it's like a whole thing.
2:06
It's, it was an amazing story. So it was the Yankees wife, uh, wife swap. There's third party politics. Like, he does a whole bunch of stuff. It's great.
2:12
Uh, Chris Felica kind enough to, uh, rejoin us here courtesy of the Progressive Guest Line. He is the Bear at Bear Bets Pod. Hey. Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Chris. I'm gonna s- I'm gonna steal a line.
2:19
I'm gonna cut you off right here. I'm gonna steal a line from SVP. Uh, you do your research. Do you know who Crawley Town is play- are playing in the, uh, in, in the, uh, first round of the playoff? Tell us. MK Dons.
2:34
MK Dons? Yes. Yeah, M- MK Dons. So that, that, that's your, uh- Oh, okay... that's your, that's your little, that's your little bit of information.
2:41
[laughs] That way you don't sound like a complete fool when you- [laughs]... when you're talking to Preston later today. Thanks. Thanks for the show prep. I want, I want you to be, I want you to be prepared.
2:49
I was like, "Where is he going with that?" Believe me, I would've known it before the segment started, but thank you for the show prep live on air. You're, you're, you're quite welcome.
2:55
[laughs] And you d- you wouldn't even let me intro you. Bear Bets Podcast. How often do you do the Bear Bets Podcast, Chris? It, it, it's usually, it, it's usually every week we have one.
3:05
Uh, there, there will not be one, uh, the next couple of weeks as I will be away on vacation. But we'll be back, uh, right before the, uh, right before the Belmont. By the way, S- Yeah.
3:14
Little- SVP, uh, apparently was following along, since you bring him up, he was following along the, uh, bet, the Guardians bet. He goes, "I was following along. I was so sick for you." Um- Oh, man...
3:23
and then, and Brent was watching it as well. So, like, and he had the tentacles of this Guardians bet. We're like, "Oh, I know. It's just so tough." Uh, you mentioned the under card, if you will, uh, of the der- Yeah...
3:35
of the derby. So what do you got all day tomorrow? Couple... Well, we'll start with today. Uh, I think if you look in race 10, which is the Edgewood, uh, I don't like the favorite hard to justify in the race at all.
3:47
Uh, I think if you focus in on the 8 Kalispera and the 10 Dynamic Pricing, uh, those two horses are price plays that I think you should, uh, you should take a look at.
3:58
Uh, if you have a way to have a, a fixed odds bet on the Alysheba, uh, I would bet the number three horse, First Mission, w- with, with two fists.
4:08
Um, the Tapit Trice, who was gonna be the second choice in that range, scratched.
4:12
And if fixed odds shops haven't caught onto that yet, uh, you might be able to get even money or so on First Mission, who probably is gonna go off around three to five or so in, in, in that race.
4:21
So those are the two races that I'm r- kind of focusing on today.
4:25
Uh, then tomorrow, uh, I would look at the, uh, Derby City Distaff, 10 horse Fava, who's three to one in the morning line, and probably will be somewhere in the, the five two range.
4:36
That horse just missed at Keeneland, uh, last time out, and I would expect her to, to win that race tomorrow. Uh, if you look at the American Turf, I think that's a, um, a wide open race.
4:48
The number 11 horse, this is the ninth race tomorrow, the American Turf, the 11 horse, Cugino.
4:54
Uh, I'm not sure we're gonna get 10 to one on this horse, but, but I think it's worth a, uh, worth a play anyway, even if, uh, it's around eight to one or so. I think that's still worth a shot.
5:03
Uh, if you look at the Turf Classic, the race just before the Kentucky Derby, the 11th race, uh, the number one horse, Integration, is my top pick there, five to one on the morning line.
5:14
Uh, this horse drew brutally wide in a short fa- a- and kind of was wide around the entire track last time out. Ran much longer. This is the horse's second race off the layoff.
5:25
Goes outside to inside, stretches out from a mile to a mile and an eighth. Uh, th- this horse should have a big, big chance in the Turf Classic tomorrow, race 11.
5:35
And I skipped over race 10, which is the Churchill Downs, uh, Handicap. Uh, I think you feel, I think I have to try and beat the six horse, Zozo, off of the layoff.
5:46
And I'm gonna use the number nine horse, Three Technique, uh, cutting back to the, uh, the seven furlong distance. He's run some big races at seven furlongs, and I think he's gonna be a square number on the board.
5:56
So the nine horse, Three Technique, in the, uh, in the Churchill Downs race 10. Wow. Got all that at visa.com/picks. Kelly, transcribing? Most of it. Okay. Today, race 10, Calispera.
6:07
[laughs] Tomorrow, ninth race, Cugino. 10th race, Three Technique. 11 race, Integration. Okay. How'd I do, Chris? Good job. I think I missed one. Well done. All right.
6:17
Yeah, I said the first, I said the first mission one. That, that was, that was the one I said. Okay. That's it for today. All at visa.com/pays. All right, soccer, what do you got?
6:26
I w- it, it's a, it's getting to the point where it's a hard handicap for a lot of these matches just because, like, relegation has kind of been...
6:36
Like, you, you know these teams in the middle, you're not gonna play in Europe next year in the European championships, whether it's a Champions League or Europa League. You know you're gonna be up.
6:45
You're not in relegation zone. But a lot of these matches are hard to kind of cap. But I do think today, under two and a half in, in Torino-Bologna, uh, is a good play.
6:56
Bologna looks like they are headed towards Champions League next year. Really good defensive team on the road at Torino, who is kind of, they're in that, like, no man's land. They're, they're not near Europe.
7:08
They're not near relegation. Uh, they don't score a lot to begin with. So I, I, I would look at Bologna-uh, Torino under two and a half, uh, in that ga- in that game later this afternoon.
7:20
That's, uh, 2:45 Eastern, uh, 11:40 s- 45 Pacific. So that, that, that's the one soccer thing that really stuck out to me- All right... uh, this weekend and, um- Let's go stateside here... that's where we are.
7:31
Let's talk about baseball a little bit. You had a baseball thought yesterday. Yeah. Are, are, are, are we to the point where we should be playing Orioles World Series exact as if you have not already?
7:41
Like, like, they're the best team in the American League. Uh, and yeah, their, their bullpen is a little bit suspect with Kimbrel.
7:48
Uh, and hopefully they can bolster that bullpen, uh, before that and, and get him some help there, 'cause I don't trust him at all. But their lineup is so good. You've got a certified ace i- i- in Corbin Burnes.
8:01
They're only gonna get better as these rookies continue to develop throughout the year. I- we, we, we know baseball can be a crapshoot come postseason, but they got a little bit of a taste last year.
8:11
Uh, y- maybe you just go up and down the National League and maybe take some shots with some teams. Uh, whether you wanna use the obvious teams, the Braves and the Dodgers, but maybe throw the Cubs in there.
8:21
Definitely throw the Phillies in there. You, you wanna, you wanna get really frisky and, and throw, like, uh, the Giants or the Padres in there as well. Uh, Reds, go ahead and do it.
8:31
But you could, you might be able to find some nice prices with the, uh, with the Orioles and some World Series exactas.
8:37
Yeah, my, uh, my exacta strategy, and just to be clear, I have not made this bet yet, but is to tie the Braves in with any number of teams at this point. I just feel like the Braves are so good that that's the way to go.
8:52
Now, whether that's a, just a matchup or an exacta, um, again, I haven't made any of the bets yet, so I'll let everybody know when I do. But I, I... The Orioles are absolutely one of those teams, that's for sure.
9:03
Uh, and you're probably right. They probably are the best team in the American League. Um, but yes, many of us have made a lot of money fading Craig Crim, uh, Craig Kimbrel over the years.
9:11
[laughs] As, uh, as I think you know. Um, let me ask you this. Yeah. Um, this was also, you, you also have... 'Cause we, I made a bet, Kelly and I did the other day, Angels worst record 30 to 1. Mm-hmm.
9:23
You have a bet in this, right? Yeah, I, I have. I, I grabbed the Angels the other day when you guys were talking about it. Yeah, I have the Marlins at 35 to 1 and 25 to 1, and they were...
9:34
The, the night, th- that night that the, uh, the Astros came back and beat the, the Guardians, prior to that was the night where the Rockies blew the five-nothing ninth-inning lead in, in Miami.
9:45
And that was like a complete double whammy gut punch to me because you had one of the worst teams in baseball right there with the Marlins, who could have picked up a ga- up a win a- against the Marlins, and the Marlins obviously wound up sweeping the series.
9:58
But I s- I still feel pretty good, uh, w- with where I am with the Marlins. Their rotation's in shambles.
10:03
Uh, they're, they're not a good team, and hopefully the Ro- Rockies can be a little bit frisky and, uh, and win some games along the way. But, uh, it may, it g- it's all...
10:12
We're gonna maybe look back in September and early October and be like, "Man, the Marlins are gonna be 66 and 96 or whatever it is, and the, and the, and the Rockies or the White Sox will be 58 and whatever."
10:23
And you know what? Doesn't mean it wasn't a good bet. We just, we just got beat, kind of like what happened with the Guardians. We had a great bet. Just got beat. Yep.
10:30
Um, last minute, did you want to talk about a Djokovic theory or not? Yeah, I, it, it's weird. We can talk about it. Like, I, I got a...
10:39
Was talking with someone yesterday who kind of heard rumblings, and he, and I'm gonna preface it with saying he doesn't even know if he believes it, but, like, there are kind of rumblings that, like, Djokovic might, like, not play Wimbledon in the grass season because he wants to win an Olympic gold medal.
10:58
And y- y- you know tennis very well, and Drew knows tennis very well. Like, and, and Dan Weston knows tennis very well. Like, going from clay to grass back to clay, that could do a number on- Oh, yeah...
11:10
some people's joints- Oh, yeah... and elbows. So, like, there's this theory out there that Djokovic maybe would skip Wimbledon to, to just go back to Roland Garros and w- and win Olympic gold on clay.
11:21
So, like, i- if you wanna take a shot with Sinner being hurt and Alcaraz not being 100%, like, there may...
11:27
Is there an opportunity to maybe take some shots in the dark with some bombs to potentially win Wimbledon in case that happens? I don't know. It's a great, it's a great seed to be planted. I like the thinking for sure.
11:37
Chris, thank you. Good luck with all the horses. Appreciate you guys. Chris Fallica, @ChrisFallica, F-A-L-L-I-C-A on Twitter. Bet Bets Pod over at Fox Sports courtesy of Progressive Guest Line.
11:47
Preston Johnson on the other side. Numbers Game, VSiN Sports Betting Network. A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network Don't forget to check out our new website at vsin.com.
12:03
Best bets, betting splits, exclusive articles, odds by state, betting tools, betting guides, it's all there. Literally any sport you can imagine. Adam Burke on the Canelo-Munguia fight tomorrow night here at T-Mobile.
12:17
Uh, Dave Tooley talking Kentucky Derby. How about that? Uh, Mike Somich on the Derby, on the Kentucky Oaks as well, front and center. Uh, a lot of Mike Somich, by the way. A lot of Adam Burke.
12:26
He's talking Oaks as well, is Burke. Michael Dolan on the NHL playoffs, uh, tonight, a couple game sixes, including the Knights trying to, uh, stave off elimination. And then game seven tomorrow, Leafs and Bruins.
12:39
Let's go, Toronto. Haven't won a Cups in 67. Vsin.com, check it out. Yeah, only one game seven, right, in hockey? So far. Yeah. Haven't had a game seven yet in the old baloncesto either. No. Yeah. Yeah. Gotta pick it up.
12:54
Pick it up, NBA and NHL. You... Do you believe, though, okay, these two game sixes tonight. Yeah. I assume you believe Dallas is gonna win. Yes. No Kawhi for the Clippers.
13:02
You believe we will have a game seven in the Magic and the Cavs, the series that everybody really craved a game seven for. I mean, I'm not betting it, but yes, I do- Yeah... I do think we're going to. Yeah.
13:12
I, I think the Magic have found something a little bit. Can they keep it rolling? I don't know. Gary Harris, uh, q- uh, questionable out tonight. Need to confirm that. He is questionable as of right now for that game.
13:22
Jarrett Allen, I did see a report, he's questionable right now. Did not play last game, remember. Um, although they look pretty good without him. Didn't play last game.
13:31
He was at shoot around this morning, so should be... That's, that's better than w- uh, than last game, um, if you're a Cleveland fan. So a couple injuries to watch here.
13:40
Not a lot of great depth, uh, in that Orlando backcourt, so might be tested if no Gary Harris. He's one of those guys a little bit more important than people probably re- realize. Um,
13:51
I mean, it, this series has been something. I, I... There's definitely part of me that, you know, I don't have any bets on it, so I'm rooting for the Magic because the Cavs, you deserve this. You deserve to go down.
14:00
You tanked for this, Cavs. You tanked for this. Cavs, game six tonight, Dogs at Orlando. Um, we'll see if it gets to a game seven. Ladies and gentlemen, he's the owner of Crawley Town, a League Two team in England.
14:16
Once upon a time, he was doing $1 college football podcasts with me. Then he was on ESPN's Daily Wager, and now look at him. It's our buddy Preston Johnson, everybody. How you doing, Preston? How's it going?
14:27
It's been way too long, Gil. I'm sorry. Oh, no, man. Come on. We understand. Let me... For, for those who are unfamiliar, um, let me just ask, because w- we...
14:38
They kind of know the background, which is you, you parlayed, um, CryptoPunks into owning this team. That's the five-second version of this. How did, how- Uh, more or less, yes. More or less. [laughs] Okay.
14:52
Well, is there more that you would like to add to that?
14:55
The CryptoPunks part was, uh, for the company Pixel Vault, which then I kind of parlayed that success into the, the club ownership and the NFT community craze that was building.
15:05
But it wasn't like CryptoPunks themselves, but you, you were close, so I'll give you- I was close... like a nine out of 10, yeah.
15:10
There was n- there was no chance I was gonna get that completely right, by the way, Preston. [laughs] So I'll point that out. Okay. All right. So when you, when you bought this team,
15:19
take us through how that went when you started sort of announcing the way that you wanted to manage this. Sure. So the...
15:28
I mean, a lot of people probably find this somewhat interesting because they'll remember that NFT craze, that boom.
15:34
There were all of these online communities forming around most of the time, like cartoon or pixel images that really had nothing attached to them. There were these like communities on Twitter or Discord or whatever of...
15:47
But it was all speculation. There wasn't actually anything there to, to build on to drive value to the NFT.
15:52
And so our, our original strategy was what if we bought, uh, an English football club in the lower leagues and brought an international community together to root on a club because there's a game every Saturday morning here in the States, or Saturday afternoon if you're in the UK, and we are able to bring more fans to a club that otherwise locally has one of the smallest fan bases in the whole EFL.
16:15
And so when we got Crawley Town Football Club, that was our, our strategy.
16:19
Now, as you've probably, uh, found out in life, things don't always go to plan, and, uh, about nine or 10 days into our takeover of the club, you know, we got a call from the football association that said, "Your manager or your head coach is under investigation for racism and discrimination charges."
16:35
And this was like, oh, okay. So we [laughs] suspended him, eventually let him go, obviously. And so we had to kind of...
16:43
Well, we had gone in thinking, hey, we'll have a year to learn how this works, 'cause most of us were brand new to English football. Um, we had to postpone our NFT, you know, strategy. Uh, we had to sort that.
16:53
We had to hire in a completely new staff, and we were told, "Oh, trust the experts. Trust this, trust that."
16:58
We tried to bring in people that, um, we thought would give us the best chance to, to have success, and we just didn't. We weren't good enough. We were battling relegation all season.
17:06
Eventually, there were 12 charges on that manager for racism discrimination that was the most in EFL history. It was literally the biggest [laughs] case in the, in the history of the league.
17:15
So we, we were dealing with all of that while, um, trying to, like sort, like how can we actually be good at football? And we realized by the end of the... going into the second season, which is just winding up now,
17:28
um, if you don't have support from the local fan base, which means if you're not winning, then you're not gonna have any interest internationally anyway from any NFT or crypto or just any audience, right?
17:36
So like Wrexham's story with Ryan Reynolds is fascinating because they've generated all of this revenue and money from their documentary and because it's Ryan Reynolds, and they put that into the, the playing squad, and they've actually been winning.
17:48
And so now they've drummed up all of this momentum where they got promoted into our league last year, and they got promoted out of our league this year. They're one of the top three teams in the league.
17:56
So back-to-back years they've been promoted. And so our strategy was similar, but, uh, didn't work out. So then we kind of had to regroup and figure out how do we do football then [laughs] you know, the English way
18:06
And when, you know, when did it... Well, well, for the interest of time, what was the low point for you, Preston, would you say? Ooh, the low point was probably last year. So we're talking 2023, January.
18:22
We had another coach quit on us that we had, uh, appointed or, or hired.
18:27
And we had some players that, uh, at that point were the experienced players that all of the, the, the fans thought w- were good enough, but were part of the reason we were fighting relegation and just weren't good enough.
18:40
And so we just ultimately bet on youth and, uh, athleticism and data and analytics, and the fans hated us for it 'cause we were getting rid of all their old guys and banking on inexperienced players.
18:50
And, uh, you know, there were a lot of death threats online especially. Um [laughs] and you know, I was over there- Geez...
18:55
at a hotel once in Crawley and had some fans tell me, "Hey, there's a, a mob of fans that are gonna meet you outside and confront you. You should hurry and get out of there. Go to London."
19:03
[laughs] Like, "Go stay in a hotel in London."
19:05
Like, it got pretty intense, but that's what's crazy about, like, we talk sports betting and gambling all the time, and that's what I did for over a decade, and you're wagering, you know, so for some people pretty high stakes every weekend.
19:16
Um, the emotional stakes I underestimated at a level I just, I could never have imagined. It's what they...
19:22
Their livelihood over there for these towns, for their clubs, uh, it's why they work, so they can eat, sleep, and, you know, support their football club.
19:29
So that was, that was the low point I think was around that January, February time last year. Wow, death threats. Uh, now that Crawley has, uh, Crawley Town has qualified for the playoffs, and congratulations on that.
19:41
The playoffs begin on Monday for you. Do they love you with the same passion that they hated you? [laughs] Uh, it's definitely changed. Maybe not quite a 180, but you know, it's close. It's...
19:52
Be- being there for our final game, it all came down to that final Saturday. We needed a couple of the other results to potentially go our way as well as us winning our game.
20:00
So, uh, you know, them looking into the stands, they invaded the pitch or what we call, you know, rushing the field, and all the fans were chanting, like, you know, going off and everyone in the stands. It, it was...
20:11
There was a moment there where like, okay, like they have joy again, which was really important for me as, uh, a person because last year I felt like I ripped this joy from this fan base, from this town.
20:22
Like, and it was my fault 'cause I was one of... Me and my co-chairman, Evan, like this is all our doing. Like, how can I help them find joy again? And so to have this...
20:30
I mean, they've never been to the playoffs before, so in one season turn around to do it our way, bet on analytics at the end of the day, and then them seeing that it actually paid off and worked out and they're like chanting and cheering for their team again, um, was like an internal resolution I actually really needed.
20:45
So it was a really good moment for me- That's so-... just last weekend. So- And we have a couple more games to go, hopefully three more to actually achieve promotion in this playoff.
20:52
But either way, like pretty satisfied with how the year's gone. And you, and you have to win the playoffs to get promoted. Is that correct? Yeah.
20:59
Three automatically go up, and then four through seven battle out for one more spot. Ooh, okay. Okay. And it begins against the MK Dons on Monday. It's a home and home.
21:07
Thursday is the next one, Crawley Town against MK Dons.
21:09
Preston, I'll just say this on air, what I've, what I've probably said to you off air at some point, which is it could not happen to a nicer human being, all of this.
21:17
I'm sorry you had to go through that bottom, that nadir to get here. Uh, it's easy to say maybe that makes it even more rewarding, but no one should have to [laughs] go through that. But I'm just so glad for you, man.
21:28
And, um, good for you. I mean, before you leave, 'cause I do, I do wanna p- get this back to your wagering days just to bookend it here. You're still an NBA guy. Are you still following the NBA playoffs? Oh, yeah.
21:41
You know, like, look, I've let some... Like NFL, I hardly follow. Baseball's like way behind me, but you know, NBA's my true passion. Basketball's the best. So I've been watching most games, following most games.
21:52
Um, I have a pretty... I, I, I was pretty pro Timberwolves before the season. I fired a lot. I had the Naz Reid, I had the Chris Finch, and then I had, uh, 30 to one on them to win the West I think is the price.
22:03
So I'm, I'm basically a T'Wolves fan, and then I, I bet the, the Celtics are gonna win the East so frequently that I actually laid a, like pre-playoff price on the Celtics, and that's why Porziņģis got injured if you were wondering.
22:14
But- [laughs]... um, so I'm, I'm Celtics, T'Wolves. I'll make it happen. That is why Kristaps Porziņģis got hurt. Still a gambler in his head.
22:22
Preston, thank you so much, man, and, uh, we'll all be watching on Monday, man. Good luck. Thank you, guys. Take care. Go. Preston Johnson, Crawley Town co-owner. @sportscheetah, that's how we know him. And what a story.
22:32
Back in the day. Daily Wager before that. He just bounced on Daily Wager, thought, "Where did Preston go?" [laughs] This is by the way, not exactly how it happened, but- Bought a soccer team. Bought a soccer team.
22:45
Uh, we're coming back. Jason Weingarten has a little thought on that next. [upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Numbers game live from Bar Canada at the D, downtown Las Vegas.
22:59
Skill Alexander. It's, uh, Kelly Midlin. Oh, we have somebody requesting a story from you here, uh, Kelly, here momentarily. Uh, first though, are you ready to become a sports betting expert?
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Visit vsin.com/subscribe today to claim your 14 months of VSiN Pro for only $199 with promo code ANG. ANG as in A Numbers Game. ANG, promo code. That's vsin.com/subscribe. My Taylor Fritz call did not go well.
24:03
Andrey Rublev taking him down 6-4, 6-3 in straight sets. Rublev really is playing the best in the tournament and despite the numbers He overcomes Taylor Fritz, so that's not fun. What, uh, what round? That was the semis.
24:17
Semis? Yeah. Uh, they will t- uh, Rublev will play the winner of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jurij Lehecka. You know them well, very well, both of those guys. I could spell both those names. You cannot.
24:28
I swallow- There's no way... bet on it right now, buddy. Go Lehecka. Bet it right... Well, I gotta write it down. I gotta write it down. I'm, I'm one of those people that's gotta write it. Oh. [laughs] Jurij, J-I-R-I.
24:39
You got that much. Okay, this is the toughest one. L-E-H-E-C-K-A? Correct. Okay, Felix Auger-Aliassime I've got no problem. Felix, normal spelling. Uh-huh. That okay, I'm okay? Yeah, yeah.
24:55
Auger, A-U-G-E-R. Okay, now here's the tough one. [laughs] Oh my God, this is great so far. Uh, hyphen, Aliassime, A-L-I-A-S-S-I-M-E? Wow, Kelly Bidlin, everybody. Baby baby, let's go. Wow.
25:11
You weren't looking at anything, were you? No. All right, now spell Crawleys Town. Should've got- No, I'm kidding... should've got money out of you for that. Wow. I, I, you were a big dog to get that right.
25:19
[laughs] Um- Odell Beckham Jr. signs with the Dolphins. He did? So that moves the needle for you. Not exactly. Odell Beckham Jr. signs with the Dolphins. All right. Um, we get tweets of Beating The Book.
25:30
Buddhist Man, he put a, uh, side-by-side with Drew and his hat with, uh, the late, great Ted Knight from Caddyshack and his hat. Well, looks good on you though. It's pretty good.
25:40
I was thinking I've got a better Panama hat than that at home, but... Scott, New York Mess 16, "Makeup artist, Gil has a problem with his earpiece wire, and w- and what shirt button to button."
25:51
Baby step, baby steps, Felika, baby steps. [laughs] That's very true, by the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
25:55
Uh, Steven, uh, "A little behind, but at first I thought, uh, Drew had a few pops this morning, but he's just having a great time." Awesome. No, he's just pumped up. That's what we were trying to talk about.
26:04
[laughs] Awesome insight, by the way. Spence, "We need a derby horse named What a Fool Believes." Doobie Brothers song. Maybe he thinks- Hmm... he shouldn't be betting on the derby, I don't know.
26:13
Uh, New Jersey, New York, "Thank you for mentioning the Taparut call in 2018 on the derby." Was it 2018 or 2017? I think it was 2018, you might be right about that. Uh, "That Felika made.
26:22
Still one of the sickest call as, calls I've ever seen." Paul Medina, "Tell the story when Kelly got screamed at from across the, uh, the room at the South Point for a pick that Preston made."
26:32
[laughs] We didn't, we didn't get the visual on Preston 'cause we have him trouble. Yeah. But if you, if you look at Preston, it's very Kelly-esque.
26:38
It w- it was, it was on his daily wager days, and we were, uh, you know, I mean, we were over at the South Point, uh, doing, I don't even know what show I was doing at the time. Green Zone I think late at night.
26:50
Um, and it was right around the NBA All-Star break, and obviously Daily Wager was on South Point ver- uh, in, on South Point TVs very often, as were we. So I think people might have confused me and Preston.
27:01
I was walking out the doors of the sports book one night, and if you've been in the South Point sports book, it's very wide open, as you know, Gil. And a guy from, I don't know, 50 yards away- [laughs]...
27:11
in the middle of the sports book- I love it... stands up. He's like, "Hey, you." And I'm like, I don't know why I even turned around, but, like, I kinda knew he was yelling at me for some reason.
27:20
And I turned around and he's like, "Great bleeping call on the under in the All-Star game last night." [laughs] From 50 yards away. And then I, and then you're like, "You're 50 yards away."
27:28
So, like, what am I gonna yell back at the guy? [laughs] And I just kinda like, uh, and I knew exactly who he was thinking of 'cause I had seen Preston talk about it. Yeah, yeah.
27:35
I'm like, "Yeah, I'm just gonna walk out of here." Jason Weingarten knows a thing or two about Crawleys Town.
27:39
He joins us now courtesy of Progressive Guest Line, @spreadapedia on Twitter, comes to us from under a cloud of smoke. How you doing, Jason? Pretty good. How's it going?
27:46
I also know a thing or two about getting yelled at. [laughs] What's your, why, did you have a recent yell at thing, or just w- in passing time? No, just, just, just in general. Yeah. I can't think of any recently.
27:58
Um, real quick before we get off the, uh, the Crawleys Town thing. You, you are intimately involved in this as well. We don't want to, uh, we don't wanna shortchange you on that.
28:06
You feel like Crawleys Town, ba- based on everything Preston just talked about, 'cause he pr- talked about, um, a manager that was accused of racism, uh, he getting death threats.
28:16
You feel like your documentary would've been better than Wrexham's, huh? I think it would've at least been as interesting. I mean, the characters involved and the everything, everything that...
28:28
Yeah, like, remember when we went to dinner and we were trying to explain to you the story step by step? Yep, yep. And you were like, "This is unbelievable."
28:34
Like, none of this, no one would ever believe it, but- It is incredible... it's a great story. Yeah.
28:38
Hopefully one day it gets to be fully told, but, um, yeah, I mean, now, now we just gotta go out there and win a couple games. Crawleys Town, MK Dons, you gonna play on it? No. No. I'm just gonna be watching it. Okay.
28:50
What about baseball today? Anything? Uh, Giants plus 140, Jordan Hicks might be one of the best signings of the off-season. He's, he's been a revelation as a starter.
29:02
And he's- Another, another player the Cardinals couldn't, couldn't develop. Well, they, I mean, he was, he was their closer, right?
29:08
That was the thing, and the Giants, uh, decided that this is going to be his permanent thing, being a starter. Would you make a Cy Young bet on him? You know, funny story. Right before the season I had two bets.
29:20
I sent Tommy, my friend Tommy who works at Unabated, um, "Go make for me," I wanted to bet Sya Suzuki to win the MVP and Jordan Hicks at 300 to 1 for Cy Young.
29:32
And I told him to go bet Sya Suzuki at, uh, Westgate or somewhere. And then Circa had the, the number on Jordan Hicks, and he was like, "Hold on, I gotta deposit some money or whatever." And I was like, "You know what?
29:44
I don't, I don't really want to. Probably throwing money away anyway."
29:47
So I didn't bet Jordan Hicks, but I did go through the whole process and identify him, and then I just said, "No, it's a waste of money," so I'm an idiot. Yeah. Well, we've all been there.
29:57
Um, Giants have- [laughs] Giants have a couple guys who, who you've, you've, you know, one might feel are Cy Young candidates. Of course, team's gotta do better. But plus 140 on the Giants today against the Phillies.
30:06
That's the only baseball play? Only baseball play today. I'm on, I'm on wedding duty this week and I gotta go to a wedding tomorrow. Okay. Who's getting married? Anybody we should know about?
30:16
No, one of my, uh, my, one of my girlfriend's good friends, but, uh- Okay... I'm just, I'm, I'm busy sadly. Yeah. Will, will you have action on- Yes...
30:25
the line during the wedding, and if so, how will you track your bets? Oh, I'll just, I'll look at my phone, yeah.
30:31
Fortunately, like, the, the China Open this weekend is an evening thing, so it won't, won't, you know, totally conflict with betting.
30:41
But yeah, I won't, I won't be, like, looking at my phone during the ceremony or anything like that. I could, I could take a break for an hour or two.
30:49
Give us, give us your, your latest baseball thought that you ha- let, let's put it this way, that you have not had recently or had, or did not have pre-flop.
30:59
Like, what has surprised you and what has caused you to perhaps change your thinking, maybe trigger a bet even? Uh, the, the A's have been slightly better than expected.
31:10
Maybe the rest of their teams in their division really haven't taken advantage of anything. The Astros haven't looked good.
31:17
Kind of wondering if the Astros are just having a bad month or if there's, you know, structural problems there. I got, got my eye on that.
31:24
Um, I mean, the main thing in baseball it remains is that the really good teams, the Dodgers, the Braves, you know, you can even throw the Yankees up there, like teams that just have more assets than the other teams are clearly better positioned.
31:38
Um, the bad teams are really bad this year, the, the Marlins, the White Sox, you know?
31:43
It's just, like, you could already basically, like, I don't wanna watch team, I don't wanna watch games with those teams at this point already. It's not even fun.
31:50
Um, but I, I think it's sort of we're seeing the barbells kind of get bigger and bigger, that the good teams are on one end, the bad teams are on the other, and there's a couple teams in the middle that don't, don't really wanna commit to anything.
32:03
The, uh, the ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Been saying it for years, it just keeps getting wider in baseball. Derek, are you making a Derby bet at all? Have you made a Derby bet? No.
32:13
Who should I bet? I don't even know. I- [laughs]... was hoping to find something for the Oaks today. Who, who, who's, who's the horse? What am I betting? Uh- We, we know that one... what, Just A Touch.
32:21
[laughs] No, no, no, for Oaks we know that. Oh, for, for the Oaks. Just FYI. Just FYI for the Oaks. Just FYI for the Oaks. Which is the name of the horse. Yes, Just FYI.
32:28
And then Just A Touch is a 10 to 1, currently a 10 to 1, uh, in the Derby. But Fierceness, a justifiable favorite, I think people would say. Justifiable short shot. There's your Derby synopsis.
32:41
Yeah, I'll take, I'll take a look. You know, I've, I've, I've, I've kind of moved on from horse racing. I call, I used to call TVG the most expensive channel on TV. Um- [laughs] It really was...
32:53
so now, now I, uh, I use that money for other stuff. Okay. Uh, and no UFL for you. You're sitting that out as well. No, I can't.
33:02
I, I, you know, I've, I've, I've gone through phases of spring football, and this year I just have no interest in it. Like, I haven't watched games.
33:09
I, I can't really name any of the quarterbacks, and just another thing to, to not be invested in when you can focus, focus on one or two things. Okay. Jason's getting older. He's focusing. He's narrowing the scope.
33:22
Jason, thank you as always. Good luck with everything. Thank you. One more thing, Jackson Holiday, 50 to 1 Rookie of the Year. Vandal, that's a big number. Keep an eye on it. He mentioned that the other day.
33:32
He mentions it again. Jackson Holiday, who was sent down after a two for 34, 50 to 1 now for American League Rookie of the Year. Thank you, Jason. I like when he does that Columbo thing when he's walking out the room.
33:42
Yes. "Oh, one more thing." A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Don't miss out on any of the NBA playoff action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA.
33:58
From the play-in tournament through the finals, DraftKings Sportsbook has you covered with same-game parlays, live betting, odds boosts, and so much more. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code VSiN.
34:06
New customers bet $5, get $200 in bonus bets instantly. That's code V-S-I-N, only on DraftKings. The crowd is yours. Gil Alexander, Kelly Bittling live from Bar Canada.
34:17
There it is, Odell Beckham Jr., Dolphins agree to a one-year deal. Um, Chris Felika has texted in, "I had Kelly plus eight," and then he puts about a million zeros- [laughs]... to get Alie Aseem correct. He's right.
34:29
You were so good at that I was almost suspicious. Hey, man, we were talk- we were talking off air. I, uh, Alie Aseem's been around long enough that- He's been around...
34:37
not only have I spent, what, six years here now, seven years here typing up, uh, you know, tennis bets from people like you and typing up tennis odds every day, but he goes back even to my days of writing up highlight scripts.
34:50
So- Yeah... that's why I was confident I could write their names. Good for you. I don't think I could do it again. We get tweets, MickC237, "Is there a Beating the Book podcast this weekend on the Derby?"
34:59
No, we did not do a Derby Beating the Book podcast. We kind of stopped doing Derby podcasts, um, just because we have so many guests on a numbers game. Yeah. So it seems kind of redundant.
35:08
Kentucky Derby primer up, uh, VSiN.com. You can get that. Yes, Mike Samich. Uh, Arel, "Started from the bottom, now we here. Preston." [laughs] It's, that's the Preston, uh, theme song there.
35:19
Uh, JasonH11, "You guys need to come to Saratoga for the Belmont. Live Sigma Derby for Kelly." Funny you mention the Sigma Derby.
35:27
We actually have a, uh, we wanna show you something, and this is happening right now during the show, and this is worth... We always said if it happens during the show, we have to show this. Yeah.
35:35
So one time Kelly, uh, texted me. We have Sigma Derby here at the D. This is an original Sigma Derby, correct? Yes. The, the last, w- what is it? The last original that can be accessed by the public. Correct. Okay.
35:47
So these, you may see these two folks over here. They are cleaning and caring for this Sigma Derby machine as if it is a Rembrandt. Yes.
35:58
And you, you told me a story where you came up to them and you wanted to talk to them about this.
36:02
We're, by the way, we're not zooming in on it because when you tried to take a picture, they were like, "No, you cannot take a picture of us doing this." [laughs] Yeah, I didn't really push it much further. Yeah.
36:11
But it was, it was, I think it was a Friday when I was walking out of here and they were, they were working on it, and I was just, just beyond fascinating because if you have seen the Sigma Derby I mean, it's a, it's a machine [laughs] that goes back some years, right?
36:24
So they are... I, I mean, it, it's cleaning and, and, and repairing and, and checking all the parts and pieces and everything. I thought it was beyond fascinating. I mean, it's way...
36:33
one of the oldest casino games you're gonna find in town. And are these D employees that have other tasks or tasks or is this their expertise? Yo, I got no idea, but one...
36:42
Uh, there, there's one guy over there who looks like the Sigma Derby expert. Yeah. That's all, that's all I'll say. He looks like the great keeper of the Sigma Derby.
36:49
Colin Murphy, great segment with the sports cheetah and the sports cobra, Kelly Bidlin. Let's go crawling. [laughs] Mike Stacks, "Is there any chance, Gil, that you can bring back Primetime Action for the NFL season?
37:01
That show helped me in Circa Millions. All of your fans need you to do two shows a day again." [laughs] Oh. No, they don't. No, they don't. But thank you for the sentiment. Yeah.
37:11
Uh, man, what are you trying to kill me, man? No, I appreciate that. You're a great guy. That's very nice of you. It was, it was the b- it's the greatest show that's ever been canceled. Yeah. As we like to call it.
37:21
Matt Brown, shout out, of course. All right, NBA tonight again, two Game 6s. We start... Or excuse me, we conclude where we started, uh, in the NBA tonight. Um,
37:30
first of all, we have Game 6 between the Magic and the Cavaliers. Magic trying to force a Game 7 back in Cleveland. Magic favored by four, total is an even 200.
37:43
And I asked you earlier, would you consider, if you have some conviction on the Magic here, would you consider an adjusted series price on the Magic as well? By the way, that adjusted series price is plus 330. Man.
38:01
Conceivably, then if the Magic win this- Yeah... you've got the plus 330. I mean, I don't know. You might be able to take the money line on the Cavs in Game 7 and lock in.
38:09
I mean, look, if I'm saying I lean the Magic way tonight, then yes, I think I have to say, I have to say that would be... I wouldn't hate that bet if someone made it. I'm staying far away from this, but [laughs] Yeah.
38:19
Okay. I don't, I don't think that'd be a terrible bet. I do think I lean Magic way a little bit tonight. They've looked... Paolo Banchero has been amazing. I, I mean, that's the...
38:28
I mean, nobody care- no- nobody seems to care about this series. [laughs] I understand why nationally.
38:33
Um, but that is w- maybe one, one of the storylines of the first round that has g- gone completely unspoken, basically, is how big a game Paolo Banchero's put up, uh, at least the past couple games.
38:45
A- against the Cavs defense that, you know, at times during the year was a top five defense i- in the NBA.
38:52
Uh, again, injury reports on that one, Jarrett Allen was at shoot around this morning, did miss it the other day when he ended up missing the game. Uh, Gary Harris, quest- listed as questionable.
39:02
I doubt he's gonna go, um, from some of the things that I heard. That's ma- that makes things a little interesting. Cleveland was interesting to watch too, only playing, you know...
39:12
Part of the problem, so many teams run into this. We always, we ask this question about Minnesota so often, how are you gonna play the two bigs, right?
39:18
And, and I think Kat's game stretching out wide helped make that okay in Minnesota. Cleveland's gotta figure that out, I think, this off-season. I don't know that...
39:29
It's nothing against Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley, right? But when you have both of them, it, it, what, what you could get for one of them filling out the rest of your team is gonna make your whole roster better.
39:39
Mavs are seven and a half point favorites in the nightcap tonight. Game 6 back in Dallas, though, with the Mavs leading that series three to two.
39:45
They're trying to close out the Clippers, who will be without Kawhi Leonard. Yeah. Um, total's 208 here. We're showing eight on the Mavericks.
39:53
Say, I could ask you the same question about the Clippers, although I know where you stand on the Mavericks. Mm-hmm. If somebody had conviction on the Clippers, would you advocate a five to one series price on them?
40:03
I don't, I, no. No. You just can't get there mentally. I just, I just can't, I just can't get there. No. I can't get there.
40:07
I, I, I'm not, I'm also not advocating running out and laying eight points tonight with the Mavericks either.
40:12
Like, this has gotten, you know, basically as high as we've seen in the series, eight, eight and a half points for the Mavericks to be laying tonight. It's a lot. I think they're gonna win tonight.
40:20
Uh, like the- Are there, let me ask it this way. Are there two players in the league,
40:25
worse, I don't think worse is the right word, but two players in the league that are as unpredictable from game to game as Harden and Paul George are? Yeah. I'm so g- I thought that's where you were going. Yeah.
40:34
I'm so glad you are. A- and, like, right now, I don't, I don't know that there are. You have no idea what you're getting.
40:39
With, with, with this team without Kawhi Leonard and how much more important then they become, it's, it, it's, I have no idea. If they went crazy and won, you would not be shocked. Would not be shocked.
40:50
I mean, like, I would say, I said before the series- And if they put out a dud, you would not be shocked. Wouldn't be shocked. Yeah.
40:54
I, I said this before, before the series, James Harden had, has to play an unbelievable series for the Clippers to have a chance.
40:59
[laughs] I said that thinking there's no way James Harden can do that game in and game out, and he really has for the most part. So I tip of the cap to him already, I guess.
41:09
Remind everybody, Nuggets four and a half point favorites in game one. Um- Yeah, this is- Where you stand on that? Yeah, th- this is interesting, the movement on, uh, on this game.
41:17
Kind of keeps, uh, you know, opened at five, quickly got bet down to about four. Now we're seeing Nuggets money come back in. And their series price is south of $2 now. I, yeah, I know. I know. I can't. Like, like, I...
41:30
This is what was one of those tricky betting things, right? Where you like, you, you like the dog, but you thought the price was gonna be better [laughs] on what you were gonna get, right?
41:39
So I didn't do anything with that. I, I think I'll be in on the Timberwolves after game one if they lose. I ha- and I'm leaning. Uh, that, that, that would tell you, I'm leaning the Nuggets way game one.
41:51
I'm watching, I will be watching injury information closely on this game. Uh, and I'll pro- if this is still below five Gil, I'll probably fire on the Nuggets before game one. Okay, let me ask you this.
42:02
I think it's a lot. I also like first half unders. I think a lot of people have been talking about that pace being different.
42:08
There's gonna be a lot of feeling out early between these two teams on what they can each do offensively.
42:12
The team remaining in the playoffs, either Eastern Conference or Western Conference, that is most, that has the best chance of beating the defending champion Nuggets is? The Boston Celtics.
42:24
You still think it's the Celtics? Yeah, it's still the Celtics. Not the T-Wolves? Not the T-Wolves, but they are, they would be second. They'd probably be second. I just don't buy into the Celtics beating them.
42:33
I really don't. I, I mean, look, I'm always that guy that I can speak to you about the talent on the roster. Yeah. Do I trust Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum? Nope.
42:44
I, um, y- you know, a- and, and the coaching and everything is in Missoula that's gonna go into a late end game situation if they're at a tie ball game with the Nuggets? No. Like, there is...
42:55
If you're, you're talking a tie ball game in game seven with four minutes left, there is, like, the, the amount of trust difference I have [laughs] between the Denver Nuggets and the Boston Celtics there- 100%...
43:06
is a huge disparity.
43:07
That's why someone was, a buddy of mine was, like, changing of the guard in the NBA because he's talking all the injuries, and I'm like, "Dude, Jokic isn't let- Jokic isn't letting anybody change a guard."
43:15
So I will say, I, I am... I mean, Jamal Murray obviously was very questionable going into that last ga- la- the last Denver game. He looked, he looked pretty good.
43:23
I mean, highlight-wise, he looked amazing, but looked pretty good the way he was moving.
43:28
Those, when I say I'm monitoring injuries, I'm just making sure nothing else flares up with him, and then K- uh, Kentavious Caldwell-Po- Pope also got injured in that last game. Looks like he's gonna go.
43:38
He's listed as probable, um, right now, so I think he's gonna be okay. The only thing that's tricky with the Nuggets, though, Gil, is this is,
43:46
I, I believe in that core kind of four or five guys, but they're not as deep as they were a year ago. Not as deep. That's true. And that's a little sketchy. Nuggets-T Wolves is tomorrow, game one. Yeah.
43:56
Knicks-Pacers game one isn't till Monday, people should know. Knicks are favored by six. Um, lastly, that game again, or the series price. Yeah, I bet the series price, uh, early when it got released last night, 215.
44:09
I like that. I think if you can find 220s, it's still good. Otherwi- I'm not gonna touch game one. That spread a little off to me.
44:15
If they happen to get caught game one, I think they could all be back in on the Knicks series price. All right. We've done all we could do. If you're on the radio side, Joe and Golick are next.
44:22
If you're watching the pretty pictures, Best Bets is next. I'm off next week. Yeah, you are. Kelly will be here, though. Enjoy from VSAN, the sports betting network. [upbeat music]
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