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On the Friday April 24 edition of BangTheBook Radio, host Adam Burke and professional handicapper John Ryan gave their assessments of the first round of the NFL Draft. They talked about winners and losers and what it means for the betting odds and the perceptions of these teams heading into the new season, assuming we get one. After talking about which teams did well and which teams did poorly, the guys looked at some prop bets for tonight’s two rounds, as they looked at the next wide receiver off the board, where D’Andre Swift will go, and looked at the draft possibilities for guys like Jalen Hurts and Jacob Eason.

Host Adam Burke is ready for the 2020 NFL Draft to begin and he’ll finally get his wish today. Before Joe Burrow’s name gets announced, however, Adam got together with professional handicapper John Ryan to talk about some NFL Draft props of interest for this evening’s first round. The guys started their discussion about the odds for the number of players of a certain position taken in the first round. The WR discussion is such a big part of this year’s draft, so the guys spent time on that, including the over/under for number of first-round wideouts. They also looked at whether or not a running back is worth it in the first round, what happens at the #3 pick currently held by the Detroit Lions, and they finished up this show by teasing tomorrow’s recap and reaction podcast regarding the first round.

It is always a treat to chat with Thor Nystrom from Rotoworld and especially during NFL Draft time. Thor’s work is second to none with regards to ranking the players and because he knows his way around the betting world, it was a perfect opportunity to get him on with host Adam Burke on this edition of BangTheBook Radio. Adam and Thor went through his Big Board to find risers, fallers, sleepers, and busts with a general look at the draft class. The guys then looked at the QB, WR, and OL parts of the draft to isolate some betting opportunities with Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, Jedrick Wills, Tristan Wirfs, Andrew Thomas, CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, and more. The guys also talked about the make-up of the virtual draft, some trade possibilities, and some of Thor’s favorite props that were not discussed over the course of the other topics.

Host Adam Burke hopped on the airwaves with Brian Blessing of Sportsbook Radio and Vegas Hockey Hotline once again to chat about all things sports. The guys talked at the top of the show about how we could be nearing a return of sports with NASCAR, golf, and some of the professional leagues that could be getting going over the next six weeks or so. The focus for most listeners will be the discussion on the NFL Draft, as Adam and Brian used the betting odds in the market to talk about the strategies that these teams may look to employ. Will technical and external factors lead to a more conservative approach? Is all of this trade buzz really going to come to pass? The guys had some interesting takes and theories on how the first 32 picks of the draft could go.

Host Adam Burke got seven questions for the Monday Mailbag today and four of them served as the basis for today’s MLB betting talking points. Three additional questions on the return of sports and the betting handles that we are going to see, wiffle ball, and how Adam has been using his downtime kicked off the Mailbag, but it was the last four questions that gave us today’s baseball discussion. How do we handicap using the same information that the books have? Why did right-handed pitchers dominate the discussion of lefty/righty splits last week? Why are big favorites so profitable in Major League Baseball? What are stabilization points for other statistics? The last question was the more detailed and in-depth response from Adam, as he talked about exit velocity, barrel rates, stabilization points for hitters and pitchers, and so much more. It was a great question and a great show.

Host Adam Burke spent the full show with professional handicapper Brad Powers from BradPowersSports.com on Friday April 17 to talk about the NFL Draft and also discuss some preparations for what we hope will be the 2020 college football season. The guys talked about following the NFL Draft markets and what bettors should be focused on when placing their wagers for next week’s first round. Most of the show was dedicated to college football. Brad already has his power ratings, spreads for every game, and has been releasing team pages and a lot of information. The guys talked about how adjustments are made off of last season’s numbers. They also talked about projecting out season win totals and discussed how home field advantage would be affected in an environment without fans.

On the Thursday April 16 edition of BangTheBook Radio, host Adam Burke shared his thoughts and some reviews on baseball movies. There are a few hotter takes and some stronger recommendations, but Adam ran through more than 15 baseball movies with some notes and nuggets about each one and the things he likes and dislikes about those flicks. Major League, Major League II, The Sandlot, Rookie of the Year, Little Big League, Angels in the Outfield, Moneyball, 42, The Natural, Eight Men Out, A League of Their Own, Field of Dreams, For the Love of the Game, The Rookie, and more were all discussed and analyzed to give listeners something to watch during this brutal period of quarantine. Apologies that the audio ran out of steam towards the tail end.

Host Adam Burke spent just about an hour chatting about a variety of different things with Brian Blessing, the host of Sportsbook Radio and Vegas Hockey Hotline. The guys started with a discussion about the NFL Draft and what will be coming over the next several days. Most of the talk right now centers around Tua Tagovailoa, but there are a lot of moving parts and the media is going to play a big role in the lead-up to the Draft. The guys also talked about what the return of sports could look like, with thoughts on home field advantage in the NFL, the options for the NBA and the NHL with the regular season and the playoffs, and what golf could look like when it returns without a gallery. They talked about betting strategies and how those unique features could impact games and the betting lines.

On the Monday April 13 edition of The Bettor’s Box, host Adam Burke had a litany of questions thanks to our good pal Rich to discuss during today’s Monday Mailbag about race tracks, beer, college football, Dumb & Dumber, and whether or not you lose it if you don’t use it. On the baseball side of things, Adam talked about matchup-dependent handicapping and highlighted platoon splits and the importance of those. Adam mentioned how home and road splits are factored into the line, but how righty and lefty splits may not be accurately factored in. He highlighted some of the best and worst last season in those splits and talked about platoon advantages by team.

Host Adam Burke took listeners through more like a 301 class on betting and evaluating pitchers on today’s edition of The Bettor’s Box. Today’s topic was to look at wOBA-xwOBA, which is a Statcast metric derived from exit velocity and launch angle. This is a metric that does become the catalyst for line movement in the markets and it is something you should definitely know about. Adam tried to navigate a challenging topic by looking at examples of pitchers in line for positive or negative regression, including several names that we’ve heard on past segments regarding ERA, FIP, xFIP, or Cluster Luck. We’re painting a comprehensive picture of handicapping starting pitchers and this is one of the most advanced ways of doing it, but looking at xwOBA and its impact on pitcher numbers and performance.

Host Adam Burke and guest Brian Blessing from Sportsbook Radio and Vegas Hockey Hotline spent about a half hour with our listeners today talking about the NFL Draft and the adjusted golf schedule. The guys gave some of their early thoughts on some of the betting options out there for the draft and talked about how they will be approaching the first round. The fall could be special with several golf majors, the Ryder Cup, the Kentucky Derby, the MLB playoffs, plus the football seasons. Or so we hope. Adam and Brian talked a little bit about that and about locking money up in the betting markets for long periods of time. The guys also had story time at the end of the show.

On the Monday April 6 edition of BangTheBook Radio, host Adam Burke answered a listener question about WAR, the calculation of the statistic, and how it accounts for different positions. If you ever wanted to know how WAR works, this was a great introduction into one of the most encompassing statistics in the world of baseball today. Adam then followed up on Thursday’s discussion regarding Cluster Luck to bring it down to an individual level and highlight some pitchers that either got lucky or unlucky with runners in scoring position relative to the league averages or their own numbers. We’re building comprehensive statistical profiles of a lot of pitchers so that we’ll be ready to go when the games get back underway.

On the Thursday April 2 edition of BangTheBook Radio, host Adam Burke talked about the concept of Cluster Luck. Performance with the bases empty and performance with runners in scoring position can really make or break a season and Adam wanted to use that concept to seek out some positive and negative regression candidates coming into the 2020 season, whenever that may be. Adam had several compelling teams to discuss on today’s segment, including the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, and Cincinnati Reds because of their outcomes and why he is looking to buy or sell those teams.

Horse racing has become the flavor of the month with all other sports down for the count, but Brian Blessing has been betting horses every day for a very long time and we’re lucky to have his expertise on BangTheBook Radio. Host Adam Burke had Brian on the show to help with some more horse tips, including some tips on how to read the form. The guys focused in on Race 8 at Tampa Bay Downs for Wednesday April 1, which you can follow along with at this link. Adam and Brian talked about some different elements of the race, going from dirt to turf, and what to look for in terms of the class and strength of past race fields.

On the Monday March 30 edition of The Bettor’s Box, host Adam Burke tried to keep his regular show format as if we had games to discuss. He started with a look Beyond the Box Score to talk about first inning scoring and how to handle bullpens, including the thought process that goes into making a 1st 5 bet or a full-game wager. He also talked about what to look for with regards to odds movement during the Down the Lines segment, with an interesting discussion on why the lines move the way that they do sometimes, especially with buyback in the other direction. The MLB betting market is a living thing for the most part and it shows through the line movement.

Is it selfish to be sad that today is not Opening Day? According to host Adam Burke, not at all. It’s just one part of the greater sadness that we are experiencing around the world. Adam had no script and no notes for today’s show, but he had some thoughts and just talked on today’s program. Baseball has given a lot to those of us that follow it in a variety of different ways and that was a key theme on today’s segment. A normal segment will be back on Monday with more stats and sabermetrics and breakdowns, but it just didn’t seem right today.

Host Adam Burke was joined by Brian Blessing, the host of Sportsbook Radio and Vegas Hockey Hotline, for this week’s Tuesday edition of BangTheBook Radio. Adam and Brian took a look at what’s been happening out in the NFL futures market with regards to free agency and trades, as we’ve seen a ton of player movement to this point. Most of the show was dedicated to horse racing. As one of the only games in town during the coronavirus outbreak, Adam and Brian took a deep dive into horse racing, as they talked about how to read the program and past performances. They talked about what is important to look at with the program and how to tell if a horse looks to be on the rise or the decline.

On today’s edition of The Bettor’s Box, host Adam Burke continued painting a comprehensive picture of how he breaks down starting pitchers, including a focus on some of the ones that we have already talked about. Today’s topic of discussion was about contact quality against. There are some important metrics, like exit velocity, Hard Hit%, and Barrel rates that are a big part of Adam’s handicapping and he explained the reasons why on this podcast. Adam looked at extremes on the exit velocity sides both ways, talked about what constitutes a barreled ball and what makes them so bad, and mentioned additional names of pitchers that are on his “bet on” and “fade” lists for the upcoming 2020 baseball season.

After taking a look at ERA, FIP, and xFIP regression candidates on Monday, host Adam Burke peeled back another layer of the proverbial onion on Thursday to talk about LOB% and the positive and negative regression candidates with that stat. All of this works together to form the picture of a pitcher to buy or sell for the upcoming season. Adam looked at the top 15 in LOB%, the bottom 15 in LOB%, and then talked about whether or not their numbers are sustainable or if those numbers are likely to move one way or another. Adam highlighted six negative regression guys and six positive regression guys during this segment.

Brian Blessing was gracious enough to join host Adam Burke for a Tuesday edition of BangTheBook Radio. The guys spent the majority of their time looking at the NFL, with the free agent frenzy, the trades, the adjustments to the season win total market, and the interesting division races that have emerged through all the transactions. They discussed Tom Brady and Philip Rivers and the Stefon Diggs and DeAndre Hopkins trades and so much more. They also took a few minutes to talk about some horse racing, with the Kentucky Derby pushed back to September 5 and how that could impact the Road to the Kentucky Derby and why the Travers Stakes could hold some serious importance this summer.