Vegas veteran Benjamin Eckstein, author of America’s Line, brings three decades of experience to make weekly picks in his “Ecks & Bacon” column.
LAS VEGAS — Man vs woman. Husband vs wife. It’s ON!
Just saw a study that was done in 2020 by a sportsbook in New Jersey and found that female bettors typically won more bets than men. Women saw average returns of almost 20 percent on their sports wagers while men lost an average of almost five percent.
WOW!!! Will immediately sign up Mrs. Ecks & Bacon at three different sportsbooks, deposit a DIME in each account and see how many Sportsbooks she can bring home. Of course, we will keep a running tally and I’ll report back at the halfway point of the NFL season.
If for some strange reason Mrs. Ecks has more Sportsbooks than me, OBVIOUSLY, you’ll NEVER hear from me AGAIN!!! Wish me luck, fellas!!!
MLB Pick
On the baseball board tonight, we’re heading to Texas and looking at the Astros over the Rangers. Houston let me down on Wednesday, but we’re going back to Minute Maid Park tonight and using Jake Odorizzi over the Rangers.
Odorizzi had a rough go the last time out, but that was probably because he had eight days’ rest between starts due to the all-star break. Now, back on his normal five days, we’re expecting Jake to throw like he did at the end of June and into early July.
There’s a reason that the ’Stros are a hefty favorite despite Odorizzi’s 3-5 record. And his name is Kolby Allard. The kid from Texas has not won a game since the middle of June (0-5) and is giving up hits and runs like it’s Target when they open the doors for Black Friday.
Allard has been rocked for 29 hits and 18 earned runs over the last 28 innings, and when you’re allowing more than a hit per inning, it’s a recipe for another L. Gimme Houston for the money!
Olympics Pick
Now we’re gonna swing over to Japan and take a look at some women’s soccer, specifically the USA vs New Zealand game.
Make sure you lock in on the time difference so you don’t get shut out. Think it’s a 7:30 ET start, but PLZ check. Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of New York, and of course if you’re at the summer cabin somewhere in Nova Scotia, it’s only a 12-hour difference. However, for all those not familiar with Newfoundland & Labrador, they have their OWN time zone, NT, and Tokyo is just 11.5 hours ahead. Back to business.
In an Sportsbook SHOCKER, the USA was bageled by Sweden 3-0, its first loss in 44 matches. There’s NO DOUBT that the Stars & Stripes will get the win tomorrow, but I’m not prepared to lay $2,600 to win back $100.
However, now that the ladies are awake, we’re expecting them to STORM out of the tunnel and go NUTZ in the first half. And the first-half wager is much more reasonable, laying $400 to win back $100. Also gonna try OVER 2.5 goals and drop $350 to win back a Benjamin.
And if you’re looking for more picks this weekend, PLZ hit me on Instagram. I will be doing quick 15-second picks at www.instagram.com/vegasvigorish!
Benjamin Eckstein is a nationally syndicated sportswriter/oddsmaker. His column, America’s Line, with the Ecks & Bacon appetizer, has run in the New York Daily News and over 100 other papers since 1988. You can follow him online at www.americasline.com. He is beloved by most, when he picks Sportsbooks, and detested by others, when he picks the occasional loser. If you wanna piece of Eck, hit his [email protected].
