Welcome to a Tuesday edition of "The House versus Straus"! Here at F6P, we are still playing around a little bit with the timing and format of this article. But while we do work on the inside, we give you plenty on the outside to read! Therefore, welcome to the House vs. Straus: DraftKings Bets 2-21-23
First off, let's review last week's non-RTSports picks. Unfortunately, not all three of my favorites covered in my NHL parlay, so I swung and missed on that one. However, my futures pick of the St. Loius Battlehawks started off the season with a win and looked pretty good. So that's a good start.
And yes, we are going to have another XFL bet this week. The NBA is still on the All-Star break. But I'll also provide another NHL bet for today, plus a PGA bet for The Honda Classic later this week.
As I mentioned last week, let me know what you like and don't like, and I can feature those here. I'm nothing else if not flexible!
With that in mind, let's get to some of my favorite upcoming bets.
*Note that all these props come from the DraftKings Sportsbook unless otherwise noted.
DraftKings Bets 2-21-23
I really wish more books were offering player props on the XFL, but for now, we'll have to start with top-line picks. I'm staying away from the "The Battle of Texas" between Arlington and Houston. There are just too many variables in that game at this time for me to feel comfortable. I like the Brahmas to beat the Guardians, but the value there is minimal at best. But I do like both the dogs in the other two games, so let's bet both of those.
St. Louis BattleHawks (+2.5) at Seattle Sea Dragons (-105) and DC Defenders (+3) at Vegas Vipers (-110)
🗣 VICTORY MONDAYYYY pic.twitter.com/9gn6fYIcW9
— St. Louis Battlehawks (@XFLBattlehawks) February 20, 2023
Tons of ways to play these games. I am very tempted to play the moneyline for both teams, as I think both the BattleHawks (+125) and the Defenders (+135) can win outright. I am even considering a parlay of both underdogs, but that feels just a little too aggressive. The best thing however is probably to parlay both of these teams with the points, which will you +272. (If you don't know what that means, hit me up on Twitter and I'll be happy to explain it to you).
But for publication purposes, I'll go a little more conservative here and just take each team with the points. Both teams are on the road, and that is the only reason I think either is an underdog. In both cases, they are the better team and would likely be favored on a neutral field.
St. Louis and DC are both 1-0 while both Seattle and Vegas lost last week. If the former were hosting, they'd probably be favored by a touchdown. But it's not just the records that cause me to think the Vipers and Sea Dragons will fail to cover.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And the BattleHawks, who looked kind of bleh for the first 50 minutes or so of last week's game, showed me a lot last week in their furious comeback against the Brahmas. I think they'll come out much stronger this week, especially against a Seattle team that had two interceptions on offense and managed just 51 yards on the ground versus the Defenders last week.
The Defenders meanwhile might have the best pair of running QBs in the league in Jordan Ta'amu and D'Eriq King, both of whom carried it in for scores last week. The Vipers QB, Luis Perez, meanwhile looks outstanding at times, but still seems to be plagued by his tendency to throw an interception, having thrown two again last week. That could be lethal against the aptly named Defenders, who forced Ben DiNucci whom started multiple NFL games, into two picks last week as well.
I'm taking the dogs in the XFL's first two games this week. But let's also grab an underdog in the NHL tonight...
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