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 — Here’s how I played Game 6 last night. Said that I was leaning to the Warriors but it was gonna be a real light play -2.5 points. My big money would be on the Klay Thompson prop. How many threes will Klay hit. The OVER/UNDER was 3.5, and I was going OVER, baby! Talked about it being kinda obvious that with Kevin Durant in a hospital gown, the only way GSW was gonna win was by bombing from outside. That would mean a YUGE game from the Splash Brothers.
In Game 5, Klay had SEVEN triples while Steph had five. Didn’t think Klay was gonna rock seven again, but thought at least four would be rock solid. Then I decided to push the chips ALL-IN. As all of you who read me know, I DON’T EVER do LOCKS, GAMES of the YEAR, GAMES of the MONTH, GAMES of the WEEK, or, EVER SELL any picks. You read for free right here, or pay a buck to pick up one of my nationally syndicated newspapers for the America’s Line column every day.
That being said, I did make my biggest bet of the year on this prop. Little did I know that after Klay hit his fourth trey, he would go down with a torn ACL a few minutes later. So, how do I feel today? Thrilled that my bank account has a nice BULGE, but totally bummed that Klay had to leave on crutches and will struggle with rehab for months. Guess I’m just a sensitive kind of money-making handicapper.
MLB Pick
For those who have not been with Ecks & Bacon from the start, you need to know that I was born in the Bronx. That I BLEED pinstripes. And don’t think I have EVER bet against the New York Yankees. Well, there’s a first for everything. If there was ever a time to go against my boys, this is IT. And the reason is simple. Two words: Lucas Giolito.
If you have not been following the White Sox, Giolito has been as good as anyone in MLB. He has won eight in a row, and allowed ONLY FIVE earned runs over the last 51 innings, for a virtually invisible 0.88 ERA. And you all remember what my daddy told me: “Whenever you find a guy with a ZERO as the first number of the ERA, OPEN the wallet.”
Even better, CC Sabathia is throwing for New York, and he has been a wee bit ugly. CC has allowed 20 hits and 11 earned runs over the last 16 innings, and that ERA, 6.19, is about as big as Sabathia’s 2016 belly. CC knows I say that with LOVE, but you can put me down for some change on Chicago.
Fury vs Schwarz Pick
Gonna step into the ring in Vegas tomorrow and look at Tyson Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) vs Tom Schwarz (24-0-0, 16 KOs). The Gypsy King is a MONSTER favorite at -3000. NOT gonna drop $3,000 to win back $100, not an idiot, but will take UNDER 9.5 rounds, and look for Tyson to bring the FURY.
PLZ hit me on Twitter over the weekend, @vegasvigorish, just in case anything pops in the NBA, NHL or MLB.
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 winners, and detested by others, when he picks the occasional loser. If you wanna piece of Eck, hit his email...ben@americasline.com.
