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super bowl lVGOAT vs. Baby Goat

A little trivia for everyone. This may be the first NFL postseason with three GOAT Bowls.

We’ve had Tom Brady against Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, games that put to rest either of them challenging the six-time cham-pion, and now we have him facing someone he might be handing off the torch to within a few years, reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.

Honestly, when was the last great quarterback show-down in the Super Bowl?

Brady vs. Matt Ryan in the game that seemingly crippled the Atlanta Falcons

for years to come, as the team with blown leads. But when the word “GOAT” has been involved with both starters, I’m thinking 2009, when Brees met Peyton Manning and the Colts.

Before that, go to 1997, when John Elway and the Broncos faced Brett Favre and Green Bay. At one time, in their day, they were certainly part of the goat conversation.

So aside from how special this matchup is on the surface, understand the rarity of what we’ve seen with Tom Brady, in his pursuit for a seventh ring.

The Buccaneers will win if: They feed off an offense that has produced 29 TDs — 19 passing, 10, rushing — while outscoring teams by a margin of nearly 14 points during a seven-game win streak. Offensive-minded Bruce Arians is having a good time draw-ing up plays for Brady.

The offense dominated through the air with the league’s second-most productive pass attack. And despite a less-than glamorous running game, the blue-collar unit still man-aged to contribute with 16 TDs during the regular season — an average of one per game. They had one in each play-off game, too.

Mahomes,Brady face off

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Dink and DunkW.G. Ramirez

SUPER BOWL LVWho: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay BuccaneersWhen: Sunday, 3:30 p.m. PTWhere: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.TV: CBSLine: Chiefs -3; Total 56

Please see Ramirez p11

Sportsbook vets share Super Bowl bet stories p3

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2 FEBRUARY 3, 2021 - FEBRUARY 9, 2021

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nflFEBRUARY 3, 2021 - FEBRUARY 9, 2021 3

Tales from behind the counterBY ROB MIECH

In the run-up to a Super Bowl, Johnny Avello has never had a cus-tomer plop a gym bag filled with a million dollars, in small denomina-tions, on the countertop and put it all on a side or total.

But one guy did risk $400,000 or $500,000, in twenties and fif-ties, on one of the big-game out-comes.

In sheer enormity of a single Super Bowl wager, Jimmy Vaccaro probably claims the top spot by having accepted $2.4 million for a bet by a wealthy financier. It was executed via a wire and a marker, though, not cash.

That’s the grand Hollywood anomaly, however, as Jay Ko-rnegay says he also has never fielded a seven-figure wager, on a Super Bowl or any other event, in his storied career.

“Whenever any of us watches a movie that includes sports bet-ting, like ‘Two for the Money,’ it’s comical,” Kornegay said. “At one point, I think Al Pacino says, ‘Go ahead and bet a couple of million on the Under first, then bet the Over.’ ”

Kornegay laughs, then said, “Yeah, good luck with that.”

The Super Bowl has become a lush tree of proposition options, in booklets comprised of two dozen pages, that are all rooted in New Orleans, the first seed having been planted on Jan. 26, 1986.

A kitchen appliance, epic emo-

tional swings, a customer’s rage and an in-game shout-out from broadcasting legend Al Michaels himself all figure in the most memorable Super Bowl-betting scenes of a select group of sports-book luminaries.

Super See-SawAs Seattle slinked to the 1-yard

line in Super Bowl XLIX, in Glendale, Ariz., Johnny Avello was trekking from his Wynn Las Vegas office to the property’s sportsbook. A seven-figure sum rode on this play, and he wanted to feel the crowd.

“A big deal,” he said.Avello always likes to experi-

ence the atmosphere of a big event, so throughout his career he has tried to spend at least half of his time on the floor, talking with customers, discussing spreads, analyzing games.

“Half that crowd was thinking it was about to cash this ticket with Seattle, because it had Marshawn Lynch, the Beast, at running back, and there was no way he would be stopped from the one,” Avello said. “Then, the pick happened, turning everything around.”

Twenty-six seconds remained. Instead of giving it to Lynch, though, Seattle opted to pass, and undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler intercepted an attempt from Rus-sell Wilson at the goal-line to seal New England’s 28-24 victory.

Avello witnessed the half of the crowd that had been jubilant be-

come deflated and sit down or put their hands on their heads. The other half that had been sullen suddenly jumped, clapped and hollered.

“A total switch,” he says. “I’d never seen that before. It’s quite astonishing, because people were so happy and were anticipating … and it goes the other way! To see that flip in the crowd, to see it firsthand on such a big game, it had such a big impact not only on money but emotions.”

Millions of dollars were on the line, and it was not a good out-come for the Wynn bottom line. But Avello didn’t cringe.

“I really don’t cringe, because I’ve seen so many turnarounds in games,” he said. “When Atlanta had that 21-3 halftime lead (over New England in Super Bowl LI, and lost in overtime), we needed the Falcons that day. There are times when it’s worked for us, too.

“I’ve had it both ways. In the sportsbook business, the Super Bowl should not make or break your year anyway. I’ve gone five,

six years in a row with Super Bowl wins. When you take big action and you lose, it’s a dent. It hurts. You just suck it up and move on to the next day.”

Hotline to Shanahan?Before a packed Imperial Palace

sportsbook, the patron screamed in full fury at Jay Kornegay. The guy had wagered on Denver reserve quarterback Bubby Brister to not have a rushing attempt against Atlanta in Super Bowl XXXIII.

IP book director Kornegay and his staff had detailed, in that prop-osition’s fine print, that a kneel-down constituted an attempt to run with the football.

With the game secured in Miami Gardens, Fla., Broncos coach Mike Shanahan put Brister in for John Elway. Brister took a knee. The cus-tomer knew Kornegay had roots in Colorado and accused him of having called Shanahan during the game.

“And told him to put Brister in, because we need him to get a rushing attempt,” said Kornegay,

laughing. “Seriously? Yeah, I had a direct hotline. ‘Hey, Mike. Jay in Vegas. I know you’re busy but, uh, could you put Bubby in? Appreci-ate it. Thanks.’

“No,” said a grinning Kornegay, who has run the Westgate Super-Book since 2004, to the obvious follow-up, “I’ve never met Shana-han in my life.”

The Great RefundWhen Gaughan Gaming sports

director Vinny Magliulo was at Caesars Palace, he had okayed the payout of a coin-toss prop when he saw one team receiving the kickoff. He had gotten busy and assumed that’s what happened.

But the other side had correctly called the toss, then chose to defer to the second half. “Who does that in a Super Bowl?” says Magliulo, who would give the company’s accountants headaches by having ticket writers pay off both sides.

However, he has a better story. When Green Bay beat New Eng-land, 35-21, in Super Bowl XXXI Photo from Westgate

Jay Kornegay of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. Please see Bookies p13

Photo from VSiN

Vinny Magliulo of the South Point and VSiN is a Las Vegas sportsbook veteran.

nfl4 FEBRUARY 3, 2021 - FEBRUARY 9, 2021

Bill PaulosPublisher/CeO

Howard BarishManaging editOr/gM

Steve CarpseniOr editOr

Gabrielle Reisleradvertising sales direCtOr

lori lewisPrOduCtiOn Manager

Chuck DiRoccoFOunder (1935-2004)

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© Paulos Sports, LLC 2021. All rights reserved. All content has copyright and trademark pending status. Reproduction or use, in whole or part, of the contents without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Member of: Nevada State Press Association, Associated Press. Published weekly by Paulos Sports, LLC, 9107 W. Russell Road, Las Vegas, NV 89148

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Disclaimer: Each Gaming Today writer uses the betting line avail-able to him at the time he makes his selections, so you may see different lines on the same game throughout the paper. Writers’ selections are a guide to their thinking on the game and their choice for a possible bet based on the line they had available.

NFL .........................................3NBA ......................................14College Basketball ..........16NHL ......................................18Golf/ Soccer ......................19Horse Racing ................... 20Sportsbook Biz ................21Industry ..............................24Casino Games ................. 25Entertainment ................. 26

Well, we made it!Somehow, some way, the NFL

managed to get to the Super Bowl despite numerous obstacles

thrown at it by the coronavirus pandemic. Come Sunday, we’ll cel-ebrate with an intriguing matchup featuring two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks with one team get-ting to play on its own field for the first time in the game’s 55-year history.

I’ll be honest, I thought we’d have to wait until later this month or even March to see the Super Bowl. The NFL’s decision to go without a bubble seemed reckless to me. We knew players, coach-es and entire teams would feel the impact of COVID-19 and find themselves isolated and in quar-antine. Practice facilities would shut down. The schedule would be thrown into chaos.

All of that did happen. Fines were administered for not follow-ing the league’s protocols. Frustra-tion and anger bubbled to the sur-face. Yet through it all, everyone played their 16 games, the playoffs have gone on without a hitch and we’re left with a terrific Super Bowl with the Chiefs and Buccaneers, Patrick Mahomes vs. Tom Brady and a chance to wrap up the most bizarre season anyone can recall on a good note. I’d use the word “positive” but it has such a nega-tive connotation these days.

I was seeing the proposition bets roll out last week and that’s always a cause for celebration. It gives a feel of normalcy when the Westgate SuperBook, William Hill, Station Casinos, South Point, Boyd Gaming and other properties re-lease their annual list of props.

The cool thing is with more and

more states legalizing sports bet-ting, more people get the oppor-tunity we here in Nevada have en-joyed for decades. They can get on their mobile app, scroll through the props and get involved. It is al-ways a fun way to watch the game when you have a little action rid-ing on the outcome. Or in the case of the big bettors, a lot of action.

Unfortunately, most of us will be unable to gather in large groups and watch the game together. There are restrictions on the num-ber of people who can be in one place at a time and that includes sportsbooks. Some will try and use the space throughout their property and accommodate more folks. But the traditional Super Bowl party as we know it will not be held this Sunday. There will be small VIP parties, social distancing in the sportsbooks and that will be the extent of it.

Yet despite those obstacles, it figures to be a record for the bet-ting handle on the game. More people have mobile accounts which means they can bet from anywhere inside the state of Ne-vada. Those visiting from else-where are being strongly encour-aged to open an account, which is free to do, and bet off their mobile device. The entire betting menu you see on the walls of your favor-

ite book are also available on their mobile app.

Those commercials we love and eagerly await every year are going to be different. Several major com-panies are not doing traditional Super Bowl ads. Rather, they’re going to acknowledge the front-line health care workers and oth-ers who have been battling the pandemic. And that’s a nice thing.

And there’ll be a lot of virtual stuff on the CBS telecast, particu-larly with the pregame show. But by now, you’re used to it. And if you don’t want to watch it, there’s probably a basketball or hockey game to occupy your time until kickoff.

There’s so much to feel good about, yet personally, there is also sadness. We’re giving you what we believe will be an information-packed edition of Gaming Today with all the usual trappings — analysis, statistics, picks, opinion, our Props Central coverage — ev-erything you need to prepare for Sunday’s game.

The sad news is this will be the last time we do it. Ever since 1977, GT has had a Super Bowl preview issue (We missed the 1976 game since the paper didn’t launch until May that year). And it has always been a must-read.

As you are no doubt aware,

Gaming Today was recently sold to i15 Media and the decision has been made to cease producing a print edition. So this is the final Super Bowl edition for us. Our final issue will be Feb. 10, so make sure you grab a copy.

Some of our columnists are bid-ding farewell this week — Jack Sheehan, Elliot Frome, George Epstein, Sebastian Ross, Marco D’Angelo, James Bunting, Tony Mejia and Danny Lawhon. They have all been a big part of what we do and I want to personally thank each of them for their con-tributions over the years. You will read their goodbyes at the end of their columns and I hope you will join me in thanking them for a job well done.

In the meantime, enjoy the game Sunday, hit your prop bets and, as always, stay safe.

[email protected]

NFLfinisheson time

@stevecarp56

From theEditorSteve Carp

Photo from AP Photos

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa wll host Super Bowl LV Sunday with a familiar tenant in Buccaneers.

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As I consumed my Super Bowl betting content this week through articles, podcasts and videos, I did not hear too many people refer-ence back to the Week 12 game that the Chiefs and Buccaneers played in Tampa.

Why not? It was in the same sta-dium. There were no major injuries or missing pieces in that contest. There was plenty at stake, as Kan-sas City was still chasing Pittsburgh for the No. 1 seed in the AFC and Tampa Bay was far from secure in the NFC playoff hunt at 7-4 (7-5 after they lost to the Chiefs).

So, we are at the same stadium, with the same teams looking at a clear weather forecast and a whole lot at stake. Why would this game look drastically different than the first?

That Week 12 game featured 960 yards of offense and 46 first downs. Patrick Mahomes threw for 462 yards. Tom Brady threw for 345 yards. There were three turnovers in the red zone, with Patrick Ma-homes fumbling at the Tampa Bay 8-yard line and Brady throwing two interceptions inside the Kansas City 15-yard-line. Without those abnormalities, that Week 12 game probably flirts with 70 points.

During the 2020 regular season, there were only 20 instances of a team averaging more than 7.5 yards per play in a game. Two of those 20 instances came in that Week 12 game as both the Chiefs and Bucs averaged more than 7.5 yards per play.

In my opinion, the ingredients for a repeat performance are there, including pace of play, special teams and explosive playmakers.

Full-game pace numbers can be skewed because these teams won a lot of games this year and they were running out the clock in the fourth quarter of a lot of games. So, if you just look at the first three quarters, Tampa Bay’s of-fense operated at the third-fastest pace in the NFL with Kansas City at the fifth-fastest pace according to Sharp Football Stats.

When it comes to special teams, we have the right combination of good and bad. The good is the kickers. Harrison Butker has actu-ally missed more extra points in his career than field goals. He was 16-

of-19 on kicks greater than 40 yards this season. Butker is 40-of-44 on field goals and extra points in his eight-game playoff career.

On the other side, Ryan Succop has missed one field goal since Week 5. He only missed two kicks at Raymond James Stadium this season. Obviously, the nerves are a little different in the Super Bowl, but if you are looking to back the over, we have two of the best kick-ers in the game right now.

Time for the not-so-special part of special teams: Tampa Bay is No. 26 in Football Outsiders’ DVOA rankings for both punt and kickoff return coverage. The Buccaneers allow the most kickoff return yard-age in the NFL by almost four yards per return.

Byron Pringle averaged 32.4 yards per kickoff return during the regular season and has a 102-yard touchdown return on his resume. Mecole Hardman had a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown this year. Jaydon Mickens had a 43-yard return for the Bucs against Green Bay. There could be some fireworks on special teams.

By looking at the Over, I am go-ing against history when it comes to Super Bowls that feature a re-match from the regular season. The under is 10-3 (76.9%) when the Super Bowl is a regular season rematch, including each of the last four instances.

For those that plan on doing some live betting, Brady’s history of slow starts in the Super Bowl may present an appealing op-portunity. In his nine prior Super Bowl appearances, Brady has never scored a first quarter touchdown. Five of those nine games were 0-0 after the first quarter, while two more were 3-0.

SundayChiefs vs. Buccaneers, Total

56: While I do have confidence in Brady and his playmakers to put

High total justifies potential shootout

Super Bowl lVI

CHIEFS ...........................5-1PACKERS .....................10-1BILLS ............................10-1RAVENS .......................12-1SAINTS ........................12-1BUCCANEERS..............12-1DOLPHINS....................20-149ERS ...........................16-1SEAHAWKS .................16-1STEELERS ....................30-1BROWNS ......................30-1

SoFi Stadium - Inglewood, California • February 6, 2022ODDS PROVIDED BY SuperBook at Westgate 2.1.21

CHARGERS ..................30-1COWBOYS ...................30-1RAMS ...........................16-1TITANS .........................40-1COLTS ..........................30-1CARDINALS .................30-1VIKINGS .......................40-1JAGUARS ....................60-1RAIDERS ......................40-1BRONCOS ....................60-1EAGLES ........................40-1

BEARS ..........................50-1FALCONS .....................60-1PATRIOTS ....................60-1GIANTS ........................80-1Washington Football ...80-1LIONS .........................100-1PANTHERS ..................50-1JETS ...........................100-1BENGALS ...................100-1TEXANS .....................100-1

nfC ChampionshipPACKERS .......................5-1SAINTS ..........................6-1BUCCANEERS................6-149ERS .............................8-1SEAHAWKS ...................8-1COWBOYS ...................15-1

RAMS .............................8-1CARDINALS .................15-1VIKINGS .......................20-1EAGLES ........................20-1BEARS ..........................25-1FALCONS .....................30-1

GIANTS ........................40-1Washington Football ...40-1LIONS ...........................50-1PANTHERS ..................25-1

AfC ChampionshipCHIEFS ...........................5-2BILLS ..............................5-1RAVENS .........................6-1DOLPHINS....................10-1STEELERS ....................15-1BROWNS ......................15-1

CHARGERS ..................15-1TITANS .........................20-1COLTS ..........................15-1JAGUARS ....................30-1RAIDERS ......................20-1BRONCOS ....................30-1

PATRIOTS ....................30-1JETS .............................50-1BENGALS .....................50-1TEXANS .......................50-1

@BuntsBratsBrews

SpreadOffenseJames Bunting

points on the board, the Bucca-neers’ coaching staff does cause me to briefly pause. Leonard Four-nette touched the ball in six of Tam-pa Bay’s first nine plays in the NFC Championship Game. Those six plays generated a total of ten yards, while Brady’s first three downfield plays went for 27, 14, and 15 yards.

The Buccaneers’ first five first-down plays were all runs. Those first down runs produced a total of 11 yards. If Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich toss out that conservative game script and let Brady be ag-gressive from the jump, I think we see a shootout on Sunday. OVER

Season: 55-54-1On behalf of myself and the Wa-

gerTalk Media team, I would like to thank Gaming Today for a wonder-ful partnership. Thank you to the readers and advertisers that made Gaming Today a Las Vegas institu-tion over the last few decades.

[email protected]

Photo from USA Today

Buccaneers WR Mike Evans figures to be busy Sunday.

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6 FEBRUARY 3, 2021 - FEBRUARY 9, 2021


Correlating prop bets good strategyAfter five months of unprec-

edented challenges, uncertainty and hiccups along the way the 2020 NFL season will successfully conclude on Sunday with the play-ing of Super Bowl LV. To say this is an intriguing matchup is an un-derstatement with numerous side plots in addition to the matchup itself.

For the first time the game will be played on the home field of one of the participants. The Tam-pa Bay Buccaneers, in search of the second Super Bowl win in fran-chise history, will host the defend-ing champion Kansas City Chiefs, in search of their third.

Tampa QB Tom Brady seeks his seventh title while denying the Chiefs and their QB, Patrick Ma-homes, the successfully accom-plish something last done when Brady quarterbacked his former team (New England) to back-to-back titles in Super Bowls 38 and 39 nearly two decades ago.

Brady may also be seeking to add to the argument of who was more the key to New England’s unprecedented sustained success — him or head coach, Bill Belich-ick. Tampa also seeks to become only the fourth team to win the Super Bowl after winning three road playoff games (and the first since the 2010 Steelers).

Let’s take a look at what has become the most talked about aspect of Super Bowl wagering in recent seasons, the proposition bets. These wagers generally now account for nearly half, or some-times more, of the total wagering volume on the Super Bowl.

From which team wins the coin toss to whether the game will be decided in overtime virtually ev-ery play will determine the out-come of one or more props. These wagers provide added enjoyment to the Super Bowl viewing experi-ence while also providing oppor-tunities to profit.

Professionals and other high rollers may wager thousands of dollars on individual props and spend countless hours research-ing every aspect of the game seeking to find props that may be mispriced or provide other edges.

I’ve long grouped props into several categories. Head-to-head

props provide just two betting op-tions — yes/no, over/under, will/won’t and the like. Multiple option

wagers generally provide from a half dozen to a dozen options with varying odds attached to each. The “needle in a haystack” prop re-quires the bettor to select from a wide array of options such as who will score the first touchdown, fi-nal margin of victory, etc.

I generally prefer the head-to-head props and, more specifically, what I call “tandem” props — ones that are independently related to each other. My best example is whether each QB’s first pass will be complete or incomplete. The “complete” part of the prop is gen-erally priced about -200 with the “incomplete” priced in a range of +160 to +180. I’ll play the ”incom-plete.”

I’m content to go 1-1 which would result in a small profit. Los-ing both would cost two units. Winning both results in a profit of three to three and a half units. Researching back to the start of the millennium this tandem wager has been nicely profitable despite a shaky start.

Between Super Bowls 35 and 44 there were five 1-1 splits, one 2-0 and four 0-2s, the last of which was in SB 44 at which point the cumu-lative loss was minus 2.25 units. But in the 10 Super Bowls since there have been nine 1-1 splits and one 2-0 such that for the 20 Super Bowls there’s been a cumulative profit of 8.0 units.

It’s always easy to make a case for the “complete” with usually top-notch quarterbacks involved. But history shows 1-1 to have been the most common outcome.

SundayChiefs -3 vs. Buccaneers, Total

56: Picking the winner of a football game always involves the answer-ing of a number of questions and considering “what if” scenarios.

For the Super Bowl these consid-erations are heightened as it’s the season’s ultimate game.

Both teams have injury con-cerns, most notably Kansas City’s offensive line and Tampa Bay’s secondary. Mahomes’ mobility and ability to extend plays and im-provise reduces Kansas City’s con-cern. But the concern for Tampa’s secondary is greater, especially if the Chiefs are successful in estab-lishing a running game against Tampa’s top-ranked run defense that allows just 81 yards per game (3.7 per rush).

Both are adept at avoiding turn-overs with K.C. having a slight edge. Tampa has been slightly better at forcing them.

In his third season as starter Mahomes has more experience running the Chiefs’ offense than does Brady in his first season with Tampa. Of course, Mahomes is no match for Brady in terms of overall NFL experience, especially in the playoffs and Super Bowls. But he did engineer last season’s come-

back against defensively stout San Francisco.

Tampa Bay must be given credit for pulling playoff upsets at New Orleans and Green Bay even though Brady tossed three inter-ceptions vs. the Packers. Brady is familiar with the Chiefs’ defense having faced it several times in re-cent seasons. But Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has defensed Brady well, including in SB 42 when his Giants ended Brady’s dream of 19-0. In winning 17-14, the Giants sacked Brady five times for 37 yards.

This is also an intriguing match-up between a pair of outstanding

head coaches. In addition to being portly, both K.C.’s Andy Reid and Tampa’s Bruce Arians are two of the most imaginative and creative offensive minds. And that creativ-ity may ultimately determine the winner. It sets up as an entertain-ing “Battle of the Bulge(s)” with Reid seeking his second Super Bowl title and Arians his first.

Reid’s success after a bye has been well documented. Despite failing to cover in their playoff win over Cleveland the Chiefs led wire-to-wire, even with Mahomes leav-ing the game with a concussion in the third quarter.

In a Week 12 meeting Kansas City jumped out to a 17-0 lead at Tampa and led 20-7 at the half and 27-10 after three quarters before winning 27-24. The Chiefs out-gained the Bucs 543-417 but yards per play were almost identical.

The points have not mattered in 11 straight Super Bowls and in 14 of the last 15. Since seeding began in 1990 the SU winner is 24-4-2 ATS. Seven straight and 11 of the last 12 Super Bowls have been decided by more than a FG. Tampa Bay and Brady may have the better of the intangibles, but Kansas City has the better of the tangibles — the fundamentals — with more ways to win and fewer vulnerabilities.

The selection is for Kansas City to win 30-20. CHIEFS and UNDER

Season: [email protected]

@vegasandy711

PigskinPicksAndy Iskoe

AVE AVE AVE AVE RUSH PASS TOTL RUSH PASS TOTL PTS PTS PTS PTS ATS ATS ATS YRDS YRDS YRDS YDSA YRDS YRDS NET NET FOR AGST FOR AGSTTEAM SUW SUL SUT W L P OVR UND PSH FOR FOR FOR AGST AGST AGST YRDS T/O HOME HOME ROAD ROAD

The above chart shows each team’s wins, losses, point spread and Over/Under results plus yardage, turnover andhome/road scoring averages for the current 2020 season through Monday night’s game. Through 1-25-21.

KANSAS CITY 16 2 0 8 10 0 9 9 0 113 306 419 122 234 356 63 7 27.5 22.2 31.6 23.0TAMPA BAY 14 5 0 11 8 0 11 8 0 98 287 385 81 249 330 55 11 28.5 23.9 33.0 20.5

nfl Averages & Rankingsc/o Andy Iskoe

Fav. Team Rating Diff. Rating Underdog

National Football League

Home team in CAPS; Home team rating includes four additional points. Copyright 2021 by Noland Parry

feb. 7TAMPA BAY ...................91.3 .... 6.9 .... 84.4 .................Kansas City

Parry’s Power Guide


Bruce Arians’ play-calling will impact props on Bucs.

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2020 Bookies BattleThe Point Spreads Special Playoff Edition

Team away KC Line away -3.5 Team Home TB Line Home SEaSon analySiSSPoRTSBooK ConTeSTanT w L

BaLdini’S RoBeRT KowaLSKi 6-6 TB SKiLL PoSiTionS maTCH uP Head To Head and geTTing PoinTS in Home STadium iS Too muCH To PaSS on.

goLd STRiKe TuniCa aRT Heun 7-5 KC BRady wiLL STRuggLe wiTH CHiefS SeCondaRy Coming uP Big. K.C. winS and iT wiLL noT Be CLoSe.

HaRRaH’S HooSieR JoHn LindHeimeR 4-8 TB i LiKe THe way THe BuCS defenSe HaS Been maKing Big PLayS and BRady’S made a BeLieveR ouT of uS.

mandaLay Bay miKe PiRanio 5-7 TB HeRe iS THe PeRfeCT middLe PLay aS game ComeS down To fieLd goaL.

miRage Randy madayag 7-5 TB TB winS aT no THen gB and now geTTing +3.5 in TamPa againST THe Team THaT BeaT THem LaST.

Red RoCK CaSino JaSon mCCoRmiCK 8-4 TB Home dog. CHeCK. TB12. CHeCK. CHiefS aLL PRo LT fiSHeR ouT. CHeCK.

SunCoaST miKe LewiS 4-8 KC THe gReaTeST of aLL Time PaSSeS THe ToRCH To THe BeST. THe CHiefS Have Too many weaPonS.

SunSeT STaTion CHuCK eSPoSiTo 5-7 KC BRady and BuCS won’T Be aBLe To Come BaCK THiS Time and maKe iT CLoSe!.

wiLdfiRe BouLdeR miCHaeL SmoLLeR 9-3 KC one woRd: “maHomeS.” veRy SimPLe, He’LL go down aS THe gReaTeST QB of aLL Time.

wiLLiam HiLL niCK BogdanoviCH 6-6 TB TaKing TamPa Bay in a BaCK and foRTH game To CoveR THe +3.5 aS BuKeR KiCKS game-winning fg.

Super Bowl LV

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NFLFEBRUARY 3, 2021 - FEBRUARY 9, 2021 9

PROP CENTRAL

OPENING COIN TOSS WILL BE:

HEADS ........................................-102TAILS...........................................-102

WILL EITHER TEAM SCORE 3 STRAIGHT TIMES?

EXCLUDES EXTRA POINTS AND 2 PT CONVERSIONS — INCLUDES SAFETIESYES ..............................................-210NO .............................................+180

WILL EITHER TEAM SCORE IN THE FIRST 6½ MINUTES OF

THE GAME?IF SCORE OCCURS AT EXACTLY 6

MINUTES AND 30 SECONDS INTO THE GAME “YES” IS WINNER — INCLUDES

SAFETYYES ..............................................-155NO .............................................+135

WILL EITHER TEAM SCORE IN THE FINAL 2 MINUTES OF THE

FIRST HALF?IF SCORE OCCURS AT EXACTLY 2

MINUTES REMAINING IN THE FIRST HALF “YES” IS WINNER — INCLUDES

SAFETYYES ..............................................-400NO .............................................+330

FIRST PENALTY OF SB LV:EXCLUDES DECLINED PENALTIES

CHIEFS ........................................-120BUCCANEERS...........................EVEN

WHICH TEAM WILL HAVE THE MOST PENALTY YARDS?EXCLUDES DECLINED PENALTIES

CHIEFS ........................................-160BUCCANEERS...........................+140

WILL THERE BE A MISSED EXTRA POINT KICK?

IF NO TD IS SCORED — ALL BETS REFUNDED

YES ............................................+240NO ...............................................-280

TOTAL QB SACKS BY: BOTH TEAMS

IF NO SACK IS RECORDED — “UNDER” IS WINNER

OVER ...................... OV ............. -130UNDER ....3.5 ....... UN ........... +110

FIRST PASS BY PATRICK MAHOMES* (KC) WILL BE:INTERCEPTION IS “INCOMPLETE”

COMPLETE .................................-200INCOMPLETE ............................+175

WILL PATRICK MAHOMES* (KC) THROW AN INTERCEPTION?

YES ............................................+155NO ...............................................-175

FIRST RUSHING ATTEMPT BY: PATRICK MAHOMES* (KC)

IF NO RUSHING ATTEMPT — “UNDER” IS WINNER

OVER ...................... OV ............. -110UNDER ....5.5 ....... UN ............. -110FIRST RUSHING ATTEMPT BY: CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE*

(KC)IF NO RUSHING ATTEMPT —

“UNDER” IS WINNEROVER ...................... OV .............+150UNDER ....3.5 ....... UN ............. -170FIRST RUSHING ATTEMPT BY:

DARREL WILLIAMS* (KC)IF NO RUSHING ATTEMPT —

“UNDER” IS WINNEROVER ...................... OV .............+120UNDER ....3.5 ....... UN ............. -140FIRST PASS BY TOM BRADY*

(TB) WILL BE:INTERCEPTION IS “IMCOMPLETE

COMPLETE .................................-200INCOMPLETE ............................+175

FIRST RECEPTION BY: MIKE EVANS* (TB)

IF NO RECEPTION — “UNDER” IS WINNER

OVER ...................... OV ............. -110UNDER ....10.5 .... UN ............. -110

FIRST RECEPTION BY: ANTONIO BROWN* (TB)


OVER ...................... OV ............. -110UNDER ....9.5 ....... UN ............. -110

FIRST RECEPTION BY: ROB GRONKOWSKI* (TB)


OVER ...................... OV ............. -110UNDER ....9.5 ....... UN ............. -110

LONGEST TOUCHDOWN OF THE GAME

IF NO TD SCORED — ALL BETS ARE REFUNDED — INCLUDES ALL RETURNSOVER ...................... OV ............. -110UNDER ....46.5 .... UN ............. -110

WILL EITHER TEAM SCORE 4 STRAIGHT TIMES?

EXCLUDES EXTRA POINTS AND 2 PT CONVERSIONS — INCLUDES SAFETIESYES ............................................+240NO ...............................................-280

TEAM TO SCORE FIRST:CHIEFS ........................................-125BUCCANEERS...........................+105

TEAM TO SCORE LAST:CHIEFS ........................................-125BUCCANEERS...........................+105

TOTAL FIELD GOALS MADE BY: BOTH TEAMS:

IF NO FIELD GOAL MADE — UNDER IS WINNER

OVER ...................... OV .............+120UNDER ....3.5 ....... UN ............. -140TWILL EITHER TEAM MAKE A FIELD GOAL IN THE SECOND

QUARTER?YES ..............................................-300NO .............................................+250

FIRST SCORE OF THE GAME WILL BE:

TOUCHDOWN ............................-210ANY OTHER SCORE .................+180

TOTAL TOUCHDOWNS BY: BOTH TEAMS

OVER ...................... OV .............+110UNDER ....6.5 ....... UN ............. -130TEAM TO SCORE LAST IN THE

FIRST HALF:CHIEFS ........................................-125BUCCANEERS...........................+105

LAST SCORE OF THE FIRST HALF WILL BE:

EXCLUDES EXTRA POINTS AND TWO POINT CONVERSIONS

TOUCHDOWN ............................-115ANY OTHER SCORE ...................-105

WILL THERE BE A SAFETY?YES ............................................+800NO .............................................-1400

*PLAYER MUST PLAY FOR ACTION UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED

Check for current lines at sportsbook or your appODDS PROVIDED 1.28.21

Propositions from Five Giants in the Sportsbook Industry


Mike Evans

ODDS PROVIDED 1.28.21Check for current lines at sportsbook or your app

WHICH WILL HAPPEN 1ST IN GAME? SACK OR TOUCHDOWN

SACK ..........................................+120TOUCHDOWN .............................-150

TEAM WITH MORE TIME OF POSSESION

CHIEFS ..................................... -150BUCCANEERS......................+120

WHICH IS HIGHER?BRYSON DECHAMBEAU’S YARDS OF LONGEST DRIVE VS. PATRICK

MAHOMES PASSYING YARDS4TH ROUND ONLY

WASTE MANAGEMENT OPEN 2/7/21

DECHAMBEAULONG DRIVE ................... -30.5 -115MAHOMES PASSING YARDS ........+30.5 -115

WHICH IS HIGHER?TOTAL GOALS SCORED IN KINGS/KNIGHTS GAME VS.

CHRIS GODWIN TOTAL RECEPTIONS

L.A. KINGS AT VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2/7/20 AT 12:00 PM

LAK + VGKGOALS .........................................-120CHRIS GODWINRECEPTIONS ...............................-110

JERSEY NUMBER OF PLAYER TO SCORE FIRST TOUCHDOWN

OVER ...................... OV ............. -125UNDER ....17.5 .... UN ............. -105

WHICH WILL OCCUR FIRST IN GAME FOR THE BUCCANEERS?

ANY SCORE ...............................EVENPUNT ............................................-130

TOTAL 1ST DOWNS BY KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

OVER ...................... OV ............. -110UNDER ....24.5 .... UN ............. -120

TOTAL 1ST DOWNS BY TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

OVER ...................... OV ............. -120UNDER ....22.5 .... UN ............. -110TOTAL POINTS SCORED IN GAME

WILL END IN?ODD NUMBER .............................-130EVEN NUMBER ..........................EVEN

TOTAL RUSHING YARDS BY KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

OVER ...................... OV ............. -115UNDER ....82.5 .... UN ............. -115

TOTAL RUSHING YARDS BY TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

OVER ...................... OV ............. -115UNDER ....93.5 .... UN ............. -115

TOTAL YARDAGE OF ALL FIELD GOALS MADE

OVER ...................... OV ............. -115UNDER ....118.5 . UN ............. -115

TOTAL YARDAGE OF ALL TOUCHDOWNS SCORED

OVER ...................... OV ............. -120UNDER ....99.5 .... UN ............. -110

TOMMY TOWNSEND (KC) LONGEST GROSS PUNT

OVER ...................... OV ............. -120UNDER ....52.5 .... UN ............. -110

BRADLEY PINION (TB) LONGEST GROSS PUNT

OVER ...................... OV ............. -125UNDER ....50.5 .... UN ............. -105

WILL PATRICK MAHOMES (KC) THROW A 1ST QUARTER

TOUCHDOWN PASS?YES .............................................+125NO ................................................-155

WILL TOM BRADY (TB) THROW A 1ST QUARTER

TOUCHDOWN PASS?YES .............................................+145NO ................................................-180

PATRICK MAHOMES (KC) VS TOM BRADY (TB) WHO WILL HAVE

MORE PASSING YARDS?PATRICK MAHOMES ...................-160TOM BRADY ..............................+130

PATRICK MAHOMES (KC) VS TOM BRADY (TB) WHO WILL HAVE

MORE TOUCHDOWN PASSES?PATRICK MAHOMES ...................-185TOM BRADY ..............................+150


WHAT WILL BE MORE?gIAnnIs AnTETOkOUnMpO

pOInTs AT cAvALIERs On sAT FEB 6

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO POINTS .......................................-110SHORTEST FIELD GOAL ...... PK -110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?sTEpHEn cURRY pOInTs

vs. MAvERIcks On sAT FEB 6STEPHEN CURRY POINTS ................................-1.5 -110BUCCANEERS POINTS...............-110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?LUkA dOncIc pOInTs, REBOUnds, AssIsTs

AT WARRIORs On sAT FEB 6L DONCIC POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS .....................................-120TOTAL FIRST DOWNS IN GAME ............................. PK +100

WHAT WILL BE MORE?LEBROn JAMEs pOInTs,

REBOUnds, AssIsTs AT pIsTOns On sAT FEB 6

L JAMES POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS .....................................-110PATRICK MAHOMES PASS ATTEMPTS ................. PK -100

WHAT WILL BE MORE?dOnOvAn MITcHELL pOInTs AT pAcERs

On sUn FEB 7DONOVAN MITCHELL POINTS ................................-1.5 -110PATRICK MAHOMES RUSHING YARDS .......................-110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?MIAMI HEAT pOInTs vs. knIcks

On sUn FEB 7MIAMI HEAT POINTS ................................-1.5 -110TYREEK HILL RECEIVING YARDS .....................-110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?nY knIcks

pOInTs vs. HEAT On sUn FEB 2NY KNICKS POINTS ..................................-.5 -110TRAVIS KELCE RECEIVING YARDS .....................-110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?dAMIAn LILLARd pOInTs +,

AssIsTs

AT HORnETs On sUn FEB 7DAMIAN LILLARD POINTS + ASSISTS ............-4.5 -110CAMERON BRATERECEIVING YARDS .....................-110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?pHOEnIX sUns pOInTs vs.

cELTIcs On sUn. FEB. 7PHOENIX SUNS POINTS ................................-5.5 -110CHIEFS RUSHING YARDS .......................-110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?kAWHI LEOnARd pOInTs vs.

kIngs On sUn. FEB. 7KAWHI LEONARD POINTS ................................. -.5 -120CHIEFS FIRST DOWNS ..........................+110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?IOWA HAWkEYEs pOInTs AT

IndIAnA On sUn FEB 7IOWA HAWKEYES POINTS ................................-2.5 -110CHRIS GODWIN RECEIVING YARDS .....................-110

2021 SUPER BOWL PROPOSITIONSWHAT WILL BE MORE?BOIsE sT + nEvAdA MAdE

3-pT FIELd gOALs On sUn FEB 7

BOIST ST + NEVADA MADE 3-PT FIELD GOALS ........+110SECOND QUARTER POINTS ................................. PK -130

WHAT WILL BE MORE?ALEX OvEcHkIn sHOTs On gOAL

vs. FLYERs On sUn. FEB. 7ALEX OVECHKIN SHOTS ON GOAL .....................+100TYRANN MATHIEU SOLO+ASSIST TACKLES .... PK -120

WHAT WILL BE MORE?pHILAdELpHIA FLYERs +

WAsHIngTOn cApITALs gOALs On sUn FEB 7

FLYERS + CAPITALS GOALS ........................................-110TOUCHDOWNS .....................-.5 -110

WHAT WILL BE MORE?vEgAs gOLdEn knIgHTs gOALs

vs. kIngs On sUn FEB 7GOLDEN KNIGHTS GOALS ......................................+100JASON PIERRE-PAUL SOLO+AST TACKLES .......... PK -120

WHAT WILL BE MORE?LIvERpOOL + MAn cITY gOALs

On sUn FEB 7

LIVERPOOL + MAN CITY GOALS ........................................-120BUCCANEERS TOUCHDOWNS .................. PK +100

WHAT WILL BE MORE?dUsTIn JOHnsOn 4TH ROUnd

BIRdIEs AT sAUdI InTL (MUsT sTART And cOMpLETE 4TH

ROUnd))DUSTIN JOHNSON

4TH ROUND BIRDIES .................-125MIKE EVANS RECEPTIONS ...................... PK +105

WHIcH WILL BE MORE?WAsTE MAnAgEMEnT OpEn WInnER 4TH ROUnd scORE

WM OPEN WINNER 4TH ROUND SCORE ............-2.5 -110LEONARD FOURNETTE RUSH + REC YARDS ..................-110

WHIcH TEAM WILL WIn THE OpEnIng cOIn TOss?

CHIEFS .......................... -102BUCCANEERS .............. -102

WHIcH HALF WILL HAvE MORE pOInTs scOREd?

FIRST HALF ................ +130SECOND HALF + OT ...-150

TEAM TO HAvE THE LAsT BALL pOssEssIOn In THE

gAME:CHIEFS .......................... -115BUCCANEERS ..............-105

TOTAL InTERcEpTIOns BY BOTH TEAMs

In gAME:OVER 1.5 ..................... +135UNDER 1.5 ....................-155

TOTAL QUARTERBAck sAcks In THE gAME:

OVER 3.5 .......................-160UNDER 3.5 .................. +140

TOTAL FUMBLEs LOsT BY BOTH TEAMs In THE gAME?OVER 1.5 .....................+200UNDER 1.5 ....................-240

WHAT WILL BE MORE? LOngEsT MAdE FIELd

gOAL OR TOTAL pOInTs In gAME

LONGEST FG MADE .. +195TOTAL PTS IN GAME ... -230

TOTAL nUMBER OF pLAYERs TO HAvE A pAss cOMpLETIOn In THE gAME

OVER 2.5 ..................... +175

UNDER 2.5 ................... -200

TOTAL TOUcHdOWns In THE gAME BY BOTH TEAMs cOMBInEd

OVER 6.5 ....................... -110UNDER 6.5 .................... -110

TEAM WITH MORE pEnALTY YARds In THE gAME

CHIEFS ..........................-135BUCCANEERS .............+115

WILL EITHER TEAM MAkE A FIELd gOAL In THE FIRsT QUARTER?

YES ................................ -120NO .............................. EVEN

WHIcH TEAM WILL HAvE MORE FIRsT dOWns

In THE gAME?CHIEFS ................... -1.5 -175BUCCANEERS ....+1.5 +155

WILL THE cHIEFs scORE In EvERY QUARTER?

YES .............................. +170NO .................................-190

WILL THE BUccAnEERs scORE A RUsHIng

TOUcHdOWn In THE gAME?

YES ................................-250NO ............................... +210

TOTAL TOUcHdOWns In THE gAME BY THE cHIEFs:

OVER 3.5 ..................... +130UNDER 3.5 ....................-150

TOTAL TOUcHdOWns In THE gAME BY THE BUccAnEERs:OVER 3.5 ..................... +140UNDER 3.5 ....................-160

TOTAL sAcks In THE gAME BY THE cHIEFs dEFEnsE?

OVER 1.5 .......................-140UNDER 1.5 .................. +120

TOTAL sAcks In THE gAME BY THE BUccAnEERs

dEFEnsE?OVER 1.5 .......................-160UNDER 1.5 .................. +140

WILL TOM BRAdY (TB) THROW An InTERcEpTIOn?

YES ................................ -120NO .............................. EVEN

WILL pATRIck MAHOMEs (kc) THROW An InTERcEpTIOn?

YES .............................. +140NO .................................-160




Washington Capitals F Alex Ovechkin.


It’s just enough balance for Brady to do what he does best. Tampa Bay scored on 47.8% of its possessions, sixth-most in the league, and it’s limited the turn-overs to just 8.9% of its drives, a league sixth fewest.

The Chiefs will win if: for the same reason the Buccaneers will lose this game — and that is if Tampa Bay’s defense cannot stop Kansas City’s quick-hitting offense.

The Chiefs scored on five con-secutive drives, and the Bills couldn’t stop anything. Kansas City, keyed by that Mahomes-Tra-vis Kelce combination, forces op-posing defensive units to watch a variety of weapons, while always having to keep an eye on Tyreek Hill. This is the league’s most ter-rifying offense.

The league average was 396.6 points per team during the regu-lar season, and 24.8 points per game. The Chiefs scored a league seventh-highest 473 points, an average of 29.5 points per game.

The Buccaneers have to be care-ful in covering Kelce, as they al-lowed the seventh-most recep-tions (86) to tight ends. The Bucs allowed nine TDs to tight ends, fifth-most numerically and tied for seventh with four other teams. Since taking over as starter in Kan-sas City in 2014, Kelce leads all tight ends with 121 touchdown receptions — including a league-

high 36 since last year.The Chiefs will lose this game:

if they can’t solve Tampa Bay de-fensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who knows what it takes to stop a high-octane offense in the Super Bowl.

Bowles was the starting free safety in Super Bowl XXII, which Washington won 42-10 over Den-ver, which had the fourth-highest scoring offense (379) and tallied a league second-best 5,624 yards.

He has a finely tuned Bucca-neers stop unit that allowed a scoring drive just 33.7% of op-posing teams’ drives, sixth lowest in the NFL. And let’s not be coy into believing the Chiefs can’t be stalled. The Falcons held them to a season-low 17 points, the Chargers limited them to 21, the Browns and Broncos each held them to 22, again the Chargers got defensive in allowing 23.

The Bucs registered 47 sacks during the regular season, and seven more in three road playoff games — including five in Green Bay. That defense has just gotten better and better, clamping things down in the trenches, and limiting 10 straight opponents to 27 points or less — an average of 22.1 points per game.

SundayChiefs -3 vs. Buccaneers: From

there we have the segue into why I think Tampa Bay is the play in this game. I think the Buccaneers will

win, but I advise you to not only take the field goal, but also buy the half point.

The Buccaneers’ defense will keep things honest, as it comes into the Super Bowl after allow-ing a league eighth-fewest 355 points, and sixth-lowest 5,234 yards. Tampa Bay already has the No. 1 rushing defense and has the personnel to make the same adjustments other teams had suc-cess with against Mahomes.

Mahomes has one Super Bowl ring in one trip to the final, in his three full seasons in the NFL. Brady is 6-3 in the Super Bowl, since 2001, when he made his first start. And as much as we agree Mahomes has plenty more Lom-bardi Trophies to win, he’ll hit some speed bumps. He and the Chiefs have time, Brady doesn’t. He may have one more dominant season, and another contending campaign left, but this is the year the Bucs need to do it.

This is Tampa Bay’s destiny year in many ways.

The Lightning are Stanley Cup champions. The Rays was the World Series runner-up. Now the Buccaneers — who this season are 3-1 SU and 4-0 ATS when catching +2.5 or more with arguably the best quarterback to play the game — are hosting the Super Bowl and can land Tampa, Florida its second trophy. BUCCANEERS

Season: [email protected]

Continued from p1


Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady meet after Chiefs’ 27-24 win Nov. 29 in Tampa.

Ramirez: Brady to win No. 7


ALL PROPS TO BE GRADED BASED ON NFL.COM BOX SCORE

P MAHOMES (KC)..................... EVEN

C EDWARDS-HELAIRE (KC) ... +7500

D WILLIAMS (KC) .................. +10000

T HILL (KC) .............................. +1500

S WATKINS (KC) ..................... +7500

M HARDMAN (KC) ................ +10000

D ROBINSON (KC) ................ +50000

T KELCE (KC)........................... +1500

H BUTKER (KC) ..................... +22500

T MATHIEU (KC) ..................... +6000

C JONES (KC) ....................... +12500

F CLARK (KC) ........................ +12500

D SORENSEN (KC) ................ +17500

A HITCHENS (KC) ................. +20000

C WARD (KC) ........................ +22500

B BREELAND (KC) ................. +22500

L SNEED (KC) ........................ +22500

T BRADY (TB) ............................ +220

L FOURNETTE (TB) ................. +5000

R JONES (TB) .......................... +7500

M EVANS (TB) ......................... +4500

C GODWIN (TB) ...................... +4500

A BROWN (TB) ........................ +7500

S MILLER (TB) ....................... +30000

T JOHNSON (TB) .................. +75000

J MICKENS (TB) .................... +30000

R GRONKOWSKI (TB) ........... +10000

C BRATE (TB) ........................ +25000

R SUCCOP (TB) ..................... +22500

D WHITE (TB) .......................... +4000

L DAVID (TB) ........................... +5000

S BARRETT (TB)...................... +5000

C DAVIS (TB) ......................... +12500

J PIERRE-PAUL (TB) ............... +6000

S MURPHY-BUNTING (TB) ... +12500

A WINFIELD JR (TB) ............. +12500

J DEAN (TB) .......................... +17500

N SUH (TB) ............................ +17500

J WHITEHEAD (TB) ............... +25000

V VEA (TB) ............................ +30000

FIELD (ANY OTHER PLAYER) ... +17000

ODDS TO WIN MVP OF SUPER BOWL LV

M DANNA (KC/DL) ................ +75000

M PENNEL (KC/DL) ............... +75000

S MURPHY-BUNTING (TB/DB) ... +25000

C DAVIS (TB/DB) ................... +25000

J DEAN (TB/DB) .................... +25000

A WINFIELD JR (TB/DB)........ +25000

J WHITEHEAD (TB/DB) ......... +30000

M EDWARDS (TB/DB)........... +50000

A ADAMS (TB/DB) .............. +100000

R SMITH (TB/DB) ................ +100000

R COCKRELL (TB/DB) ......... +100000

D WHITE (TB/LB) ................... +15000

L DAVID (TB/LB) .................... +20000

S BARRETT (TB/LB) .............. +17500

A NELSON (TB/LB)................ +75000

C GILL (TB/LB) ..................... +100000

K MINTER (TB/LB) ............... +100000

D BUCANNON (TB/LB) ....... +100000

J PIERRE-PUAL (TB/DL) ........ +15000

N SUH (TB/DL) ...................... +25000

W GHOLSTON (TB/DL) ......... +30000

V VEA (TB/DL) ....................... +30000

R NUNEZ-ROCHES (TB/DL) ... +75000

S McLENDON (TB/DL) .......... +75000

P O’CONNER (TB/DL) ......... +100000

M REMMERS (KC/OL) ........... +50000

A WYLIE (KC/OL) .................. +50000

M RANKIN (KC/OL) ............... +50000

N ALLEGRETTI (KC/OL) ...... +200000

S WISNIEWSKI (KC/OL) ...... +200000

A REITER (KC/OL) ............... +500000

D KILGORE (KC/OL) .......... +1000000

J HAEG (TB/OL) .................... +15000

D SMITH (TB/OL) .................. +50000

T WIRFS (TB/OL) ................... +50000

J WELLS (TB/OL) .................. +50000

A MARPET (TB/OL) ............. +200000

A STINNIE (TB/OL) .............. +200000

R JENSEN (TB/OL) .............. +500000

H BUTKER (KC/K) ................ +200000

T TOWNSEND (KC/P) ......... +200000

J WINCHESTER (KC/LS) ... +1000000

R SUCCOP (TB/K) ............... +200000

B PINION (TB/P) .................. +200000

Z TRINER (TB/LS) .............. +1000000

FIELD (ANY OTHER PLAYER) ... +16500

NO TD SCORED .................... +75000

PLAYER TO SCORE 1ST TD IN SUPER BOWL LV

Super Bowl lVpropoSitionS


SUPER BOWL Lv STATISTICSKansas City Chiefs

Individual StatisticsPASSIng

nAmE ATT COmP YdS Td InTPatrick Mahomes 588 390 4,740 38 6Chad Henne 38 28 248 2 0Tommy Townsend 1 1 13 0 0Travis Kelce 1 1 4 0 0Sammy Watkins 1 0 0 0 0

RUShIngnAmE ATT YdS Avg TdClyde Edwards-Helaire 181 803 4.4 4Patrick Mahomes 62 308 5.0 2Le’Veon Bell 63 254 4.0 2Darrel Williams 39 169 4.3 1Tyreek Hill 13 123 9.5 2Darwin Thompson 27 97 3.6 1Mecole Hardman 4 31 7.8 0Anthony Sherman 3 8 2.7 0DeAndre Washington 3 5 1.7 0Sammy Watkins 1 3 3.0 0Chad Henne 7 -2 -0.3 1

RECEIvIngnAmE REC YdS Avg TdTravis Kelce 105 1,416 13.5 11Tyreek Hill 87 1,276 14.7 15Mecole Hardman 41 560 13.7 4Demarcus Robinson 45 466 10.4 3Sammy Watkins 37 421 11.4 2Clyde Edwards-Helaire 36 297 8.3 1Byron Pringle 13 160 12.3 1Darrel Williams 18 116 6.4 0Le’Veon Bell 13 99 7.6 0Darwin Thompson 7 65 9.3 1Nick Keizer 6 63 10.5 0Deon Yelder 7 36 5.1 0Marcus Kemp 1 11 11.0 0Gehrig Dieter 1 10 10.0 0Anthony Sherman 1 5 5.0 1Eric Fisher 1 2 2.0 1DeAndre Washington 1 2 2.0 0

KICKIngnAmE 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ LOngHarrison Buker 7-7 9-9 3-5 4-4 58

PUnTIngnAmE PUnTS YdS LOng Avg nET AvgTommy Townsend 52 2,339 67 45.0 40.4

Tampa Bay BuccaneersIndividual Statistics

PASSIngnAmE ATT COmP YdS Td InTTom Brady 610 401 4,633 40 12Blaine Gabbert 16 9 143 2 0

RUShIngnAmE ATT YdS Avg TdRonald Jones 192 978 5.1 7Leonard Fournette 97 367 3.8 6Ke’Shawn Vaughn 26 109 4.2 0LeSean McCoy 10 31 3.1 0Blaine Gabbert 9 16 1.8 0Scotty Miller 3 14 4.7 0Tom Brady 30 6 0.2 3Antonio Brown 2 -2 -1.0 0

RECEIvIngnAmE REC YdS Avg TdMike Evans 70 1,006 14.4 13Chris Godwin 65 840 12.9 7Rob Gronkowski 45 623 13.8 7Scotty Miller 33 501 15.2 3Antonio Brown 45 483 10.7 4Cameron Brate 28 282 10.1 2Leonard Fournette 36 233 6.5 0Tyler Johnson 12 169 14.1 2Ronald Jones 28 165 5.9 1O.J. Howard 11 146 13.3 2LeSean McCoy 15 101 6.7 0Justin Watson 7 94 13.4 0Jaydon Mickens 7 58 8.3 0Tanner Hudson 3 41 13.7 0Ke’Shawn Vaughn 5 34 6.8 1

KICKIngnAmE 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ LOngRyan Succop 10-10 9-9 7-9 1-2 50

PUnTIngnAmE PUnTS YdS LOng Avg nET AvgBradley Pinion 55 2,486 62 45.2 40.2

Kansas City Chiefs Resultsdate Opponent W-L ScoreSept. 10 Houston W 34-20Sept. 20 at LA Chargers W 23-20 (OT)Sept. 28 at Baltimore W 34-20Oct. 5 New England W 26-10Oct. 11 Las Vegas L 40-32Oct. 19 at Buffalo W 26-17Oct. 25 at Denver W 43-16Nov. 1 NY Jets W 35-9Nov. 8 Carolina W 33-31Nov. 22 at Las Vegas W 35-31Nov. 29 at Tampa Bay W 27-24Dec. 6 Denver W 22-16Dec. 13 at Miami W 33-27Dec. 20 at New Orleans W 37-29Dec. 27 Atlanta W 17-14Jan. 3 LA Chargers L 38-21Jan. 17 Cleveland W 22-17Jan. 24 Buffalo W 38-24

KC TBPoints per Game 29.6 30.8 Touchdowns 57 59 Total Offensive Yards 6,804 6,295 Offense (Plays-Avg. Yards) 1,057-425.3 1,107-393.4Total Rushing Yards 1,799 1,519

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Resultsdate Opponent W-L ScoreSept. 13 at New Orleans L 34-23Sept. 20 Carolina W 31-17Sept. 27 at Denver W 28-10Oct. 4 LA Chargers W 38-31Oct. 8 at Chicago L 20-19Oct. 18 Green Bay W 38-10Oct. 25 at Las Vegas W 45-20Nov. 2 at NY Giants W 25-23Nov. 8 New Orleans L 38-3Nov. 15 at Carolina W 46-23Nov. 23 LA Rams L 27-24Nov. 29 Kansas City L 27-24Dec. 13 Minnesota W 26-14Dec. 20 at Atlanta W 31-27Dec. 26 at Detroit W 47-7Jan. 3 Atlanta W 44-27Jan. 9 at Washington W 31-23Jan. 17 at New Orleans W 30-20Jan. 24 at Green Bay W 31-26


Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Buccaneers K Ryan Succop

KC TBPassing (Att.-Comp.-Int.-Avg.) 630-420-7-303.4 626-410-12-289.1First Downs 397 364Third Down Conversions 95-194 83-191Fourth Down Conversions 9-16 8-14Sacks 24 22

TEAm STATISTICS

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.




Bookies: Win some, lose someContinued from p3

in New Orleans, the game had remained solidly at Packers -14 points in its two-week run-up.

“The Great Refund,” said Magli-ulo, who closes his eyes and still sees that long line snaking around the casino floor. “We were refund-ing for twenty-four hours!”

Which compelled him to brain-storm a generic line—NFC -2.5 over AFC—on the next season’s Super Bowl. He aimed to catch the attention of everyone in that never-ending line. It worked.

“I thought, ‘Let’s take a shot,’ and we did six figures on the fol-lowing year’s Super Bowl, right there,” he says. “It was fantastic. ‘Gimme a hundred on AFC … five hundred on NFC,’ and no-body knew who would be in it. Think about that. What were we going to do, give all that money back?

“We were saying, ‘Wow, look at this. Don’t forget to bet next year’s game!’ It’s really quite amazing to see how the Super Bowl has evolved, not only into such a great event but such a great betting event, as well.”

On Seat EdgesWith his regular patronage of

the Hilton, broadcaster Al Mi-chaels and SuperBook director Art Manteris formed a friendship that endures today. Michaels prefers table games to sports, and his friends became tight with Man-teris, too.

Michaels would ring Manteris for line movements and updates, and that’s what Michaels did be-fore San Francisco played San Di-ego in Super Bowl XXIX. The 49ers were favored by 18 points.

“And I told Al how badly we needed the Chargers,” says Man-teris, “that all the money was on San Francisco and I was really go-ing to be sweating the game.”

San Francisco had taken a 49-18 lead, but San Diego battled back. The Chargers scored, making it 49-26, held the 49ers and got the ball back.

“Now, all of a sudden,” says Manteris, “we found ourselves in position for a late backdoor cover.”

San Diego quarterback Stan

Humphries started a drive at his own 8-yard line, with 99 seconds remaining, and guided the Char-gers to the San Francisco 35. Three downs remained. Two passes were incomplete.

Fourth-and-one, mere seconds left. A hefty six-figure sum was about to remain in the Hilton’s cash registers or be handed to fortunate ticket-holders.

“Remember, back then they weren’t allowed to talk about point spreads,” says Manteris. “And Al says to (Dan Dierdorf), ‘I’m sure I know some people are sitting on the edge of their seats in Las Vegas watching this play.’

“I look at (protégé) Chuckie Es-posito. We were literally sitting on the edge of our seats on chairs in my office, and he looks at me.”

Humphries’s pass sailed out of the back of the end zone.

“We lose. But I’ll always remem-ber laughing when Al said that. He knew exactly what I was going through, and I knew exactly that he was referencing me. Chuckie and I laughed, then we cried when the pass went incomplete.”

The FridgeChicago coach Mike Ditka had

put 350-pound defensive tackle William “Refrigerator” Perry into the Bears’ backfield on goal-line situations during the 1985 season, and the Fridge had scored two touchdowns.

For Super Bowl XX, Manteris, then directing the Caesars Pal-ace sportsbook, and his team had produced a prop on Perry scor-ing against the Patriots. Manteris opened it at 20-1, which an ava-lanche of cash whittled to 2-1 by kickoff.

Late in the third quarter, the Bears had the ball on the New England 1-yard line. Ditka put the Fridge in. Sterling tailback Walter Payton served as a decoy. Perry plunged into the end zone to give Chicago a 44-3 advantage.

That scene dominates the mem-ory of Tony Miller, now sportsbook director at the Golden Nugget who was then writing tickets for Manteris at Caesars.

“I can remember Art standing out there when William Perry scored that touchdown,” said Mill-

er. “It cost the book. We went from big winners to big losers. And I remember Art screaming, he was so upset that Perry scored that touchdown.

“They didn’t give it to Walter Payton, and we lost tons of mon-ey. I went, ‘Oh, boy.’ Those props have just taken off over the years, but that’s the one that sticks out in my mind. Everybody in the world bet that the Fridge would score a touchdown.”

Decades later, Manteris, the vice president for race and sports oper-ations at Station Casinos, says that single prop cost Caesars $250,000. Asked if a Mount Manteris erup-tion compares to Mount Etna, he laughs.

“We got killed on that prop, and I was furious. But the next day I got calls from the president of Caesars World, the president of Caesars Palace, everyone congratulated me because it got so much na-tional attention.”

$2.4 MillionIn advance of that 49ers-Char-

gers Super Bowl, financier Carl Icahn rang Jimmy Vaccaro at the Mirage and had $2.4 million wired from his bank to the property’s cages.

When Icahn visited, he and Vac-caro strolled to the cage, Icahn obtained the high-dollar marker and they returned to the book.

Icahn put it all on San Francisco, at -800 on the moneyline, to win $300,000.

“I jokingly said to him, ‘Do you want any more?’ I knew, with San Diego being in its first Super Bowl, that we were going to get car after car after car coming to town to bet on San Diego,” said Vaccaro.

“This knucklehead (Icahn) would come to town once or twice a year and bet these huge, huge amounts on stuff like that.”

Icahn made Vaccaro, now the South Point’s vice president for

sports marketing, promise that he wouldn’t tell anybody. Vaccaro promised.

“Then he went to play poker with the Stuey Ungars of the world and he told all of them, and they told their friends. A guy soon rang me and said, ‘Jimmy, I heard …’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s true.’ Here’s a (ex-pletive) guy who told me not to say anything …”

Of course, Icahn won the $300,000. That was the largest bet Vaccaro has ever taken in a legendary career, and he says he didn’t flinch. Icahn, 84, is one of Wall Street’s most successful fi-nanciers, worth about $15 billion today.

“Two point four million or two hundred and forty dollars, what the (expletive) is the difference?” says Vaccaro. “The bottom line is, You give us money. If you win, in three hours, you get it back. If you lose, we keep the money.”

[email protected]

Photo from Steve Carp

Art Manteris of Station Casinos has booked dozens of Super Bowls.

nba14 FEBRUARY 3, 2021 - FEBRUARY 9, 2021

Teams trailing by five points inside the final 10 seconds won back-to-back nights over the weekend. They didn’t even need overtime.

Damian Lillard’s heroics lifted the Blazers past the Bulls on Sat-urday and Bradley Beal and Rus-sell Westbrook matched his two 3-pointers to help the Wizards stun the Nets the following night.

It’s been that type of season so far in the NBA, one that feels even stranger than the one just complet-ed in a bubble on Disney property in Orlando a few months ago in the midst of a global pandemic. With COVID-19 still wreaking havoc in the world and toying with sched-ules as leagues everywhere try and press forward as safely as possible, the bizarre is around every corner.

Trying to hang with the twists and turns has been impossible, but I’ve done my best to follow along on this ride in order to en-tertain you and help you invest as soundly as possible despite all the chaos. I hope I’ve succeeded to your satisfaction.

This will be my final NBA column for the print version of Gaming Today, a Las Vegas institution I was proud to contribute to over the past few years. I appreciate all who have followed along and can’t say enough about the leadership that has guided the publication through unprecedented times. GM Howard Barish, senior editor Steve Carp and everyone who read copy and helped facilitate the production of this paper went above and beyond, which I and my fellow writers have appreciated. It’s been a pleasure.

With that written, I’ll look to close out this chapter by talking futures and hopefully delivering a few winners on the way out.

Did you see the Rockets

knocked down 11 3-pointers in the first quarter on Monday, set-ting a league record in these zany times? Houston finished 28-for-52

from beyond the arc in a 136-106 win at Oklahoma City, falling just one short of the NBA single-game high. It has won six consecutive games entering Wednesday’s re-match with the Thunder in OKC and are 7-3 since trading James Harden to Brooklyn.

Forward Christian Wood is play-ing at an All-Star level and De-Marcus Cousins is further along than anticipated in his return from his latest ACL tear, while guards John Wall and Victor Oladipo are co-existing while attempting to prove everyone who wrote them off that they were wrong. These guys have bought into playing with one another and are actually taking pride in putting in the work on the defensive end.

Whether that lasts remains to be seen, but the Rockets have moved above .500 and are just behind the Southwest Division-leading Grizzlies in the standings. Mem-phis had a seven-game win streak working entering Tuesday’s visit to Indiana and will host the Rock-ets on Thursday, so one of those two will likely enter the weekend leading a division that most ex-pected Luka Doncic’s Mavericks to be heading up.

In fact, most of the online bet-ting sites still list Dallas as ‘chalk’ despite its slow start, with Bet-MGM placing odds of -110 on the

Mavs despite a four-game deficit.New Orleans would net you

+1000, which is too good a value bet not to make. Loyal readers of this column know I picked the Pelicans to surprise and finish as Southwest Division champs due to Stan Van Gundy’s arrival, Steven Adams’ impact and the continued improvement of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Despite a slow start, they’re just four games back themselves and are report-edly in talks to shake things up by dealing the likes of Lonzo Ball or J.J. Redick. There’s definitely value in riding the Pels to turn things around.

LaMelo Ball (-125) has emerged as the favorite to win Rookie of the Year roughly 30 percent of the way in, which is still great value since he’s definitely earned the early nod through an impressive start that is far more substance over hype. If you’re interested in a long shot, take a look at New York’s Immanuel Quickley, who has really come on strong off the Knicks’ bench and has the world’s largest media mar-ket trumpeting his case if he can help the long-suffering franchise snap their playoff drought.

A similar situation is in place in the race for Sixth Man of the Year, as Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has separated himself from the pack early. The price is in a similar -125/-150 range but unlike the rookie race, there’s no one even close. I expect Clarkson to be a wire-to-wire winner given his impact on Northwest Division-leading Utah.

ThursdayRockets at Grizzlies: We dis-

cussed this matchup above, and two things will be noteworthy in this first meeting between divi-sion rivals. Ja Morant will be squar-ing off with John Wall for the first

time since Wall was injured for the reigning Rookie of the Year’s entire first season, so that alone is worth the price of admission.

Memphis center Jonas Valanci-unas has been out due to COVID protocol but should be back in the mix for this one. Expect both teams to go all out on the defen-sive end with first place in the Southwest at stake. UNDER

SaturdayRaptors at Hawks: Toronto

will visit Brooklyn for a nationally televised game on Friday night but has to turn around and trav-el south afterward to square off against a Hawks team that is just 5-5 at home but beginning to find their footing.

Trae Young has snapped out of his slump and Atlanta hung with the Nets and Lakers at Phil-ips Arena this past week and will welcome in the Mavs and Jazz on Wednesday and Thursday before closing out a four-game homes-tand against Toronto Saturday. Ex-pect the Hawks to win and cover as a short favorite. HAWKS

SundayHeat at Knicks: You know you’ll

be looking for things to parlay with the Super Bowl, so instead of dabbling in Gatorade flavors or coin flips, take a shot with Miami in New York. The Knicks may actu-ally have the better record enter-ing this one but won’t be favored despite this game being played at Madison Square Garden.

While taking the home ‘dog is tempting, Jimmy Butler is back from a bout with coronavirus, Ty-ler Herro is in the mix after dealing with a neck issue and Bam Ade-bayo is taking his game to another level and should prove disrup-tive against Julius Randle. Lay the

points. HEATLast week: 2-1Season: [email protected]

Colorado State at Wyoming (Thursday) There is not going to be much room for Mountain West teams in the

Big Dance. Every game is crucial, and the third-place Rams are reeling from a home loss to Boise State. COLORADO STATE

Kansas City Chiefs -3 (-120) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday)

No question the Brady story is terrific. I’m siding with history and Chiefs D-coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s SB record against the GOAT. CHIEFSHoward Barish: Last week: 1-0; 2021 season: 3-4

Kansas at West Virginia (Saturday)Big revenge game for the Mountaineers, who were embarrassed in

Lawrence on Dec. 22 when getting crushed 79-65. Morgantown is one very tough place for a visitor. WEST VIRGINIA

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Total 56 (Sunday)

We see a real shootout in South Florida. Tom Brady’s looking to get a 7th ring. Patrick Mahomes will be very hard to slow down. OVER Richard Saber: Last week: No selections; 2021 season: 3-3

Weekend’s

Winners

Strange finishes expected in a weird year

@TonyMejiaNBA

Nothin’But BetTony Mejia

How to use the ratings: 1. Add 6 points to the home teams rating. 2. Pair the two teams that play each other. 3. The difference between the two ratings in-dicates the predicted margin of victory. Copyright 2021 by Noland Parry.

DeNver .............................(1) 62.1LA LAkers ........................(2) 61.9HousToN ..........................(3) 60.7uTAH ..................................(4) 60.5MeMpHis ...........................(5) 59.3LA CLippers ......................(6) 59.1pHiLADeLpHiA ..................(7) 59.0BosToN ............................(8) 56.0pHoeNix ............................(9) 54.6sACrAMeNTo ................(10) 54.5sAN ANToNio ................(11) 54.1CHArLoTTe ....................(12) 54.0BrookLyN ......................(13) 52.9MiLwAukee ....................(14) 51.4DALLAs ............................(15) 50.3GoLDeN sTATe ..............(16) 50.3New york ......................(17) 49.4ATLANTA .........................(18) 48.9DeTroiT ..........................(19) 48.1okLAHoMA CiTy ............(20) 47.4CHiCAGo .........................(21) 46.7iNDiANA ...........................(22) 46.7porTLAND ......................(23) 46.5wAsHiNGToN .................(24) 46.2ToroNTo ........................(25) 45.5New orLeANs ...............(26) 44.7CLeveLAND .....................(27) 42.5MiAMi...............................(28) 42.4MiNNesoTA ....................(29) 41.8orLANDo ........................(30) 40.3

Week beginning Feb 2, 2021

Parry’s Power Guide

for NBA

nbaFEBRUARY 3, 2021 - FEBRUARY 9, 2021 15

Hot seat’s warming up

@vegasandy711

Bettin’ onB-BallAndy Iskoe

Nearly 300 games have been played in the current NBA season, an average of 20 per team, rang-ing from a low of 15 (Memphis) to a high of 22 (Brooklyn, the Lak-ers and New York). Small sample sizes to be sure but enough to get a reading on whether teams are playing at above expected lev-els or are struggling to find their rhythm.

Two teams that have struggled over the first month and a half have two of the longest tenured coaches in the NBA, each hired within a few weeks of one another during the offseason following the 2007-08 season.

Coaching is a grinding profes-sion, especially in the NBA and to last more than a decade with the same team is a significant accom-plishment. The fact that Gregg Popovich – the Bill Belichick of the NBA in terms of length of service and degree of success – has been

San Antonio’s head coach since December of 1996 is truly remark-able.

Dallas’ Rick Carlisle and Miami’s Eric Spoelstra have each coached nearly 1,000 games with their cur-rent teams. Each has a winning record with Spoelstra winning nearly 60 percent of his games. Both teams are off to surprisingly slow starts this season and natu-rally there will be questions about whether a coaching change is needed or warranted.

Spoelstra is in a much better sit-uation than is Carlisle. A protégé of longtime player, coach and team

executive Pat Riley, Spoelstra rose through the ranks and has led the Heat to a pair of NBA titles in addi-tion to a pair of losses in the NBA Finals, most recently last season.

A good part of Miami’s poor start to this season has been inju-ries. And let’s also note that Miami and the Lakers had barely a two-month offseason after the NBA Finals ended in October

Carlisle’s situation is different. Dallas won the NBA title in his third season, ironically enough defeating Spoelstra and Miami. But in the nine seasons since, the Mavericks have failed to advance past the first round five times and missed the playoffs in the other four, including in three of the last four seasons.

Luka Doncic is having an MVP season, averaging 27.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 9.4 assists through 20 games. But the 21-year-old star is also been expressing frustra-

tion about his team’s recent per formances. Projected to tie for fourth in the Western Confer-ence based on Season Win To-tals, Dallas start-ed 2-4 before seeming to turn things around with a four-game winning streak to stand 6-4 two weeks into Janu-ary.

But it ’s been steadily down-hill since. Since that high water mark, Dallas has gone 2-9 and en-ter Wednesday’s game in Atlanta losers of six straight. Four of the losses have been at home. Own-er Mark Cuban has been patient but it might not be surprising if a change is made if February’s re-sults show marked improvement. The NBA remains a business and, even in challenging times, hard decisions are often needed to be made.

FridayWizards at Heat: Miami has

been one of the early season’s most disappointing teams fol-lowing after making last season’s NBA Finals. Washington has also greatly underachieved, standing 4-12 through Monday despite a Season Wins Total of 32.5 which was ninth-best in the East.

Miami is getting healthy. Jimmy Butler just returned after miss-ing 10 games due to health and safety protocols which restores a good inside-outside presence with teammates Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic having solid seasons.

The Wizards are seeking an identity with key offseason acqui-sition Russell Westbrook getting acclimated with his new team-mates.. HEAT

SaturdayNets at 76ers: After trading

for James Harden the Nets now

have the three elite players — often considered a prerequisite for seriously contending for an NBA title.

Philadelphia is another East-ern Conference contender with a balanced roster featuring Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. After starting the season playing five straight Unders, the 76ers went over the Total in 11 of their next 16 games. The Nets started 5-1 to the Under, but then played 12 straight Overs. And after an Under ended that streak, the Nets went Over in their next three games. OVER

SundayJazz at Pacers: No team has

been hotter than Utah, whose 11-game winning streak finally ended with a loss in Denver last Sunday. What’s impressive about the streak is that the Jazz covered in all 11 wins, including six by dou-ble digits.

The Pacers are adjusting to the Victor Oladipo trade and although they are on a current 3-5 SU, 2-6 ATS run they’ve been favored in their last six games. They’ll like-ly come a small underdog here and should benefit from the early starting time on Super Bowl Sun-day. PACERS

Last week: 3-0Season: [email protected]

S/U S/U ATS ATS ATS HOME HOME HOME ROAD ROAD ROADTEAM W L W L P OV UN P HW HL PF PA MRGN RW RL PF PA MRGN

Boston 10 8 10 8 0 9 9 0 5 3 111.8 107.4 4.4 5 5 111.5 110.6 0.9Brooklyn 13 9 9 13 0 16 6 0 9 4 120.2 114.6 5.6 4 5 125.1 122.1 3.0New York 9 13 10 12 0 7 15 0 4 5 102.9 104.9 -2.0 5 8 101.7 103.7 -2.0Philadelphia 15 6 12 8 1 11 10 0 10 1 119.1 112.0 7.1 5 5 108.1 107.2 0.9Toronto 8 12 7 13 0 10 10 0 6 5 109.6 106.5 3.1 2 7 113.2 114.9 -1.7Chicago 8 11 12 7 0 11 8 0 3 6 111.8 116.8 -5.0 5 5 118.6 118.4 0.2Cleveland 10 11 10 11 0 8 13 0 7 4 110.1 108.4 1.7 3 7 97.2 107.9 -10.7Detroit 5 15 10 9 1 11 9 0 4 7 106.9 107.5 -0.6 1 8 110.1 118.9 -8.8Indiana 11 9 10 10 0 12 8 0 6 6 113.8 112.4 1.4 5 3 112.1 109.2 2.9Milwaukee 12 8 9 11 0 12 8 0 8 2 121.8 108.9 12.9 4 6 119.2 115.8 3.4Atlanta 10 10 11 9 0 5 15 0 5 5 109.9 107.5 2.4 5 5 115.1 112.5 2.6Charlotte 10 11 12 9 0 10 11 0 5 5 107.1 107.6 -0.5 5 6 111.9 112.5 -0.6Miami 7 13 6 13 1 10 10 0 5 6 106.9 111.4 -4.5 2 7 106.8 113.4 -6.6Orlando 8 13 9 12 0 10 10 1 4 6 102.9 108.1 -5.2 4 7 106.3 113.8 -7.5Washington 4 12 7 9 0 10 6 0 2 6 121.4 124.4 -3.0 2 6 112.2 119.1 -6.9Dallas 8 13 9 12 0 8 13 0 2 6 104.9 110.8 -5.9 6 7 111.0 110.6 0.4Houston 10 9 9 10 0 7 11 1 5 4 108.0 105.7 2.3 5 5 116.2 112.7 3.5Memphis 9 6 9 5 1 6 9 0 3 5 104.5 108.4 -3.9 6 1 116.0 106.0 10.0New Orleans 7 12 7 12 0 12 7 0 4 5 114.4 114.9 -0.5 3 7 106.9 111.4 -4.5San Antonio 11 10 12 9 0 11 10 0 5 7 110.6 114.5 -3.9 6 3 112.1 109.3 2.8Denver 12 8 10 10 0 14 6 0 5 5 116.3 113.3 3.0 7 3 116.9 110.0 6.9Minnesota 5 15 9 11 0 9 11 0 4 7 106.5 111.9 -5.4 1 8 106.1 120.1 -14.0Oklahoma City 8 11 10 9 0 10 9 0 1 7 106.9 123.6 -16.7 7 4 107.5 109.5 -2.0Portland 10 9 8 11 0 10 9 0 5 5 112.4 116.5 -4.1 5 4 116.9 117.2 -0.3Utah 15 5 14 6 0 8 12 0 8 2 114.6 104.1 10.5 7 3 112.6 108.4 4.2Golden State 11 9 10 10 0 9 11 0 8 4 115.4 108.4 7.0 3 5 107.9 120.6 -12.7LA Clippers 16 5 13 8 0 12 9 0 8 2 115.1 107.7 7.4 8 3 113.9 105.8 8.1LA Lakers 16 6 11 11 0 7 15 0 4 4 116.5 110.0 6.5 12 2 109.1 100.6 8.5Phoenix 11 8 11 8 0 7 12 0 4 4 112.0 107.5 4.5 7 4 109.2 107.5 1.7Sacramento 9 11 10 10 0 12 8 0 5 6 114.5 121.9 -7.4 4 5 112.0 115.9 -3.9

nba Records and Scoring averagesc/o Andy Iskoe

Copyright 2021 by Andy Iskoe. The above chart shows each team’s Overall Straight Up (S/U), Points Spread (ATS) and Over/Under results plus their Neutral records and Scoring Averages/Margins through the games of Monday, February 1, 2021


Is Dallas’ Rick Carlise on the hot seat?

https://twitter.com/vegasandy711

college basketball16 FEBRUARY 3, 2021 - FEBRUARY 9, 2021

@robmiech

The GymRatRob Miech

Neither Baylor nor Gonzaga has a go-to player, according to Ken Pomeroy’s parameters, and no-body among its top-20 can claim two.

My select program boasts of three such figures. With an addi-tional major contributor and sig-nificant contributor, it should sur-prise nobody why this program is rolling, especially with six double-digit scorers. And this program is the second-best cover team (11-2-1 through the weekend, an 83.3% rate tied with Grand Canyon) in the country, behind only Drake’s magnificent 14-1 record against the spread.

It’s Eastern Kentucky.“I’m coaching Eastern Kentucky

and I feel like I’m coaching the Boston Celtics,” said third-year coach A.W. Hamilton. “It feels like a dream come true.”

Those accolades are commend-able, but they’re especially poi-

gnant since the 40-year-old Ham-ilton had his world turned upside down this past summer.

He had not undergone a thor-ough physical examination in 17 years, but assistant coach Steve Lepore’s June stroke prompted Hamilton to see a doctor. A mole behind an ear prompted further testing, with a Stage II melanoma diagnosis.

Lepore having that stroke, Ham-ilton told the Lexington Herald-Leader, “might have saved my life.” The Mayo Clinic considers mela-noma the most serious type of skin cancer. Moreover, a Hamilton

cousin had died, at 13, from the malady.

At the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center, Dr. Joseph Valentino operated on Hamilton for four hours, removing a can-cerous tumor and lymph nodes from his neck, which had no can-cerous cells. He and wife Chel-sea have three young children, so they treated the good news with immense relief. He installed his “Most Exciting 40 Minutes in Sports” with renewed vigor.

The Colonels’ 80.6 possessions average is second in the country, and they play even faster on the road. They are exceptional in tak-ing care of the ball and swiping it from others, as their 11.4 steals per game lead the nation.

KenPom lists Brandon Knapper (18.3 ppg), Wendell Green Jr. (13.3) and Jomaru Brown (11.8) as Ham-ilton’s go-to guys. Junior forward Tre King (17.6 ppg, 8 rpg), who has

Clutch Eastern Kentucky turning heads

2020-21 Men’s Ncaa basketball championship

Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, IndianaMonday April 5, 2021

ODDS PROVIDED BY SuperBook at Westgate 1.18.21

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CREIGHTON .................40-1OREGON ......................50-1LSU .............................100-1ARKANSAS ................100-1ALABAMA ....................20-1RICHMOND ................200-1MICHIGAN ...................12-1PURDUE .....................100-1OKLAHOMA .................80-1UCLA ............................80-1STANFORD ................300-1ILLINIOS .......................25-1UCONN ......................200-1COLORADO .................80-1USC ............................100-1WICHITA ST ...............500-1SMU ...........................300-1CLEMSON ..................300-1SYRACUSE ................200-1MISSOURI ..................100-1MEMPHIS ...................300-1NC ST .........................200-1

For a complete list of odds, visit GamingToday.com on the Sports Menu under Futures

recorded five double-doubles, is the major contributor.

Freshman swingman Curt Lewis (11.1 ppg) is the significant con-tributor, and sophomore forward Michael Moreno, averaging 10.5 points, rounds out the double-figure sextet.

However, there are two aster-isks. Brown, a junior guard, suf-fered a torn labrum in mid-De-cember. and is out for the season.

Of more concern is Knapper, a junior guard who transferred from West Virginia, who didn’t play in the Colonels’ first seven games after having a knee scoped. He played in four of five, performing at a high level, but hasn’t played since.

At first, says an East Coast in-sider, a hamstring tweak put him back on the shelf. But an un-specified off-campus incident has turned into an indefinite suspen-sion, with no timetable for his re-turn.

The Colonels are 0-for-8 in the NCAA Tournament, so erasing that doughnut must be high on Ham-ilton’s priority list. Games against Ohio Valley titan Belmont (Feb. 11 away, Feb. 25 home) will be critical to OVC tournament seeding.

Then again, that priority list has been altered. Hamilton, who will undergo follow-up CT scans, has vowed to tell his story, to help save someone else’s life.

A video of his ordeal has been viewed nearly 100,000 times. Hun-dreds of strangers have called and thanked him, tell him he inspired

them to get a physical or see a dermatologist.

Helping others has become a mission. Said Hamilton, “That’s the impact I want to have.”

ThursdayAustin Peay at Eastern Ken-

tucky -5: The Colonels beat Peay by five on its own court Jan. 2. The visitors will struggle against a stingy 3-point defense that is top-25 in the land, at 29.1%.

Inside the arc, Eastern will thrive against the Governors’ flimsy 2-point defense, in the bottom-10-percentile of the nation at 57.2%. EASTERN KENTUCKY

SaturdayUCLA at USC -4, Total 136: Ken-

Pom has designated Iowa’s Luka Garza with 11 Game MVP honors this season, matched by only one person — Trojans 7-foot freshman center Evan Mobley (16.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg). It’s the first game of genuine significance between these two, with both alone in first or second in the league, in 29 seasons. The Trojans’ 40.7% field-goal defense, third in the nation, will be the dif-ference. USC and UNDER

TCU at Baylor -21: The Bears lead the country with a 43.4% 3-point touch, which has powered them to triple figures four times, in the 90s twice and in the 80s

GamingToday Vol 46 No 6 February 3, 2021 through February ... · 2/3/2021 · Westgate SuperBook,...

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Transcript of GamingToday Vol 46 No 6 February 3, 2021 through February ... · 2/3/2021 · Westgate SuperBook,...