Gamblin'

What’s On TV Tonight, And How Not To Lose Your Money Gamblin’

Welcome to SportsGrid’s new, daily feature, where we tell you what sports are on TV tonight. Then, I do my best to help you win some money while watching. You know, if you’re into that sort of thing, and gambling is legal in your jurisdiction. Feel free to tweet hateful things at me if my advice moves you to do so. TV games are often the toughest games to find an edge on, so don’t go crazy, people. If I do recommend a bet, I’ll keep track of it, so you can tell me how awful (or wonderful?) I am. For record-keeping, we’ll assume a standard bet is $10. Occasionally, there will be 2x or 3x bets, maybe 4 or 5 if I’m feeling spunky. Good luck, America!

College Basketball: Ohio State at Michigan (-7.5) (9:00 p.m., ESPN)

I’m in Ann Arbor right now, and my friends have been waiting on line since 3:00. They were late. The point spread suggests this is a mismatch, but the players don’t care about that. This is a rivalry game, and Michigan will come out fired up. I’m uncomfortable taking such a big full-game line in a rivalry game, but coming off a loss and with a raucous crowd, look at Michigan, first half.

And I’ll also add a rare parlay (meaning you have to win BOTH bets, or you lose), of Michigan ML and the Nets ML (because they’re playing the Lakers at home, sans D12 and Metta World Peace).

Michigan -4 (1H) (-105), $10 to win $9 AND Parlay: Michigan/Nets ML: $20 to win $20.59

College Basketball: Florida (-12) at Arkansas (7:00 p.m., ESPN)

Arkansas sucks; Florida doesn’t. We’re not sure exactly how good Florida is, since their domination has come mostly in the awful SEC. There’s an argument to be made here — perhaps a convincing one — that this line is actually too low. Florida has arguably the most efficient offense and defense in the country, and shouldn’t have any trouble here. But I’m not in the business of putting my money on 12-point road favorites, and you probably shouldn’t be, either.

Pass, lean Florida

NHL: Lightning (+106) at Flyers (-117) (7:30 p.m., NBCSN)

This line is puzzling. The Lightning have been one of the best teams in the NHL this year, and the Flyers have been one of the worst. Philly had big expectations, but they’ve been a huge disappointment. The only thing to worry about is that the Flyers have played most of their games away from home. Still, they were a better road than home team last year, and in the NHL, home-ice advantage is relatively minor.

Anything can happen in hockey, but there’s too much value on the Lightning as underdogs, here. This is a good ol’ 2x bet.

Tampa Bay ML +106, $20 to win $21.20

Bonus Bets! NHL: Devils/Rangers UNDER 5 (-116): $20 to win $17.24 AND Penguins ML (-136): $20 to win $14.71

What else is on: College Basketball: Villanova at DePaul (7:00 p.m., ESPN2); Wake Forest at UNC (7:00 p.m., ESPNU); South Carolina at Kentucky (9:00 p.m., ESPNU)

Record in games actually worth risking money on: 8-3 (+$23.76)

Lines taken from 5dimes.eu and betonline.ag

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