Sports betting arrives in Maryland tomorrow. Thought I'd ask y'all for recommendations about resources. Basically, the equivalents of PaceAdvantage, DRF, and Twinspires for other sports.
Are there a forums you recommend? I'm inclined to follow NFL and NHL. At least until I learn the rules of cricket.
How about betting-oriented coverage and analysis? Who are the Aragonas, Beers, Milkowskis, and Serlings out there?
What sportsbooks do you like? Maryland has the following so far:
- BetMGM
- Caesars
- FanDuel
- DraftKings
- PointsBet
- Barstool/Penn
- BetRivers
- Caesars and MGM are the premier brands with traditional on-site sportsbooks. Caesars bought William Hill then divested the European assets. Has a site at CapitalOne arena in DC. MGM has lots of formal partnerships with major league teams.
- FanDuel and DraftKings came out of daily fantasy. FanDuel shares an owner with Timeform, Betfair, and others. I'm a TimeformUS customer, but haven't received any incentives. I did get a Fanduel solicitation via TVG—used their ADW back when they had free TFUS PPs. I dabbled with DFS at DK, seemed competent enough.
- PointsBet is an Australian shop that owns Premier Turf Club, a longtime presence here at PA with a favorable following. Hasn't been available to me in Maryland, but I get the sense they have rebates achievable by mere mortals. Does PointsBet have a similar approach with competitive viggorish or rebates? Question for another thread, but will I get PTC in Maryland now?
- Just read an article in the NY Times about Barstool. Sounds more sordid than "edgy." Pass.
- BetRivers seems provincial with no exceptional incentives. Pass.
Otherwise, seems like you want several accounts to fetch the best odds (and grab the sign-up incentives). I have three ADWs, but rarely use two of them, so don't want to get carried away with multiple accounts. Leaning toward Caesars, Fanduel, and PointsBet.
Any other resources you recommend? Odds aggregators, handle trackers?
I perused a few simple sports betting how-to books. It's like a world of short-priced win bets out there. Hard to bet a little to win a lot.
I doubt I'll abandon my penchant for clever verticals and horse racing's charming anachronism. But It'd be nice to rise out of obscurity to wager with more mass awareness from time to time.
