I want to welcome the city of Charlotte to the growing VSiN radio network. WZGV-AM has rebranded from “ESPN Charlotte 730 The Game” to “InsideTheGame.bet,” becoming the region’s first radio station dedicated entirely to sports betting content. VSiN programming is now available on more than 350 stations in 46 states, reaching nearly 90% of the U.S. radio market. Much thanks to VSiN radio affiliate recruiter Mike Sinnott, who started us out on a small station in Atlantic City.
I spent a bit more time on Tuesday reading the VSiN NFL Betting Guide.
(Hey, it’s 94 pages and I have a day job here at VSiN.)
In yesterday’s email, I highlighted a couple of new contributors to the guide.
But, of course, I’m also happy to have Steve Makinen’s contributions. Steve was pumping out betting guides long before VSiN existed and has been with us since Year 1 (2017).
In one of my favorite pieces in this year’s guide, Steve brings all of his off-season analysis together to project the 2025 standings and identify possible value in the season win total market.
Steve ranks his top 5 plays for Over and Under win totals based on his projections vs. the current numbers at DraftKings Sportsbook.
The team at the top of his Over list? The Browns with a projection of 5.6 wins (current DK number 4.5). On the Under list? My hometown Bears at 7.6 wins vs. DK’s 8.5. Ouch!
You can get the guide for $9.99 — along with everything else we do for the next 30 days — with our special introductory offer. Or go for the $175 option for everything we do from now through the Super Bowl. Pick the offer that works best for you here.
In case you were wondering: the VSiN College Football Guide will be published on Tuesday, Aug. 5.
Bucks’ bold moves
VSiN.com senior editor Zach Cohen weighs in on Day 2 of NBA free agency:
The Bucks were the talk of the NBA on the second day of the league’s legal-tampering period. It was announced that Milwaukee would be signing Myles Turner, previously the longest-tenured player on the rival Pacers, to a four-year deal. However, nobody knew how the Bucks had the cap space to make a move like that. Well, shortly after, the bomb dropped that the Bucks were waiving and stretching Damian Lillard’s contract.
Lillard tore his Achilles in the series against the Pacers, so he wasn’t going to be playing next season anyway. And, with Lillard turning 35 on July 15, it’s highly unlikely he’ll come back from that type of injury and flirt with All-Star production. So Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst had to get creative to improve the roster around Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks are now going to be paying Lillard roughly $22 million a year over the next five seasons, but doing that allowed them to sign a big-time free agent.
Turner is a carbon copy of a prime Brook Lopez, as he’s a defensive anchor at the center spot that can also step out and knock down triples. Playing that type of big with Antetokounmpo has been the recipe for championship success before, and Horst is banking on it happening again.
I’m not sure I understand reports that Antetokounmpo is upset with the loss of Lillard. Behind the scenes, Antetokounmpo expressed that he wants to stay in Milwaukee and try to compete. This trade allows the Bucks to do that.
Outside of the Bucks drama, the Nuggets continued to do good work surrounding Nikola Jokic with talent. After adding Cameron Johnson and Bruce Brown Jr. on Monday, Denver was able to sign Tim Hardaway Jr. to a veteran’s minimum contract on Tuesday. Hardaway Jr. has his faults, but he has shot at least 36.8% from three in four of the last six seasons. He’s also a player that isn’t shy about gunning them up. He should significantly outplay his contract with Jokic creating shots for him, and he’ll also help Johnson improve the shot diet of this team. Denver didn’t shoot nearly enough triples during the 2024-25 season, but changing that appears to be a priority for this retooled front office.
The Nuggets are now third at DraftKings to win the West at +700. I personally have them in a three-team tier with the Thunder and Rockets atop the conference. Very little separates those three.
On another NBA topic, Detroit’s Malik Beasley — under federal investigation for betting on games — was deep in debt, according financial records uncovered by the Detroit News.
The Trophy House?
VSiN golf analyst Wes Reynolds had this nugget in his preview of this week’s John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities.
In each of the last three years, the winner of the John Deere Classic has stayed in the “Trophy House” — an Airbnb house just a few miles from the golf course. J.T. Poston in 2022, Sepp Straka in 2023 and Davis Thompson in 2024.
Per Ron Klos (@PGASplits101 on X), he asked Thompson last week in Detroit who was staying in the house this week. Thompson indicated that the house would be occupied by himself, Greyson Sigg, Chris Kirk, Ben Kohles, Patton Kizzire, J.T. Poston and Denny McCarthy.
I guess Wes decided to protect himself by making McCarthy (28–1) one of his Best Bets.
>>Get the rest of his plays here.
Wes, Kelley Bydlon and Matt Brown share their strategies and picks for the John Deere on Long Shots, VSiN’s golf betting podcast.
MLB Today
Greg Peterson has five Best Bets for today’s MLB slate.
Adam Burke, Steve Makinen and Josh Appelbaum will file their daily contributions later this morning.
Quick Hits
Wimbledon: Zach Cohen posts his daily Best Bets on our tennis page. Zach will post more picks throughout the day on our tennis picks page. Gill Alexander sends me his picks for the page in the evening for the next day’s action.
Horse Racing: 1/ST BET handicapper Jeremy Plonk will post picks for today’s Delaware Park card later this morning. Horse racing coverage is sponsored by 1/ST BET. Get your $200 sign-up bonus.
Postscript: On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of meeting VSiN fan Tim Foote, who traveled more than 6,000 miles from Okinawa, Japan to sign up for the Circa Million and Circa Survivor. Mitch Moss, Pauly Howard and Circa owner Derek Stevens toasted Tim at the Megabar.
Geez, I hope he got a proxy while he was in town. Winners Circle Proxy Service has helped clients win over $9.3 million last two seasons. Learn more about using a trusted Proxy Service, visitWinnersCircleProxy.com/vsin.
