Search
Login
Sign Up
Jun 26, 2025
Best of A Numbers Game | June 26, 2025
Best of A Numbers Game | June 26, 2025
00:00
33:50
1×
Transcript
0:00
The numbers told the story, they always do. You're one of those idiots who believe in analytics? This is a Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Good Thursday morning to you.
0:10
It is a Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network, vsin.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course, Sirius XM channel 158. Gil Alexander and my little buddy Kelly Midland, everybody. Hey, yo.
0:21
How you doing? Good, man. How you doing? I'm doing very well.
0:24
Um, this can't possibly be true, because what I'm seeing here is that in addition to your standard Zach and Crack on Thursday, Zach Cohen with some, uh, NBA draft thoughts and bets perhaps in round two, and tennis, and some NFL by the way from Zach, and Unscripted with the Crack Man Bill Krackomberger.
0:42
Are we sure, estamos seguros, and is this true, Greg "Hoops" Peterson on the show today? Hoops. Hoops is here. He's pushed back his bedtime just for us, Gil. Did you have to pay him to come on the show? No, no. No?
0:53
No arm twisting whatsoever. Free? Free, yes. Wow. Unbelievable. He did, he did inform me about a month ago, he was like, "Hey, it's out of basketball now. I'm gonna be going to bed a little bit later."
1:02
And yes, you guys are hearing me correctly, he's gonna be going to bed later- Uh-huh... to, uh, stay up and do these.
1:07
I just wanna say, I, you know, I, I have it perfectly timed for me to come into the show each and every morning, so, uh, 6:35, uh, Pacific I have to get in my car and start the, uh, the 15-minute trek over here to the, to the lovely Circa Studios, um, so that I have, like, 10 minutes cushion.
1:24
And as soon as I get in the car today I'm like, "Let me turn on the show that precedes us, By the Books, with, uh, d- Captain America Dave Ross and Jensen Lewis," and the first thing I hear from Dave Ross is, he's like, "I really like the raw dog.
1:35
I'm leaning into the raw dog." [laughs] "Uh, I'm surprised the market is going against the raw dog." And I was just like, "This is an aggressive radio program. People should really listen to this a lot."
1:44
[laughs] Uh-oh, I'm sorry. [laughs] I'm being told in my ear that that's a UFC fight. Eh, might, w- but, but it had some laughs in the control room- Yeah... about that too. Oh, yep, yep, yep. Scariest. Yep.
1:52
Um, NBA draft. Mazel tov to the both of us. That was well, I, I enjoyed that. I enjoyed that, Gil. Yeah. Now listen, c- can I tell you what Joe Peta said?
2:03
'Cause this, here's the thing with, again, these are information-based drafts. Mm-hmm.
2:06
And we are, we were very honest and, you know, a lot of what we're doing here is based on the, the Luke Swain Vegas refund and, and Chris Felica sort of intel early on.
2:16
But I think both of the, I mean, I think both those guys cleaned up, right? I hope so. Yeah, I think they both did pretty- I hope so... damn well.
2:24
I mean, we, we pitched a shutout, or at least I, I went the, uh, the, the tidy three and O as, uh, Kon Kneppel goes top five, but specifically he goes number four. Mm-hmm.
2:34
And again, these were bets made just a few days earlier than when these were, and when I say prohibitive favorites, I mean ridiculous favorites, right?
2:43
So last night, by the end, Kon Kneppel, and I wanna get this exactly right, was a minus, was it 991 favorite? It was over minus 900 you sent me, yes. Yes.
2:55
I'll, I'll give, the first four picks in the draft by draft time yesterday, this is at, uh, offshore, this is at, uh, at Bookmaker, were, uh, well, first of all, Cooper Flagg wasn't even on, wasn't even offered at the top.
3:07
Um, then Dylan Harper, uh, minus 20,000 to go number two. That was a, that was quite a, quite an interview afterwards if you know what I mean.
3:17
[laughs] Uh, VJ Edgecombe right after that, minus 985 to go third to, uh, whoever picked third, it's Philly who stayed right there. And then Kon Kneppel, our guy, minus 991 to go fourth.
3:29
So getting ahead of those and getting plus money [laughs] on, but what we get even money top five and then plus money, this is just to sort of, not saying, "Hey, look at us," it's this is what drafts can be sometimes.
3:40
Yeah. You know what I like about, like, I, you know what I like/hate about the NBA one though? It's just, it all happens so much quicker, right? We spend weeks talking about the- Yes... NFL stuff. Correct.
3:49
And this is like, it all happens in a matter of a week. The boxing term is a jab and move. Like I al- Just, yeah.
3:54
Yeah, like I always enjoy the, when people complain about a move in the draft, in the NBA draft, it's like, "36 hours ago it was nine to one." Yeah.
4:01
Like, and now it's down, yeah, it's like, yeah, things move quick in the NBA draft world. However, after the top four, that's when the shenanigans began. Yeah. And so this is why, may I just p- insert this little piece.
4:12
This is why when sports books go around not posting this stuff, right?
4:16
Or they say, "Oh, there's just not enough interest in it," which is their code for, "We're just too lazy to put it up," or, "We don't want the anxiety of, of putting it up," 'cause God forbid they have a loss leader in what they offer.
4:28
These books could have made money after this. They probably would've made money if they had just posted some of these, 'cause then it was kind of mayhem-ish after that.
4:35
So i- i- as long as you stuck to the top four, you were good to go. But Ace Bailey goes to the Jazz right after that.
4:41
Now Ace Bailey, who was not working out for anybody, um, and had no idea in his own words if the Jazz, [laughs] you know, where the Jazz had him on the board, he wanted to go to Washington at six, the Jazz step in at five.
4:52
Not step in, they had the fifth pick. They end up picking the standout guard from Rutgers, and this has all kinds of Stevie Francis vibes. Uh, Stevie Francis out of Maryland who was drafted in the 1999 draft.
5:03
I think he was the third pick in that draft, if I'm not mistaken. But he was a DC kid, went to Maryland. Um, clearly did not wanna go to Vancouver, right? He visited couple other places that were not Vancouver.
5:15
It was too far from home. He cited tax re- I mean, he gave, he, he came up with all kinds of reasons. Anyway, they draft him, and visibly- Yeah...
5:23
his expression, Stevie Francis in 1999, was like, "Oh my God, I can't believe," like imagine getting the, you're the third pick in the draft, Kelly, and you're like, "This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me."
5:32
And Stevie Francis forced a trade to Houston. Um, and he was, like, a co-rookie of the year. He went to a few All-Star games, but you know what? All I remember about his career is that. And so- Francis was a good player.
5:43
Yeah. But that's all I remember. That's what I remember first and foremost, so, uh, you know, time will tell. Ace Bailey may turn out to warm to the idea of going to Utah, but that's where he's going.
5:51
And then the Wizards, who always sort of get screwed in these, they end up with Trae Young, who they're saying they're, they're thrilled with. I'd say, I, I think it's a great landing spot for him.
6:00
I, I, you can, I mean, he, he's a scorer, right?
6:03
One of the pure scorers, uh, in this draft, and, like, the Wizards got plenty of [laughs] they got plenty of room on the roster to say, "Hey, here's the, here here's the ball. Go do your thing."
6:10
A- Ace Bailey's stuff's interesting. I don't I, I, l- I, I think we have gotten to a point in pro sports, whether we're talking NFL, whether we talk NBA, you ta- you hear some of these guys, "Oh, I don't wanna play.
6:21
I don't wanna play." [laughs] Gu- guess what? Once you get drafted, should liter- show up or don't show up and skip a paycheck, and then let's see what happens, right?
6:29
It's a lot easier to say wh- when money's not on the line. But, uh, Utah kind of calling his bluff.
6:35
I, I'll tell you though, this four through six range, Gil, I mean, it really sounds like, okay, there were calls in that there were reports before the draft the Jazz and Celtics were talking about a possible trade.
6:46
The Jazz kept their cards so close to the vest, right? That they- Yeah...
6:51
d- people didn't really know what was going on with them, that there were then reports about the Wizards trying to jump up to four, 'cause I think they were scared that Trey Johnson was gonna go, which woulda blown up our draft completely.
7:02
Yes, it woulda, 'cause we saw the w- there was a text exchange where there was movement on, on that happening. Right. Yes.
7:09
'Cause, 'cause the Hornets were thinking, "Oh, yeah, we can move back two spots and still get Conn," but they didn't know what the Jazz were gonna do. So they kind of had to stay put and take Conn at four.
7:18
So I think we got, we got a little save there. Uh, Cedric Coward ends up, uh, going to Memphis at, at 11, or as, as Malik Andrews said, uh, Colin Coward drafted at 11. Yeah, yep.
7:27
Which is a very easy- Why I was just talking about that... very easy mistake to make. I almost made it yesterday, by the way.
7:32
[laughs] Um, so she, [laughs] and she's getting, you know, comical, uh, uh, incoming from that. The, the most, the single most surprising thing though was the 16th pick in the draft.
7:44
Um, which again, was, was actually dealt with the 11th, Cedric Coward, which was the Grizzlies, who then traded it back to Portland, right? The Coward-Hansen thing was the trade.
7:54
But at 16, Yang Hansen from China, which nobody had him anywhere mocked before, like the 37th pick in the draft, meaning tonight. Mm-hmm. And this was... A- and he was in the stands. Oh, Zach Cohen was losing his mind.
8:10
He was like, "This guy wasn't in a mock draft anywhere." [laughs] "What are we talking about?" And Savannah, I think she... If you have the video, you can run it. But yeah, in the stands. This is just- There he is...
8:18
this is a dude getting drafted, 16th overall. Life-changing moment about to happen. Ah, that's me. [laughs] Hey guys, I'm up here. Right here. Look, look at me. 16th pick, baby.
8:30
Look at the poor photog who had to run up there with a camera, too, to cover it for ESPN. It's like he won the best, um, e- best costume design at the Oscars. Right. [laughs] That's where, that's where the seat is.
8:40
[laughs] He's all the way up there. Couldn't get him a table. Um, listen, but it, p- part of that's funny too, right? Like our buddy Zach, who'll be joining us momentarily.
8:48
Like, the fact that we, and I'm, I'm pairing myself with Zach here. The fact that we even have the audacity to get upset over something like that. It wasn't mocked anywhere, right?
8:58
As if [laughs] we've lived with this for all of six days. Right, right, right. [laughs] You know? How dare they not pick someone who's mocked over there.
9:05
Um, and then I think, listen, I think Kelly, we both can agree the biggest moment in the draft was at 26 and 27. I know you feel the way I do. Ladies and gentlemen, representing only
9:15
two t- uh, 2/10 of world population, but 6.67% of the first round of the NBA draft. There you go. Ben Saraf at 26, and then Danny Wolf at 27, both going to Brooklyn. Two tribesmen back to back.
9:32
It's never happened before in NBA history. And, and the Nets, the Nets kept, what? Four of their five. They kept four of their five. I, I, no idea what, I have no idea what's going on in Brooklyn.
9:39
Do not, do not even ask me. I think that- Who's more perplexing to you, Brooklyn or Portland? Uh, [laughs] I, I'll still go Brooklyn. Yeah.
9:46
Because, because it's too easy to say what we've been saying the past three, or to do what we've been saying the past couple days of package these together, move up for a more impactful player.
9:58
You, you picked four guys and you have no idea what you're gonna get out of them in the first round. The Portland one, I, that's tough to explain, too.
10:04
You, you, you drafted another big man where you've got a ton of centers on your [laughs] It's, it's Ayton, Robert Williams, Donovan Clingan you just drafted a year ago. I don't really understand what's going on there.
10:15
And then I think these teams, Gil, that you've heard me talk about for years, they just keep pulling me back in. When I think I'm done with them, they just keep pulling me back in.
10:24
[laughs] We talked about the Atlanta Hawks already earlier this week. I liked the Porziņģis trade more because what was it gonna mean f- further in this off season?
10:33
What they were, what were they gonna try to do with this team? They made a great trade with the Pelicans. Pelicans got greedy. I like what the... And, and I'm, I'm talking about both teams.
10:41
Pelicans are gonna be a fun team, but I don't think what they did last night was really all that smart. Atlanta made smart moves. Uh, Pelicans able to get Fears was awesome.
10:50
I don't think they thought Fears was gonna fall to him, so they went and pulled the trigger there, but then they could not help themselves when they saw that Derrick Queen was still there at 13.
10:59
They had to pull the trigger on a trade and traded way too much to go up and get him. I mean, it's a, it, it's gonna be potentially another lottery pick going back to Atlanta next year. Uh, how'd you end up doing?
11:10
So I ended up 3-0. I had the Touknepol, uh, Esengue, uh, over nine and a half. He ended up getting picked 12th, uh, by the Chicago Bulls. And so again, you know, again, this is not... We, we relied a l- a lot on intel.
11:23
Joe Peter was like, "Congratulations on the 3-0," as so many people were kind enough to do on Twitter. And I said, "Well, you know, you know, leaning on some intel." And you know what he said in his Wall Street way?
11:31
He goes, "Listen, money's still green." Ready for this sentence? He goes, "Also, distillation of information and capital allocation is a separate skill from modeling." I was like, "You're damn right, Joe." For sure.
11:40
That's what I say all the time, Joe. It's exactly right. [laughs] Yes, what you said. Coming back with Greg Hoops Peterson on baseball primarily next.
11:49
[upbeat music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Numbers Game live from Circa Resort downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Gil Alexander, Kelly Bidlin.
12:07
Hey, don't forget, this is, uh, hey, if you wanna bet smarter, and I know you do, VSiN Pro can help you start strong. Our new NFL betting guide comes out Tuesday. Tuesday. That is, what?
12:17
Five days from today And early access means a better shot at spotting value in futures markets before the lines move. That's Tuesday, July 1st.
12:25
Now's the perfect time to join with our football special, just $175 for full VSiN pro access from today through the Super Bowl. It's every sport we cover every day at a special early bird price.
12:35
Sooner you sign up, the more you get out of it. You'll be first in line for our NFL betting guide, your playbook for the season packed with team previews, power ratings, and season-long best bets.
12:43
Plus, you'll get a daily best bets email from our expert hosts and guests, real-time betting splits from DraftKings and Circa, live and on-demand shows via the VSiN Watch app, full access to VSiN.com's analytics tools and pro systems.
12:54
Go to VSiN.com/subscribe now, lock in the football special for just $175. That's V-S-I-N.com/subscribe. Uh, Kelly, before we, uh, get to Greg here, the answer to the question of how you did ultimately was?
13:06
Yeah, five and three on those bets that we had, and up about nine units. The o- the only ones that really... So Carter Bryant under, that one stunk, uh, 'cause that was kinda more fully staked.
13:17
But then the only other ones I missed were the longer shots.
13:19
So Fears to go fifth at plus 350, which [laughs] as we got close to the draft, like I was getting really excited about, because what were we seeing that, we were seeing minus, close to minus 200 on him, uh, near closing time to go fifth overall, and then the, the Jazz went their way.
13:34
Um, and then the C- the Cedric Coward one, top 10, that I know Falica was all over it well, as well, over four to one. He ends up going 11th. So just missed out on those, but it was a nice night.
13:45
Uh, did just pull up Lu- Luke eight and three for 40, up plus 40 units. His worst draft in four years, Gil. Eight and three. He's washed. He's washed. Jeez, put him to bed. By the way- Get it together, Swayme...
13:55
you, you sent me that DraftKings most popular prop bets thing, and it's all Luke's bets. It's all Luke's bets, and, and- That's how much influence-... and they all hit... and they all hit.
14:03
The top five bets made at DraftKings, and all of them won.
14:07
Uh, by the way, I mentioned Flagg wasn't even offered at one, but then Harper minus 20,000 at two, Edgecombe minus 985 at three, and Knipple ended up minus 90, 991 to go exactly fourth.
14:17
But after that, Fears at five was the favorite at draft time at minus 180. That didn't happen. Yeah. Bailey at six was minus, uh, 181. That didn't happen. N- I mean, none of them happened to have it there, right?
14:30
Queen was the short shot at seven, plus 142. Maluach plus 178 at eight. Asengic minus 102 at nine, and then Queen again at 10, plus 270. None of that happened. Jazz screwed it up, right? I mean, right? Yeah.
14:41
The, nobody knew what the Jazz were gonna do. Yep. And once they did that, the rest of it was a little wonky and out of order.
14:46
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a treat for us, because I don't think he's been on the show in years. It's gotta have at least been three years. Yeah. Four years? I don't know. Man, yeah.
14:54
[laughs] Now you gonna go for- I'm gonna, I'm gonna go two, I'm gonna go two or three years for college basketball. I think it's been 14 years since he's been on the show.
15:00
[laughs] Greg "Hoops" Peterson, ladies and gentlemen, courtesy of the Progressive guest line. Greg, a VSiN host throughout the years, and he joins us now all dressed up. How you doing, Greg? I'm doing great, Gil.
15:11
Always glad to be on with you, and man, oh man, we've got a lot that's going on with the NBA draft, baseball, and never too early to get started for not just football season, but college basketball season.
15:22
Well, can I ask you, you're the perfect person, actually, to have on after the first round, because just from, from a non-betting perspective, just from a basketball perspective, you have a better sense of these players than almost anybody.
15:32
What, in your opinion, was the steal of this draft? Man, I think that is so interesting what you saw towards the bottom half of it. Liam McNeely going at 29.
15:44
Like, how that guy fell that far, because you saw what UConn was versus was not with him on the court. I thought that that guy was gonna be going in, like, the mid to high teens.
15:55
I thought that he was someone that was gonna be falling out of the lottery, that's for sure, but I thought that there was gonna for sure be a team that stepped up at, like, 18, 19.
16:04
Maybe the Nets package up two of their late picks to be able to go up and be able to get him. The fact that, by the way, the Nets kept every single one of their picks, I thought that that was rather outrageous.
16:14
I thought that they for sure were gonna be making a little bit of a move.
16:17
But I think that Liam McNeely, getting him at 29, pairing him up with Kon Knipple at four, I actually really think that the Hornets, I, I can't remember the last time we said this, they got a win.
16:28
They had a really nice night. [laughs] Got a win.
16:31
Um, okay, and since you mentioned, and your middle name is Hoops, and since you mentioned it's never too early to talk about college basketball, I know it's, it's much more difficult these days to predict college basketball, college football for that matter as well, this far in advance.
16:44
But is there a Greg Peterson nugget that you might, that, that sort of, uh, you know, off the radar that might, uh, you know, sort of catch the attention of folks, that you have an opinion that's a little more strong than the market?
16:57
I think that Florida has a good chance to be able to get back to the Final Four this year, with them just being able to bring back that entire front court, and the fact that they replaced their guards, which we saw Walter Clayton go in the draft yesterday, and he was so rock solid for them.
17:10
But Boogie Flend is a guy that easily could have been a first-round pick in the draft last night, had he not come back for NIL money, had he decided that he was going to be staying in the draft.
17:20
And that's something that we've seen as well. Like, with some of these guys that would have been able to go in the first round, some of them returned to school.
17:27
Like, Axel Ledeborg, who was over at Michigan, he easily would have been a first-round pick. I feel like Taj Pettiford, who went back to Auburn, he easily could have been a first-round pick as well.
17:37
So if you're wondering why on a scale of one to 10, last night's draft maybe was a little bit more mid-tier than we were expecting for a lot of drafts, it's because a lot of these guys actually returned to school, and a lot of these guys are staying in school because they're gonna make more in NIL money rather than going in the NBA draft, and Boogie Flend was one of those guys.
17:54
So I do think that Florida, while I can't have them number one because Purdue, I just love the backcourt that they've got. They pick up Oscar Cluff in the transfer portal.
18:03
That's probably gonna be my number one team when it comes to the start of the season. I feel like Florida has a very good chance to be a top five team once again. All right.
18:09
So for those who are unfamiliar with Greg, by the way, we were just talking to Greg off, off air, checking in on him. Still, he runs 12 miles a day. Yeah. Doesn't take a day off.
18:18
The man is a machine, as Brent Musburger once said. But you do a podcast, and so now you're in baseball mode.
18:25
Give us a sense of how often you do this, then when do you transition to college basketball, and how long can those podcasts be sometimes?
18:33
Oh, the college basketball podcast has, at points, gotten up to six hours, and the college basketball podcast never stops. The last time I went a day without a college basketball co- podcast was November of 2019. Wow.
18:46
It kept going every single day throughout COVID because I just frankly needed something to do, and because now you've got 364 Division I teams. There were 2,570 players that entered in the transfer portal.
18:58
It's a all-year-round sport. Like, trying to decipher north of 2,500 guys entering the portal. By the way, there were fewer guys that didn't enter in the portal rather than did, so if you want an easier list- [laughs]...
19:10
the amount of guys that did not enter in the transfer portal is actually a very much easier one. But that's why it goes every single day.
19:17
And then with that, we also do the baseball betting show every day, which you get games on as well, and those are more like 90, 100-minute podcasts. Those are much more manageable. Ah. Bless America.
19:28
So you do those- Wow... every day, too. 90-minute podcasts every day on baseball, full slate. On baseball, yes, sir. Okay. Well, in, with that in mind, what did you land on today?
19:38
Have you had a chance to look at it, and what are you betting? Oh, absolutely. In terms of the early games, which, that's all but one of them, by the way.
19:45
We've got one late game between the Atlanta Braves and the Mets, and, and that game I did land on the Mets with them being a rather pick 'em, but I feel like Shota Imanaga is gonna come off of the injured list and is actually gonna land a, land a good start.
19:57
Typically with these guys coming off the injured list, I'm very tepid to be trusting in them, because typically they have a little bit of rust, but he looked really good in his three minor league rehab starts.
20:07
He gets 16 strikeouts and 10 and a third innings, scoreless settings in all of them, and I do think that going up against the St.
20:13
Louis Cardinals team that while they've been able to manufacture a lot of runs, they rank in the bottom eight in terms of home runs on a per at bat basis.
20:20
I think that that helps him out quite a bit, and additionally with this Cubs team, if you look at things ever since May 1st, they've had a lot of guys like Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, go down the list of guys with a sub three ERA that have come out of nowhere, so far from out of nowhere that they have the number one bullpen ERA in the big league since May 1st.
20:38
So I did land on the Cubs on the money line and that total of nine, I recognize that the Cubs offense is really good.
20:44
I do think that Andre Pallante is pitching a little bit better, so I think he does his part with this as well. I like the under and the Cubs on the money line. Wow, okay. Um, those, you have any more this morning?
20:56
Oh, absolutely. The under in terms of this Kansas City Royals versus Tampa Bay Rays game, that total is 10, and I have no idea why.
21:03
Like, I recognize that it's getting a little bit warmer out there in Kansas City, recognize that there's a little bit of wind. The Royals are averaging fewer than 2.9 runs per game at home.
21:12
They have not shown a heartbeat on offense all season long.
21:15
The Wizard of Boz, Shane Boz, has given up three runs or fewer in four out of his last five starts, and he's backed up by a Rays bullpen that is right there at the top of the American League in terms of bullpen ERA.
21:24
Likes of Eric Hosmer or, Eric Hosmer, Manuel Rodriguez, they've all been so rock solid for this team. And the Royals bullpen is honestly relatively solid as well.
21:33
I'm also seeing that at minus 120, I landed on the Tampa Bay Rays money line, been very impressed by them. I think that they give chase to Yankees in the AL East.
21:41
They're probably built a little bit more for 162 games rather than a five or seven-game post-season series, but I like the Rays on the money line and I like that under. All right, let's squeeze in one more.
21:50
We got one, we got time for one more. All right. How about if we do squeeze in Toronto Blue Jay- Jays versus, uh, Cleveland Guardians. That total is eight.
21:59
Recognize that Kevin Gausman has struggled, but Tanner Bibee is so good at home. 2.50 ERA with 0.75 home runs per nine innings allowed when he's at home.
22:07
Blue Jays have been a bottom six offense in terms of runs per game away from home. Rather pick 'em game. Like the Cleveland Guardians on the money line, and I like that under.
22:15
All right, Greg, listen, uh, gunit_81, by the way, for those that want more of- The G unit... Greg Peterson's, uh, plays in baseball and beyond, he lists them all there. Uh, can we do this regularly, Greg?
22:27
Is that in the cards? Can we do this? Oh, abso-darn-lutely. Abso-darn-lutely the man says. Thank you, Greg. Great seeing you, man. Always great to be out with you guys. Thank you.
22:37
Greg Peterson, everybody, uh, waking up early for us. He goes to bed earlier now and wakes up early. We just got- Good for him... word on it, so we're, we're thrilled to see it, man. Uh, we'll come back.
22:46
Zach Cohen, NBA tennis next. Numbers Game, VSiN, the sports betting network. [upbeat music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Betting on sports, why not try the races?
23:03
First Bet lets you wager on hundreds of horse races every day from top tracks across the US and around the world. Sign up at firstbet.com. That's the number one S-T bet.com.
23:12
Use promo code VSIN200 to claim a 20% rebate for your first 60 days, up to $200. Head to firstbet.com today. We get tweets at Beating The Book, best listeners in the game.
23:22
HoopsbyHoots, shout out to Will Hill for just strolling in yesterday and giving out a 5 and 0. Boom. That's right. Will Hill rolling on in, 5 and 0 with his bets yesterday. Bang.
23:32
Superjerk, "Yeah, I enjoyed the NBA draft like I enjoyed my last kidney stone." [laughs] He's, was very ex- very happy guy. Bi- big drawing tomorrow.
23:42
I don't wanna say I've got a, uh, a, a one or two or three people that I'm rooting for, but oh man, if Superjerk won- We-... if Superjerk won, I would not be upset.
23:50
What Kelly is referring to, and we've gone a half an hour without mentioning, is that tomorrow's the big drawing for a free Circa Millions and Circa Survivor entry.
24:00
So we're gonna give out two free, uh, entries courtesy of, uh, win- winnercircleproxy.com. Uh, the deadline was last night. We have thousands, literally, Kelly, thousands- Mm-hmm... of folks who signed up for this.
24:14
Uh, Bill Ady is gonna pick 10 of these folks randomly. As, as they sh- like, like, if you're interested, if you're gonna be playing Circa Millions or Circa Survivor anyways, you should just enter this contest.
24:24
Like, there, th- there is nothing You're just gonna get a free entry. Sorry, go ahead. Well, we can't anymore. They can't enter anymore. They can't. The deadline has passed. They can't. [laughs] Right.
24:32
But, uh, thousands entered, uh, we know that. We got word on that. Bill Adey, um, is going to, uh, sift through and randomly select 10, 'cause we're not gonna randomly select through thousands here on the show. Yeah.
24:43
But he'll give us 10, and we will select tomorrow one free Millions entry- Mm-hmm... and one free Survivor entry from those that, uh, signed up. 10 names go in a literal hat, and we will pull out two. A literal hat.
24:56
The- The Better, The Better Life, Tim Lawson, "Still thinking about how Mother Wolf was playing O.P.P. by Naughty By Nature when we walked in." Yeah, I went to- [laughs]...
25:02
Mother, Mother Wolf with Timmy the other night, and that's what was playing. How'd you, was it your first time eating there? Second time. Second time. Pasta is perfecto. Yeah, they have really good food.
25:11
It's unbelievable. Really good. Uh, Las Vegas Yo, "Shout out to Young Kelly, Bidland Preacher. All these players should be grateful and blessed to play in the NBA. Kelly and I would take their place in a second." Maybe.
25:19
[laughs] Harold Irving, "The two tribesmen now in Brooklyn are gonna love their new mayor." [laughs] Chris Heath, "GP on next can we discuss volume betting?" Oh, I forget he was a volume shooter. You saw that- Yeah...
25:29
with all of his bets right there. And then Eric Biggio from, uh, William Hill Caesars, "Looking forward to, uh, G-Unit's appearance this morning. Always good baseball info.
25:37
One question, though, when I listen to his podcast, is there any way I can change the setting on the broadcast to 0.5 speed so I can follow in real time?" [laughs] See what he did there?
25:46
Uh, we have tons of, uh, tons of tweets.
25:48
We'll get to them, but I wanna talk to Zach Cohen first, part of the glue that holds this whole operation together and half of the Zach and Crack comedy duo that appears on The Numbers Game every, uh, Thursday.
25:57
He joins us now courtesy of the Progressive Guest Line. Betting On X is where you can follow him on Twitter. Uh, Zach, it was not the greatest draft for you, you were saying off air? Yeah, I lost a little bit.
26:08
I mean, the S and Gay play ended up killing me. I, I, I feel really bad about that one. It was a big play for me.
26:13
I, I tried to trust the information and ended up going, what, 12 to the, to the Bulls, which I, I don't love that [laughs] landing spot for him, so that was kind of a double loss there.
26:22
But yeah, it, it wasn't the worst night in the world. I, I needed Kalkbrenner to go in the first round to end up winning anything but ended up, uh, losing at the end.
26:29
Kalkbrenner and Jani Broom, uh, still available for teams here in the second round. Um, are we betting the second round? How widespread are these props available? What are you seeing?
26:40
I, I haven't bet anything on the second round. I haven't, I, I, I haven't looked since last night.
26:44
I wrote up a, a recap to the draft, uh, some, you know, early takeaways, but I did not see any second round picks when I was looking there, so I didn't end up taking anything. Didn't end up taking anything.
26:52
Yeah, there was nothing at DraftKings this morning- Yeah, I didn't see it... which kind of surprised me, actually. 'Cause they had, it had come up a, in a few years past, if I'm not mistaken.
27:01
They, uh, FanDuel does have stuff up. FanDuel, there you go. But li- okay, it's literally the number 31 and number 32 overall pick. That's it. That's it. That's it. And then it's done and done.
27:10
Maybe more the rest of the day. Well, it's a long time here. Yeah. Um, by the way, we should shout out our guy, Rafael Barlow, who did have, uh, who did have Hanson Yang on his radar apparently. Oh, really?
27:20
According to ATL Dorn. Okay. Yeah, well, there you go. Um, yeah, totally correct in saying no one had him on their radar except for Rafael. Thanks for having him this week. Great guest as always.
27:27
Long time listener, first time tweeter. Good luck to y'all. Thank you, ATL Dorn. Uh, all right, any tennis today, grass court, for you, Zach, at all?
27:36
I currently have quarantine Moutet against Lear- Lerner, Tien, uh, just a match that we have seen before, but the last time we saw it, uh, Moutet was sick and, like, slipped in the shower or some really strange sto- [laughs] strange story.
27:47
But I do think Moutet i- is a better grass court player than Tien, and to get him at plus money odds, it was, like, plus 104, I, I thought was a really tough value to turn down.
27:55
And I, I was texting with Kelly about Wimbledon a little bit.
27:58
He asked me for some picks, and I, I am looking forward to the show on Friday, and I, I do think that there's some value on our guy Novak Djokovic h- heading into that tournament.
28:06
I just thought he looked really sharp at the French Open.
28:09
I, I thought that the match against Sinner, which obviously was a straight set loss, I, I thought it was really competitive, and I don't think that he's gonna have to hit, you know, through Sinner as much on grass.
28:18
It'll be a little bit easier for him to just kind of serve to, to his spots, which he always does, and, you know, hit through the court a little bit. It's easier on the grass.
28:25
So I, I think that if you're looking for a value play at Wimbledon, it's, it's really Djokovic or nothing because I, I don't like those 150 prices on Alcaraz or Sinner.
28:33
If those two play each other in the final, you'll get a decent price.
28:36
Uh, tomorrow, what Zach is referring to is after our Numbers game, uh, Zach, Drew Dincic and I are doing our Wimbledon post draw podcast of Beating the Book feed.
28:46
And I, I love the, are you noticing this, Zach, that you and Drew have this, uh, sort of, I, I don't wanna say perennial, but, but slam by slam struggle now on Djokovic, where he is completely anti-Djokovic and you are still hold- [laughs] you're still holding onto that possibility of 25?
29:01
[laughs] Yeah, I, I had him to win the quarter last time, wh- wh- which ended up winning, but I, I did kind of talk myself into him winning the tournament a little bit as that went on and that lost.
29:10
Uh, I don't know for sure if he has a, a great shot. Uh, you know, uh, playing Alcaraz or Sinner at his age is going to be really difficult, but I just hate the prices that we're seeing on the two favorites.
29:21
It just, it makes it very difficult to play them. A little nugget, uh, before tomorrow on the ladies' side, if you would share? Yeah, I mean, I'm just gonna be taking some shots.
29:30
I, I, I don't really trust Sabalenka on grass.
29:33
I, I think that she's probably, you know, rightfully the favorite here, but I, I haven't seen anything from any of the favorites that suggests that they should be, you know, that much ahead of players like Keys, uh, players like Y- like, like Qinwen Zheng if she's healthy.
29:46
I just think that there's a chance we're gonna see another long shot Wimbledon winner, maybe not as long as, uh, Barbora Krejcikova from last year, but I do think you're gonna get a good payout on whoever wins. Yeah.
29:55
[clears throat] Pardon me. I'm still just stunned you g- you, you were able to talk, uh, Drew into doing this, where he, like, is he gonna be in an ocean kayak tomorrow? [laughs] Is he gonna be rock climbing?
30:03
Uh, it's- Even better than that, as you pointed out, was Drew's surprise that we had this opinion of him on Friday. Like, Drew, we know you do stuff on Friday. I made a Napa joke- Yeah...
30:12
and he was like, "That's next week, and how do you know that?" [laughs] Like, we go to Napa like th- like six times a year, man. Come on, man. [laughs] Uh, anyway, we look forward to that, Zach.
30:19
Thanks for being a part of that tomorrow, as always. Uh, tennis hardos post draw will have a better read on some of this stuff, or maybe we won't.
30:27
Maybe the draw will be such where we'll be like, "Yeah, yeah, same opinions." Um, okay To the, uh, NFL betting guide, which is being dropped here. We all got our, our stuff in, yes? Everybody hit the deadline?
30:38
Even I did. Sh, my, my stuff was in on Saturday. I- I think everything was in. Okay. I, I don't think anybody's late. I, I'm gonna double check after this. I think we're good. Okay. So you are heavily involved in this?
30:49
Phew. Yeah. I, I, I did a lot of writing, I did a lot of editing. I, I... It's been a, a tough week between this and the draft, but I'll, I'll get some sleep soon, and then I'll, I'll gear up for Wimbledon.
30:59
I, I think Zach's, like, the guy right now. Adam Burke's, like, gallivanting around Europe. Like, he- That's, oh, that's true... he, yeah, he's, like- He is... in Denmark and Ireland and all over the place.
31:08
I, I couldn't even tell Adam Burke was in Iceland for 22 hours as well. I have it on good, good authority. Yeah.
31:13
All right, case- Iceland, which is really nice, and Greenland is full of ice, which I learned in Mighty Ducks 2.
31:17
[laughs] Ladies and gentlemen, if you can remember anything from this show after the show today- [laughs]... let it be that. Mighty Ducks 2, yes. Um- The knuckle puck. Um, all right. So we all had to make picks.
31:27
We all, we did our chart where we were doing, um, division by division and, and, and who gets to the Super Bowl and that kind of thing, but we all gave some of our prop bets on the season.
31:37
Can you share one or two of yours, sir? Yeah. I, I think the one that I'll get out ahead of, because I do think it's moving, is I'm really high on the Vikings again. So I, I have over eight and a half.
31:47
I, I have a play on them to win the NFC, and I have a play on them to win the Super Bowl. I, I think that, you know, we've, we've heard Kevin O'Connell say this is his most talented team ever. I trust Kevin O'Connell.
31:56
I, I think he might be the best coach in the league. I, I trust his instincts i- in drafting J.J. McCarthy and letting, you know, Sam Darnold walk there.
32:04
I, I just really think we're gonna get decent quarterback play from them again, and I don't really see any reason not to expect that.
32:11
And I absolutely love what they've done on defense, you know, adding Jonathan Allen and beefing up that defensive line a little bit, adding Isaiah Rodgers, you know, a productive cornerback to that group of corners that it was a little disappointing last season.
32:22
Uh, this was a team that was second in the league in EPA per play allowed last year. For most of the season, they were top seven or so offensively.
32:29
I think they're going to be really good on that side of the ball this year. I, I trust McCarthy. I think he has a bigger arm than people think, and I, I just don't really wanna bet against O'Connell with this team. Yeah.
32:39
I'm starting to hear, again, this is all anecdotal, but I'm starting to hear a lot of Vikings love as, as well.
32:44
Uh, so I, I, I'm with you that the market appears to be moving in that direction in an always crowded, uh, NFC North.
32:51
I, I, my only thought on that is b- I would bet it, if you're interested in the Vikings, you bet it like Zach.
32:55
Aim high, 'cause I, i- it is, uh, I think there is a question still, for me, there's still a question at quarterback, but he might be great, and if he's great, I think you're flying, you're flying over that eight and a half.
33:04
Anything else real quick here in, in 20 seconds or less that you wanted to share on this? Another bet? Uh, yeah. I took some flyers on Coach of the Year.
33:11
I, I, I think Liam Cohen, uh, Dave Canales, like, guys like that, I, I think have really good shots, because they coached teams last year that I think were a little bit better than their records, especially, you know, Cohen coaching a Jaguars team that was two and eight in one-score games, and I, I just think that he's a really good offensive play caller.
33:28
Uh, it wasn't just Mayfield last year. He also got that ground game going. That team in Jacksonville does have a lot of talent. I think Trevor Lawrence can still be fixed.
33:35
So I think that that's a really good shot to take, and I had one more, but I for- I already forgot it, honestly. [laughs] Well, we'll have to just get the NFL betting guide. That's right. Zach- Yeah...
33:44
great job on the guide. Thank you so much. Thanks, guys. July 1st, coming out.
A Numbers Game
Listen on
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Castro
Castro
Recent episodes
A Numbers Game | September 17, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 17, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 3
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 2
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 16, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 3
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 2
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 15, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 11, 2026
Sep 11, 2026
