Service Plays Wednesday 2/17/21

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Members post your personal plays in the various sports forums @ IWS and our betting trackers!

NFL
http://www.investwithsports.com/newf...3-NFL-Football

College Football
http://www.investwithsports.com/newf...-NCAA-Football

Baseball
http://www.investwithsports.com/newf...57-ML-Baseball

College Basketball
http://www.investwithsports.com/newf...CAA-Basketball

NBA
http://www.investwithsports.com/newf...NBA-Basketball

NHL
http://www.investwithsports.com/newf...?58-NHL-Hockey

[rocky57]

Wednesday NBA or CBB games that are postponed or cancelled...

NBA
Bulls/Hornets
Spurs/Cavaliers
Pistons/Mavericks

CBB
Boston College/Georgia Tech
St Joe's/George Washington
Fordham/St Bonaventure
Duquesne/George Mason
Tulane/SMU
Texas/Oklahoma

EXTRA CBB GAMES
Alcorn State/Arkansas Pine Bluff
Mississippi Valley State/Southern
Northwestern State/Nicholls State
Stephen F Austin/Central Arkansas
Sam Houston State/Lamar
Southeastern Louisiana/Texas A&M Corpus Christi

[rocky57]

Thom Cunningham - Play #1
VegasInsider College Basketball
Richmond vs VCU
TV: CBSSN - Time: 7:00pm

Best Bet - Richmond/VCU Under 142.5

[rocky57]

Joe Williams - Play #1
VegasInsider College Basketball
Minnesota vs Indiana
TV: Big Ten Network - Time: 9:00pm

Best Bet - Indiana -4.5

[rocky57]

Thom Cunningham - Play #2
VegasInsider College Basketball
Utah State vs Boise State
TV: CBSSN - Time: 9:00pm

Best Bet - Utah State/Boise State Under 138

[rocky57]

Joe Williams - Play #2
VegasInsider College Basketball
Arizona State vs USC
TV: ESPN2 - Time 8:00pm

Best Bet - Arizona State +11

[rocky57]

Thom Cunningham - Play #3
VegasInsider College Basketball
Arizona State vs USC
TV: ESPN2 - Time: 8:00pm

Best Bet - Arizona State/USC Over 146

[rocky57]

Michael Crosson - VegasInsider

CBB
VCU -2
Boise State -1.5
Minnesota/Indiana Under 138

[rocky57]

Matt Blunt - VegasInsider

NHL
Chicago/Detroit Over 5.5
Edmonton -135

[rocky57]

Toby Maxtone-Smith
VegasInsider Soccer Handicaper

Champions League Wednesday
FC Porto/Juventus DRAW +225
Sevilla/Borussia Dortmund Over 2.5 goals -120

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Sean Calvert

2021 Australian Open men's singles semifinals

Novak Djokovic vs. Aslan Karatsev

The first of the men's singles semifinals at the 2021 Australian Open is set for Thursday, and it's fair to say it's not the lineup anyone expected.

I said in my preview of Novak Djokovic vs. Alexander Zverev that I didn't believe there was too much wrong with the Serb after his "torn abs" claims earlier in the week, and both wagers I suggested in that match were winners.

The first set tiebreak and Over 41.5 total games both provided a healthy profit, and now a seemingly totally fit Djokovic takes on the man who few, if any, casual tennis observers heard of before this tournament -- Aslan Karatsev.

Karatsev had never even made the main draw of a grand slam before this Australian Open, and his record in main level tournaments prior to this fortnight was a distinctly unimpressive 3-10.

To be totally honest, I'd only watched a handful of Karatsev matches at most prior to this week, with the most recent of these a pretty tame loss to a fading Andreas Seppi on a slow indoor hard court in Nur-Sultan in October.

It can't be overstated how stunning this breakout week has been for the Russian, who's not exactly a spring chicken in tennis terms at 27-years-old.

In reaching the semis, Karatsev became the first male player in the Open era to make a slam semifinal in his maiden appearance. He also is the first man ranked outside the top 100 to make the last four in Melbourne since Patrick McEnroe did it way back in 1991.

Karatsev's efforts so far will see him surge up the world rankings from No. 114 to at least No. 42 when the next rankings come out on Monday.

If he beats Djokovic he'll be inside the top 30, and if he wins the tournament he'll be No. 14 in the world.

That's all highly unlikely of course, but the way his week or so has gone thus far in Melbourne anything is possible in theory.

If we look at Karatsev's main level career stats we see that prior to this tournament he'd only held serve 73 percent of the time and broken serve 20.3 percent of the time, which equates to a very mediocre hold/break total of 93.3.

That correlates pretty well with his weak record at main level, but in this tournament he has held serve 85.4 percent of the time and broken 42.4 percent of the time for a stellar 127.8 hold/break total.

That puts him at an elite level (for this tournament) overnight after being a decent Challenger player, which is unprecedented in recent times for a player of his age.

It's hard to see this run continuing though, and he was rather fortunate that G***** Dimitrov injured his back while leading Karatsev by a set in their quarterfinal.

Dimitrov could barely move in the latter stages of that match, and his capitulation has certainly allowed Karatsev's stats to look a little more impressive than they otherwise would have been.

Assuming (and we can't confidently second guess anyone's fitness in this tournament) that Djokovic's seemingly remarkable recovery from "torn abs" continues to improve after a couple more days off, it's hard to see anything other than the Serb moving into yet another Australian Open final.

He looked pretty much at full strength in his four-set win over Zverev, and surely now the nerves will kick in for Karatsev, facing the world No. 1 in a grand slam semifinal -- especially if fans are allowed back in by then.

Melbourne's snap lockdown is due to end on Wednesday, and I would expect the pressure of the situation with fans back inside Rod Laver Arena to have some sort of bearing on things in the mind of Karatsev.

The match is not an easy one to bet unless you're taking a punt on Karatsev, but Djokovic's record at hard-court grand slams when he has been a sub -1000 favorite is 87-2.

One of those losses was the U.S. Open default in September against Pablo Carreño Busta, and the other was in Melbourne in 2017 when he was taken down by Denis Istomin in five thrilling sets.

That's the sort of performance that Karatsev will need, and, based on the form he's shown this tournament, he has the weapons to do some damage. Plus he may well be physically stronger if Djokovic still does have an issue with his abs.

What is more likely though is a nervy start from Karatsev, and the only bet I'll take on in this match is for Djokovic to win the first set pretty comfortably, 6-2 (+450).

The Serb will surely want to put down a marker here early on, and, while Karatsev has a decent serve, he's no John Isner or Milos Raonic. Indeed, Djokovic has more aces per game (0.82) than Karatsev (0.64) this tournament and has held more often (91 percent compared to 85 percent). So the Russian can't really rely on huge serving to get him out of any trouble early on.

This one will either be a bit of a damp squib or one of the most memorable matches in recent times, and it seems likely it will be the former.

Wager
Novak Djokovic to win first set 6-2 (+450)

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Top Rank Sports Picks®

4* Arizona State +11.5 over USC
3* Iona -4.5 over Quinnipiac
3* Missouri State/Southern Illinois under 137

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Root

Reserve Wake Forest

Pinnacle Syracuse

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Brian Bitler

9* NBA Executive Order

New Orleans Pelicans -3

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Jeff Hochman
WEST COAST WISEGUY
YESTERDAY 8:34 PM

WINNIPEG @ EDMONTON | 02/17 | 10:00 PM EST
EDMONTON -140
The Jets defeated the Oilers by one goal despite getting outshot 45-24 on Monday. Edmonton dished out 37 hits, while Winnipeg only managed 17 hits. Edmonton had a lot more scoring chances and should be fired up in this one. The Oilers are ranked No. 7 at home in face-off win percentage, while the Jets are ranked No. 25 on the road. Winnipeg owns a -9.2 shot differential in road games, one of the worst marks in the NHL. The Jets are 2-4 after a win while Edmonton is 3-2 after a loss. Finally, the Jets have a big revenge tilt against Vancouver on deck. Take the Oilers.

+150 2-1 IN LAST 3 NHL ML PICKS