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Jul 30, 2025
Best of A Numbers Game | July 30, 2025
Best of A Numbers Game | July 30, 2025
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35:48
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Transcript
0:01
The numbers told the story. They always do. You one of those idiots who believe in analytics? This is a Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Good Wednesday morning to you.
0:10
It is a Numbers Game at VSiN, the e-sports betting network, vsin.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course, Sirius XM channel 158. Did I miss any? Did I say iHeartRadio? I'm not sure.
0:23
Uh- I just sit here and look pretty when you start the show. What's that? I just sit here and look pretty while you start the show. Uh, you, you do bring the pretty. But my, my smile takes a lot of practice.
0:31
That's what I have to do. I gotta- [laughs] Say it again. I think people are like, "Thank God Kelly brings the pretty every morning to this show." Um, it's Gil Alexander, by the way. That is Kelly Bidlin, everybody. Hey.
0:40
Producer number nine. So much more than a producer, as you witnessed the last couple weeks here on the show. Uh, on today's show, a, uh, a guest heavy one.
0:49
I don't know if it's guest heavy, but we have, uh, I guess it is kinda guest heavy. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, but we love our guests.
0:53
JVT, co-host of Money Moves, gonna talk, uh, Major League Baseball and college football. College Football Guide on the cusp of being released. By the way, I need access, uh, to the grid. Just, I requested access.
1:05
Apparently I'm behind the deadline. Uh, for the, uh, College Football Guide. Jonathan Von Tobel will join us a little later on. Spanky as well.
1:12
Hey, Spanky appearance, the creator of BetBash, and also, uh, the, uh, creator of what was Spank Odds, now with a name change, by the way. Oh, really? Oh, yeah.
1:22
Um, we'll hear from Spanky, and we'll also talk about who during BetBash, and BetBash is in a couple weeks now here. What is this, BetBash 4, I believe this is.
1:31
Um, 'cause there was one in, on the East Coast, so I always get messed up with- Oh, yeah, that's right... with which BetBash it is. Yeah, that sounds right. I was gonna s- Yeah...
1:37
I was gonna say, you sound like you're one too many, but you're right- Yeah... if you're talking about the East Coast one. Uh, so Spanky will join us.
1:42
We'll talk about who got nominated and who's, not nominated, but who's getting inducted into his Sports Gambling Hall of Fame, um, which is a thing. Now, not to be confused with the Sports Betting Hall of Fame, Kelly.
1:54
There are two halls of fame. Which is the one behind us? The one behind us is the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame. That is the BetBash Spanky one. Gotcha.
2:03
So, so if you're ever been at Circa, this beautiful, beautiful, uh, facility here behind us, this beautiful sportsbook, uh, behind my shoulder, if I moved out, could you see it? There. Yeah, there it is.
2:11
That, that corner, that little- That little gold flickering thing... that little flickering thing. There go my earbuds, by the way. Area next to the, next to the counter.
2:17
Yeah, that's the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame, and we will find out, um, not we'll find out, but we'll go through some of the, uh, the guys who are in. And by the way, not just guys in the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame.
2:28
So we'll do that. Uh, Greg Peterson, full slate Major League Baseball. Greg Peterson will join us to talk about all his plays today, and I need an update on his dating life. As we learned last time, he's back out there.
2:40
That's right. Volume shooter. Volume shooter, famously. Self-proclaimed volume shooter. I'd like to know what, I'm really gonna dive deep on this. I wanna know what his sales pitch is on these dating sites.
2:51
I wanna know how he lures them in, if that's the proper terminology. [laughs] Lures them in. Um- Probably not, no. No, probably not. Will Hill also here with all his bets, baseball and beyond. We'll talk to Will.
3:03
Uh, let's do, we're also gonna do, which it's Win Total Wednesday here on the show. It's back. Yes. So, uh, NFL win totals, our favorite NFL season win totals.
3:12
We did this a long time ago, like, like right after the season. When they first came out I think we did this. Well, you and I made our, a, a bet right away as soon as win totals- We did... were posted. Yeah.
3:23
Do you feel as good about that bet, by the way? That was gonna be one of my questions for that segment. Oh, we're talking about the Giants under five and a half? Yeah. Uh, yes. Okay.
3:32
Because every time, first of all, Drew's explanation, 'cause yesterday I brought up, I was like, "What about this defense?" I mean, Burks and, and, uh, Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence, and now, uh, Abdul Carter.
3:43
I mean, they are loaded on D. Yeah. But what he said was the secondary just completely, completely torpedoes that. Yeah.
3:51
And then you look at their schedule, and once you look at their schedule, you are once again comforted with the under. So I, yes, I am as confident. I don't, I don't hate it. I'm not, I'm not buying off it.
4:00
I, I, I will admit I'm not as confident in it as when I first read it. I mean, I'm not adding to it, if that's what you're looking for. [laughs] Yeah. Um, so we'll get into that, our favorite NFL season win totals.
4:10
And we'll also take a look at, uh, our favorite World Series match-ups as well. Mm-hmm.
4:14
Which, uh, the, the beauty of that exercise, which always amuses me, is, you know, normally betting markets, they're all done in a, you know, shortest odds to longest odds kind of fashion.
4:23
Not World Series match-ups, because otherwise you wouldn't be able to find the one that you want that easily. So they do it by team.
4:30
And so you had to put together a graphic where you did it shortest odds to longest odds, and that took you, what, two and a half hours or so? Yeah, it'd be a- You know?
4:36
You should catch some of the thrilling text message conversations that happened between me and Gil, uh, where I'm losing my mind because I can't find, or DraftK- every, every time we go to talk about this, DraftKings pulls it.
4:48
They pull the market and they just have exactas, 'cause they're the ones who will always list it by odds order. Mm-hmm. And then it's every, well, every shop that has them up, it's just by alphabetical.
4:58
And I'm like, "Okay, if I gotta put together a graphic, I gotta find the 10 shortest odds." Yes, you do. And of course, what do you do, what do you do?
5:04
You start where like, I'm like, "40 to 1, all right, I'll start here and I'm gonna write down everything shorter than that." So of course that gets to a list of about 37, uh, match-ups.
5:13
Yeah, you went too, you went too high. Went way too high. Yeah.
5:15
And then I gotta whittle it down, and yes, 20 minutes later I finally have a graphic completed where I, like I texted you, I can almost guarantee you I missed one somewhere. Struggles.
5:24
Like, you're gonna be like, "Where's Dodgers Yankees?" And I'll be like, "Oh yeah, I guess I missed that." Struggle is real. Yeah, it is. Kelly Bidlin, daily basis. Both.
5:31
Uh, yesterday in tennis, coming off the heels of a, uh, two and oh clean sheet two days ago, a two and one yesterday. Well, it was one cancellation.
5:39
Uh, Hugo Humbert, your boy, decided he didn't wanna play in this tournament anymore. [laughs] Cancellation? I think he had an injury. So that, so we ended up with three picks. We went two and one.
5:47
Uh, hit the big, the big dog was Maya joint. Maya joint is a plus 160 plus dog, one, plus 162 I believe it was. That was yesterday? Yesterday against, uh- So she's right back at it again today?... Leila Fernandes. Yes.
5:58
Oh. Yeah, very strange little format in Canada. Yeah. Uh, but this is the round of 64 happening still. So is, uh, has Leila gone on a date yet, and now does she have more time to go on a date?
6:09
She certainly has more time, even though she said she wants, again, for those who missed it, Leila Fernandez, who won the DC tournament, but as, uh, we predicted yesterday, crapped out of her home country's tournament yesterday.
6:21
She has openly said, "I'd like to go on a date." I think she's 24 years old. "I'd like to go on a date. Please, everybody slide into my DMs, and I'll pick somebody to, you know, have one hour of coffee with."
6:32
It's a bold move, Leila. Well, well, she's got time now. Bold move. Uh, today, uh, so that's a winning day yesterday. Today, three more plays, and Maya Joint is one of them. Yeah.
6:41
That's, sometimes not all picks are gonna be sexy. I know we're- Smoke another joint... I play, uh, all these dogs, but Maya Joint -145, again, visa.com/picks for all subscribers.
6:51
I don't wanna know where that number is now. Let me see, 'cause this is the thing about being a subscriber. You get the plays overnight, and then by morning time, um, oh, forgot the internet doesn't work here anymore.
7:00
Oh, would you like, uh, while you're looking that up, I will, uh, would like to pronounce the next matchup because it's my favorite name in tennis. Okay. Naomi Osaka. Yeah. Not that one. All right.
7:10
Uh, money line -117, that's what Gil's got, going up against Ludmilla Samsonova. Yeah, there's some, I don't know if it's pronounced Samsonova, which is how I used to do it, but some people pronounce it Samsonova.
7:21
I do hear that more often. Yeah. But it's more fun to say the other way. Samsonova. Samsonova. So Maya Joint in the first match, uh, versus McCartney Kessler.
7:29
Maya Joint -145 is where we got it at visa.com/picks yesterday. Um, and then as Kelly just mentioned, Naomi Osaka, -117 versus Ludmilla Samsonova or Samsonova.
7:43
Right now the numbers on those, I will give you the updated numbers. Maya Joint is -157. Hmm. Oh, wow. Don't let it get higher. Again, 12 cents of CLV currently. Don't let it get higher.
7:56
Um, Naomi Osaka, hope she's right around the same price. I almost- Yeah, she's right around the same thing. Yeah, she's right. I saw -115 at DraftKings. Right around, you might even get two cents better.
8:03
And then the one dog we do have is on the men's side. Whoa. You wanted to do that one? That's easy. Yosuke Watanuki. Yosuke Watanuki, +248 against big foe, Frances Tiafoe. Uh, Watanuki is- Oh, against Tiafoe, man?
8:19
Watanuki +248. Watanuki beat Tiafoe at Indian Wells, and he gave him all kinds of trouble there. Hmm. Um, so listen, Tiafoe's got that in mind.
8:31
He wants a little revenge here, but, uh, +248, this didn't make any sense to me. So those are the three plays, two on the ladies' side, Joint and Osaka, and then Watanuki on the men's side.
8:41
Tiafoe get bounced a little early at, uh, in DC? Say what now? Did, did Tiafoe get bounced early in DC? Uh, early-ish for him. Thought he did early-ish, yeah, okay. Yeah, early-ish for him. I'm a big Tiafoe fan, man.
8:53
And- I, I'm US Open, I wanted to bet him. You wanted to bet him for the US Open? But like he's not, he's, like he's not in great form right now, right? This is not the best we've seen from Frances. Yeah.
9:01
No, it's not, but you're right. Uh, DC wa- i- is the home tournament for him, and, uh, yeah, it did not go particularly well in DC. He lost to Ben Shelton, but got to the quarterfinals. Oh, okay.
9:11
But he always had that in the draw that he knew he'd have to face Shelton. Yeah. So no, no, uh, no shame there. July most wins.
9:18
We always joke about this, that the, the quirky thing about these bets, the monthly bets, is the players on the field have no idea that this is a thing.
9:25
And so they have no idea that we're about to see an epic collapse occur here at the end of the month of July.
9:33
The Toronto Blue Jays, and I really, to, to those of our listeners who have the Blue Jays, Rich PSM, you're out there, uh, Xavier, I think you have them out there, a bunch of folks out there who have the Blue Jays.
9:42
Oh boy.
9:43
They, uh, they have run into the monster that is the Baltimore Orioles, and all of a sudden the Blue Jays are sort of coming back down to earth, and they have get, right now, with one game, they got swept in a doubleheader yesterday.
9:57
Um, two of these three games they played against the Orioles, they've just gotten murdered in. And the Blue Jays now have been caught by the Brewers.
10:05
The Brewers with a win yesterday, big win over the Cubs in a big NL Central tilt. The Brewers are 17 and 6 now. The Blue Jays are 17 and 8.
10:14
The only other two teams that are in this mathematically, the Red Sox at 16 and 7, the Rangers at 15 and 8. That's it. Those are the only four that can be involved.
10:23
And remember, this will come down to where you have your ticket, because if you have it at Circa, there are tiebreakers involved, fewest losses, followed by run differential.
10:32
If you have it at William Hill, Caesars, or DraftKings, dead heat in full effect. So Jays fans right now, I'm, if I gave the Jays ticket holders truth serum right now, would they take a dead heat? They probably would.
10:44
Yeah. The way the Jays are playing. But the Brewers, man, my goodness, 17 and 6. Uh, only the Rangers have a better run differential, but the Rangers are the only one of those four teams that has two games left.
10:55
That's why they're mathematically alive. Remember, the Rangers are my play for the month of August at 30 to 1.
11:02
The longest shot on there, by the way, again, we put, posting the odds for those who are not watching this, is the Red Sox, who are at 16 and 7, one win behind the Brewers and the Blue Jays, as long as 90 to 1 at Circa.
11:14
Whew. We're the Boston Red Sox. All right. Pre- pre-flop on this. I don't, I haven't heard one person, I'm sure they're, I'm sure we know them.
11:21
I, I did have, we do have a gentleman on, uh, which we'll, uh, read when we do tweets, who does have a Brewers ticket, but I don't have, I don't know anyone. I haven't seen anyone with a Red Sox ticket. Yeah, me either.
11:30
Yeah. So we'll see. One game or two games.
11:33
By the way, this basically comes to an end today, because there's only three games of Major League Baseball tomorrow with the trade deadline, uh, trade deadline day in Major League Baseball, and a Hall of Fame game in the NFL.
11:44
That's right. They're not standing aside for that. They're standing aside for the trade deadline. Will Hill, all his bets next. It's a numbers game at Visa, the sports betting network.
11:57
The numbers told the story, they always do So I'm one of those idiots who believe in analytics This is the Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN.
12:05
Hour number two of the Numbers Game at VSiN, eSports betting network, vsin.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course SiriusXM channel 150. Hey, it's Gil Alexander. Kelly Billwin, everybody, is here as well.
12:18
Uh, you may know him from, uh, from weight loss commercials all around the country. I wish, man. You kidding me? What are you d- what are you down, what are you down to now? I wish I was on those commercials.
12:26
You are catching me quick. What are you at? Uh, 234. All right, you still got a little ways. 234. Good for you, man. Yeah, but you're out there now with a personal trainer and- No, I'm not-... playing tennis...
12:36
uh, well, playing tennis, yes, but I'm not, there's no personal trainer. Gil, Gil might have canceled on his personal trainer yesterday. I'm not how that [laughs] - No, no, I went... how that played out.
12:42
I went, but it's, that's ending. Uh, by the way, still to come this hour, uh, country clubbing. Yeah. Kelly, Kelly's got some stuff to talk about. Some golf. Golf bets, yeah.
12:49
Got some golf to talk about, and then, uh, JVT on both Major League Baseball and college football. Uh, Spanky standing by here to talk Bet Bash with us and the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame.
12:58
Uh, don't forget, uh, you can take your betting to the next level with First Bet. Sign up now at firstbet.com. That's the number one S-T bet.com.
13:08
And, uh, use promo code VSiN200 to score a 20% rebate on all your wagers for the first 60 days, up to $200. Don't miss out. Bet smarter today at firstbet.com. We get tweets at Beating The Book. Jack Olacuir.
13:21
Hey, that's our buddy, Jack Olacuir, says, "Gil, the Walgreens Open of the PPA Tour," that's the professional tour of pickleball, "is playing in Vegas starting August 27th.
13:30
Lori and I did so well with your tennis plays, we're wondering if you'll be handicapping this event, or better yet, playing in it." No, and no, Jack.
13:38
This is the conversation that, uh, we were having with Jack the other day whereby the, the racquetball story came up. I was telling why. Yeah. Yeah. Oh. Pickle, pickleball is, I have opinions.
13:48
John Massey, uh, you were not living if you didn't have a scar from the alpine slide at Class Action Park. Chris Massaro is the answer to the question who has the Red Sox for most wins month of July. Bam.
13:59
He's got 'em at 89 to one. There you go, Chris. Go Chris. Let's get home here.
14:05
Uh, this is from Roger Jones, "Hi Gil, another similar documentary to Action Park available on your, on your, uh, ra- on your TV is," I better say this, uh, carefully. Uh-oh. Uh,
14:15
Schlitterbahn Water Park and the tallest water slide. Yikes, no controls, only about 10 minutes by the Atlantic. And then Jim @JamesSott, "Money trumps fandom.
14:25
No truer words have ever been spoken, Gil, unless you bet against Eagles, but that would never happen." He says, "Oh my God, more great advice from Greg Peterson. Be Carmelo Anthony on dating apps, just keep shooting."
14:34
And Todd Bubba Horowitz, our buddy, says, "We should send a, up a GoFundMe page for Hoops and send him to Canada for a date with Leila Fernandez. Welcome back." Yeah, he should d- he should do the Leila thing.
14:43
Just open up his DMs, let people slide on in there. Yeah, man. He should. I like, I li- I like Todd's idea. [laughs] Oh, just like GoFundMe? Yeah. [laughs] That wouldn't be that expensive. We'd get those funds raised.
14:55
Uh, ladies and gentlemen, he is the founder of the Bet Bash Sports Betting Conference, the greatest sports betting conference there is. Uh, great networking event, great panels.
15:05
He also was the founder of Spank Odds, which has a name change, which we'll find out here about momentarily, and he's got his own podcast, uh, Be Better Bettors. Is that the name of the podcast? Yeah. I believe it is.
15:16
It's Spanky, everybody, courtesy of Progressive Gas Line. You can follow him on Twitter at Spanky. How you doing, man? Gil, thanks so much for having me on, brother.
15:24
I always, I love coming on when you got you and Kelly, so thank you so much, brother. I appreciate, could you, uh, put you on the spot here, could you tell the story about how you got the Twitter handle Spanky?
15:32
Could we do that again? Could you tell everybody about that? Yeah.
15:34
So I was used to be Spanky Sports, and then some, some kid, I don't know where he was from, um, messaged me and says, "Listen, I have Spanky available @Spanky." I'm like, "What?"
15:43
And then, and then he goes, "Yeah, you know, um, I, I, I can, you know, how much you wanna pay for it?" And obviously the person who mentions the, you know, the first price is the loser.
15:52
So I would've paid a few thousand for it obviously back then. And, um, and then I go, "Uh, what do, what do you think is fair?" And he said, "How about $50?" [laughs] And, um [laughs] and, uh- Love that...
16:05
yeah, no, and I, I, I, I, I told, you know, I didn't res- I didn't respond right away because obviously if I say, "Yeah, sure, let's, let's, let's do it" - He low-balled him... "Yay, please tell me it went down to 40"...
16:14
I had the same thing, whole thing. [laughs] Yeah, and I, that's exactly what I did. I go, "Can you do 40?" [laughs] And, um- God, love it... and then he said, uh, and then I think he told me, he goes, "How about 45?
16:22
But you gotta send it to me in PlayStation money." Um, and that's what he wanted.
16:28
[laughs] So I had to go to Target or wherever I went, and I had to buy a PlayStation card, um, for four, I think, I don't, I don't think, I only think they came in $25 denominations.
16:37
[laughs] So I think I wind up giving him the 50 anyway. And, um, and I think I even had the balls to ask for the $5 back, but I didn't, [laughs] but I, but I wind up sending it to him.
16:46
I said, "Listen, I might get jerked here," whatever. I sent him the money. He goes, "Okay." And he didn't reply to me for about five minutes after I sent him the, the PlayStation.
16:55
And then I'm like, "Hey, dude, if you're gonna rip me off, just let me know." You know what I mean? [laughs] And then he goes, "Sorry man, I was playing a game with that [laughs] PlayStation money you gave me.
17:02
I was in the middle of a game." Um, and then he wind up releasing the handle, and that's how I got it. Wow. Wow. There it is. 45 United States dollars, got himself Spanky.
17:10
Ba- back in the day, man, when people were buying and selling Twitter handles like that, that was a, that was a thing. That was a thing. That was for $50. Sound fair to you? [laughs] Uh, all right. Yeah.
17:19
Spanky, before we get to Bet Bash, Spank Odds is now gonna be called what? Spank Odds is now Spot Odds. Um, we had a name change.
17:27
You know, Spanky, you know, our logo was a little bit risque, um, with the girls and, and her butt, and minus 110 on her butt.
17:33
It was a little bit too much, and we're trying to build, uh, some corporate, uh, partnerships here, and I think, um, we kind of wanted to tone it down a little bit.
17:41
So we, you know, um, I had this idea 'cause of the word Spanky and Spank Odds, but then we said, "Let's just change it to, you know, make sh- Spot Odds," so there's still that SP involved.
17:50
And now our logo is just a magnifying glass with a minus 110 in it. Not as, uh, controversial. Yeah.
17:56
Every time I, uh, turned on Spank Odds to put in my baseball plays, Kelly, this, this graphic would come up, and then this big psh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the, the sound effect- [laughs]... yeah, the sound effect, yeah.
18:04
That- That was the one that really put it over the top, I think, Spanky. I like that... looking around to see where the girls are. Yeah. I'm like, "Oh, God." [laughs] Uh, all right, Bet Bash, what number is this?
18:12
'Cause I know you had an East Coast one, so it always jacks me up with the number. This is four? No, this is five actually Five We're coming in on five.
18:19
Yeah, one- the first one was in the East Coast, and this is our fourth in Vegas. Oh, wow, this is the fourth in Vegas.
18:25
Man, 'cause I was going through the panels that I've done, I was like, "You're right, this is the fourth." So this is BetBash five. Uh, this is, by the way, you can, uh, access it at betbash.co. That's betbash.co.
18:35
It is August 12th through the 15th. Has this been everything you'd imagined it to be when you first conceived of this? Honestly, it's, it's, it's, it's unbelievable how, how big it's grown.
18:46
I never thought it was gonna grow this big, Gil, and, um, you know, just, uh... And, and I do little to no-- The only marketing, Gil, I, I go on a few podcasts, I go on your show, and, and that's it.
18:56
I don't do any [laughs] really marketing for it because I guess the word of mouth has kinda gotten around now. It pretty much sells itself. Um, you know, I, I, I, we, we...
19:06
we're so grateful for the support of, of the sports betting community because, as you said, Gil, it, it's not just the best sports gam- betting conference out there, it's the only sports betting conference that's for the bettor, for the player.
19:18
So I think that, um... so that's easily, that, that's what easily makes us the best.
19:22
Um, but, you know, uh, uh, this was a void that was missing in the industry and, and I, and I'm so happy that we were able to fill it and, and give p- uh, people a chance to learn more about sports betting, meet the legends of the business, and learn how to become better bettors.
19:37
And give us the, give us the elevator pitch here on what is it that, uh, attendees... And by the way, tickets are still available here, general admission tickets, not the VIP. The VIP long sold out.
19:47
General admission tickets still available, betbash.co. But give us the pitch as to what it is that, uh, attendees can expect. So the attendees can expect, well, we have 24 seminars, six live podcasts and panels.
19:59
We have a speed networking event. We have four open bars. There are stadium swim watch parties, uh, sportsbook watch parties. Um, it's just a great time. We have a puzzle hunt where we're giving away cash prizes.
20:11
It, it's a whole slew, slew of networking. Uh, you know, as you know, Gil and Kelly, in order to be successful in sports betting, y- it's very hard to do it solo, to do it alone.
20:21
You have to be able to network, make connections with others. You can't be, you know, n- do it all by yourself. And BetBash offers that opportunity to meet other people, learn from other people.
20:31
And we're talking, you know, some of the best sports bettors out there, you know? Billy Walters will be at BetBash. Um, you, you have, uh, you know, other people.
20:39
Rufus Peabody is gonna be there, and, um, and he'll be, uh, doing his podcast live at BetBash. Crackman, who's I know always comes on your show, Gil, he'll be there doing his podcast.
20:50
And the list goes on and on and on of some of the, you know, the people that live, breathe, and eat sports betting.
20:56
And to be able to have that ability, that opportunity to interact with some of the world's best and learn from them is, um, is a testament to, you know, how much they care about BetBash, 'cause they don't have to come, but they also too learn from BetBash and learn from others.
21:12
Um, there's always gonna be somebody that's gonna know more about sports betting at BetBash than you, and there's always gonna be somebody that knows less.
21:18
So there's opportunity to both teach and learn, and, and, and grow as a community. It, th- you- That's an awesome way to say it.
21:26
Yeah You s- you said it, you said it so well, and I, we mentioned off air, it's also the tentacles of it, right? Like, and, and again, I'm not just saying this, it's y- I have a dinner set up Tuesday.
21:35
I have one that I'm going to on Thursday. Unabated has an event on Wednesday. So it's beyond the actual conference itself, and you just, it spills out and it's just...
21:44
I like to say it's what, uh, what our little gambling corner of the university, it's, uh, universe at Sloan Sports Conference at MIT, the, the evolution of that has become this great event.
21:54
Um, and then of course you have the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame. Uh, give us a hint of a couple names that have been inducted this year or are about to be inducted.
22:01
Yeah, this year our, there are six inductees, three living and three posthumously. We have Paris Smith, the former CEO of Pinnacle Sports;
22:10
Jeff Whitelaw, who's revolutiony- revolutionized the prop betting landscape, and, and a very successful bettor in his own right; and Spiros "The Greek" Athinas, who ran, um, Olympic Sports, um, through the late '90s and, and i- into the 2000s.
22:25
Um, posthumously we have Skip, um, from BetGrande, who was a, a prominent offshore bookmaker. Um, we have Eugene Nolan, who was, uh, known as The Swamper.
22:35
Eugene "The Swamper" Lo- Nolan, who was one of the best bookmakers/bettors out of Louisiana, um, for decades. I think his career la- spanned 50 years.
22:45
Um, Billy Walters, uh, and, and Eugene, Eugene used to help Billy Walters get his games down, and Billy says that Eugene was one of the best of the best.
22:54
And, and, and Leo Hirschfield, who was essentially the Roxy Roxborough of the '40s and '50s.
22:59
Back in the '40s and '50s, you know, people, in order to get a line, um, uh, throughout the United States, you'd call up the Minneapolis line, and Leo Hirschfield was the one who developed that out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
23:12
And, um, you know, Roxy then, you know, in the '80s had Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which a lot of the Vegas sportsbooks used, but before Roxy Roxborough, this was the guy in the '40s and '50s, in Leo Hirschfield.
23:23
So it's a stacked, stacked Hall of Fame class. We're so excited about it. Spanky, appreciate it. Look forward to having you here in studio during BetBash week. Again, it's August 12th through the 15th. Betbash.co, right?
23:34
Betbash.co, that's where people get their tickets? That's it, brother. Spanky, everybody. Thank you, Spanky, appreciate it. See you guys. Take care. Coming back with some World Series matchups next.
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24:50
[upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. This is it. Make no mistake where you are. Tomorrow's the last day to grab VSiN's football special for just $175.
25:06
It's your all-access pass to VSiN Pro across every sport we cover from now through the Super Bowl.
25:11
NFL betting guide is already available, and the college football guide, we're gonna talk to JBT about that momentarily, hits next week. Become a VSiN Pro subscriber today.
25:19
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25:30
Tomorrow, last day to get the special price. Sign up now at vsin.com/subscribe. That's V-S-I-N.com/subscribe. Were you about to sing This Is It again? Yeah. Mm. Sorry. It's all good. My guy just pulled up lyrics too.
25:43
Is it make no mistake where you are? Did I say that correctly? Make no mistake where you are. Yeah. This is it. That's what I said, yep. You're going no further. This is it. [laughs] Until it's over and done. This is it.
25:53
[laughs] One way or another, this is it. It's poetry. [laughs] Poetry. Sounds better with the music. [laughs] It does, right? Prime time. Cowboys_Cubs1, we get tweets.
26:02
"Yo," hey man, "after running Captain America Da- uh, Dave Ross out of Nevada, one can only ask you, Gil," one- Oh, so much room for activities in here now in the morning... one, why do you hate America?"
26:12
[laughs] Two, "Does your hate for America stem from the Cowboys having won more Super Bowls than your beloved Commies? America greater than Commies," right Gil? All right, Kelly, he says.
26:21
I'm trying to figure out, this is- [laughs] I hope this is a running joke 'cause I hope- It is a running joke... I hope, I hope that everybody realizes how, how furious I'm getting over e- like,
26:30
hearing Commanders and Cowboys fans drop like lines about championships to each other is one of the saddest things I've ever witnessed with my own eyes. Like, it's, it's been 30 years. He started it.
26:41
[laughs] That's my response. He started it. Kevin, he did start it. [laughs] Kevin Ryan, "Gil, am I wrong, but wasn't Hoops Peterson just engaged a short time ago?" He was. Didn't work out.
26:51
I don't know how short a time ago that was. Hmm. Didn't work out. Brian M., "Can I, uh, make a reservation for the CLV store for, uh, September 1st?
27:01
I have Detroit 25 to one most wins in August, down to eight to one on Caesars." Yeah, mine are, mine are down too. We're all, we all have a reservation at the CLV store. Super Jerk. Oh God, I gotta read this carefully.
27:13
Ready, Ke- Kelly? Yeah, yeah. Be careful. "Best thing that happened in sports was the thing that happened in that WNBA game last night. We'll refer to it as the incident."
27:22
He says, "I don't care what anybody says, somebody paid them what they were owed." See what he did there? Yep.
27:28
Montreal Max, "Gil, what a pleasure having Spanky pop up on your show and mentioning his dear friend Skip being inducted into the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame.
27:35
Skip and I actually, uh, were part of the original Grande crew from 1994 to 2000 in the Dominican Republic, and nobody was better than Skip to work for, and his tipping was Hall of Fame too at 100%." How about that?
27:46
Nice. Banshees of Atlantic City, "Years ago, some friends of mine were organizing a group trip to Action Park.
27:50
We made up a flyer complete with a fake quote from an Action Park engineer that said, 'Gee, sorry guys, I worked with marbles.'" With the marbles. I'm not, not sure I know what that means.
28:00
[laughs] And the last one, uh, GV, New Jersey, New York, "Regarding Marcus Morris in June, I had a physical casino in New Jersey that I deposited and withdrawn money from before run full of a, uh, know your client in front of me before I withdrew $1,000.
28:13
So yeah, a casino playing fast and loose over six-figure markers boggles the mind for me." Thank you. Okay, thank you. He goes, "Also, Phils Rangers 60 to one World Series match."
28:23
[laughs] Um, I think, uh, we have a World Series thought and bet from this next gentleman.
28:29
Jonathan Von Tobel, co-host of Money Moves with Story Bodatoni here each and every weekday following our show, joins us now courtesy of the Progressive Guest Line.
28:37
You can follow him on Twitter @meJBT, proudly rocking his Clippers hat. How you doing, John? I'm good. I'm good. Very much looking forward to the Clippers season.
28:45
I assume this is what we're gonna talk about for the next- [laughs]... seven minutes and three seconds, so let's, let's get to it. Hmm, hmm. Yeah, let's go a different direction.
28:50
Um- What about, you have, you have a World Series play that I'm fascinated by. What are you betting here? So it was a little bit of a gamble.
28:57
I made it last week, uh, right around the Naylor trade for the Seattle Mariners, but I bet them to win the World Series. A- and it was, the gamble was, Gil, I don't think they're done.
29:04
At the time, Passan had reported, uh, that they were more than willing to take on some more money and some more contracts, uh, and I think they should.
29:11
You know, I've been pretty adamant, and I know you guys follow baseball at a really high level too, like, th- they have squandered this rotation. This is one of the best rotations in baseball, if not the best.
29:19
Uh, I think you are obligated at this point right now in a wide open American League to push the foot down on the gas and go and do it.
29:27
And so I think, and Only has reported as well, that a lot of league executives believe that they are the favorite to land Yuli Gurriel Suarez, so we'll see if that actually ends up happening in a reunion there.
29:35
But my gamble is that they're just not done, and that they shouldn't be done.
29:38
They have, I think, one of the most formidable rotations in baseball that should they just get it into the postseason, they're going to have a very good chance to make it through.
29:46
Also reports are indicating that they're gonna go after another bullpen arm. If they do what all the reports are saying they are, I thought it was worth the gamble at, like, about 25, 30 to one.
29:54
I think I got 25 to one for them to win the World Series.
29:57
I think this team is going to be one of the biggest threats in the American League if they actually get to the dance, and that was the gamble on my part, that they wouldn't just continue to do what they do and just go, "Oh yeah, Randy Arozarena and these guys, I'll get them at the trade deadline."
30:09
Like, no. [laughs] Go get the big guns.
30:11
Go kick the door down in the American League and use your rotation to go get it done, and I think they should, and all the reports are indicating they might here in the next, uh, what is it, 24 hours or so.
30:19
Yeah, you're, you're even more bullish on the Mariners than I am. I, I had them for most wins in July. They, they keep doing this thing- Yep...
30:25
where it's like every time you think, "Okay, here they come," they win a game, and then, then they follow it up very closely with a loss, and it's super frustrating.
30:33
I did ha- I do have them in a World Series matchup, as I mentioned, so though sadly I have them with the Giants, but I'm on your same page with the Mariners.
30:40
I think there is a world where if they get into the playoffs, that's a team you do not wanna face for sure. College Football Guide is coming out next week. John, you were prominent, uh, in putting this together.
30:51
You are prominently featured in it. Give us one, we don't give away the whole guide here, give us one of your favorite bets college football season long.
30:58
Yeah, so I've been, uh, somewhat Jehovah's Witness-esque with this one. Um, and it has a tie back to the Mountain West, but I'm a big Devin Dampier guy.
31:06
And so Utah's six to one to win the Big 12 I, I think is very much worth looking at here. Uh, the upgrade to the quarterback position, Dampier's incredible.
31:14
For those of you who didn't get to see him in New Mexico last season, a true dual threat. Ran for over 1,100 yards. He can score with the best of them, and that was with New Mexico.
31:21
Uh, this dude is going to be able to do a lot with a lot of returning production for the Utes. Look, the Big 12 looks pretty open.
31:27
There's a lot of teams where you can kind of throw them in a hat and pull one out and say, "Here, I've got a Big 12 champion."
31:31
Uh, and I don't think it would be pretty shocking if that team were to do it, but I think Utah's being a little underpriced here. I think Dampier's a massive upgrade.
31:39
Withingham's got 10 other guys coming back on offense, about six or seven depending on how you rate starters on defense, and a schedule that I think is manageable with some of the tougher spots coming at home.
31:47
I think Utah has everything to win a Big 12 championship game. Now, I wanted to specify too, Gil, I did not ma- bet them to make the playoff 'cause I think the Big 12 again is going to be a one-bid league.
31:57
So I'd rather take six to one on them- Nice...
31:59
to win the Big 12 championship than I would to make the playoff, which is about four to one, 'cause I don't think there's a path that they make it to the playoff without a Big 12 title in their pocket.
32:08
I like that thinking. Utah's six to one to win the Big 12, which interestingly has 16 teams now. Um- Yes...
32:13
maybe one of the remaining, when, when, when all is said and done, maybe one of the three mega conferences that, uh, exist in the end. We'll see, uh, as time evolves. All right, to the National Football League.
32:23
I was just sort of thinking, you know, I, I, I ask these questions of, of folks, "Oh, what's the opinion out there that you don't like the most?" Or, "What's the bet, your, your favorite bet," and all that.
32:32
I, if I, if I had to say to K- I'll ask Kelly this. Pick a, pick a team that you feel like you've heard the most differing opinions on, up and down, good and bad. Oh, man. Well, I'll help lead into this, but- Yeah...
32:44
the New England Patriots. New England Patriots. Yeah. Okay. Uh, JBT landed on one that I think I would answer, which is the Miami Dolphins. I think I've heard as much positive as I heard, ever heard negative on this.
32:54
No, I feel like I haven't heard many positives. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, okay. John, what's your stance on the Dolphins this year? Oh, it's not gonna be positive. I, like, I'm, I, I'm with you, Gil.
33:02
Like, I've heard some positives more than I've heard negatives, and I am somewhat surprised by this. There's, I think, still this thought that this is the second-best team in the AFC East. I just don't buy it.
33:11
They lost another member of their secondary yesterday. Uh, that's two defensive backs that are now down in the depth of the secondary.
33:17
Uh, the other, Artie Burns, was only a backup nickel, but you're just talking about a unit that was not good on paper coming into the off-season now losing two depth pieces.
33:25
One of those, of course, uh, that they just lost to a, an injury for the rest of the year was projected to be a starter. Th- their defense, I think, is gonna be abysmal.
33:32
Some of their primary edge rushers are coming off of serious lower body injuries that we've gotta see if they can hit the ground running.
33:38
Then on the flip side, the Kawhi Leonard of the N- uh, the NFL, right, Tua Tagovailoa, can we trust that he's going to be available for a long term? I'm actually somewhat surprised.
33:47
I think there's different ways you could approach this. Obviously, I think under seven and a half is fine.
33:50
I think that alternate win totals, like six and a half under, plus 170 in that range, are totally worth it, and a small sprinkle on them to have the worst record in the NFL.
33:58
I, I think that there's a real stronger res- a stronger reality, I should say, than the market's putting out there, that this is actually one of our surprising bottom-out teams that we look up in, like, N- late November, early December like, "Oh, no," like, "This season's gone pretty bad for this team."
34:10
McDaniels is gonna be out. Yeah. And we're looking at a whole new reset for the Miami Dolphins. I, I think that they're gonna be pretty bad this year. Co- coach ain't surviving if it goes bad.
34:18
I'm with you on that, for sure. Yeah. Uh, the other one, division-wise, uh, in, in the same category would be AFC South. A lot of people love the Texans. A lot of people love the Jags.
34:27
Uh, we've heard some bullish thoughts on the Titans this week. What, what is your stance on this? And you're a Colts guy. Yeah, so there's two ways I think I w- that I attack this.
34:35
First off, I did bet the Jaguars at three to one to win the division. I think there's some value there. I think the Texans' offensive line stinks. I think they're gonna take a small step back.
34:43
I think they're being a little overpriced here. But I paired that with also an AFC South one-two exact finish, Jags and Colts. I, I think that this Colts team is being overlooked for how good their roster is.
34:53
You know, we know what's going on with the quarterback position, and obviously the battle's there. Um, Anthony Richardson by all accounts is having a pretty solid camp to this point. We'll see how it ends up playing out.
35:01
But at 10 to one, if you give me Jags and Colts to finish one and two in an AFC South that I think, again, you talk about, like, Big 12-esque of division, uh, divisions in, uh, football, dude, like, these three teams are not that far off from each other from a roster construction standpoint.
35:14
And if you're talking about the Jags and Colts finishing ahead of the Texans, I would not actually be that surprised in this division.
35:20
So I played the Jags to win the division outright at three to one, and then one-two finish 10 to one Jags and Colts. I think that qualifies as a pretty bold take there. Mm-hmm.
35:27
Jaguars and Colts 10 to one, a one-two exacta in the AFC South. John, thank you so much. Enjoyed it as always. Good to talk to you guys. Thank you. JBT, co-host of Money Moves, @meJBT on Twitter.
35:40
Hanging out with his kids. Yeah, working from home this week. We'll recap all the bets. Kelly's got some thoughts on the Wyndham Championship as well, next.
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