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At least once a day I find myself bemoaning how shitty my home state of Florida is for dragging the ball on sports gambling. Florida will be one of if not THE LAST states in America to legalize sports gambling and not because the residents are against it but because of an exceedingly shitty state legislature and extremely misleading amendments on the election ballots that caused voters to vote against their own interests, but I digress.
Life would be SO MUCH better in the Sunshine State if I could whip open my phone and place legal bets in real-time on games and wager on futures like I can in other states across the nation but for now I’ll have to continue to time my futures bets for when I’m in Las Vegas (or Jersey), and find alternative routes of betting.
What’s got me so hyped up on wanting to bet right now is this article on ESPN’s Chalk from David Purdum and Ben Fawkes which is tracking the biggest futures placed at sportsbooks for the upcoming seasons of the NFL, NBA, MLB, College Football, the NHL, and College Basketball.
You can see their complete list here but for now I’ve included the biggest futures placed on the upcoming NFL and NBA seasons since the NFL’s knocking on our doorstep and College Football is a complete shitshow after the top 2 teams so those futures are meaningless to me unless it’s a huge wager placed on Wins Totals over/unders.
First up, the NFL:
Tennessee Titans to win Super Bowl: $4,500 bet at 75-1 odds (placed at William Hill)
Potential payout: $337,500 (Bet placed on March 4)Titans to win Super Bowl: $2,000 at 85-1 (CG Technology)
Potential payout: $170,000Arizona Cardinals to win Super Bowl: $2,500 bet at 125-1 odds (William Hill)
Potential payout: $312,500 (Feb. 15)Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl: $5,000 bet at 60-1 odds (William Hill)
Potential payout: $300,000 (July 23)Jacksonville Jaguars to win Super Bowl (x2): $5,000 at 50-1 (William Hill)
Potential payout: $250,000
$4,000 at 45-1 (CG Technology)
Potential payout: $180,000Green Bay Packers to win Super Bowl: $16,050 at 15-1 (William Hill)
Potential payout: $240,750 (July 30)Minnesota Vikings to win Super Bowl: $10,000 at 20-1 (CG Technology)
Potential payout: $200,000 (Aug. 9 in Nevada)Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl: $15,000 at 6-1 (CG Technology)
Potential payout: $90,000 (Aug. 25 in Nevada)
Noticeably missing from this list are any bets on the Indianapolis Colts. Probably because the odds weren’t great a week ago when Andrew Luck had them as a contender and the team has now become radioactive after Luck announced his retirement.
Dropping $15,000 on the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl isn’t all that insane if you’re a diehard fand and/or a millionaire. That bet makes a lot of sense to me actually. But dropping $10,000 on the Minnesota Vikings or $16,050 on the Green Bay Packers to win the Super Bowl is offensive. Those are decent teams, sure, but they have ZERO SHOT IN HELL at winning the Super Bowl. It’s not happening. Not this year. Not next year. Not happening.
Here are the largest NBA wagers placed ahead of the upcoming 2019/2020 NBA season.
Golden State Warriors to win 2020 NBA championship: $10,000 at 14-1 (SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas)
Potential payout: $140,000 (June 15)Denver Nuggets to win 2020 NBA championship: $10,000 at 18-1 (William Hill)
Potential payout: $140,000 (June 18)Los Angeles Lakers to win 2020 NBA championship: $10,000 at 5-1 (SuperBook)
Potential payout: $50,000 (June 15)$11,000 at +450 at SuperBook
Potential payout: $49,500 (July 26)$10,000 at +300 at William Hill (June 28)
Potential payout: $30,000San Antonio Spurs to win 2020 NBA championship: $700 at 60-1 (SuperBook)
Potential payout: $42,000Philadelphia 76ers to make playoffs: $100,500 at -5000 (SuperBook)
Potential payout: $2,010
That’s an awful lot of money wagered on the Los Angeles Lakers to win it all for a team that didn’t even make the playoffs last season. Obviously, they got astronomically better in free agency, but good enough to win the Playoffs? Are they even the best NBA team in Los Angeles? A lot of people would argue that title goes to the LA Clippers.
Elsewhere, someone bet $30,000 on the Houston Astros to win the World Series this year at +650 for a potential payout of $195,000. That bet’s looking pretty damn good right now but anything can happen in the MLB Playoffs.
In the NHL, some dipshit bet $2,000 on the Florida Panthers at 40-1 to win the Stanley Cup Playoffs and that’s just throwing money down the drain. There’s a solid chance the Panthers don’t even make the Stanley Cup Playoffs next season.
To see the rest of the best in College Football and College Basketball, you can click here to visit the article on ESPN.