The Toronto Blue Jays (41-47, –14.29 betting units) could use a break. They ended the unofficial first half of the regular season Sunday afternoon with an embarrassing 19-1 loss at home to the top team in the American League, the Houston Astros (–125). After pausing for the All-Star Game, the Jays return to action Friday night with a road tilt against the Detroit Tigers; first pitch is at 7:10 PM ET on Sportsnet.
Aaron Sanchez (6.38 FIP) has already been penciled in to start for Toronto. Sanchez was one of the best pitchers on the junior circuit last year, but blisters and a split fingernail have limited his effectiveness this season and sent him to the DL on three separate occasions. In his most recent return, Sanchez was rocked by the Astros for five earned runs Friday night in just 1.2 innings of work.
Maybe Sanchez can get his groove back against the Tigers, who had yet to announce a starter at press time for Friday’s contest. The Tigers enter the All-Star break at the bottom of the AL Central standings, and current Detroit hitters have a combined .513 lifetime OPS versus Sanchez at 10-for-52 with zero home runs.
The Super Millions Poker Open (formerly the Summer Millions) returns to Bodog Poker on July 15, with $2.5 million in guaranteed cash money up for grabs. The schedule for this summer’s hottest tournament series has been released; the official count is 105 events, up from 70-plus last year, and it all leads up to the $300,000 Guaranteed Main Event on August 13.
This year’s schedule includes five SMPO Special tournaments, one for each Sunday during the festival, with $110,000 in guaranteed prize money and giant starting stacks of 12,000 chips. These will be no-limit Hold’em tournaments, as will the Main Event and most of the other tourneys on the schedule. You’ll also find fixed-limit Hold’em, and both pot-limit and fixed-limit versions of Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo.
Qualifiers for the Super Millions are already underway at Bodog Poker; you can “satellite” into the SMPO for as little as 55 cents. Direct buy-ins for the Super Millions range from the $5.50 Turbo Rebuy on July 26 to the big kahuna, the $450 Main Event. There’s something for every player, from Knockouts to Hyper Turbos and everything in between. Qualify for your SMPO seat today, and we’ll see you on the felt.
Soccer Odds: The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (or CONCACAF, for short) will crown a new champion this month at the Gold Cup. Mexico won the Cup when this tournament was last held in 2015, and they’re +120 favorites to defend that title at press time, just ahead of the United States at +140. Costa Rica is third on the list at +700.
There aren’t any true soccer powerhouses in the CONCACAF region, but Mexico is pretty close at No. 11 on the World Elo Football Ratings and No. 17 on the FIFA rankings. Team USA is No. 25 in Elo and No. 22 according to FIFA; these two teams have a win, a loss and two draws over their past four matches against each other, including a 1-1 draw last month in Mexico City.
Costa Rica (No. 29 Elo, No. 19 FIFA) could play spoiler when the Gold Cup kicks off Friday in New Jersey – the US being the host country. There are 12 teams in this tournament, and of the three groups involved, Costa Rica faces the softest competition in Group A. They’ll play Honduras (+2000), Canada (+3300) and French Guiana (+15000) in the Group Stage.
The United States will begin their quest for the Gold Cup Wednesday night in Tampa, as they meet the island of Martinique in a Group B match. Initially, overlooked by many, Martinique now becomes a careful consideration after USA’s 1-1 draw on Saturday with Panama.
Martinique, on the other hand is riding momentum coming into the tournament after defeating Nicaragua 2-0 last week.
You would think winning the NFL’s regular season MVP is a good thing…right? Well, not if you’d rather win the Super Bowl in the same year. Tom Brady is on a mission to win both the regular season MVP and SuperBowl MVP this year. The last time this was accomplished was in 1999, when Kurt Warner of the St. Louis Rams hoisted both trophies at the end of the season.
Tom Brady of the New England Patriots has won the NFL MVP two times – 2007 & 2010. He is one of only two players to win 5 Super Bowl rings. (Defensive player Charles Haley being the other) Brady is hoping to accomplish Warner’s 1999 feat this year as he heads into the NFL Season as the favorite to win the regular season MVP.
Brady is the +450 favorite to win this year’s NFL MVP award on many of your favorite betting sites. He’s hoping he and his teammates can continue to ride the momentum from their unbelievable come from behind victory against the Falcons in last year’s Super Bowl.
Even though Brady missed the first four games of the 2016 season, he didn’t skip a beat by turning in one of the best statistical seasons of his career. His 28/2 TD/INT ratio and a 112.2 passer rating was the second best of his career – trailing only his 117.2 rating during his MVP 2007 season.
Additional NFL Picks have Green Bay Packers signal caller, Aaron Rodgers (last year’s MVP favorite) as the second favorite this year at +700. Like Brady, Rodgers also has two NFL MVP awards (2011 & 2014).
Other QB’s heading into the season as potential favorites include: Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders +900, Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys +1200, Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks +1200.
Last year’s winner Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons is +1600 and hopes to bounce back after giving up a 25 point lead in last year’s Superbowl.
For complete odds, NFL picks and more betting sites, CLICK HERE.
Houston Texans (6-6) vs Jacksonville Jaguars (2-10) Free NFL Picks for Week 14 12/07/2014
Latest Odds: Texans -5 Over/Under: 42.5
The Texans offense torched the Titans last week for 45 points thanks to QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 6 TD passes. Although the Jags pulled out a victory against a struggling Giants team last week, the easy points should be available for the Texans again this week.
Recent Betting Trends:
Houston is 6-19 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Houston’s last 7 games
Houston is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Houston is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games on the road
Jacksonville is 1-3-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Jacksonville is 2-13 SU in its last 15 games
Jacksonville is 3-10-1 ATS in its last 14 games at home
Jacksonville is 4-18 SU in its last 22 games at home
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5) vs Cincinnati Bengals (8-3-1) Free NFL Picks for Week 14 12/7/2014
Latest Odds: Bengals -3 Over/Under: 47
The Steelers are scoring almost 27 pts a game and giving up almost 25 pts a game. The Bengals are averaging closer to 22/21 pts scored/giving up. We expect a lot of points in this game, as both teams have great running games that should help open up the passing attack.
Recent Betting Trends:
Pittsburgh is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Pittsburgh’s last 6 games
Pittsburgh is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 6 games on the road
Cincinnati is 3-5-1 ATS in its last 9 games
Cincinnati is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Cincinnati’s last 5 games
Cincinnati is 12-3-1 ATS in its last 16 games at home
