If you read the Men's rd 1 write up you can skip the paragraph below and head straight to the writeups. I participate in a picking competition that runs for most of the tournaments on tour and recently u/kuklachert who runs it has set up an automated site to take it to the next level. Check it out if you're interested!
Kukla has taken the time to put together a really great and easy-to-use site to automate his tennis picking competitons. The Australian Open will be the first contest this site is public for, so if you're looking for a fun way to compete against your friends and predict tennis without losing money to shady books, check it out 🐢. Just sign up (totally free to join and compete), join the Australian Open comp, and start picking. The site automatically tracks all your results, and maintains a leaderboard. The chat (runs thru discord) is a great place to hang out while you're watching, and there are even some small cash prizes for the top 3 finishers. If you like picking tennis, or tennis, or cash, or prizes, or turtles, or turtles as prizes, or strawberries, or cookies, or tennis, then this is the site for you <3. Check it out here, and remember since it's new feedback is always welcome
Australian Open Picking Competition
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Barty Kovinic : Rust is apparently not a thing for Ashleigh Barty. The loveable nugget from Australia took an entire year off from the tour due to Covid concerns, but started off this year as she does most years, by making the finals of the inaugural event. She has looked just as good as she ever was this week, and in the spot where she was likely to stagger against Bouskova (who was playing some excellent tennis in the 2nd and 3rd set) she was able to steady herself despite visible frustration. Although she has a finals left against a peak-form Muguruza, Barty’s fitness has never come into question, and since the WTA plays the 2/3 format, she shouldn’t really struggle with fatigue in the early rounds.
Kovinic has been a really consistent performer in early rounds on tour the past season or so, and she represents a very consistent baseliner who generally beats the players she’s supposed to. Barty just doesn’t give up the easy errors though, and will be sharp following some good matches this week. In Barty’s past as well as Osaka’s and Serena’s is losing sets in early rounds of majors, but here I think she will have ample time to right the ship even if she does go down an early break. Barty in 2.
Gavrilova Sorribes Tormo : This is a tough match for both players. Gavrilova struggled with injury for a while, but despite the lopsided scores against Serena this past week she played well. There are a lot of quality baseliners on the tour so the fact that these two stand out as very consistent is a testament to how hard they work on court. Gavrilova plays a bit more offense, but hasn’t really had a ton of wins. Tormo has won a bunch of matches, but lately is starting to slump a little. Bookmakers have this as a pickem, and I agree. It’s hard to see either player really pulling away here, and so the winner will have to be decided by who plays the big points better. Gavrilova has a slightly better serve, but Tormo makes a ton of noise on every shot and it’s fairly obvious that outlasting her opponent and outworking them is her intent. If Gavrilova loses it’ll be to rust. Simple shots into the net, and offensive opportunities sent long because of Tormo’s defense pressure. If she converts these, she should win as Tormo is unlikely to deviate. Gavrilova in 3.
Krejcikova Zheng : This is one where I disagree with the line as set. Krejcikova has had one of the quietest yet best years of her career. No major buzz, no discussions of her future from announcers, but sets taken off top players and cohesive beatdowns of players for entire matches. There was a match I watched last year against I believe Azarenka where she didn’t miss a shot for an entire set. For her to be only a mild favorite against Zheng I can really only chalk up to these being somewhat unknown talents to the general betting public and to Zheng’s ranking being a touch higher. I expect Krejcikova to continue to improve, and Zheng losing to Begu in 3 last week is understandable, but that was a matchup she had won in the past so her confidence has to be a bit under duress. Krejcikova in 2.
Trevisan Alexandrova : Unstoppable force immovable object type matchup. Trevisan is slated to lose almost every match she plays but she never alters her game. She keeps the ball in play in and is able to convert big unexpected shots on her forehand when you least expect it. The sort of Nadal above the head forehand means it’s tough to tell when she’s going to go down the line. Her attitude is great and her fight is inspiring. Overall though, she’s not currently going to overwhelm too many opponents. Losing to Petkovic isn’t great, as she does give you long stretches of errors at times. Across the net from her now is also Alexandrova, who just hit through Halep the previous week and is on an absolute tear. Alexadrova is always a pretty big favorite in early rounds, and she will be here also even though Trevisan is one of my favorite new competitors. Just making gets and attacking the backhand won’t be enough here for Trevisan. Alexandrova in 2.
Sasnovich Kontaveit : “This is as good a spot for Sasnovich to beat Kontaveit as she’ll likely see on tour.” That was my first thought when I saw this matchup. Kontaveit still has a semifinals to play today against Sakkari, and given how big she hits, fatigue could be a factor. Checking their history though, Sasnovich has won all but one of their contests so I really underrated her chances in the matchup. She even beat her last year at this exact event. I did bit of scoreboard watching this week also and caught Kontaveit having a bit more trouble than she should have with Mattek-Sands. It’s a bit puzzling since Kontaveit has such a dynamic game, but Sasnovich has a good chance to take this. Sasnovich in 3.
Watson Kr. Pliskova : Heather Watson has one of the widest spectrums of play on the WTA. She’s a great server and strings together at least one finals run each year, but in between she loses in straight sets to a number of opponents. Krystina Pliskova on the other hand never really makes the big splash, but wins a lot of matches and is a pretty steady fixture on tour. This is a serving battle and in serving battles the X factor is often who moves better in rallies. Pliskova’s backhand is heavy and she plays a game similar to Delbonis where more effort goes into the shot to try to avoid the ball being redirected, but she’s a bit slow. Watson is actually quite quick for a server, and given her history of notching wins against Pliskova, and the pickem line set by bookmakers, I lean towards her having a good chance to advance here. Watson in 3.
Rogers Jones : Shelbyyyyyyyy! Rogers has really blossomed in the past year and a half, and it’s good to see her finally notching wins on tour. She’s worked hard on her fitness and it’s resulting in greater court coverage. Francesca Jones looked amazing in qualifiers, and was crushing the ball early last week against Podoroska, but it’s clear that at this stage of her career, she needs time and control of rallies to really thrive. Rogers hits a heavy ball with a less exaggerated but similar motion to Madison Keys, and the time that she takes away from her opponents will prove to be the difference here. Podoroska punished Jones by redirecting her shots and the extra quality of pace coming back was often the undoing of Jones. I think Jones has a bright future, but she’ll need some help from the draws going forward to rise up the rankings. Rogers in 2.
Martic Danilovic : I am a big Petra Martic fan, but there is something lacking from her game sometimes. She started slow against Lapko, and never really threatened against Rogers. She should win this match, but Danilovic is a promising player and she’ll make Martic work for it. Her loss last week to Greet Minnen wasn’t a great scoreline, but Danilovic broke serve a few times and Minnen really came into this even sharp. I think this goes three, and Martic will need to control the tempo of the game in order to win because this is a very tricky spot for her. Martic in 3.
Bencic Davis : Woof. Bencic really has phoned in some performances lately. She’s got the game to win tournaments but really can’t find victories a good portion of the time. A quickish loss to Cirstea doesn’t mean the end of the world since Sorana is playing great tennis, but these are matches Bencic should win. A relative gift here from the draw since Lauren Davis doesn’t really overwhelm anyone, but Bencic will need to appear and compete to make her 2-0 advantage against Davis 3-0. This is a similar matchup to Martic’s where the favorite should find a way to win but the challenger absolutely will if they struggle on offense. Bencic in 3 or it could be a long year.
Strycova Kuznetsova : Strycova lost to Mattek-Sands last week which isn’t a real problem since hardcourt isn’t her best surface and Mattek-Sands presents a unique and frustrating challenge by getting to net so often. Rushing opponents who haven’t really had a ton of matchplay is a decent plan, and it paid off. Coming into this there’s not a lot of reason to think Strycova has anything wrong, but no real reason to think she’ll dominate this matchup either. Kuznetsova started off reeling off games against Brady, but the wind slowed down her ball and she really folded in the second set. Understandable, as Brady is really a top tier opponent, but not the kind of fight that makes me think she’s going to dominate Strycova. I still expect Kuznetsova’s baseline prowess to give her a pretty good chance to win here, but that it will be close since these two know each other so well and are towards the ends of their careers. Kuznetsova in 3.
Zhu Osuigwe : Lin Zhu has not been crushing worlds on tour, but Osuigwe is not quite read for the tour. Her AO qualifying draw was the easiest one offered, but beating Buzarnescu in the finals is still a great win for her. The junior standout is going to be a big question mark in any significant stage on tour, and although her and Zhu have similar quality games at the moment, it is more likely that the junior falters here. Zhu is very consistent and I give her the tiniest edge at the moment. Zhu in 3.
Mertens Fernandez : Mertens is my favorite. This is common knowledge. I don’t believe in elfs. That would be silly. But if I did. And they lived among us. And they were adorable. And they played really skillful tennis. I’m just saying. I’m just saying.
Fernandez really has some tough draws lately, and I hope the talented junior gets more matches that are not so very unwinnable soon. She showed what she can do by beating Sloane Stephens unmercifully last week, but Sloane is just shrugging and picking up checks at this point so I would expect Fernandez to want to play some 50-100 range talent soon. Mertens is a bit too stable from the baseline and will be able to move Fernandez well. Fernandez thrives on being lefty and exposing her opponents movement, but will be at a power disadvantage here. It just seems like barring a very bad day from Mertens, that this is a bit of a bad matchup for Fernendez. Elf in 2.
Ostapenko Muchova : There are elfs and there are dwarfs. Jelena Ostapenko is a cat swatting things off a table. You do not know why she does it and she is not likely to stop. There is something very reassuring about the singular approach Ostapenko takes to tennis, and going for winners every shot has netted her some very big results, but she doesn’t bring the best attitude to the bad times. Muchova plays one of the best rounded games on tour, and I’m a bit surprised that she’s not more of a favorite. Her defending is pretty darn special at times, and I think that Ostapenko will struggle with timing since Muchova can hang with some pretty big hitting. I think Muchova’s conditioning is a bit better also. Muchova in 3.
Cocciaretto Barthel : Cocciaretto is inching up the rankings nicely, and this is a great spot for her. Barthel has some talent, but being off the tour for so long has set her back a bit and it could be a bit longer before she really starts to win matches. This is winnable as Cocciaretto isn’t just going to serve you out, but she’ll have an edge from the baseline and has to know this is a good opportunity to snag ranking points against an unsteady opponent. Cocciaretto in 2-3.
Bogdan Collins : Tough opener for Bogdan, who crushes worlds in qualifers and early rounds, but doesn’t really have the marquee victories next to her name that would make her a good option to win this contest. Collins played extra sharp last week, and had a great 2020. Her serving has sort of improved, and given Serena’s resurgence, splitting sets with her hints that Collins’ peak performance of 2020 is her new level. Bogdan is very good, but not dangerous enough to shut Danielle out of the match. Collins in 2.
Pliskova Paolini : Pliskova matches are the most random events generally. Sometimes she smokes everything without blinking and looks like she’ll win the whole tournament. Sometimes it’s obvious she doesn’t really feel like making a full effort and her opponents get close. I think the moment is what dictates her effort, and she’ll put in enough effort here to beat Paolini. Jasmine has kinda thrived lately on just sticking around in matches, and hopefully Pliskova’s team will make it clear to her that this is a player who believes they can win this match. Pliskova in 2 but if she starts missing this could take 3.
Inglis Kenin : Maddison is a nice player, and it’s great for her to get a chance in a major, but this isn’t a lucky draw at all. Kenin is a frontrunner to go deep in any hardcourt event she enters. Super emphatic walking all day. Kenin in 2.
Kanepi Sevastova : Kaia Kanepi was formerly a player who’d go deep in the 3-4 tournaments a year that she showed up to, but in recent years she’d struggled to string wins together. A brilliant run this past week is likely to continue, but she has had some shoulder injuries in the past so she’s a mild question mark in this first round. I expect to see some kinesiology tape on her, and although Sevastova is a frustrating opponent we should see Kanepi able to control the rallies. Kanepi in 2.
McHale Podoroska : Christina McHale is a good baseliner. I feel like sometimes I say everyone is that when they’re just kinda generic. The truth is none of these players are generic. Tennis is ridiculously difficult and there just aren’t a myriad number of ways to play it and win unless you’re incredibly talented or physically gifted. Everything looks like pushing when you don’t have an edge in ballstriking. Pushing won’t work here though. Podoroska looked lost on hardcourt a few months ago. She even looked to be struggling early against Jones. She looked like she was outclassed at times against Kvitova. She continues to improve though and she has a great mind for tennis. This is a straightforward match and if she isn’t pressured Podoroska moves the ball too well to lose this. Podoroska in 2.
Vekic Wang : Donna Vekic just hasn’t won matches. She has a great game and looks like she’s a threat to win the event for a set, and then she just finds herself a bit behind the pace and loses. It has to be a mental struggle to really believe she’s going to turn it around at this point, and add in that here she’s expected to win but was beaten by Wang in their only previous meeting in Acapulco. How much tennis are we really playing at an event in Acapulco? I’m not quite sure. I do know that Vekic took a set off Pironkova last week, and she’ll have ample chances to employ her offense against Wang. This is a must-win for Vekic, and I think she’ll shrug off her struggles here. Vekic in 3.
Brady Bolsova Zadoinov : Brady is a fudge brownie in a world of regular brownies. There is something so pure about the way Ernie and Bert’s human cousin approaches tennis. It is a ton of fun to watch her forehand flutter through the air, and her backhand was never great but she has made great improvements to the length she gets on it and minimizing the slice habit has been great for her results. Bolsova had a couple nice wins recently to get her back on track on tour but this is relatively unwinnable. Windy conditions are really the only thing that’s going to throw people off this week in Australia and the wind honestly benefits players like Brady who can put a lot of shape/junk on the ball. Brady in 2.
Brengle Rodionova : Brengle seems like she’s a pretty big favorite here. Rodionova is benefitting a bit from wildcards at this point in her career, and she isn’t really a big threat to beat most of the top 100. Brengle in 2.
Sherif Pacquet : Mayar Sherif is a new name but she really is an effective winner. Her best attribute is durability so far. She extends rallies and hustles and hits a solid ball which is enough against lower tier opponents. As she gets more comfortable on tour I’m sure we’ll see more of her offense, but her plan A is best against this particular opponent. Chloe Paquet has one of the best T serves on tour, and goes for it almost every time. It’s a simple motion, and it nets a lot of cheap points since she serve and volleys often. Her marathon match with Destanee Aiava though illustrated that a good defender can make things very tense. I don’t consider Sherif such a big favorite as the -300 line she’s offered at, but given she’s a good bit better than Aiava at a similar strategy so she is likely to find the finish line here. Pacquet is great, but it’s really difficult to win matches when you have to earn every point, and she will here. Sherif in 3.
Konta Juvan : Jo Konta is a tricky one to predict. She sometimes looks very solid but struggles in extended rallies with errors. Begu was in good form so her losing there isn’t a problem, but there isn’t much to take away from her win against Pera. Pera was double-faulting at a really nonstop rate, and when that’s going on players beat themselves. Kaja Juvan is a tough test here, and she’s already snagged some good names and faces on tour. Coming through qualifying at the AO and also almost snagging Swiatek last week are good steps, but beating Konta may be a cut above what she’s accomplished so far. I expect Juvan to win a set, but maybe not the match. Konta in 3.
Azarenka Pegula : This doesn’t seem fair. Azarenka was the best player in 2020 for my money but that run has to cool off a bit. Her win against Putintseva shows she’s still focused, but her withdrawal to Kontaveit lends a bit of mystery to her quality heading into this match. Pegula had a decent week almost defeating Kenin, and this will be a good quality affair since Pegula really has good energy at the baseline and a solid forehand. I think she’ll struggle to find points though if Azarenka is full strength as Vika’s defending and counterpunching is a big strength of hers. Azarenka in 2.
Aiava Stosur : Couple wildcards playing in the first round. Destanee Aiava is clearly very talented and has great defending. She extends points well and her serve is passable. I’m not really sure how much tennis training she’s doing though as she’s a tiny tiny tiny small very minimal little bit heavier than she might want to be to really compete. She’s still young and there’s no reason she has to be completely committed to tennis or train her brains out anyway, just an area I think could make a match like this a clear victory rather than a “well she should win”. Sam Stosur hasn’t really played much winning tennis the past few seasons. She’s basically retired but still enjoying the sport the way I see it. Still has a great serve, a fast forehand, and can compete a bit but I don’t really see her fistpumping and getting too excited over it. This is one where Aiava’s war with Pacquet means she is able to outlast an offensive talent, but where Stosur’s experience may make her a bit more effective with her opportunities than Pacquet. Tough to really decide, and with Azarenka or Pegula waiting in round two, this is one I’m ok getting wrong. Stosur in 2.
Hibino Sharma : Hibino has climbed the rankings nicely again after some tough relatively winless seasons. She hasn’t played since the French which is a puzzle, and she’s sat at a pickem here against Sharma who really hasn’t won a ton of matches but has played some great isolated sets of tennis. Sharma is one of the few players who took a set from Kanepi this past week and since Hibino should be a bit rusty and is generally not an overwhelming talent but more of a counterpuncher this is a good chance for Astra. Sharma in 3.
Sakkari Mladenovic : Maria Sakkari is a top 10 player for the foreseeable future. She works too hard on conditioning to be outlasted, and the more comfortable she gets on tour the fewer errors she makes. Mladenovic is on a bad slide but is too talented to ever really crash off the tour. This is a rough draw, and she’s unlikely to come up with enough offense to beat Sakkari. Sakkarin in 2.
Stephens Putintseva : Sloane Stephens is already retired, and tennis is her retirement home. I don’t begrudge an athlete who’s accomplished so much some time off, and it really makes predicting her matches a bit easier. Sloane has the talent to beat anyone and hits the ball heavy when she’s playing well. She can drag her way through a match playing poorly, but the peak peformances that netted her titles are few and far between at this point.
Putintseva has been winning when she’s supposed to, and is very solid from the baseline. She might play the most error free tennis of anyone on tour in some stretches, and she’ll be able to frustrate Stephens. Putintseva in 2.
Burel Van Uytvanck : Clara Burel is very good, but like most junior standouts much of your future on tour depends on who you draw in the first round. Against a more conservative player or even someone with a smaller offense, Burel is going to have a good shot at winning. She drew Giorgi last week though and showed that while she’s a very talented player, she can’t really counterpunch nonstop during a match. This will be the ask here as well, and as well as Van Uytvanck played last week, the only issue working against her is how quickly she imploded against Muguruza when the ball started coming back.
AVU really plays nonstop offense, and can hit herself out of matches quickly if her opponent gets the ball deep. She’ll have a much easier time holding serve than Burel though, and I think in a tiebreakelate set situation Van Uytvanck’s serving will be a big plus as well as her experience. Burel will at some point be better than AVU, it’s just not quite there yet. Close match, but AVU in 3.
Teichmann Gauff : This is kinda puzzling. These two played first round in last week’s event as well, and Gauff didn’t do anything special but never really seemed like she was in danger. It was a 3 setter, and there were momentum shifts, but it seems like Teichmann has to do an awful lot to win a point and Gauff is able to just defend and eventually overwhelm her opponents. Pushing isn’t my favorite, but it’s hard to say that Teichmann is going to turn that result around in a week. Gauff in the same 3.
Svitolina Bouzkova : There are some really tough first rounds in this section of the draw. Svitolina is always a threat to go on a tear. Her defending is second to none and her forehand is solid when she’s confident. The problem across the net is that Bouzkova brings a similar level of defending, so this is likely to come down to who makes errors when forcing offense. Bouzkova didn’t struggle much to move the ball against Barty, but she played 2 good sets and one bad one. It’ll be a similar issue here. I think she can win a set, but winding up in a third set against Svitolina and having to come up with 6 games of winners is very tough. The upset is possible, but will require a really comprehensive performance. Svitolina in 3.
Andreescu Buzarnescu : A lucky loser spot will get Buzarnescu a nice paycheck. After struggling with some knee injuries, Andreescu finally makes her return to the tour. It’s tough to know what to really expect, but Buzarnescu has struggled to win matches on hardcourt, and it’s likely that Andreescu will have ample chances to win here. It’ll be interesting to see how she’s playing after such an extended break. Andreescu in 2.
Hsieh Pironkova : Hsieh pretty much gave up against Van Uytvanck last week and was having clean winners hit off her serve. She’s a fan favorite, but hasn’t been winning matches. Pironkova on the other hand, has pretty much beaten everyone on tour she’s faced since returning. I think that run continues here. Pironokova in 2.
Flipkens V. Williams : Flipkens wins just when you think she can’t. I think this is one of those spots where she can’t. Venus Williams isn’t going to beat the top half of the tour, but she’s still a pretty adept server and if she doesn’t have to move a lot, she’s a very tough out in early rounds. Flipkens thrives on a slice-heavy game and generally nets most of her wins against overzealous youth. Venus is neither, and should have the ability to win here. I don’t agree with her -318 pricetag, but I think her price is often inflated. Williams in 3.
Wang Errani : There’s always a good chance that Wang gets the job done in straight sets. She really performs well as a favorite, and rarely wins when she isn’t. Here she has a tricky opponent in Errani. Errani wins this matchup on clay, but hardcourt leaves her a bit lacking in big weapons. Wang hits big, but lost to Paolini last week which is a similar caliber of player to Errani. Errani is coming off a qualifying run in the AO, and lost a decider this past week to an in-form Ostapenko. This is a similar opponent and I’d expect a very close match. Wang winning here puts her in good shape since she can defeat Venus in round two, but the upset isn’t out of the question since Wang was able to basically get outlasted last week. Errani in 3.
Voundrousova Peterson : Marketa managed to wake up this past week, and because of that she’s probably going to win this match. She found good length on her forehand, and when she’s in a rhythm she’s very tiring to beat. Peterson has a great ability to get to the 5-5 point in matches, but hasn’t closed them out of late. There’s nothing overpowering in her game and you kinda need that to beat Voundrousova. Voundrousova in 2.
Marino Birrell : Marino did well to qualify for the AO, and playing a wild card ranked in the 700s is a good reward. Since I know Marino is reading this, I’m picking her. Marino in 2.
Tig Cirstea : Tig is one of the toughest fighters on tour. Some might say her attitude on court is, awful. Her play reflects how hard she’s fighting though, and she acknowledged in some interviews that she gets too intense at times. She hasn’t really found her hardcourt game yet, and Cirstea really has in the past few weeks. Tig will make this a long match, but it’s Cirstea’s offense vs Cirstea’s mistakes in this one. Most pro’s win that battle when it’s availalble. Cirstea in 3.
Minnen Kvitova : Tough draw for Minnen who came out firing last week and looks to have a bright future on tour. Kvitova is occasionally caught off guard but she tends to do well in serving battles and this is one. Kvitova in 2.
Muguruza Gasparyan : Muguruza is ballin. As I’m typing this she’s struggling to find easy points against Barty, but this week she has looked at her best. Two opponents have gotten 0 games in a set against her already, and that spells trouble for Gasparyan. Muguruza’s losses on tour are usually hard to watch and she looks tentative while makes tons of simple errors. This tells me that generally the difference in her game is how much training she’s doing and how much tennis she’s playing. For now, it’s a lot of both. Gasparyan is pretty darn good and a lucky loser spot is fair since she really does belong in the main draw, but this is toooooo tough. Muguruza in 2.
Samsonova Badosa : Tough tough first round. Liudmila Samsonova sorta reminds me of Rybakina and Sabalenka. She crushes the ball on both wings, she moves well, but her breakout performances were followed by a bunch of tough draws and losses. I think many players just get a bit solved by the tour, and Samsonova will have to wait a while to really announce herself. This is a good opportunity for her, and Badosa. Badosa is one of the ball-machines currently operating on tour, and really doesn’t give much up once the rally is started. This is a classic offense vs defense matchup, and although I think Samsonova has a higher ceiling, at this point Badosa should get the job done. Badosa in 3.
Diyaz Zidansek : Zarina Diyas is a player that always seems encouraging, but doesn’t win a lot. Her speed is off the charts, but her game is really geared towards that 2017-18 stretch where there weren’t really dominant players offensively and a lot of matches were about outlasting the other player. The shoutout format is really back now, and I think Diyas has to make some adjustments. Zidansek is mostly a clay talent, but she has better options and variety than Diyas. I wonder if anyone is reading this. Diyas beat Zidansek in 2018, but hasn’t really beaten many players since. Zidansek had some nice wins against Brady and Fernandez recently, so I’d lean towards her. Zidansek in 3.
Pera Kerber : Bernarda Pera winds up in a third set pretty much every time she steps on the court, but this past week in the windy conditions her serve left her bigtime. It was frustrating to watch and she never really found the motion against Konta. I don’t expect this to improve during a match against a very offensive returner in Angelique Kerber. Kerber looked sharp on isolated points this week, and I think she’ll be able to break early and often against Pera. Kerber in 2.
Petkovic Jabeur : Petkovic hit through Trevisan which means she’s at the top of her game. The top of her game though, is at the bottom of Jabeur’s. Since Petkovic is such a great athlete, her ballstriking can make this close for a bit, but Jabeur’s serving is top level and even though she plays a bit impatient, she’s likely to close this out even if she gives up an early deficit. Jabeur in 3.
Hibi Schmiedlova : This is a good one. Hibi is on a roll stretching 5 wins in a row to start the season prior to going down to Mertens (no shame there) this week. Schmiedlova has been really solid since coming back to the tour and has pulled a couple upsets most notably besting Azarenka at the Frenchest Open. Schmiedlova is likely to be the bigger hitter here but with both coming in in decent form, this should go down to the wire. Schmiedlova in 3.
Hercog Garcia : I’m not sure why I always think Hercog is going to win, but I do. Part of the equation here is that Caroline Garcia has turned in some of the most random poor performances I’ve ever seen, and Hercog pretty much always plays well even if she doesn’t really have the weapons to beat a top defender. It’s time to stop doubting though. Garcia has won all of the previous meetings between these two, and she played ok last week. Garcia in 2.
Pavlyuchenkova Osaka : Tough first round for Osaka as Pavs isn’t really interesting in what name is across the net, but pretty winnable. Osaka can lose any match, but can win any match also and that tends to be her most frequent result of late. Osaka in 2.
Sabalenka Kuzmova : Sabalenka struggles with strange losses less and less as she matures. I think she’ll add a good number of indoor titles this year, but her outdoor game will take another year or so. Hard to pick against her here though. Sabalenka in 2.
Boulter Kasatkina : Katie Boulter snatched wiiiiiiiiiigs last week. It was really a great run (defeating Kalinskaya and Gauff) and she looked like she might even defeat Osaka. That kind of quality is necessary, as Kasatkina is pretty efficient during the rally. She doesn’t have any clear holes in her game, and generally plays error free. Her only real struggle is with opponents that have power and Boulter doesn’t really crush the ball. Expect long rallies in this and if I’m being honest I’m not sure what to expect for an outcome. Boulter had a much better week, but Kasatkina is way more established. Boulter should probably lose, but Kasatkina has had some very extended struggles in the past on hardcourt. I’m guessing, but Boulter in 3.
Cornet Savinykh : Cornet is likely to have an edge here. She’s been just average in 2021 but is a very good defender and extends rallies in a manner that new players on tour generally struggle with. She’ll likely find errors from Savinykh but admittedly she is a new commodity and I’m mostly going off her results so far. Cornet in 2 but I’ll be watching most of this one to get an idea baout Savinykh’s game.
Li Zhang : Ann Li has basically surprised everyone this week (and by everyone I mean me). I really liked her game last year, and I find that she moves the ball around the court in a very composed manner and makes good decision as to when to get in to net. I didn’t expect her to beat Cirstea though, and I think that lends itself strongly to her beating Zhang here. Zhang received a 1 and 1 beating from Muchova last week and I don’t think she’s going to turn it around her against a surging talent. Li in 2.
Riske Potapova : Alison Riske hasn’t played since last season, and it’s going to be pretty tough to figure out where her level is given how inconsistent she’s played in the past. A lot of errors and a lot of serving struggles are interspersed with rare stretches where she really lands her shots and is able to overwhelm her opponents. I’m not sure if I put Potapova’s results above hers really. Potapova is the type to win 1 round at every event she goes to, but never multiple matches. Rusty inconsistency against consistent underperforming is a tough one to figure out. I lean Potapova in 3.
Bonaventure Babos : Ysaline is a fine player, but appears on tour a bit less than is really necessary to get up the rankings. This is a good chance in terms of name of opponent, as Babos has had some bad seasons, but not in terms of timing, since Babos is playing her best and most motivated tennis in the past few weeks. Her qualifying run was impressive, and although she lost to Garcia last week she acquitted herself well. Babos in 3.
Begu Stojanovic : Begu was really the most improved player at this week’s warmup events. I don’t see a reason given her quality of play to think that she won’t play a good level this week as well. Stojanovic was pretty convincing beating Sherif, but Begu is a big step up from a defensive qualifier. Begu in two.
Siegemund Williams : Laura Siegemund has really fought nonstop, and her reward is a pretty comfortable ranking on tour for at least a year. There were times where her knee injuries looking like they’d cancel her permanently, but she really is a joy to watch when she’s playing well. This is bad timing to play Serena Williams though. There isn’t really a good time, but her mobility suffered a bit in her return last season and she seemed a bit vulnerable at times. 2021 is here though, and Serena has shed any extra weight she was carrying, and looks very sharp to start the season. It takes a lot of hard training and dieting to do what she did, and there’s reason to believe that she might be able to get that long-sought after major title this year. Her serving looked excellent this past week, and although she withdrew with a shoulder injury, high profile tennis players injury withdrawals are often more opportunistic than tragic. Williams in 2.
Swiatek Rus : Iga Swiatek isn’t really confident on hardcourt yet. A lot of junior standouts get their first real results on clay, and she’s no different. Her talent though is something that won’t really be held back for too much longer. At this point it’s a question of when, not if. Swiatek in 2.
Shvedova Giorgi : Nice to see Yaraslava back on tour,but this is a pretty tough first round. Giorgi is playing pretty well, and should take advantage of Shvedova’s rust. Giorgi in 2.
Ferro Siniakova : Popcorn time. Fiona Ferro’s hardcourt results are night and day from her clay results. During her match with Rogers last week, she basically figured out hardcourt tennis within the match, but couldn’t really stick to the plan. I would expect her team to work on that, and I think that given Siniakova’s streaky play, that Ferro will have a chance to start winning on hc here. On the other side of the fence, Siniakova has lost some matches, but has competed and won against a much higher tier of player than Ferro. She has to sit as a slight favorite, and the question here is similar to Swiatek; when will Ferro put the puzzle pieces together. I expect it to happen in this match. Ferro in 3.
Zvonareva Rybakina : This is a brilliant matchup but unfortunate for whoever loses. Zvonareva served better than she has in a while last week, and her baseline game is always very accomplished. Rybakina is really good enough to win a major already, and the real trouble is just getting through these difficult early rounds. I guess that’s a problem for everyone, but a peaking Zvonareva is a difficult test. Rybakina has to sit as a favorite, but if she starts slowly she’ll lose this match. Still, Rybakina has the talent to withstand Zvonareva’s onslaught and her serving is just as good. Rybakina in 3.
Kudermetova Kostyuk : Kudermetova has a big edge coming into this, having just defeated Kostyuk at the event in Abu Dhabi. Kostyuk has been garnering some very high prices, and is expected to really have an impact on tour soon. The trouble came for her last week with the windy conditions in Melbourne. She’s a very clean ballstriker and needs to be able to commit to her swings. This is an exceptionally tough match to call, and the match in Abu Dhabi was decided by a single break. I think Kostyuk can turn this around, but her performance against Brady wasn’t very inspiring. Someone in 3.
Gracheva Blinkova : Blinkova’s been struggling to notch wins, and Gracheva won their previous meeting. This is another very tight contest, but it’s hard to say that Gracheva doesn’t have a small edge here. Gracheva in 3.
Doi Tomljanovic : Misaki really isn’t the most dominant player but she presents a very difficult test if her opponent lacks power. Ajla Tomljanovic is a great talent but hasn’t really taken the next step on tour. It’s easy to think that her tough results on tour mean she’ll never get there, but she does play some tight matches against most opponents. I think she’ll get a boost from playing at home here, and while Doi is good for a few breaks of serve against most players, Ajla will really just need to keep errors to a minimum to get across the finish line here. Tomljanovic in 3.
Cabrera Halep : Cabrera is a good talent, but I am quite sleepy at this point, so Halep in 2.

After two weeks of anticipation, Super Bowl 55 is finally here as the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida.
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Every aspect of Super Sunday will be analyzed in great detail, from the national anthem to the halftime show to the television commercials that will run during the game. The two teams met on this same field during the regular season, with the Chiefs holding on for a 27-24 victory. This time, the stakes are much higher, with the Lombardi Trophy on the line, as well as potential bragging rights in the battle between generational quarterbacks in Tom Brady of the Buccaneers and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs.
Since the game is being played as the COVID-19 continues to rage across the country, both teams will have travel plans and logistical processes unique to this season. Attendance will be limited to 25,000 fans, 7,500 of which will be vaccinated healthcare workers. USA TODAY Sports will have live coverage of the game and all the happenings from Tampa, and we've also answered some key questions about the matchup for anyone looking for last-minute information:
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Don't miss the passion of your local commentary just because you're abroad - instead, try using a VPN to access you favorite Super Bowl coverage wherever you are in the world this Sunday. watch super bowl germany How to watch Super Bowl free online in Germany: 2021 live stream details Germany boasted five NFL Europe teams at one point, so it's little surprise that American football is huge in the European nation. Its popularity means that German fans can watch Super Bowl LV free on terrestrial channel ProSieban - either on TV or on the network's online streaming platform. Not in Germany? You can tune in to your local coverage from abroad simply by adding a VPN to your software roster and following our guide above. super bowl (Image credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) All you need to know about Super Bowl LV in 2021 The 2021 Super Bowl takes place on Sunday, February 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. The 65,000+ capacity stadium will welcome a limited number of fans to the game as the US continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league now having confirmed that around 20,000 will be in attendance at Super Bowl LV, with a number of tickets reserved for key workers. The start time for Super Bowl LV is set for 6.30pm ET/3.30pm PT (5.30pm CT) in the US. Globally, that means the Super Bowl time is: Australia Super Bowl time: 10.30am AEDT (Monday, February 8) India Super Bowl time: 5am IST (Monday, February 8) Japan Super Bowl time: 8.30am JST (Monday, February 8) Germany and Europe Super Bowl time: 12.30am CET (Monday, February 8) Mexico Super Bowl time: 5.30pm CST New Zealand Super Bowl time: 12.30pm NZST (Monday February 8) South Korea Super Bowl time: 8.30am KST (Monday, February 8) UK and Ireland Super Bowl time: 11.30pm GMT Where is the Super Bowl on TV? 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See our roundup of the best Super Bowl TV sales When does Super Bowl pre-game coverage start on Sunday? Don't think about doing anything else on Super Bowl Sunday, because CBS is on-air live from Raymond James Stadium from 11.30am ET/8.30am PT, making for a whopping seven hours of Super Bowl pre-game coverage on the channel. Super Bowl 2021: full schedule and TV guide While Covid has forced the NFL to make a number of changes to the usual Super Bowl Week schedule in 2021, most of the usual events and formalities are going ahead in one way or another. Super Bowl Media Day, for instance, became Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, February 1 and saw select players interviewed over Zoom - not the usual circus that ensues at the start of the week. Here's a complete Super Bowl 2021 TV schedule for the big weekend: Saturday, February 6: NFL Honors 2021 at 9pm ET/PT on CBS Sunday, February 7: Super Bowl LV pre-game coverage from 11.30am ET/8.30am PT on CBS Sunday, February 7: Puppy Bowl XVII from 1pm ET/10am PT (2pm/11am paw-off) on Animal Planet US Sunday, February 7: Kitten Bowl VII at 2pm ET/11am PT on Hallmark Channel Sunday, February 7: Miley Cyrus presents TikTok Tailgate concert at 3pm on TikTok and CBS watch puppy bowl 2021 live stream (Image credit: Animal Planet/Discovery+) How to watch a Puppy Bowl 2021 live stream - and what is the Puppy Bowl? Super Bowl build-up wouldn't be the same without the Puppy Bowl, a pawsome pre-game tradition now in its 16th year - so we're on Puppy Bowl XVII, officially. It sees 70 adorable pups compete in a two-hour long event pitting Team Ruff vs Team Fluff. The event is co-hosted and the teams 'coached' by two of America's least likely BFFs, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart. A one-hour long pre-game show will recap the highlights of Puppy Bowls past from 1pm ET/10am PT, while the game itself 'kicks-off' at 2pm ET/11am PT. TV coverage is on Animal Planet, which if you don't have via cable, can be streamed using either the Discovery+ platform (from $4.99 a month, 7-day free trial) or an over-the-top cable replacement service like FuboTV (from $64.99 a month, 7-day free trial). The reason the Puppy Bowl has captured the nation's imagination is that in addition to being so darn cute, it also features adoptable dogs from shelters all over the country, so if you get tired of the usual talking heads pre-game coverage, be sure to tune in! Sadly, the Puppy Bowl doesn't seem to be available internationally, even in countries like the UK where Animal Planet is available. But anyone from the US currently abroad needn't worry as they can try our No. 1 rated VPN 100% risk-free for 30-days and tune in just like they would at home. super bowl 2021 live stream half time show the weeknd (Image credit: Michael Kovac/FilmMagic) Super Bowl 2021 Halftime Show: who's performing at Super Bowl LV? Following in the footsteps of a sensational performance by Shakira and J-Lo last year that was watched by some 104 million people (and received over 1,300 complaints), The Weeknd has been confirmed to headline the 2021 Super Bowl halftime how. It's expected to go down as the longest halftime show ever at 24 minutes, with Jay-Z and Roc Nation responsible for production of this year's entertainment. For more details, check out our full guide to the 2021 Super Bowl halftime show. Super Bowl 2021 odds and predictions The Kansas City Chiefs are currently installed as the heavy favorites to lift the Lombardi trophy for a second straight season. With arguably the league's most gifted QB in Patrick Mahomes under center, its best TE in Travis Kelce menacing opposing defences, and deadly skill players like Tyreek Hill able to break out for a big play at any time...it's easy to see why. The Bucs are the underdogs, having emerged from the NFC Wild Card picture with big wins over the Saints and Packers to get this far - and few would put another upset past them with GOAT Tom Brady under center. The combination of home field advantage and Brady being Brady somewhat mitigates Tampa's otherwise heavy underdog status, even if the 22,000 fans expected to attended is well below the normal 65,000+ capacity of Ray Jay. Still, while Tampa are a team brimming with the kind of confidence you get when you're led by TB12, most pundits are joining Vegas and the bookmakers in predicting a Chiefs win - though most have it down to be a close game that's likely to come down to the final possession.

Team has been involved in a substantial number of the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries’ most significant merger and acquisition transactions, holding key positions at, and transacting with Scientific Games Corp, Inspired Gaming Group, FOX Bets, Ocean Casino Resort, Resorts International Holdings, PokerStars, DraftKings, Mohegan Sun, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Harrah’s Entertainment, Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming, Facebook, Inc, Wynn Resorts, Dubai World/MGM Resorts
Here's all the Bios. These guys are stellar! TEKK closed at $10.30 today. Still cheap!
If you don't like to read... you don't like to make money!!!!
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Matthew Davey — Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Davey has over 25 years of experience within the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming ecosystems, as well as experience in the public sector. He is an experienced public company executive officer and board member. He has served in executive management positions across the gaming technology arena. Over the course of Mr. Davey’s career, he oversaw more than ten mergers and acquisitions and over $1.2 billion in debt and equity capital raised to support the companies he has led.
Most recently, Mr. Davey was Chief Executive Officer of SG Digital, the Digital Division of Scientific Games Corp. (“Scientific Games”) (Nasdaq: SGMS). SG Digital was established following the purchase by Scientific Games of NYX Gaming Group Limited (“NYX”) (formerly TSXV: NYX), where Mr. Davey served as Chief Executive Officer and Director. The NYX acquisition provided Scientific Games with a vehicle to significantly accelerate the scale and breadth of its existing digital gaming business, including the strategic expansion into sports betting. In his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of NYX, Mr. Davey developed and implemented a corporate strategy that generated strong revenue growth. Mr. Davey shaped company strategy to focus on digital gaming supplier platforms and content that provided various gaming operators with the underlying gaming and sports betting systems for their online gaming business. In 2014, Mr. Davey oversaw the initial public offering of NYX, and his experience in the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries helped NYX recognize momentum as a public company. After the public offering, from 2014 to 2018, Mr. Davey oversaw seven acquisitions which helped establish NYX as one of the fastest growing global B2B real-money digital gaming and sports betting platforms. These acquisitions included:
• OpenBet: In 2016, NYX completed the $385 million acquisition of OpenBet. This was one of the more complex and transformative acquisitions that Mr. Davey oversaw at NYX. Through securing co-investments from William Hill (LSE: WMH), Sky Betting & Gaming and The Stars Group (formerly Nasdaq: TSG, TSX: TSGI), Mr. Davey was able to get the acquisition from Vitruvian Partners completed successfully, winning the deal against much larger and well capitalized competitors. By combining two established and proven B2B betting and gaming suppliers, NYX was well positioned to provide customers with exciting player-driven solutions across all major product verticals and distribution channels. This allowed NYX to become the leading B2B omni-channel sportsbook platform in the market and the supplier to over 300 gaming operators globally with an extensive library of desktop and mobile game titles, including more than 700 on NYX platforms and more than 2,000 on the OpenBet platform.
• Cryptologic/Chartwell: In 2015, NYX completed the $119 million acquisition of Cryptologic and Chartwell. The acquisition provided NYX with more than 400 titles of additional leading gaming content, a broader customer base, and direct exposure to PokerStars and Intercasino, part of the Gamesys Group (LSE: GYS) — two of the world’s largest online casino offerings.
• OnGame: In 2014, NYX completed the distressed acquisition of OnGame, a premier poker content, platform and service provider. This acquisition provided NYX with one of the best poker products in the industry, access to several regulated jurisdictions, and a valuable talent pool that was instrumental in the growth of NYX. The addition of OnGame further established a path for NYX to continue its growth in both European and U.S. markets.
These acquisitions, together with meaningful organic growth, increased NYX’s revenue from $24 million in 2014 to $184 million annualized in 2017. During that time, Mr. Davey helped build NYX to have over 200 customers in the global gaming industry and a team of 1,000 employees. Mr. Davey’s success at NYX ultimately led to its sale to Scientific Games for $631 million in 2018.
Mr. Davey joined Next Gen Gaming, the predecessor to NYX, in 2000 as the Vice President of Technology, was appointed as Executive Director in 2003 and named Chief Executive Officer in 2005. Prior to that, he was the Senior Consultant for Access Systems, a company that specializes in the provision of back-end software for licensed online casinos. Prior to joining Access, Mr. Davey worked for the Northern Territory Government specializing in matters pertaining to the internet and e-commerce along with roles in the Department of Racing and Gaming. Mr. Davey received a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Northern Territory University, Australia (also known as Charles Darwin University).
Robin Chhabra — President
Mr. Chhabra has been at the forefront of corporate acquisition activity within the digital gaming landscape for over a decade. His prior experience includes leading corporate strategy, M&A, and business development at two of the global leaders in the digital gaming industry, The Stars Group (“TSG”) and William Hill, and a leading supplier, Inspired Gaming Group (Nasdaq: INSE). Mr. Chhabra served on the Group Executive Committees of each of these companies. From 2017 to May 2020, Mr. Chhabra served as Chief Corporate Development Officer at TSG and, from 2019 to August 2020, he also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Fox Bet, a leading U.S. online gaming business which is the product of a landmark partnership between TSG and FOX Sports, a transaction which he led. During that period, Mr. Chhabra led several transactions which transformed TSG into the largest publicly listed online gambling operator in the world by both revenue and market capitalization and one of the most diversified from a product and geographic perspective with revenues of over $2.5 billion. Mr. Chhabra’s M&A experience is extensive and covers multiple global geographies across the digital gaming value chain and includes the following:
• TSG/Flutter Entertainment Merger: In 2019, Mr. Chhabra led the TSG M&A team that was responsible for TSG’s $12.2 billion merger with Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR). The merger between TSG and Flutter Entertainment is the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date. The combination created the largest publicly listed online gaming company with approximately 13 million active customers and leading product offerings, which include sports betting, online casino, fantasy sports and poker. The combined entity includes some of the world’s most iconic digital gaming brands such as Fanduel, Fox Bet, Sky Bet, PaddyPower, Betfair, PokerStars and SportsBet. TSG/Flutter Entertainment is one of the most geographically diverse digital gaming and media companies with leading positions in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Georgia.
• TSG/Sky Betting and Gaming (“SBG”): In 2018, Mr. Chhabra led the acquisition of SBG from CVC Capital Partners and Sky plc, Europe’s largest media company, in a transaction valued at $4.7 billion. At the time of the acquisition SBG was the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom and one of the fastest growing of the major operators having doubled its online market share in three years. The acquisition of SBG provided TSG with (a) greater revenue diversification, significantly enhanced expertise and exposure to sports betting just ahead of the judicial overturn of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) by the U.S. Supreme Court, (b) a leading position within the United Kingdom, the world’s largest regulated online gaming market, (c) improved products and technology as a result of the addition of SBG’s innovative casino and sports book offerings and a portfolio of popular mobile apps, and (d) expertise in deeply integrating sports betting with leading sports media companies, positioning TSG to create more engaging content, deliver faster growth and decrease customer acquisition costs.
• William Hill (LSE: WMH): At William Hill, from 2010 to 2017, Mr. Chhabra served as Group Director of Strategy and Corporate Development where he led several transactions which contributed to William Hill’s transformation from a land-based gambling operator in the United Kingdom to a leading online-led international business. Mr. Chhabra led William Hill’s entry into the U.S. sports betting and online lottery markets with the acquisition of four businesses, including the simultaneous acquisitions of three U.S. sportsbooks, Cal Neva, American Wagering and Brandywine Bookmaking, in 2011 for an aggregate purchase price of $55 million. These businesses ultimately led William Hill to achieve a leading position in the U.S. sports betting market with a market share of 24% in 2019. Additionally, Mr. Chhabra played a key role in structuring William Hill’s successful joint venture with PlayTech Plc (LSE: PTEC) in 2008. The combined entity created one of the largest online gambling businesses in Europe at the time of its formation and led to William Hill’s buyout of Playtech’s interest for $637 million in 2013. Prior to the transaction, William Hill had struggled in its attempt to establish a strong online gaming platform and a meaningful presence outside the United Kingdom.
Mr. Chhabra has also successfully completed four transactions worth over $1.2 billion in Australia, the world’s second largest regulated online gambling market, and various partnerships in Asia. Additionally, he completed several technology and media related transactions, including William Hill’s investment in NYX, where he worked with Mr. Davey on NYX’s transformational acquisition of OpenBet.
Prior to working in the gaming sector, Mr. Chhabra was an equities analyst and a management consultant. Mr. Chhabra received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Eric Matejevich — Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Matejevich is a seasoned gaming executive with extensive experience in both the online gaming and traditional casino industries. From February to August 2019, he served as Trustee and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Casino Resort (“Ocean”) (formerly Revel Casino, which had a construction cost of $2.4 billion) in Atlantic City, where he successfully led the management team through an ownership change and operational turnaround effort. Over the course of seven months, Mr. Matejevich managed to reduce the property’s weekly cash burn of $1.5 million to an annualized cash flow run rate in excess of $20 million.
Prior to Ocean, from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Matejevich served as the Chief Financial Officer of NYX. At NYX, he focused his efforts on integrating the company’s many acquisitions and multiple debt refinancings to simplify its capital structure and provided liquidity for growth initiatives. Additionally, Mr. Matejevich was instrumental to the executive team that sold NYX to Scientific Games for $631 million.
Prior to NYX, from 2004 to 2014, Mr. Matejevich was the Chief Financial Officer of Resorts International Holdings and later, from 2011, also the Chief Operating Officer of the Atlantic Club Casino, a property under the Resorts International Holdings umbrella — a Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY) entity. As Chief Financial Officer, he provided managerial oversight for all finance functions for a six-property casino company with annual gaming revenue exceeding $1.3 billion, 10,000 gaming positions, 7,000 hotel rooms and over 11,000 staff members during his tenure. Mr. Matejevich led the transition effort to integrate a four-casino, $1.3 billion acquisition from Harrah’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR). As Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Club, he lobbied for and was successful in obtaining the first internet gaming legislation passed in the United States. The Atlantic Club was the sole New Jersey casino proponent of the legislation.
Prior to serving in various gaming positions, Mr. Matejevich was a Vice President of High Yield Research for Merrill Lynch, where he managed the corporate bond research effort for the gaming and leisure sectors and marketed high yield and other debt transactions totaling $4.8 billion. Mr. Matejevich received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
Our Board of Directors
Morris Bailey — Chairman
Over the past 10 years, Mr. Bailey has been a leader in turning around Atlantic City, as well as being among the first gaming executives to embrace online gaming and sports betting in the United States. In his efforts, Mr. Bailey partnered with two of the largest digital gaming companies in the world, PokerStars, part of the Stars Group, and DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG). In 2010, Mr. Bailey bought Resorts Atlantic City (“Resorts”) and initiated a comprehensive renovation which allowed for the property to be rebranded and repositioned. In 2012, Mr. Bailey signed an agreement with Mohegan Sun to manage the day-to-day operations of the casino. In addition to Mohegan Sun’s operational expertise and ability to reduce costs via economies of scale, Resorts gained access to their robust customer database. Soon thereafter, Mr. Bailey and his team focused on bringing online gaming to the property. In 2015, Resorts established a platform to engage in online gaming by partnering with PokerStars, now part of the $24 billion Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR), to operate an online poker room in Atlantic City. In 2018, Resorts announced deals with DraftKings and SBTech to open a sportsbook on-property and online. For 2020 year-to-date, Resorts has performed in the top quartile in internet gross gaming revenue in New Jersey. Mr. Bailey’s efforts in New Jersey helped set the framework for expansion of online sports and gaming throughout the United States.
In addition to his gaming interests, Mr. Bailey has over 50 years of experience in all facets of real estate development, asset M&A, capital markets and operations and is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Principal of JEMB Realty, a leading real estate development, investment and management organization. Mr. Bailey has notable investment experience within the energy, finance and telecommunications sectors through investments in the Astoria Energy Plant, Basis Investment Group and Xentris Wireless.
Tony Rodio — Director Nominee
Mr. Rodio has nearly four decades of experience in the gaming industry. Most recently, Mr. Rodio served as the Chief Executive Officer and director of Caesars Entertainment Corporation (“Caesars”) (Nasdaq: CZR), one of the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment providers and the most geographically diverse U.S. casino-entertainment company, from April 2019 until its acquisition by Eldorado Resorts, Inc. in July 2020. Mr. Rodio led Caesars through its $17.3 billion merger with Eldorado Resorts, one of the largest transactions in the gaming industry to date. Additionally, Mr. Rodio was instrumental to Caesars’ expansion into the digital gaming industry and oversaw the implementation of new digital segments such as its Scientific Games powered retail sportsbook solution that now operates in various states throughout the U.S. From October 2018 to May 2019, Mr. Rodio served as Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Gaming. Prior to Affinity Gaming, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. (“Tropicana”) for over seven years, where he was responsible for the operation of eight casino properties in seven different jurisdictions. During his time at Tropicana, Mr. Rodio oversaw a period of unprecedented growth at the company, improving overall financial results with net revenue that increased more than 50% driven by both operational improvements and expansion across regional markets. Mr. Rodio led major capital projects, including the complete renovation of Tropicana Atlantic City and Tropicana’s move to land-based operations in Evansville, Indiana. Each of these initiatives, among others, generated substantial value for Tropicana. Ultimately, Mr. Rodio’s efforts at Tropicana led to its sale to Eldorado Resorts in 2018 for $1.85 billion. Prior to Tropicana, Mr. Rodio held a succession of executive positions in Atlantic City for casino brands, including Trump Marina Hotel Casino, Harrah’s Entertainment (predecessor to Caesars), the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort and Penn National Gaming. He has also served as a director of several professional and charitable organizations, including Atlantic City Alliance, United Way of Atlantic County, the Casino Associations of New Jersey and Indiana, AtlantiCare Charitable Foundation and the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism. Mr. Rodio brings extensive knowledge of and experience in the gaming industry, operational expertise, and a demonstrated ability to effectively design and implement company strategy. Mr. Rodio received a Bachelor of Science from Rider University and a Master of Business Administration from Monmouth University.
Marlon Goldstein — Director Nominee
Mr. Goldstein is a licensed attorney with nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming space. He joined The Stars Group (Nasdaq: TSG)(TSX: TSGI) in January 2014 as its Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary until his retirement from the company in July 2020 following the merger of TSG with Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR). Mr. Goldstein also previously served as the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of TSG. Mr. Goldstein was also the senior TSG executive based in the United States and was one of the primary architects of TSG’s strategic vision for its U.S.-facing business. During his tenure, TSG grew from an approximately $500 million market-cap company to an approximately $7 billion market-cap company through a combination of organic growth and strategic mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Goldstein participated in numerous M&A transactions and capital markets offerings at TSG, including several transformational transactions in the digital gaming industry. Notable transactions in which Mr. Goldstein was involved include:
• TSG/Flutter Merger: In 2019, TSG merged with Flutter for a $12.2 billion transaction value, the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date.
• TSG/Fox Bet Partnership: In 2019, TSG entered into a partnership with FOX Sports to create FOX Bet in the U.S., a leading U.S. online gaming business. Wall Street Research estimates an approximate $1.1 billion valuation for Fox Bet post-partnership with The Stars Group.
• TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming: In 2018, TSG acquired Sky Betting & Gaming, the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom at the time, for $4.7 billion.
• TSG/CrownBet and William Hill: In 2018, TSG simultaneously acquired CrownBet and William Hill, two Australian operators, for a total of $621 million in a multi-part transaction.
• TSG/PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker: In 2014, TSG acquired The Rational Group, which operated PokerStars and Full Tilt and was the world’s largest poker business, for $4.9 billion.
Through his ability to legally structure large and complex transactions, Mr. Goldstein was integral to TSG’s vision of becoming a full-service online gaming company. Additionally, he assisted in structuring TSG’s capital markets activity, which generated liquidity for acquisitions and strengthened its balance sheet.
Prior to joining TSG, Mr. Goldstein was a principal shareholder in the corporate and securities practice at the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig P.A., where he practiced for almost 13 years. Mr. Goldstein’s practice focused on corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and financing transactions. Additionally, Mr. Goldstein was the founder and co-chair of the firm’s Gaming Practice, a multi-disciplinary team of attorneys representing owners, operators and developers of gaming facilities, manufacturers and suppliers of gaming devices, investment banks and lenders in financing transactions, and Indian tribes in the development and financing of gaming facilities.
Mr. Goldstein brings experience and insight that we believe will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target business. Mr. Goldstein received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate with highest honors from the University of Florida, College of Law.
Sean Ryan — Director Nominee
Mr. Ryan is a digital media and technology operator with extensive global experience in online payments, e-commerce, marketplaces, mobile ad networks, digital games, enterprise collaboration platforms, blockchain, real money gaming and online music. Since 2014, Mr. Ryan has been serving as Vice President of Business Platform Partnerships at Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) (Nasdaq: FB), where he leads a more than 500 person global organization that manages the Payments, Commerce, Novi/Blockhain, Workplace and Audience Network businesses. Prior to his current role, Mr. Ryan was hired in 2011 as the Director of Games Partnerships to lead and grow the global Games business at Facebook. While the Director of Games Partnerships, Mr. Ryan focused on re-shaping Facebook’s games and monetization strategies to derive more value for Facebook, its users and its partners, including the addition of a Real Money Gaming offering in regulated markets. Mr. Ryan’s team helped accelerate a major trend in engagement through cross-platform games and therefore the opportunity to increase users through establishing games on multiple platforms. Prior to joining Facebook, Mr. Ryan created the new social and mobile games division at News Corp, an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by Rupert Murdoch. While at News Corp, Mr. Ryan led the acquisition of Making Fun, a San Francisco social-game start-up, that created News Corp’s games publishing division.
Before joining News Corp., Mr. Ryan founded multiple digital businesses such as Twofish, Meez, Open Wager and SingShot Media. Mr. Ryan co-founded Twofish in 2009, a virtual goods and services platform that provided developers with data analytics and insights for individual application’s digital economies. Twofish was later sold to online payments provider Live Gamer, where Mr. Ryan served on the board of directors. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Ryan founded and led Meez.com, a social entertainment service combining avatars, web games and virtual worlds. The white label social casino gaming company Open Wager was spun out of Meez and was later sold to VGW Holdings, Mr. Ryan also co-founded SingShot Media, an online karaoke community, which was sold to Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) and merged into its Sims division.
We believe Mr. Ryan’s experience will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target and would provide an expanded perspective on the digital gaming landscape. Mr. Ryan received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Tom Roche — Director Nominee
Mr. Roche has more than 40 years of experience in the gaming industry as a regulator, advisor and independent auditor. Mr. Roche joined Ernst & Young (“EY”) as a partner in 2003 and opened its Las Vegas office. He was subsequently appointed as the Office Managing Partner and Global Gaming Industry Market Leader. In 2016, Mr. Roche relocated to the EY Hong Kong office to supervise the expansion of the EY Global Gaming Industry practice in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Roche has been integral to numerous transactions that have shaped the current gaming landscape, including:
• Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) initial public offering: Mr. Roche was the lead partner on Wynn Resort’s initial public offering, which raised $450 million in 2002.
• Harrah’s Entertainment/Apollo Management Group & Texas Pacific Group: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory advisory services on the buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company at the time, for $17.1 billion.
• Dubai World/MGM Resorts: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory and due diligence advisory services to Dubai World in its approximately $5.1 billion investment in MGM. Dubai World bought 28.4 million MGM shares, or 9.5 percent of the casino operator, for $2.4 billion. It then invested $2.7 billion to acquire a 50% stake in MGM’s CityCenter Project, a $7.4 billion 76-acre Las Vegas development of hotels, condos and retail outlets.
• MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP) initial public offering: Mr. Roche provided tax and structural transaction services to MGM Resorts in the creation of MGM Growth Properties, a publicly traded REIT engaged in the acquisition, ownership and leasing of large-scale destination entertainment and leisure resorts. MGM Growth Properties raised $1.05 billion in its 2016 initial public offering.
Mr. Roche also directed EY advisory services to boards and management teams for profit improvement and technology related initiatives. In addition, Mr. Roche provided advisory support to the American Gaming Association on several research projects, including those specifically related to sports betting, the revocation of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) and anti-money laundering best practices in the gaming industry. Equally, he has assisted government agencies in numerous international locations with enhancing their regulatory approach to governing the industry especially in the online gambling sector.
Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Roche served as Deloitte’s National Gaming Industry Leader and as the co-head of Andersen’s Gaming Industry Practice in Las Vegas. In 1989, Mr. Roche was appointed by then Governor of the State of Nevada, Robert Miller, to serve as one of three members of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board for a four-year term, where he was directly responsible for the Audit and New Games Lab Divisions. As a board member, he spent a substantial amount of time assisting global jurisdiction regulators enact gaming legislation in the design of their regulatory structure. During his career, Roche has been involved in numerous public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. His background includes providing casino regulatory consulting services to casino licensees and to federal and state agencies including the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, and industry associations such as the Nevada Resort Association and the American Gaming Association.
We believe Mr. Roche’s highly regarded reputation as a gaming auditor and advisor in the gaming industry will be valuable for us and a potential business combination target. Mr. Roche is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is licensed by the Nevada State Board of Accountancy and Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California.

Hey everyone! I've been really geeking out on finding problems that I think could be turned into meaningful businesses. I'm sharing all my ideas here if you're interested. Here's what I've been thinking about lately -

Keeping track of betting lines is a pain

“I love sports betting but it’s hard to keep track of the betting odds on all the different betting apps. I’ve created a spreadsheet and do it manually, but I still need to search through all the sites to get the information. I’d definitely pay for something that did this automatically.” - Anonymous sports better seeking a solution.
Market Background/Opportunity Size:
Changes in sports betting law have created amazing entrepreneurial opportunities! It's like the goldrush here given how young this market is and how quickly things are changing in the US.
On May 14, 2018, the United States supreme court ruled the federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting, protection act PASPA, unconstitutional. It is now up to individual states to decide if they want to authorize and regulate sports betting in their state. 18 states have fully legalized sports betting with 4 more passing bills just this year to legalize it (they aren’t operational yet).
Even though less than half of the US has legalized sports betting, the market cap was sitting pretty at $104.41 billion and expected to reach $155.49 billion by 2024 (this is an estimate, it was tough to nail down). This market is much larger if you include other global players like the UK, Australia, etc… who have already legalized sports betting. It’s clear that trends for this industry are going in the right direction and there’s still a strong opportunity for the first-mover advantage to take place.
Major Players:

• Draft Kings
  • Founded in 2012
  • 700 employees
  • Publicly traded
• Fan Duel
  • Founded in 2009
  • 1,000 employees
  • 412.6m raised
• Bet 365
  • Founded in 2000
  • 4,500 employees
  • Bootstrapped (if anyone has more info on this, please share)

Note: there are over 100 sports betting services on the market
The Opportunity:
As mentioned above, there is a huge problem with keeping track of all the different betting lines that exist - resulting in many people (unsuccessfully) using a spreadsheet. Here’s an article that explains why tracking betting lines is important.
The TL;DR is this, placing your bet on a site that has the most favorable odds results in you getting the highest return on that investment. Most people are doing one of these two things:

1. Nothing. Rather than checking to see where they can get the best returns, they are just using their core betting app and taking the odds they are given. Depending on the bet size, that leaves hundreds of dollars on the table.
2. Manually tracking the odds each betting site is offering and compiling the odds in a spreadsheet. This results in a lot of time spent switching between sites and transposing numbers.

Current Solutions:

• Manually tracking betting lines in a spreadsheet or on paper
• Smart Lines
  
  • Founded in 2018
  • 2-10 employees
  • Price: Free
  • Notes: They don’t aggregate betting lines from any of the major bookmakers.
• Action Network
  
  • Founded in 2017
  • 53 employees
  • Price: Free
  • Notes: At their core, Action Network is a sports analysis and media company. One of their features is line tracking across all the major bookmakers but it’s relatively hidden and poorly advertised.

How to Get Your First 10 Customers:

1. Define Your Early Adopter: Your TAM is anyone who participates in sports betting, but I’d focus your efforts on finding people who acutely experience this pain. People who are spending a lot of time and money on sports betting have the most to lose. More specifically, hunt for people who’ve already created solutions to this problem themselves - like those using homegrown spreadsheets.
2. Look for CDIs: When looking for channels to find potential users I ask myself “where do my potential customers hang out?”. In this case, I’d look at online communities like Sports Book and Sports Betting subreddits. By simply asking the question, “How do you track betting lines?” you’ll be able to start conversations with potential users about unmet needs.
3. Create an Online Ad: I’d next test an offer to see if you can acquire potential users to sign up for your service. This can be as simple as creating a landing page (using marketing language from the conversations above) and run a paid ad to your target audience to collect emails.
4. Build a Wizard of Oz Test: Now that you have a list from running the ad above, I’d see if you can monetize it. Contact people and charge a small fee to run a small wizard of oz test - you could manually pull lines based on the bets they're watching and send it to them in a daily email. Or, there’s likely a no-code tool you could use to scrape the data from existing sites and organize it for them.

I can see a freemium model working for this as well, so you may not need to monetize immediately. One great option would be to charge the bookmakers a fee for every bet you send to their platform.
Challenges:

• Is there a problem worth solving? Although this idea logically makes sense, there are flags raised because no company has solved the problem yet. Typically, you can validate some form of demand based on market signals or other competitors, but this seems like a blue ocean (both a good and bad thing). Follow the plan above and you should be able to tell quickly if you’re on the right track.
• Can you build it? The technology to create a product as this exists. That said, it may be difficult to pull data from the major bookmaker’s sites. The fact that Smart Lines doesn’t work with any of the major bookmakers left me scratching my head and wondering why.
• Legal Challenges? Sports betting is highly regulated like most industries that are birthed from law changes. Even being associated with this space is likely going to create some challenges. I'm not an expert in this space, so it's hard to say exactly what legal challenges may arise, but getting accessing other bookmaker's data and facilitating the betting process are two great places to start your investigation.

Additional Opportunities:
There appears to be no shortage of companies trying to become the next big bookmakers. But, there’s plenty of opportunities this burgeoning market has opened up beyond just being a bookie. With this market in its infancy, you can bet (pun 100% intended) that there’s going to be a lot of room to expand your offerings. Whether it be sports betting tips, predictions, tools or even becoming a bookie yourself, there’s money to be made here.
While doing research on this, I found many people are struggling with keeping track of their bets and recording their results. This could be an easy addition to a solution to tracking betting lines. Here’s what some people said -
https://imgur.com/a/aPTXuBd
Thanks for reading everyone! I'll monitor the comments for any questions and stuff - would love feedback.

Hey everyone! I've been really geeking out on finding problems that I think could be turned into meaningful businesses. I do have an ask, but before I do that I'll provide some value first :)

Keeping track of betting lines is a pain

“I love sports betting but it’s hard to keep track of the betting odds on all the different betting apps. I’ve created a spreadsheet and do it manually, but I still need to search through all the sites to get the information. I’d definitely pay for something that did this automatically.” - Anonymous sports better seeking a solution.
Market Background/Opportunity Size:
Changes in sports betting law have created amazing entrepreneurial opportunities! It's like the goldrush here given how young this market is and how quickly things are changing in the US.
On May 14, 2018, the United States supreme court ruled the federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting, protection act PASPA, unconstitutional. It is now up to individual states to decide if they want to authorize and regulate sports betting in their state. 18 states have fully legalized sports betting with 4 more passing bills just this year to legalize it (they aren’t operational yet).
Even though less than half of the US has legalized sports betting, the market cap was sitting pretty at $104.41 billion and expected to reach $155.49 billion by 2024 (this is an estimate, it was tough to nail down). This market is much larger if you include other global players like the UK, Australia, etc… who have already legalized sports betting. It’s clear that trends for this industry are going in the right direction and there’s still a strong opportunity for the first-mover advantage to take place.
Major Players:

• Draft Kings
  • Founded in 2012
  • 700 employees
  • Publicly traded
• Fan Duel
  • Founded in 2009
  • 1,000 employees
  • 412.6m raised
• Bet 365
  • Founded in 2000
  • 4,500 employees
  • Bootstrapped (if anyone has more info on this, please share)

Note: there are over 100 sports betting services on the market
The Opportunity:
As mentioned above, there is a huge problem with keeping track of all the different betting lines that exist - resulting in many people (unsuccessfully) using a spreadsheet. Here’s an article that explains why tracking betting lines is important.
The TL;DR is this, placing your bet on a site that has the most favorable odds results in you getting the highest return on that investment. Most people are doing one of these two things:

1. Nothing. Rather than checking to see where they can get the best returns, they are just using their core betting app and taking the odds they are given. Depending on the bet size, that leaves hundreds of dollars on the table.
2. Manually tracking the odds each betting site is offering and compiling the odds in a spreadsheet. This results in a lot of time spent switching between sites and transposing numbers.

Current Solutions:

• Manually tracking betting lines in a spreadsheet or on paper
• Smart Lines
  • Founded in 2018
  • 2-10 employees
  • Price: Free
  • Notes: They don’t aggregate betting lines from any of the major bookmakers.
• Action Network
  • Founded in 2017
  • 53 employees
  • Price: Free
  • Notes: At their core, Action Network is a sports analysis and media company. One of their features is line tracking across all the major bookmakers but it’s relatively hidden and poorly advertised.

How to Get Your First 10 Customers:

1. Define Your Early Adopter: Your TAM is anyone who participates in sports betting, but I’d focus your efforts on finding people who acutely experience this pain. People who are spending a lot of time and money on sports betting have the most to lose. More specifically, hunt for people who’ve already created solutions to this problem themselves - like those using homegrown spreadsheets.
2. Look for CDIs: When looking for channels to find potential users I ask myself “where do my potential customers hang out?”. In this case, I’d look at online communities like Sports Book and Sports Betting subreddits. By simply asking the question, “How do you track betting lines?” you’ll be able to start conversations with potential users about unmet needs.
3. Create an Online Ad: I’d next test an offer to see if you can acquire potential users to sign up for your service. This can be as simple as creating a landing page (using marketing language from the conversations above) and run a paid ad to your target audience to collect emails.
4. Build a Wizard of Oz Test: Now that you have a list from running the ad above, I’d see if you can monetize it. Contact people and charge a small fee to run a small wizard of oz test - you could manually pull lines based on the bets they're watching and send it to them in a daily email. Or, there’s likely a no-code tool you could use to scrape the data from existing sites and organize it for them.

I can see a freemium model working for this as well, so you may not need to monetize immediately. One great option would be to charge the bookmakers a fee for every bet you send to their platform.
Challenges:

• Is there a problem worth solving? Although this idea logically makes sense, there are flags raised because no company has solved the problem yet. Typically, you can validate some form of demand based on market signals or other competitors, but this seems like a blue ocean (both a good and bad thing). Follow the plan above and you should be able to tell quickly if you’re on the right track.
• Can you build it? The technology to create a product as this exists. That said, it may be difficult to pull data from the major bookmaker’s sites. The fact that Smart Lines doesn’t work with any of the major bookmakers left me scratching my head and wondering why.

Additional Opportunities:
There appears to be no shortage of companies trying to become the next big bookmakers. But, there’s plenty of opportunities this burgeoning market has opened up beyond just being a bookie. With this market in its infancy, you can bet (pun 100% intended) that there’s going to be a lot of room to expand your offerings. Whether it be sports betting tips, predictions, tools or even becoming a bookie yourself, there’s money to be made here.
While doing research on this, I found many people are struggling with keeping track of their bets and recording their results. This could be an easy addition to a solution to tracking betting lines. Here’s what some people said -
https://imgur.com/a/aPTXuBd
Here’s my ask - I’m looking for feedback on whether posts like these are valuable enough to turn into a business. I’d like to send out a vetted problem/idea like this each week if there’s enough interest.
If you would like posts like these each week, please either DM me or reach out to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). If you reach out, I’ll give you another free problem/idea as thanks for your time!

Sports betting is the act of placing a bet on the possible outcome and predicting sports results. The frequency of sports wagers depends on culture, with most bets being placed at game times. It is estimated that every American place a bet on a sporting event during more than three hundred occasions per year. In fact, many countries have turned sports betting into a large industry, and they include the UK and Australia. However, America has been well reluctant to open their sports betting market to foreign markets, and they are still considered to be the world's biggest bookmaker.
The most common sports betting term is the bankroll. This is used to describe the amount of money which a bettor needs to place a bet, and is usually expressed in terms of a wager amount or an stakes bet. A typical bankroll is a pre-determined amount which is released to the bettor prior to the start of a game or match. The amount is taken from a bank account either by a withdrawal or a deposit.
The point spread is another commonly used term in sports betting. This is a simple calculation that determines the chances of a winning bet. It is expressed as the total number of points that is required to win a bet. This is also a known as the vig or edge, and is often referred to as the total point difference bet. A bettor who uses a point spread is required to disclose this information before they make a bet.
In some cases, there are betting lines. These are different spreads, and betting lines are considered to be bets which are based on a certain statistical analysis of the game. In general, these lines take odds into consideration. Most of the time, the greater the spread, the better the odds that a bettor will win. There are some exceptions to this rule, and those are covered later on in the guide.
One of the most popular online betting options is called sportsbook betting. With these online sportsbooks, all transactions are done through the Internet. Most online sportsbooks offer free bets, picks, advice and information on certain events. The picks provided are usually generated by professional handicappers and can be either reliable or not. These sportsbooks are considered to be a type of market place where you, the bettor, can actually "sell" your tickets, picks, advice and statistics to other bettors in hopes that they will then make a bet on the same event.
These are the four main types of sports betting. They all have their own unique features that help bettors around the world place bets that are bound to pay off. Each has its upsides and downsides, and each also requires a certain degree of knowledge and strategy. A good sportsbook will help you go from being an occasional bettor to a pro by offering guides, tips and advice in the different forms of betting.

Hey everyone! I've been really geeking out on finding problems that I think could be turned into meaningful businesses. I do have an ask, but before I do that I'll provide some value first :)

Keeping track of betting lines is a pain

“I love sports betting but it’s hard to keep track of the betting odds on all the different betting apps. I’ve created a spreadsheet and do it manually, but I still need to search through all the sites to get the information. I’d definitely pay for something that did this automatically.” - Anonymous sports better seeking a solution.
Market Background/Opportunity Size:
Changes in sports betting law have created amazing entrepreneurial opportunities! It's like the goldrush here given how young this market is and how quickly things are changing in the US.
On May 14, 2018, the United States supreme court ruled the federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting, protection act PASPA, unconstitutional. It is now up to individual states to decide if they want to authorize and regulate sports betting in their state. 18 states have fully legalized sports betting with 4 more passing bills just this year to legalize it (they aren’t operational yet).
Even though less than half of the US has legalized sports betting, the market cap was sitting pretty at $104.41 billion and expected to reach $155.49 billion by 2024 (this is an estimate, it was tough to nail down). This market is much larger if you include other global players like the UK, Australia, etc… who have already legalized sports betting. It’s clear that trends for this industry are going in the right direction and there’s still a strong opportunity for the first-mover advantage to take place.
Major Players:

• Draft Kings
  • Founded in 2012
  • 700 employees
  • Publicly traded
• Fan Duel
  • Founded in 2009
  • 1,000 employees
  • 412.6m raised
• Bet 365
  • Founded in 2000
  • 4,500 employees
  • Bootstrapped (if anyone has more info on this, please share)

Note: there are over 100 sports betting services on the market
The Opportunity:
As mentioned above, there is a huge problem with keeping track of all the different betting lines that exist - resulting in many people (unsuccessfully) using a spreadsheet. Here’s an article that explains why tracking betting lines is important.
The TL;DR is this, placing your bet on a site that has the most favorable odds results in you getting the highest return on that investment. Most people are doing one of these two things:

1. Nothing. Rather than checking to see where they can get the best returns, they are just using their core betting app and taking the odds they are given. Depending on the bet size, that leaves hundreds of dollars on the table.
2. Manually tracking the odds each betting site is offering and compiling the odds in a spreadsheet. This results in a lot of time spent switching between sites and transposing numbers.

Current Solutions:

• Manually tracking betting lines in a spreadsheet or on paper
• Smart Lines
  • Founded in 2018
  • 2-10 employees
  • Price: Free
  • Notes: They don’t aggregate betting lines from any of the major bookmakers.
• Action Network
  • Founded in 2017
  • 53 employees
  • Price: Free
  • Notes: At their core, Action Network is a sports analysis and media company. One of their features is line tracking across all the major bookmakers but it’s relatively hidden and poorly advertised.

How to Get Your First 10 Customers:

1. Define Your Early Adopter: Your TAM is anyone who participates in sports betting, but I’d focus your efforts on finding people who acutely experience this pain. People who are spending a lot of time and money on sports betting have the most to lose. More specifically, hunt for people who’ve already created solutions to this problem themselves - like those using homegrown spreadsheets.
2. Look for CDIs: When looking for channels to find potential users I ask myself “where do my potential customers hang out?”. In this case, I’d look at online communities like Sports Book and Sports Betting subreddits. By simply asking the question, “How do you track betting lines?” you’ll be able to start conversations with potential users about unmet needs.
3. Create an Online Ad: I’d next test an offer to see if you can acquire potential users to sign up for your service. This can be as simple as creating a landing page (using marketing language from the conversations above) and run a paid ad to your target audience to collect emails.
4. Build a Wizard of Oz Test: Now that you have a list from running the ad above, I’d see if you can monetize it. Contact people and charge a small fee to run a small wizard of oz test - you could manually pull lines based on the bets they're watching and send it to them in a daily email. Or, there’s likely a no-code tool you could use to scrape the data from existing sites and organize it for them.

I can see a freemium model working for this as well, so you may not need to monetize immediately. One great option would be to charge the bookmakers a fee for every bet you send to their platform.
Challenges:

• Is there a problem worth solving? Although this idea logically makes sense, there are flags raised because no company has solved the problem yet. Typically, you can validate some form of demand based on market signals or other competitors, but this seems like a blue ocean (both a good and bad thing). Follow the plan above and you should be able to tell quickly if you’re on the right track.
• Can you build it? The technology to create a product as this exists. That said, it may be difficult to pull data from the major bookmaker’s sites. The fact that Smart Lines doesn’t work with any of the major bookmakers left me scratching my head and wondering why.
• Legal Challenges? Sports betting is highly regulated like most industries that are birthed from law changes. Even being associated with this space is likely going to create some challenges. I'm not an expert in this space, so it's hard to say exactly what legal challenges may arise, but getting accessing other bookmaker's data and facilitating the betting process are two great places to start your investigation.

Additional Opportunities:
There appears to be no shortage of companies trying to become the next big bookmakers. But, there’s plenty of opportunities this burgeoning market has opened up beyond just being a bookie. With this market in its infancy, you can bet (pun 100% intended) that there’s going to be a lot of room to expand your offerings. Whether it be sports betting tips, predictions, tools or even becoming a bookie yourself, there’s money to be made here.
While doing research on this, I found many people are struggling with keeping track of their bets and recording their results. This could be an easy addition to a solution to tracking betting lines. Here’s what some people said -
https://imgur.com/a/aPTXuBd
Here’s my ask - I’m looking for feedback on whether posts like these are valuable enough to turn into a business. I’d like to send out a vetted problem/idea like this each week if there’s enough interest.
If you would like posts like these each week (and pay a small fee), please either DM me or reach out to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). If you reach out, I’ll give you another free problem/idea as thanks for your time!

As a long-time contributor to this sub, I know we love nothing more than discussing our degeneracy. If nothing else, hearing such stories makes you realise there are other people out there who have lived similar experiences to you. Stories of epic failure provide a sense of comfort. Stories of unexpected triumphs provide a feeling of hope.
The following bets - and the circumstances surrounding each - were not necessarily story-worthy. However, there were a number of intricate details which I felt were worth highlighting. Aside from the statistical rollercoaster than one experiences throughout a game (i.e. going from "how can this lose?" to "this bet is over"), there are other factors which can have significant ramifications for one's betting endeavours.
This is where the factor of timing comes into play. How often have you bet on something purely due to the fact that the game was starting shortly? It could either be a straight wager on the game. Or, you might have decided to add the short-priced "lock" to boost your odds. How often has this then come back to bite you? Or conversely, this random event - where your betting urge coincided with the scheduled timing of this event taking place - results in a recuperation of losses from previous games that you "studied" prior to placing your losing wagers?
Without further ado, this is my story. It is but a speck in the ocean that is my entire betting career. But it was a Sunday night full of swings, sweats and... well I won't spoil the ending.
As you read this, I want you to keep the headline in mind. Specifically, the words timing, luck and degeneracy.
It's early on a Sunday evening in Melbourne, Australia. Approximately 6PM to be exact. We are currently under the world's strictest COVID lockdown. We have an 8PM curfew, and I was keen to get in a 1 hour walk before returning home to make dinner. Now typically - as I had already walked my dog several hours earlier - I would not go for another on my own. But for some reason, I just had an urge to get some fresh air. Here is the first element in play: timing. At 6:10PM, an AFL (Australian Football) was scheduled to begin. As I begin my walk, I inevitably flick through my preferred bookmaker's iPhone app and this game catches my eye. Part of me says "don't bet it". The other part of me curb-stomps that voice in my head and says "don't be a pussy". Now on another note, I placed a daily deposit limit of $3000 on my account. To some, that is insanely big. I generally bet $1000 or so, and so this stops me from stupidly chasing the day's losses. Here is where another element peaks it's head: luck. I had deposited $1750 that day. Had I reached my limit, the following events would only have existed in a parallel universe. But as luck would have it, I had $1250 to play with. So I said 'fuck it' and made the deposit. It's about 6:05PM now and I don't have much time. I sift through the markets on offer and decide it's best to play a Same Game Multi (parlaying multiple events from the same game). With not much time left to make a decision, I quickly check the weather forecast in Gold Coast (where this game is taking place) and note that there is meant to be rain in the second half. (Spoiler: there was no rain in the second half). As this sport is played outdoors, this would favour the unders. So I come up with a bet that looks like this:

• First quarter OVER 23.5
• First half OVER 48.5
• Full match UNDER 125.5
• West Coast +34.5 handicap
• Margin: either team by 1-39
• Bontempelli 15+ disposals
• Macrae 20+ disposals

ODDS: 4.10
A bet of $1250 would pay $5125.
​
I was ready to place the bet. The problem? The match was only seconds from beginning.
The time stamp on when the bet was accepted:
18:09:55
I made it by 5 measly seconds.
​
Ok, so game begins rather uneventfully. Now it's worth noting for those who aren't familiar with AFL that you can score by 1's and 6's. It's late in the first quarter and the total is sitting at 22 points. Needing over 23.5, I'm in desperate need of a goal. The whole bet is about to come crashing down without it. With only seconds remaining a player marks the ball from a score-able position. The siren sounds. Now in AFL, if a mark is taken before the siren ("buzzer"), the player may take their kick. As luck would have it, this legend kicks it right through the middle of the goal posts, and the first quarter score ends on 28. We live on!
Second quarter ends, and the combined total is 52 points. Again, we survive the over 48.5 by less than a full goal! (But this one cleared with a handful of minutes left to play, so there was no sweat involved).
I'l wrap up the remainder of the game fairly quickly, as it is rather uneventful. The final score is 47-49, so the total under 125.5 hits easily, the +34.5 and margin 1-39 hit comfortably, and both players rack up well over their required disposals. Fantastic. My account hits $5125.
By this stage, some would be satisfied. I wasn't. I was out for blood.
The smart move would have been to withdraw, say, $4000. Play with the remaining $1125 (house money), and lock in a profit. But what's the fun in that?
I scroll through the upcoming events and see that there is a Chinese Super League (soccer) match starting in a few hours. This isn't the first example of degeneracy in this story, but it's probably the biggest.
So what do I do? Another Same Game Multi of course. And how much do I bet on it? $5125 of course.
The bet:

• Beijing Guoan: win or draw
• Total corners: OVER 7.5
• Total goals: OVER 1.5
• BOTH teams to score in BOTH halves: No

ODDS: 1.95
A bet of $5125 would pay $9993.75
​
Here's where the rollercoaster of events begins.
5 minutes in, we have our first corner.
13 minutes in, we have our second.
Corners are looking good.
Fast forward to half time and Beijing are leading 2-0.

• BOTH teams to score in BOTH halves: No = WINNER
• Total goals: OVER 1.5 = WINNER
• Beijing or draw = TBD, but looking good!
• Corners OVER 7.5 = ONLY 2 FUCKING CORNERS IN THE FIRST HALF!

Remember, they had already accumulated 2 corners 13 minutes into the match. 32 minutes without a single corner!
The live odds for over 7.5 were now over 3.00, and I was losing hope.
The second half begins and approximately 10 minutes passes without a corner. I'm fucked.
The next 15 minutes feels like God (aka Bob from NBA Daily Discussion) had blessed me. A flurry of corners results in an 8th corner before the 70th minute mark!
What looked like a total sweat, turned into the easiest of victories. Or so I thought...
The final leg: Beijing or draw - who by the way, were 1.50 favourites to win the match - were still up 2-0. One book had the opposing team at 81.00 odds to win from here. But you guys can guess what happened next.
Wuhan goal!
I'm still leading 2-1. My brain: "it's all good man, you still have a 1 goal buffer".
Barely a few minutes later...
Wuhan goal!
It's now 2-2. My brain: "it's cool, you just need a draw, you're still likely to win this".
Including the 6 minutes of added time, I have to sit through approximately 20 excruciating minutes of soccer, with just under $10k on the line.
Luckily, Beijing did 75% of the attacking. Wuhan did have a few minor chances, but nothing that made the heart sink.
The referee blew the full-time whistle, and I slowly unclenched my ass cheeks.
I waited to see my account balance, just to make sure all was kosher. (You know, we've all been there, when we thought we bet on a certain team, but because their names are all Chinese, you actually bet on the wrong Beijing or something like that).
My balance appeared at $9,993.75.
It was time to call it a night.
I reflected on the past 6 or so hours that I had just been through, and the 3 things that kept popping up in my mind again were timing, luck and degeneracy.
P.S.
Sorry to all the Djokovic and Heat backers. Brutal. Especially Djokovic. I'd say that's a once-in-a-career circumstance, but I think that would be understating how unlikely it is that the best player in the world get's DQ'd because he inadvertently hit a ball into an official's neck out of frustration.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/14/no-deal-brexit-odds-chances-uk-leaving-eu-without-trade-deal/
The chances of the UK and EU securing a trade deal before the end of the year are falling, according to bookmakers, despite a year of rising optimism that talks would succeed.
After a weekend of negotiations, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU chief, announced on December 13 that negotiations with the Prime Minister will continue, despite the deadline which was set for this Sunday.
Mrs von der Leyen stressed that both she and Boris Johnson felt it would be responsible at this point in time to "go the extra mile" despite the “exhaustion” and missed deadlines.
The current odds being offered on no deal being reached before December 31 are 1.25/1, according to Oddschecker - an implied probability of 44 per cent.
It comes amid news that the Royal Navy is preparing to patrol Britain's fishing waters in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Furthermore, sources from the EU have suggested they will impose “lightning tariffs” on Great Britain if the UK breaches the terms of a deal. This is, supposedly, one of the most significant obstacles in preventing a trade agreement.
Mr Johnson’s attempts to negotiate directly with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have been rebuffed three times in a week, prompting him to warn a no-deal outcome to Brexit talks is now “very, very likely”.
The Prime Minister has warned there is now a "strong possibility" of no deal.
Despite this, however, talks from December 13 hinted towards a newfound optimism compared to what we have seen previously.
No deal would mean Britain effectively trading with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms, with tariffs and regulatory checks on goods crossing the borders.
On December 10, Mr Johnson said the time had come to “get on and make those preparations” to trade on Australia-style terms with Europe from January 1.
The Prime Minister said the EU wants to treat the UK as a “twin” that must copy whatever it does in future, which is “clearly not the sensible way to proceed”.
The Telegraph disclosed on December 13 that cabinet ministers are drawing up a multibillion-pound bail-out package to bolster industries hardest hit by a no-deal Brexit.
How have the odds changed?
Throughout 2020 bookmakers have offered shorter odds on the probability of a trade deal as the final deadline looms.
In the months after Brexit Day on January 31, when the UK officially and legally left the European Union, bookmakers' odds heavily favoured no deal.
But since then, the implied probability of no deal being reached has fallen considerably.
Implied probability is the likelihood of a particular outcome based on the betting odds on offer at the time. For example, odds of 2/1 would typically yield the desired outcome once in every three scenarios, so the implied probability would be 33.3 per cent.
Over the course of the year the implied probability of a no-deal exit has fallen from a high of 94 per cent in early April to a low of 17.6 per cent at the start of December, suggesting bolstered confidence among bookies of a deal being reached.
After the sixth round of negotiations, which concluded on July 24, the implied probability of a no-deal Brexit fell dramatically.
They were the first round of talks since the UK had allowed the deadline to apply for an extension to the transition period to lapse, effectively locking in place the deadline which now looms: December 31.
At the time EU negotiator Michel Barnier said their "resolve remains unchanged" despite talks remaining "far away" on several key issues including the "level playing field" and fishing quotas.
Both remain sticking points today.
The implied probability of a no deal Brexit spiked once more as the Internal Market Bill was first introduced in Parliament - a frosty period in UK/EU relations.
At the same time - in early September, Boris Johnson issued an ultimatum to negotiators, fixing a deal deadline of October 15, or the UK would walk away.
After that date had passed and negotiations continued, the implied probability of a deal continued to improve based on bookmakers' odds - likely a reflection of the UK backing down from the game of brinkmanship and continuing talks.
As trade talks were extended on December 13 odds are likely to swing further towards no deal.

Hey everyone! I've been really geeking out on finding problems that I think could be turned into meaningful businesses. I'm sharing all my ideas here if you're interested. Here's what I've been thinking about lately -

Keeping track of betting lines is a pain

“I love sports betting but it’s hard to keep track of the betting odds on all the different betting apps. I’ve created a spreadsheet and do it manually, but I still need to search through all the sites to get the information. I’d definitely pay for something that did this automatically.” - Anonymous sports better seeking a solution.
Market Background/Opportunity Size:
Changes in sports betting law have created amazing entrepreneurial opportunities! It's like the goldrush here given how young this market is and how quickly things are changing in the US.
On May 14, 2018, the United States supreme court ruled the federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting, protection act PASPA, unconstitutional. It is now up to individual states to decide if they want to authorize and regulate sports betting in their state. 18 states have fully legalized sports betting with 4 more passing bills just this year to legalize it (they aren’t operational yet).
Even though less than half of the US has legalized sports betting, the market cap was sitting pretty at $104.41 billion and expected to reach $155.49 billion by 2024 (this is an estimate, it was tough to nail down). This market is much larger if you include other global players like the UK, Australia, etc… who have already legalized sports betting. It’s clear that trends for this industry are going in the right direction and there’s still a strong opportunity for the first-mover advantage to take place.
Major Players:

• Draft Kings
  • Founded in 2012
  • 700 employees
  • Publicly traded
• Fan Duel
  • Founded in 2009
  • 1,000 employees
  • 412.6m raised
• Bet 365
  • Founded in 2000
  • 4,500 employees
  • Bootstrapped (if anyone has more info on this, please share)

Note: there are over 100 sports betting services on the market
The Opportunity:
As mentioned above, there is a huge problem with keeping track of all the different betting lines that exist - resulting in many people (unsuccessfully) using a spreadsheet. Here’s an article that explains why tracking betting lines is important.
The TL;DR is this, placing your bet on a site that has the most favorable odds results in you getting the highest return on that investment. Most people are doing one of these two things:

1. Nothing. Rather than checking to see where they can get the best returns, they are just using their core betting app and taking the odds they are given. Depending on the bet size, that leaves hundreds of dollars on the table.
2. Manually tracking the odds each betting site is offering and compiling the odds in a spreadsheet. This results in a lot of time spent switching between sites and transposing numbers.

Current Solutions:

• Manually tracking betting lines in a spreadsheet or on paper
• Smart Lines
  • Founded in 2018
  • 2-10 employees
  • Price: Free
  • Notes: They don’t aggregate betting lines from any of the major bookmakers.
• Action Network Founded in 2017
  • 53 employees
  • Price: Free
  • Notes: At their core, Action Network is a sports analysis and media company. One of their features is line tracking across all the major bookmakers but it’s relatively hidden and poorly advertised.

How to Get Your First 10 Customers:

1. Define Your Early Adopter: Your TAM is anyone who participates in sports betting, but I’d focus your efforts on finding people who acutely experience this pain. People who are spending a lot of time and money on sports betting have the most to lose. More specifically, hunt for people who’ve already created solutions to this problem themselves - like those using homegrown spreadsheets.
2. Look for CDIs: When looking for channels to find potential users I ask myself “where do my potential customers hang out?”. In this case, I’d look at online communities like Sports Book and Sports Betting subreddits. By simply asking the question, “How do you track betting lines?” you’ll be able to start conversations with potential users about unmet needs.
3. Create an Online Ad: I’d next test an offer to see if you can acquire potential users to sign up for your service. This can be as simple as creating a landing page (using marketing language from the conversations above) and run a paid ad to your target audience to collect emails.
4. Build a Wizard of Oz Test: Now that you have a list from running the ad above, I’d see if you can monetize it. Contact people and charge a small fee to run a small wizard of oz test - you could manually pull lines based on the bets they're watching and send it to them in a daily email. Or, there’s likely a no-code tool you could use to scrape the data from existing sites and organize it for them.

I can see a freemium model working for this as well, so you may not need to monetize immediately. One great option would be to charge the bookmakers a fee for every bet you send to their platform.
Challenges:

• Is there a problem worth solving? Although this idea logically makes sense, there are flags raised because no company has solved the problem yet. Typically, you can validate some form of demand based on market signals or other competitors, but this seems like a blue ocean (both a good and bad thing). Follow the plan above and you should be able to tell quickly if you’re on the right track.
• Can you build it? The technology to create a product as this exists. That said, it may be difficult to pull data from the major bookmaker’s sites. The fact that Smart Lines doesn’t work with any of the major bookmakers left me scratching my head and wondering why.
• Legal Challenges? Sports betting is highly regulated like most industries that are birthed from law changes. Even being associated with this space is likely going to create some challenges. I'm not an expert in this space, so it's hard to say exactly what legal challenges may arise, but getting accessing other bookmaker's data and facilitating the betting process are two great places to start your investigation.

Additional Opportunities:
There appears to be no shortage of companies trying to become the next big bookmakers. But, there’s plenty of opportunities this burgeoning market has opened up beyond just being a bookie. With this market in its infancy, you can bet (pun 100% intended) that there’s going to be a lot of room to expand your offerings. Whether it be sports betting tips, predictions, tools or even becoming a bookie yourself, there’s money to be made here.
While doing research on this, I found many people are struggling with keeping track of their bets and recording their results. This could be an easy addition to a solution to tracking betting lines. Here’s what some people said -
https://imgur.com/a/aPTXuBd
Thanks for reading everyone! I'll monitor the comments for any questions and stuff - would love feedback.