Welcome to episode 110 of Wise Kracks! Joining us this week is a rising star from ESPN and the world of sports betting, Erin Dolan.
We’ll talk about MLB heading down the home stretch, tips for betting on college football, a big Jake Paul fight rumor, an exciting upcoming UFC event, and why bettors should be wary of offshore sportsbooks. Let’s get into it!
My cohost, Jon Orlando, and I are looking forward to kicking back over the Labor Day Weekend, but first, let’s take a look at MLB. On the verge of setting records, will the Los Angeles Dodgers make Jon a happy fan?
With college football underway, I have a few tips to share when it comes to betting that I learned from the University of Hard Knocks!
Rumor has it that Jake Paul is looking to square off with UFC legend Anderson Silva in October. If it becomes a reality, who do you think will be crowned the victor?
UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa is taking place this Saturday and it’s shaping up to be a great card. We’ll share our betting tips on the match.
I also will share a story about handicapper selling games with offshore books, and why as a bettor, the best bet you can make is to stay away.
Joining us this week is Erin Dolan, a rising star in the sports and sports betting industry. Currently working as an on-air betting analyst with ESPN, she appears on Daily Wager, This Just In, and other facets of ESPN’s content library. You can hear about this and more on this week’s Wise Kracks!
Tips to Put Your Best Bet Forward on College Football
As sports fans have had their first taste of college football for the 2022-23 season, I have one thing that I’d like to remind everyone, when it comes to betting, don’t sleep on college football.
And why shouldn’t you listen to me? I have the degree to back it up. I didn’t have the money to go to college… I went to the school of hard knocks, and got my gambling degree at Gambling State!
Not only is college football a great sport to bet on, it’s also an exciting sport in general, and a massive spectacle across the United States. No sport, that I can think of, can match the pageantry of college football. Even small towns like Tuscaloosa can become the center of the sports world.
With over 100 college games a week, I have little inside information when it comes to sportsbooks. They’re not all putting up their lines based on how they feel… there are one or two books that everyone is copying. With so many games, not to mention other sports taking place at the same time, sportsbooks don’t have the staff or energy to stay on top of every single college football game taking place.
The Big Four:
- Never tease college football games, especially totals. It’s a sucker bet… you’ll find out where they got the name when you bet teasers.
- The key numbers are not as strong in college football as they are in the NFL. The key numbers in the NFL are 3s and 7s… I generally stay away from buying when betting on the NCAAF.
- Homefield means a little bit more in college than in the pros. Though the advantage is usually baked into the line, there are circumstances where the bookmaker has not adjusted correctly.
- The FCS is great for betting! Some of my most profitable outcomes in any sport have been through betting the FCS college football games. That’s where the information pays off for the smaller markets.
The Supply and Demand of Sports Picks at ESPN
Our guest for this week is Erin Dolan, an on-air betting analyst who you can find over at ESPN making appearances on Daily Wager and This Just In. She has also been an on-air talent for FanDuel and PointsBet.
Jon and I want to know how her passion for sports and betting was ignited, “I went to Penn State and got a journalism degree, but I knew I didn’t want to be in the news.” Erin admits that she knew next to nothing about betting at first, but eventually, her guy friends got her into it because “they were all doing it all the time!”
What ultimately sets sports betting apart from other fields of work for Erin, is that every day brings a new challenge, “I don’t like to be bored whatsoever… The passion comes from the challenge.”
Funnily enough, Erin also has a passion for something that for her isn’t much of a challenge at all; being a Philadelphia sports fan.
Jon and I ask, “Is Philly still your team no matter what?” With a look that reads ‘no duh,’ Erin exclaims, “Absolutely, are you kidding me?! I try to go to as many games as I can!” As a Philly native, there’s no option to be a fan of any other team
They say on the news… don’t wear another team’s jersey to a game, you’ll get beat up!
As a betting analyst with such a public platform, I wonder, “It’s gotta be tough to go on air. What’s the process?” For Erin, her picks are under a lot of scrutiny, so there’s a lot of pressure to prove her worth as a handicapper, “I need to have an analysis that backs up my picks… sometimes you just like the number.” It can be time-consuming for Erin, but she needs to be as close to correct as she can be.
In a testament to her passion, Erin has had to give out 30 to 35 picks on air before! It’s not an easy task, “Sometimes people will never listen to me again if I’m wrong… It’s tough.”
With all the hard work, Bill knows that her parents must be proud of her, and they are; even if they’re a little perplexed by her work, “My parents have no idea what I’m talking about still, I’ve dumbed it down as much as I can!”
As the interview winds down, I leave it up to Jon to finish off with the tough questions, “Do you acknowledge that the Dallas Cowboys are going to have more wins than the Philadelphia Eagles this season?” With a simple ‘no’ from Erin, Jon hits back with a “come on!”
Ever the die-hard Eagles fan, Erin states confidently, “I think the Eagles are going to be better than people think… people don’t take me seriously when I say that.”
Looking for any semblance of hope, Jon asks one final question to pick Erin’s analyst brain, “Can you acknowledge that the LA Dodgers are going to win the series this year?” Even though she’s over the baseball season, and it’s likely the last sport she would ever bet on, she does acknowledge this to Jon’s delight.
I have to conclude, this is a girl who definitely remembers where she came from.
Sports Betting Podcast Wise Kracks by WSN
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