An incredible weekend of sports betting is here thanks to the NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, the French Open Finals, UFC 263 and the start of Euro 2020 play. Read below for a full breakdown of how BetRivers.com and PlaySugarHouse.com bettors are wagering on the biggest events of the weekend.
NBA PLAYOFFS: The Phoenix Suns enter the weekend with a 2-0 series lead over the Denver Nuggets, and could advance to the Western Conference Finals by the time Monday rolls around. A $200 wager placed in January by a New Jersey PlaySugarHouse.com bettor on Phoenix to win the Western Conference (+2500) would pay out $5,200 if the Suns can win two more games against the Nuggets, and then go on to beat the winner of the Jazz/Clippers series. Odds on the Suns to win the NBA Championship have been as high as +6000, but the odds currently sit at +650. But no team is backed by more NBA championship money or bets than the Brooklyn Nets (+120 Championship). Even with James Harden on the sidelines, more futures bets have been placed on Brooklyn in the past week than any team, with the public currently backing the Nets with 49% of the total championship handle and 29% of total championship bets. The largest current weekend NBA bet is a $9,000 wager made by a Pennsylvania BetRivers.com bettor on the Philadelphia 76ers -2.5 (-103) against the Atlanta Hawks tonight. The 76ers are 4-3 ATS in the playoffs, and if they can cover tonight, the bettor will earn a payout of $17,730.
NHL PLAYOFFS: The Tampa Bay Lightning (+175 Championship) are four wins away from a second straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, as they get set to face off against the New York Islanders (+550 Championship) in a rematch of the 2020 Eastern Conference Final. The Lightning are backed by 16% of remaining championship handle and 14% of remaining championship bets, more than twice the amount of the Islanders. Tampa Bay (-275 to Advance) is currently backed by 84% of the total series handle and 89% of total series bets to defeat New York (+215 to Advance). Game 1 of the series takes place on Sunday afternoon, and the Lightning (-190 ML) are currently backed by 79% of the ML handle and 72% of the ML bets to beat the Islanders (+163 ML) in the series opener.
FRENCH OPEN: No. 31 seed Anastasia Palyuchenkova meets unseeded Barbara Krejcikova in the women’s final at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. With so many of the top female tennis stars in the tournament exiting early, an unheralded finals matchup grew more and more likely by the round. But with Palyuchenkova entering the tournament 700/1 to win and Kvrejcikova entering 200/1 to win, less than 2% of total championship futures bets and less than 1% of total futures handle remain. If Palyuchenkova is victorious, a $3 wager at +70000 will pay out $2,103. If Krejcikova is victorious, a $5 wager at +20000 will pay out $1,005. Playuchenkova is currently -105 ML to beat Krecikova (-120 ML). On the men’s side, No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic (+230 ML) faces No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal (-295 ML) in a highly anticipated semifinal matchup. Nadal, a 13-time French Open champion, is backed by over 60% of the total futures handle and over 40% of the total futures bets to win the championship. A Nadal championship win would put the futures book in the red. The public is currently backing Nadal with 84% of the match handle and 88% of match bets.
EURO 2020: Delayed by a year, Euro 2020 will finally kick off today with the first match of group play as Italy (-182 ML) meets Turkey (+700 ML) at 3 p.m. ET. The Italians enter the tournament with the fourth shortest odds to win the championship (+800), but are backed by the third largest percentage of futures handle. England (+600), backed by 19% of the futures handle and 16% of futures bets, begins its quest for its first ever European Championship on Sunday against Croatia in a rematch of the 2018 World Cup semifinal in which Croatia defeated England 2-1. England is currently -143 ML to win on Sunday, while Croatia is +440. The odds-on and public favorites to win the championship is reigning World Cup champions France (+460), backed by 39% of the futures handle and 27% of all futures bets. The largest current bet of the tournament is a $5,100 wager on France (+480) to win the championship, with a potential payout of $24,480. Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku (+600 Top Goalscorer) is the odds-on favorite to score the most goals, and is currently backed by 32% of the handle, nearly twice the handle of France’s Kylian Mbappa (+1100), at 14% of the handle.
UFC 263: Israel Adesanya (20-1, -275 ML) returns to the middleweight division to defend his title, having come up short in his attempt to capture the light heavyweight title in April. Across from the cage stands Marvin Vettori (17-4-1, +215 ML), who has won five straight since a split decision loss to Adesanya in 2018. The main event is currently the most wagered-on fight of the card by both total bets and total handle, and the public is firmly backing Adesanya to retain his title with 91% of the fight handle and 84% of fight bets. One of the more interesting bets is a $150 wager on Vettori to win in Round 4 (+2500), with a potential payout of $3,900. The second most wagered-on fight by total handle and total bets is Leon Edwards (18-3-1, -560 ML) vs. Nate Diaz (20-12, +400 ML). Diaz has not fought since 2019, and has the longest odds of any fighter on the card. But that hasn’t stopped the public from backing Diaz with 48.8% of the total fight handle and 49% of total fight bets. Edwards had won eight straight before an accidental eye poke resulted in a No Contest against Belal Muhammad in March.
