What To Bet On In Sports’ Slowest Week Of Year


Each week, we talk to Sports Interaction to get their thoughts on what’s going on in the sports betting world, with an emphasis on sports betting in Canada.

Sports Interaction is a Canadian sportsbook that caters specifically to Canucks. They offer convenient deposit methods as well as a wide selection of betting props on many events.

Here’s our Q&A with them for this week.

(Posted July 14, 2016)

Recap of Last Weekend

Last weekend was a smorgasbord for sports bettors with UFC 200, the Wimbledon finals, and the Euro 2016 championship game all jammed into two days. How did the weekend play out from behind the betting counter?

It was a very good weekend for us.

UFC 200’s card featured very competitive matchups and narrow odds, so unlike some of the recent big UFC events, we didn’t have a huge underdog cashing in that forced big payouts. Brock Lesnar’s win over Mark Hunt hurt a bit, but we won back those losses and then some with the rest of the card. 

On Sunday, we had a ton of Canadian bettors supporting Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon final but the underdog Canuck fell just short.

In the Euro 2016 final, a draw after 90 minutes was an excellent result for the book even though we did have some money on Portugal winning outright.

 

What To Bet Right Now?

So after one of the busiest weekends in a while, we move into the slowest week in the sports betting calendar. What’s catching bettors’ attention this week?

We always see some action on the MLB Home Run Derby and All-Star game, even though they’re very difficult events to handicap.

That held true this year and we may see a little more action than usual on futures bets this week as bettors start looking ahead a bit. The MLB All-Star break signals a shift for many bettors as they begin their football preparation.

The biggest event of the week is undoubtedly the British Open, which had Jason Day and Dustin Johnson as co-favourites at +800.

 

How Will Tom Brady Suspension Affect Odds?

It sounds as though Tom Brady will miss the first four games of the NFL season after his Deflategate suspension appeal was denied. How much will that decision affect New England’s odds?

Not as much as you might think. New England remains the Super Bowl favourite, but did move from +600 to +700, so just marginal movement there. The Pats’ win total has held at over/under 10.5.

The fact of the matter is the Patriots are still likely to be a very good team with or without Brady for the first month. They should be able to pick up at least two wins in those four games with Jimmy Garoppolo under centre and then they’ll have a very motivated Brady back at the helm after that.

Giving Brady a hit-free month to start the season might not be good news for the rest of the NFL down the road either.

Super Bowl 51 Odds

2017 Super Bowl Odds

 

2016 World Series Odds

What’s the latest betting buzz about the second half of the MLB season?

Before the break it was all about the Toronto Blue Jays, who went into the break with eight wins in their last nine games.

The hot streak has them right back in the playoff picture and their World Series odds currently sit at +1000. That number could come down in a hurry if the Jays go on another run like they did after last year’s Midsummer Classic.

The Cubs are still +300 favourites to win the World Series, but there’s a lot of baseball left.

2016 World Series Odds After All-Star Break

2016 world series odds