Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter made the decision to unload his best players in the offseason, creating a young roster that Vegas essentially anticipated had virtually no shot at winning the World Series. And sure enough, the team has been predictably mediocre.

But just about no one expected that the Dodgers, preseason favorites at sportsbooks across Las Vegas to win it all, would share the same miserable record.

First, Meet Worst

Vegas handicapped Miami at 500/1 to win the World Series as the season got underway, and such a lack of confidence hasn’t changed after 42 games. The Marlins lineup, which has produced an average of just 3.5 runs per game, has been as bad as projected, and the pitching staff hasn’t been any better, posting a mediocre 5.04 earned run average.

But for LA, last year’s World Series runner-ups, going into the 2018 season they shared the status of World Series betting favorites with defending champ Houston, at 5/1.

The young Marlins’ struggles have been predictable. But the Dodgers less so. It’s possible this World Series team still has time to turn things around. But at 8.5 games back of Arizona in the NL West, those who bet on the boys in blue to win it all are kinda in panic mode.

What’s Wrong, LA?

The Dodgers offense has woefully underachieved, particularly in the absence of third baseman slugger Justin Turner, who broke his wrist in the first week of the season. Turner’s return to the lineup earlier this week for the first time all season was a site for sore Dodger-fan eyes.

Future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw has also been out the past few weeks with tendinitis. And of course, they also lost All-Star pitcher Zack Greinke because they were unwilling to pay up last year. But the team’s real struggles go deeper than injuries and lost All-Stars.

Three key hitters who played integral roles on the Dodgers’ NL championship team in 2017 – Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger, and Corey Seager – have all declined offensively. Closer Kenley Jansen, who is striking out fewer batters (8.1 K/9) and allowing more baserunners (1.20 WHIP) than in recent years, has also contributed to the team’s disappointing play.

But there is hope for the Dodgers. With Turner off the DL and Kershaw to soon return to the rotation, Los Angeles could get back into contention. That’s assuming the team’s underachieving stars start playing up to their potential.

Miami, on the other hand, has about as much hope for the future as an inmate on death row. The offense can’t hit, and the pitching staff can’t prevent opposing teams from getting hits. But, hey, at least they get to play in a beautiful new, albeit mostly empty, stadium.

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That’s right, the hapless Browns, the franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2002 and has posted a 1-31 record over the past two seasons might have a puncher’s chance of not only improving but, get this … making the playoffs. Seriously.

Time for Change

The potential turnaround likely won’t have much, if any, to do with rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, the top overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He isn’t expected to start, but improved QB play is almost a certainty.

In 2017, Cleveland lost six games by less than a touchdown and were -8 in the turnover margin in those games. While it may seem silly to place the blame for a winless season on one player, the DeShone Kizer experiment was a complete disaster, to say the least.

Kizer, a rookie out of Notre Dame, threw 22 interceptions (six more than any other QB in the league), completing a mediocre 53.6 percent of his passes with a horrific 60.5 QB rating, The only positive from his performance last year was that at least it wasn’t worse than Ryan Leaf’s infamous rookie season in 1998 in which the second overall pick in the draft threw 2 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, completing just 45 percent of his passes.

The Kizer experiment is over and the Browns acquired former Buffalo Bills play-caller Tyrod Taylor, who is expected to start while Mayfield watches from the sidelines.

Taylor won’t dominate games on his own like Tom Brady or Matt Ryan. But he takes care of the ball, having thrown just 16 interceptions with 65 touchdowns in three years with the Bills. The former Virginia Tech star also has the kind of mobility the Browns need from their quarterback.

Favorable Schedule

Cleveland is currently an 80/1 pick to win the Super Bowl. That’s an improvement compared to last year’s preseason handicap at 150/1. But by getting a quarterback who will take care of the football, the Browns might start winning some of those close games. Even better? The schedule is favorable.

It will be tough for Cleveland to compete with the Pittsburgh Steelers (12/1 to win the Super Bowl) in the AFC North, but a wild card spot isn’t beyond reason. The schedule includes nine games against teams that didn’t make the playoffs in 2017.

Following a tough start to the season against Pittsburgh and New Orleans, the Browns face three straight teams that missed the playoffs last year (New York Jets, Oakland, and Baltimore). They could potentially start out 3-2. And if they do, a postseason berth will be within reach.

The post Can Cleveland Browns Go from 0-16 to Playoff Contender in Just One Year? appeared first on OnlineGambling.com | OG News.

In a conference call discussing the company’s earnings, Philip Bowcock revealed that William Hill has already spent “mid-to-high single-digit” millions of dollars in anticipation of a favorable ruling in the Supreme Court when it comes to wagering on sports.

The bookmaker is poised for a full on assault on the American market from the minute the judgement is handed down.

Who’s Up First? 

Bowcock made it clear that if the Supreme Court does open the gates for individual states to allow sports betting, then the US will become their top priority. The company has already indicated as much when it sold its Australian assets earlier this year in an effort to free up financial capital.

William Hill is now busy putting a plan of attack in place, focusing on the states it believes will move first on sports betting. Bowcock was forthcoming in his vision of how things will play out on the early days of legalization, according to Legal Sports Report.

“Where we stand at the moment, we know that Delaware will go almost immediately because that is sort of quasi-type sports betting at the moment. They take parlays, which in our parlance are accumulators. So that’s quite an easy move.

Clearly New Jersey will go very soon afterwards and the likes of Mississippi and West Virginia will likely go quite quickly at the moment as well.” – Bowcock

However, it’s not as simple as guessing which states will regulate sports betting first, it’s also a matter of figuring out how they’ll regulate it. Bowcock disclosed that a lot of the money they’re investing is going towards the need for different technology in every state.

“Each state is like a different country, so it’s going to have almost its own technology. Because the regulations will be different in each state, we’ll likely have to have a call center in each state as well for customer services. We’re looking at how that would set up.”

Friends With Benefits

The William Hill brand is already well known in Nevada and Delaware, and those markets have in turn been beneficial to the bookmaker.

Sure, there have a been a few bumps along the way, such as the controversy and confusion surrounding a prop bet involving Baker Mayfield at the NFL Draft. But US bettors are clearly fans of the brand. A quarterly financial report revealed that William Hill’s net revenues in the US surged by 45 percent year over year, while the total number of sports bets being placed on their platform increased by 17 percent.

Most observers expect that the Supreme Court will eventually sanction a betting breakthrough in the US. However, nothing is guaranteed, making William Hill’s gamble a bit of a risky one. However, if they’re right, it’s one that could pay off in a big way.

A ruling on PASPA could happen as quickly as next week, or as late as the end of June.

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The NFL officially released the 2018 schedule on Thursday, putting to rest speculation about how the season might take shape and fueling new speculation about which teams are set to dominate, and which ones are more likely to flounder.

Fresh off the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship season, the Eagles won’t have a cakewalk back to the NFL’s title game. But they should, at the very least, be well positioned to repeat as NFC East champions, a division that appears to be softer than Kevin Love.

No other team in the division is being taken seriously by Vegas oddsmakers. Philadelphia will head into next week’s NFL Draft at 10/1 odds to win the Super Bowl, second only to New England (6/1). Dallas (28/1), New York (33/1), and Washington (66/1), three teams that failed to make the playoffs in 2017, aren’t likely to dethrone the Eagles in the NFC East.

That projection could change if quarterback Carson Wentz, who is expected to be ready to go for the season opener against Atlanta on Sept. 6, is unable to stay healthy.

Eagles Backup Nick Foles replaced the injured Wentz in Week 14 and was marvelous in the Super Bowl, passing for 373 yards and three touchdowns in an upset victory over the Patriots, but he’s been an inconsistent quarterback throughout his six-year NFL career.

If Wentz, one of the bright young stars in the NFL, either can’t stay healthy or isn’t fully recovered from his ACL injury, a team like Dallas could sneak up snatch the NFC East.

Moderately Difficult Schedule

Even assuming Wentz stays healthy, repeating as Super Bowl champions isn’t going to be easy. The Eagles will have a more difficult time securing a bye in the first round of the playoffs than in 2017.

The schedule includes seven games against teams that made the postseason last year (Atlanta, Tennessee, Minnesota, Carolina, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Los Angeles Rams), and four of those games are on the road.

The remainder of the schedule is relatively light. With six of 16 games against fairly weak in-division rivals, that’s six games the Eagles will likely be heavily favored. Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, and Houston, are the three remaining 2018 opponents. Vegas expects only the Texans (16/1) from that group to contend for a Super Bowl title.

If Philadelphia can go 5-1 in the division and 7-3 against their remaining opponents, a reasonable but difficult goal, the Eagles could secure that important first round bye.

(Nearly) Everyone is Back

Schedule aside, the 2018 version of the Philadelphia Eagles should be every bit as talented as the squad that won the Super Bowl this past season. With 19 of 22 starters returning, the defending champs clearly have the experience and talent in place for another title run.

But until the team hits the field in September, there’s no way of knowing if the Eagles will suffer from a Super Bowl hangover. It’s happened many times in the past, including a few recent winners. The Denver Broncos (Super Bowl 50) and Baltimore Ravens (XLVII) failed to make the playoffs the following season after winning it all.

Philadelphia flew under the radar heading into the 2017 season. They were 50-1 longshots to win the Super Bowl entering training camp.

This year will be different. They’re expected to win, meaning they now have a target on their backs. Teams tend to get extra motivated to compete against the defending champions, making it that much more difficult to repeat.

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The NFL is set to officially unveil its schedule for the 2018 season tonight, at 8 pm ET, and while matchups have already been set, the public will find out more about the whens and wheres of each game, which has fans speculating wildly about opponents, potential playoff rematches, TV coverage, network streaming, and other inevitable leaks in the hours leading up to the release.

One such guess that has changed is who will face the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles in their Thursday Night Football season opener. Many reports had been assuming the Minnesota Vikings, for a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship, but now the chattering class is saying the game will be against the Atlanta Falcons.

Early Kickoffs

One big wrinkle for 2018 is that all the primetime games will kickoff a little bit earlier this year.

The timing shift  for all night games are sure to cause cheers from those on the east coast who want the games to end a little earlier so that they can get to bed at a reasonable hour. However, it may not be as popular for those in the west who will have to hurry home from work in time for kickoff.

The change means no NFL game will start later than 8:20 pm ET, aside from the first Monday Night Football game of the season, which has been a doubleheader for several years.

The rest of the Monday Night Football schedule is subject to the biggest change, with kickoff moving up 15 minutes, from 8:30 pm to 8:15 pm.

Sunday Night Football will be bumped up 10 minutes to 8:20 from its traditional time slot of 8:30.

Thursday Night Football will also be affected, though not as much as the other slates. Kickoff for TNF, which will be broadcast by the FOX Network starting this season, will start at 8:20, five minutes earlier than it did previously.

Kickoff times have come a long way. Primetime games used to start at 9:30 ET in the1960s, before they moved to  9:00 when Monday Night Football began in the 1970s.

Worldwide Football Audience

While you’ll have to wait until tonight to get the particulars on all the games, details of several of the marquee matchups have already begun to leak out.

The league itself revealed early specifics about games taking place in Mexico and England.

The NFL announced earlier that Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Los Angeles Rams in Mexico City. It will take place on a Monday night, Nov. 19, at Estadio Azetca — kickoff at 8:15 pm.

And though they announced their intent back in January, the NFL on Thursday morning provided more information about its 2018 international series in London:

The Seattle Seahawks will play the Oakland Raiders at Tottenham Stadium, Oct. 14, at 1 pm ET.
The Tennessee Titans meet the Los Angeles Chargers at Wembley stadium for a 9:30 am ET kickoff.
The Philadelphia Eagles will wrap up the London series against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 28 with a 9:30 am kickoff at Wembley.

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It was a topic the squad has not had to discuss for the last four years. The Warriors have won two of the last three Larry O’Brien trophies. The year they didn’t win, 2016, they lost in a thrilling Game 7 to the Cleveland Cavaliers led by LeBron James.

Overwhelming Preseason Favorite

The Warriors breezed through the playoffs last season, sweeping all three rounds, including the Western Conference Finals, where they won all but one game against the Cavaliers to reclaim the title.

It looked as if no one had an answer to defeat Golden State, and with the starting five returning, sportsbooks made them a 5/12 pick to defend their title. But then the Houston Rockets, who were 9.5-point road underdogs, defeated the Warriors in their home opener.

Suddenly the team didn’t look invincible. The Warriors lost two more games in October and whispers began to get louder about this team being beatable. But then Golden State rattled off 11 of 13 victories in November. They had an equally productive December, winning 13 of 15.

Injury Prone

The team had managed to avoid any serious injuries until mid-March when three of their stars were sidelined. Kevin Durant broke a rib, Klay Thompson fractured his right thumb and Stephen Curry sprained an ankle. Shortly after Curry came back he sprained the medial collateral ligament on his left knee.

Thompson and Durant have returned to the lineup, but Coach Steve Kerr said Curry would miss at least the first round of the playoffs. If the opening set of the postseason began today the Warriors would face the Minnesota Timberwolves. They have beaten them two of three regular-season meetings, but their one loss was March 11 and all of their five starters were in the lineup.

The bench has taken a hit as well. The latest was reserve guard Patrick McGaw, who suffered a back injury in a scary fall on Saturday, and had to be wheeled off the court on a stretcher. He was diagnosed with a lumbar spine contusion and his return is up in the air.

Oddsmakers and gamblers have taken notice of Golden State’s struggles. The team is now 5/4 to win, but the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets have moved to a 7/4 pick.

Despite the turmoil, Curry believes the team will return to the NBA Finals. He told Yahoo Sports Wednesday that the team should be at full strength by the end of April.

“Injuries are something I hope we can put in the rear-view mirror as we approach the playoffs,” Curry said. “The Western Conference is tough. It’s hard to win a championship. As easy as we made it look last year, going 16-1 in the playoffs, there’s nothing easy about it.”

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As we head into Spring Training, Fangraphs, a website that makes computer-based projections using different algorithms, projects the Yankees to win 94 games, second most in baseball behind the Houston Astros. Vegas oddsmakers agree and have set the over/under for the Bronx Bombers at 94.5 wins.

New York, a Wild Card team a year ago, was active this offseason, acquiring outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, last year’s home run king, from the Miami Marlins. The Yankees lineup is stacked with Stanton and AL home run champ Aaron Judge hitting back-to-back.

Houston, the defending world champs, is the only team FanGraphs projects to win over 100 games, 101 to be exact. If you agree with this FanGraphs projection, you’ll want to bet big on the “over,” which is 96.5, tied for tops in baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers (93 wins projected by FanGraphs).

FanGraphs projects seven teams will win 90 or more games (Astros, Cubs, Yankees, Indians, Dodgers, Red Sox, Nationals), all of which would need to top the 90-win plateau to hit the “over.”

Betting on Bad Teams?

The teams Vegas expects to stink up the join this year (Royals, Marlins, Tigers, White Sox, Reds, Braves, Padres, Phillies) are getting the same kind of love from the FanGraphs computer projections.

FanGraphs Projected Win Totals for 10 Worst Teams

Miami Marlins 65-97 (O/U 64.5)

Kansas City Royals 66-96 (O/U 71.5)

Chicago White Sox 66-96 (O/U 68)

Detroit Tigers 70-92 (O/U 68.5)

Cincinnati Reds 72-90 (O/U 73.5)

Atlanta Braves 72-90 (O/U 74.5)

San Diego Padres 73-89 (O/U 69.5)

Philadelphia Phillies 74-88 (O/U 74.5)

Baltimore Orioles 75-87 (O/U 73)

Pittsburgh Pirates 76-86 (O/U 73)

Same Teams, New Year?

Each of the top seven teams as projected by FanGraphs made the playoffs last season, including both World Series participants (Astros and Dodgers), and the Colorado Rockies are the only 2017 playoff team expected to post a losing record this year.

But, bettor’s beware, that doesn’t mean every team projected to make the playoffs actually will. Nor does it mean there won’t be a surprise team or two that comes out of nowhere to make the postseason. Last year, FanGraphs projected the Minnesota Twins, a team that earned an AL Wild Card spot, to win just 71 games.

FanGraphs did, however, accurately project all six division champs.

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There are six other horses that have favorable odds of 10/1 or better. Mask is at 7/1, McKinzie and Montauk are 17/2, while Ax Man, Catholic Boy and Instilled Regard check in at 10/1.

The first leg of the Triple Crown, known as “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports,” should provide plenty of drama on May 5. Below is a look at some of the contenders and a few long shots.

Contenders

Bolt D’Oro

The pick of several handicappers has this 3-year-old son of Medaglia D’Oro winning the Run for the Roses. The horse was snubbed at last month’s Eclipse Awards when if failed to win 2017 2-Year-Old Champion.

Owner/trainer Mick Ruis told bloodhorse.com that his horse will have to prove his ability.

“I guess he’s got to show it on the track,” he said. “We still think we have the best horse out there. … We’ve got to let him show what he’s got. We can say he’s the best, the other guys can say they’re the best, but I guess we’ve got to show it.”

Good Magic

The horse that won the honor away from Bolt D’Oro has many thinking he is the better horse, if not the better bet. He beat a stacked field at the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile in November, going off at 8-1 and beating the favorite Bolt D’Oro by 5 ¼ lengths.

Trainer Chad Brown said the horse runs better every race.

“I thought he was a winner every step of the way,” he said. “I didn’t know who was coming behind him, but I loved the way he was traveling.”

McKinzie

A Bob Baffert-trained horse should never be discounted and this colt is no exception. The winner of the Los Alamitos Futurity also captured January’s Sham Stakes at Santa Anita. The blinkers were removed in that race and he responded as the 1/5 pick, winning with a time of 1:36.58.

Two races that are on the radar would be the San Felipe Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby. If he has success at those the odds may tighten up for the Derby.

Longshots

Avery Island

A very attractive price at 12/1. This colt broke his maiden with a five-length victory at the Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct in November. Jockey Joey Bravo was impressed by the preformance.

“It’s always exciting to have 2-year-olds coming around,” he said. “If you look at this horse, he’s big and he’s just going to keep growing into himself. I have some high expectations.”

Principe Guilherme

Another 12/1 pick that could be a surprise in May. The horse won a December claiming race by nearly 12 lengths, which put him immediately on the Kentucky Derby watch list.

Before that race he won a wire-to-wire race at Churchill Downs in November by six lengths.

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The reigning NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Champion will be at an advantage at the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.

The layout is on a 1.5-mile track, a place where Truex dominated last year. Seven of his 11 victories were on similar places and he expects a much better finish this week.

“After how we ran in Daytona, we are definitely looking forward to going to a downforce track,” said Truex, who finished eighth last week. “While Daytona is the biggest and most prestigious race to win, the season actually starts – at least in our case – at a downforce track. Atlanta should give us a good indication how we fare against the competition.”

Because of his results last year at downforce tracks one internet betting site made him the 5/1 favorite to win the race.

Winless in Atlanta

But Truex Jr. has never won at this venue in 19 career starts. In the last three years he has finished sixth, seventh and eighth. Truex’s crew chief Cole Pearn said some bad breaks have prevented them from a victory.

“We’ve been close at Atlanta,” he said. “We had a clutch go last year while running third. The year before we were running first or second most of the day but had a bad late restart. Overall, Atlanta has been a good track for us.”

Some sites have Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick ahead of Truex Jr. on the betting board. Those two are +550, as opposed to +650 for Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.

Harvick has had success at this facility. He won here in 2014 and has finished in the top 10 eight of the last 10 years. It was also the site of his first career victory in 2001.

Hometown Driver Worth a Look

Georgia’s Chase Elliott has fond memories of Atlanta as a kid and would love to win this event. In two starts here he has finished fifth and eighth.

“Atlanta will always be a special place for me,” he said. “I remember watching the races from the playground as a kid in the driver/owner lot. Haven’t raced a ton here, but I was able to get the pole in 2014 in the Xfinity Series. I would love to make some more memories to go down in the book at Atlanta.”

One driver to shy away from would be defending champion Brad Keselowski. He has attractive odds at +1200 but repeating here happens rarely. Though Jimmie Johnson did it in 2016, you have to go back to 1997 and Bobby Labonte to find a repeat winner.

One driver that might be worth considering is Denny Hamlin. He grabbed the checkered flag here in 2012. He is at 12/1 and could sneak into the winner’s circle.

The post Martin Truex Jr. Ready to Track Progress at NASCAR’s Atlanta Speedway appeared first on OnlineGambling.com | OG News.

It was the same odds the Westgate LV SuperBook had the Lynx at when they opened on Dec. 14. The facility has since upgraded them to 6/5.

The next team is Minnesota’s main rival, the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks lost to the Lynx three games to two. It was the same margin Los Angeles had when they took down Minnesota in 2016.

Dominant Two Teams

The Lynx’s slogan of Roar to Four came true for them when they defeated Los Angeles on Oct. 3. The team was down 1-0 and facing elimination 2-1, but won the next two games to clinch the title.

Minnesota has won in every odd year since 2011, but has been unable to defend their title in even years. They came close in 2016, but were thwarted when Nneka Ogwumike put-back the ball for the game winner in the final seconds.

Los Angeles could again prevent the Lynx from repeating. The team announced last week that they had resigned Tiffany Jackson, The guard came off the bench last year and should help give the team depth in the backcourt.

“We are glad that Tiffany will be playing with us again this season,” said Penny Toler, Los Angeles Sparks’ Executive Vice President and General Manager. “Her aggressive defense and rebounding will continue to add to our front line presence.”

The guard position will be a problem for the Lynx when the season begins in Mid-May. The team lost two reserves in the offseason. Renee Montgomery signed a free-agent contract with Atlanta and Jia Perkins retired.

The starting lineup will stay the same, but if the team is going to repeat it will need to get more help at that position. The draft is probably not the answer since the team holds the last pick in the first round. Free agency will probably be the best solution.

How Will Vegas Fare?

The former San Antonio Stars were purchased by MGM Properties and moved to Las Vegas in the offseason. They are now the fourth professional sports team to join the city, following the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, the Raiders of the NFL and the United Soccer League’s Lights. The move is widely rumored to be a precursor to the city trying to land an NBA team.

The newly named Aces finished last of 12 teams last year and opened as a 100/1 shot to win the championship. That was the highest odds and they joined the Indiana Fever as the biggest long shots to win.

But the Westgate moved them up the board three weeks ago. They are now at 50/1to win and have jumped over three teams. NBA Hall of Famer Bill Laimbeer will be the head coach and general manager. As the coach of the Detroit Shock he led the team to three titles.

Laimbeer acknowledged the team’s struggles but doesn’t think it will take too long to be competitive.

“Well, the team hasn’t been the best and that’s been quite the challenge,” he said. “It’s easier actually when it comes to dealing with the players. There’s not going to be a lot of player movement.”

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