Sunday Best Bets, Saturday Recaps
Saturday was spent outside the Tuley’s Takes home office as I drove my wife and youngest son to Flagstaff, Arizona, to visit our oldest kid at Northern Arizona University.
Jordyn is on an oboe scholarship at NAU and was playing Saturday night with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra’s performance of “The Best of John Williams.”
It was like a night at the movies with his classic arrangements from “E.T.,“ Hook,” “Superman,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “Harry Potter,” “True Lies,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Jurassic Park,” and, of course, “Star Wars.”
(Note to any potential burglars: my nephew is house-sitting and we have an alarm system and two guard chihuahuas!).
During the drive to Flagstaff, I followed my bet in the first game of the XFL season. I grabbed Vegas-Arlington Under 37 on Friday and felt good when the market bet it down to 35. It looked like a winning play most of the game, even though Arlington scored two TDs on pick-sixes and led 22-14 late in the game. However, the Vipers (that’s the Vegas team) scored a TD with 8 seconds left in regulation to put the game Over all the betting totals.
At least we won our Best Bet of the day on Flyers-Canucks 1P Over 1.5 -180/Sabres-Sharks 1P Over -190 for a nice parlay payoff of +137. During the first half of the concert, we were enjoying a bunch of scores from John Williams but the Flyers and Canucks were scoreless for the first 14 minutes and 24 seconds of the first period. However, the Canucks scored and then the Flyers answered 1:32 later to make it 1-1 and put that Over the 1P total of 1,5 goals. By that time, the Sabres had already scored just 3:01 into their game with the Sharks, but I had to wait until after the intermission for the Sharks to score with 3:51 to spare to cash our bet.
Let’s recap the rest of Saturday’s (full-game) betting results in the major team sports (there was also a full menu of soccer, golf, auto racing and the NBA All-Star activities for those interested in a wide variety of action), then give a Best Bet in the NHL again. We like that better than our XFL play for Sunday, which we went out of our way to post early on Friday when Seattle was still available at a 1-point favorite.
Saturday Recaps
CBB: Kentucky upset No. 10 Tennessee 66-54 after closing as 1.5-point home underdog. No. 6 Texas outlasted Oklahoma 85-83 in OT, but didn’t cover as 10.5-point home favorite. No. 5 Kansas beat No. 9 Baylor 87-71, pulling away to easily cover as 5-point home fave. No. 12 Kansas State beat No. 19 Iowa State 61-55 and also covered as 4-point home fave.
XFL: In the season-opener, the Arlington Renegades held off the Vegas Vipers 22-20, but the Vipers rallied with a late TD to cover as 3.5-point road underdogs (game went Over closing total of 35 points. It was already Over the closing number but needed the last score to go Over higher early numbers. Houston Roughnecks routed Orlando Guardians 33-12 (went Over 34). Favorites and home teams both went 2-0 SU and 1-1 ATS. Overs swept 2-0 on opening day.
NHL: Faves went 10-3 with upsets by the Blue Jackets (+240 in 4-1 win at Stars), Predators (+120 in 7-3 win vs. Panthers) and Golden Knights (+110 in 5-4 win vs. Lightning). The Hurricanes (-195) beat Capitals 4-1 in Stadium Series at a neutral site, so home teams led 8-4. Unders 7-6.
Sunday NHL Best Bet
Predators-Wild 1P Under 1.5 -135/Blues-Senators 1P Over -150 (parlay payoff +190): The Wild is the top 1P Under team as it has hit 7 in a row, 17-2 in its last 19 and 34-21 (61.8%). The Senators are the No. 5 1P Over at 33-54 (61.1%) despite letting us down Friday night, but we’re taking another shot at a very juicy payoff of +190.
XFL Week 1 Best Bet
Seattle Sea Dragons -1 at DC Defenders: My “dog-or-pass” philosophy is getting tested as I wish I had given out this play when the Sea Dragons opened as an underdog. I bet them at pick-’em and now they’re favored as they should have been all along (as of early Sunday morning, Seattle was up to -2.5). With no ties in the XFL, we felt it was OK to lay -1 and risk a push if it lands on the number. I believed more bettors would be jumping on the bandwagon when they started hearing more about head coach Jim Haslett (2000 NFL coach of the year) and former Cowboys QB Ben DiNucci along with offensive coordinator June Jones. I still believe they’re the right side, but lay points at your own risk.
