Betting Matters

Mark is joined by his good pal Jess Udy, and they talk all things Superbowl, including it being so close to Valentine's Day this year, what their picks are straight up and against the spread, and a variety of prop bets. Mark takes credit for his prediction on Tom Brady's retirement. Then they get into a debate about who the best teams in the NBA are. Finally, they wrap up with Jess' recent betting wins and bad beats.

Well it was a bad week personally for Mark and Jess, as Mark's Packers lost another Crap-The-Bed Rodgers fest, while Brady was unable to deliver a comeback performance with Jess in attendance at the Bucs game. But the two digress and give their analyses of the remarkable Divisional Round games, and look ahead to the NFC/AFC Championship games. Mark gives a Moneyline lock pick for this weekend that you can mortgage your house on, while Jess wants to take the Knicks with the points against the Milwaukee Bucks (you already know how that worked out). Long-form podcast on a Friday night -- enjoy!

Betting Matters host Mark Thomas is joined by Jess Udy to recap the NFL Wild Card round weekend and to preview the Divisional Round. Mark gives a prediction for his Packers based on a throwback Niners/Packers game, and Jess talks about his plans to attend the Rams/Buccaneers game. Jess has been crushing it on his NBA bets lately. Lastly, Mark ponders such philosophical questions like "Why do the Florida Panthers play in Sunrise, FL instead of Miami?" and "How are the two best teams in the NHL from Florida?" (Eat your heart out Canada)

Mark Thomas is joined by Jess Udy to discuss the crazy games and endings in Week 18 of the NFL season. Then they do a game-by-game analysis and predictions (both ATS and moneyline) for this upcoming weekend's Wild Card round games. They wrap up with Jess discussing his recent college basketball sports betting endeavors and a preview into the system that he uses.

The Ball and Chain podcast is history, and Mark Thomas kicks off the new Betting Matters podcast with his good pal, Jess Udy. Mark and Jess begin with the NFL playoff picture, first chatting about Jess' Buccaneers, then moving on to Mark's Packers, and wrapping up with the rest of the NFC and AFC. Then they get into some picks for this weekend's NFL playoff games and Jess talks about some of his recent sports betting wins in the NFL, college football, NBA, and college basketball. Jess breaks the news that he's moving to Miami, and Mark talks about how amazing it's been since he moved to Miami in October. Lastly, they give the big thumbs down to Hub Arkush, the reporter from Chicago that has an MVP vote and who says that he's not voting for Aaron Rodgers for MVP despite him being the best player on the field.

Ball and Chain host Mark Thomas is joined by Ben Wilson, a play-by-play and sports betting broadcaster for a variety of TV and radio networks, including ESPN+, SEC Network, Fox Sports Midwest, Pac-12 Network, and Stadium. They kick things off by discussing some Wisconsin sports (Ben is also from WI), then dive into how the landscape for regional sports networks (RSN's) have changed over the past 20 years. Ben is also the host of Pete Rose's Daily Picks Podcast alongside Pete Rose for Quake Media, and Mark and Ben discuss what it's like to work directly with the all-time baseball hit king. Lastly, Ben dives into his experience at VSiN, and what it was like to work with Brent Musburger.

Ball and Chain host Mark Thomas is joined by Nicolas Panaritis, Co-Founder of TheDailyStakes, which provides tools to empower sports bettors with the same analytics used by both the sharps and sportsbooks. Nicolas talks about how he came up with the idea for TheDailyStakes and what sets the product apart from others. He also discusses the strategy for growing the business, marketing, and pricing.

Mark is joined by SharpRank Founder & CEO, Christopher Adams. SharpRank is an independent ratings agency and performance rating platform for sports betting experts, algorithms, prognosticators, and the general public. Christopher talks about how both consumers and operators are leveraging SharpRank to bring greater transparency to the sports betting industry. Then Christopher tells the story of his journey to becoming a startup entrepreneur and Mark talks about his. Just Fucking Do It!

Host Mark Thomas is joined by Robert Walker, the Director of Sports Book Operations for USBookmaking (USB). He has over 30 years of experience in managing sports book wagering lines and risk, including at The Mirage, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, and Stardust. Robert gives a behind-the-scenes look into what it's like to be a bookmaker, how he stays one step ahead of sharps, and what the future of bookmaking will look like.

Mark is joined by Matt Stallknecht, the Senior Manager of Sports Betting at NASCAR. Matt starts off by discussing how NASCAR races, Cup Series, and points system work. Then he dives into the rigors of what it's like to be a race car driver. Finally, Matt walks Mark through the decision-making process that NASCAR went through the past few years to embrace sports betting and engage in partnerships with sports betting operators.