Monday was your typical Halloween in the Tuley’s Takes Haunted home office as we juggled our favorite holiday with our sports betting duties around Monday Night Football.
Don’t tell anyone, but I was actually a little relieved that Game 3 of the World Series was rained out even though it left me without a Best Bet on the day, making it easier to follow just the MNF game while handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters who dared come to our house (I was dressed as a plague doctor and was wife was dressed as Oogie-Boogie).
It was fun to also see all the fans dressed up at the Bengals-Browns game at the Dawg Pound as the Browns upset the Bengals 32-13. Check out my Monday Night Football recap HERE that I post after each MNF game, including the betting recaps you always see in these daily columns below.
Let’s recap the rest of Monday’s betting action, take a peek into Contest Corner for the leaders in the big Vegas football contests and then offer our “takes” on Tuesday, including a pitching change in the World Series as well as some MACtion and our early NFL Week 9 plays.
Monday’s Recaps
NFL: Browns upset the Bengals 32-13 as 3-point home underdogs on Monday Night Football to wrap up Week 8 (game pushed on the consensus closing betting total of 45 points with the Browns getting a first down inside the 2-minute warning and going into victory formation. Faves went 9-6 SU in Week 8, but dogs led 8-6-1 ATS. Home teams went 8-6 SU with 1 neutral-site game in London, but road teams led 7-6-1 ATS. Unders led 8-7.
More NFL: Faves lead 72-48-1 SU on season with 2 PKs, but dogs still lead 67-50-4 ATS (57.3%). Home teams lead 66-53-1 SU with 3 neutral-site games, but road teams lead 61-55-4 ATS (52.6%). Unders lead 70-51-2 (57.9%) and primetime Unders lead 15-9-1 (62.5%).
NBA: Faves went 6-1 SU, but dogs led 4-3 ATS. The lone upset was by the Jazz (%plussign% 2.5 in 121-105 win vs. Grizzlies). The Pistons (%plussign% 13 at Bucks), Rockets (%plussign% 8.5 at Clippers) and Pacers (%plussign% 8 at Nets) covered in SU losses. Home teams went 5-2 SU, but road teams led 4-3 ATS. Unders 5-2.
More NBA: Faves improved to 64-36 SU on the regular season with 2 games closing pick-’em, but dogs lead 50-44-6 ATS (53.2%). Home teams improved to 64-38 SU and still lead 53-43-6 ATS (55.2%). Overs improved to 57-42-3 (57.6%).
NHL: Faves went 2-1 Monday with lone upset by the Kings (%plussign% 105 in 5-1 win at Blues). Home teams went 2-1. Over/Unders split 1-1-1 with push in Kings-Blues (6). On the season, faves lead 84-56 with 6 games closing pick-'em. Home teams lead 81-63 with 2 neutral-site games. Unders lead 73-71-2.
MLB (ICYMI): Faves/dogs and home/road teams are both 1-1 so far in the series while Overs lead 1-0-1. Dogs still lead 18-17 overall in the playoffs with 1 game closing pick-'em. Home teams improved to 21-15 overall. Over/Unders remain at .500 with the push at 17-17-2 overall.
Contest Corner
Circa Sports Million has a new leader as TAIL PARTY-2 went 5-0 in Week 8 to improve to 32-8 (80%) on the season and a 1.5-point lead on MERCILESS916-1 at 30-9-1 (note: wins count for 1 point with pushes worth 0.5).
SuperContest leader is still GAMBLING RATS, who went 3-2 in Week 8 to stand at 29-10-1 (74.4%) on the season. ESKIMOS went 5-0 to move into 2nd place at 29-11.
ICYMI: Circa Survivor will have 123 live entries after NFL Week 8 as only 2 were eliminated on Sunday: 1 on the Jaguars in their 21-17 loss to the Broncos in the early game in London and 1 on the Colts in their 17-16 loss to the Commanders. The Top most-selected teams all won: Cowboys (61), Eagles (38), Falcons (12), Dolphins (4), Seahawks (3), Titans (2) and Bills (2), plus 1 more on Patriots.
Tuesday’s Takes
Phillies 1st 5 %plussign% 100 vs. Astros: Scratch the Syndegaard-McCullers matchup from Monday’s rained-out game and we now get Ranger Suarez as a short home dog vs. Lance McCulers. I’ll take that. As I’ve written since before Game 1, I like my favorite Phillies (former Cub Kyle Schwarber and Las Vegas native Bryce Harper) getting more at-bats vs. right-handed starters. We even went with them vs. Justin Verlander in Game 1 (should have passed vs. southpaw Framber Valdez in Game 2), but like better vs. McCullers..
Ball State %plussign% 7 at Kent State: We get #MACtion on a Tuesday night! These are usually shootouts and usually close games, so we’ll take the TD head-start. Kent State will rely on its running game while Ball State will fill the air with passes. Ball State has had trouble stopping the run and Kent State doesn't defend the pass very well, so we're also considering Over 62 points.
NFL Week 9
Lions %plussign% 3.5 vs. Packers: This is mostly down to 3, though 3.5 can still be found and might come back.
Panthers %plussign% 9 at Bengals: This will likely dip after the Bengals' loss on MNF.