On a day that could’ve gone completely sideways for the Winning Picks, we finished a positive 2-1 on the day. Both of our wins took until the final seconds of the game to hit, but they were still winners regardless. Minnesota led by as many as 15 but needed a 3 with 2 seconds left to cover in a loss to Iowa. The Gophers are now 20-3 against the spread this season, which is insane. And, of course, the Chiefs won and covered on their game winning touchdown in overtime. Game that was so boring got exciting really quick, just like Usher’s halftime performance. We moved to 145-110-3 on the year.
One thing I want to touch on before the Winning Picks for Monday is live betting, which I don’t believe I had discussed yet. Live betting is just like betting before the game, except these lines can move at a rapid pace depending on who scores and wins. As for last night, I bet the Chiefs twice live, once at +200 when it looked like Deebo Samuel was injured and at +145 before their game winning drive in overtime.
Live betting is half having a feel for the momentum of the game and the other half is just plain having balls to make the pick. You can’t live in your fears. But if you bet too quickly or too late on a live game, you can get a bad line in a lot of cases. And you normally want to reserve these types of bets for teams that are plus money. No one makes a fortune betting just the favorites, at least not in the long run.
Now time for the Winning Picks!
Seattle Kraken at New Jersey Devils (-140) O/U 6.5 7:00 PM on ESPN+
Two teams looking to shake off bad starts out of the All-Star break as the Devils host the Kraken in Newark. New Jersey was able to beat Colorado in their first game back from break but have dropped their last two games to Calgary and Carolina. Seattle lost by a goal in Philly to the Flyers on Saturday in their first game since the All-Star game.
The Devils have been a mess for the past month and a half but are still ahead of the Penguins in the standings. The Kraken have a lot of work to do if they want to make back-to-back appearances in the playoffs as they are in 6th in the Pacific. In their first meeting of the season, it was a very low scoring game, and that trend will continue tonight in New Jersey.
Under 6.5 Covers, Seattle Kraken 2 New Jersey Devils 3
Chicago Bulls at Atlanta Hawks (-4.5) O/U 237.5 7:30 PM
Two teams sitting right on the edge of the play-in game meet in Atlanta as the Bulls visit the Hawks. Currently, Chicago sits in 9th place in the East while Atlanta is right behind them in 10th place. If the season ended today, they would be battling it out to see who gets a shot at the 8th seed in the East.
As for tonight’s game, can the Bulls keep up with the offensive output of the Hawks? Despite being just on the cusp of the playoffs, Atlanta is one of the highest scoring teams in the NBA. I think that will be on full display tonight, as both teams will find success on the offensive end and the over will cover tonight.
Over 237.5 Covers, Chicago Bulls 120 Atlanta Hawks 123
West Virginia Mountaineers at TCU Horned Frogs (-12.5) O/U 150.5 8:00 PM on ESPN+
It wasn’t going to be easy for West Virginia in the first season following Bob Huggins’ resignation, but fans of the program probably didn’t think it would be this bad. The Mountaineers suffered their most lopsided loss in almost a decade on Saturday, getting routed at Texas. Now they will make the short trip to Fort Worth to face Jamie Dixon and TCU.
Huggins found success against Dixon dating back to Jamie’s Pitt days, but I don’t like the Mountaineers chances tonight. While I don’t expect them to get dropped by 36 like Saturday in Austin, the Horned Frog offense will be too much for WVU to keep up with. I like TCU to cover and win tonight as West Virginia remains winless on the road this year.
TCU Covers -12.5, West Virginia Mountaineers 62 TCU Horned Frogs 83