Episode 109

Shane Mercer [00:00:00]:

Know what your responsibilities are and, and if you need to consult a tax professional. Don't don't, you know, just rely on us

John Wilson [00:00:07]:

Yeah. Don't just go to Grok either or chat g p t and think that they're gonna give you the the the the absolute correct information either on on something as important as this. It's, it's it's not worth it.

Shane Mercer [00:00:20]:

Welcome in. It's behind the lines powered by Pinnacle, purifying the sports betting industry. I'm Shane. Pace is here, and we've got Gosu with us. On On today's show, betting ads going down, but number of bettors going up. NBA players have their say and will grind the NHL playoffs.

Shane Mercer [00:01:06]:

Alright, guys. Lots to talk about here on the show today. I wanna start off, pace with a topic that I think is really kind of near and dear to us because we really began this podcast with this topic, which was about sports books and the advertising that takes place. So it was sort of one of our first episodes. We we looked at all of the various ads and and how they were showing up on on broadcast and that kind of thing. And, you know, I think people out there still complain a lot about the sports betting ads, but guess what? They're actually going away. Not going away away, but there's fewer of them. Who would have thought? So, this one coming to us, from ESPN.

Shane Mercer [00:01:45]:

They put out this article, just yesterday, I think it was, showing that the overall number of TV ads for traditional sportsbooks, has actually dropped 17% year over year in 2024 and, down 44% since their peak in 2021. So, just to give you a a bit of a sense here, they spent $666,000,000 in 2024, which is flat for spending on advertising. So costs of commercials are going up. Their spending stayed the same, so you're seeing less ads, generally speaking. But but just to give you an idea for the NFL, year over year, a decrease of 3.3%, in the in the number of of ads you're seeing. And, this article specifically looks at it and compares, sports betting ads to alcohol ads, which is sort of the other big one that you tend to see when when you're watching sports. And, they found that according to this is Nielsen, which which tracks all of this stuff. There were more ads for alcohol than sports betting, during the NBA, WNBA, and baseball, MLB in 2024.

Shane Mercer [00:03:01]:

But betting ads were more frequent for the NFL, NHL, golf, NASCAR, and, soccer. NHL games, that had the highest percentage of gambling related ads for the major sports leagues at 4.2%. So, first, are we at all surprised that perhaps the number of ads is actually going down?

Andrew Pace [00:03:26]:

No.

Shane Mercer [00:03:28]:

Not at all?

John Wilson [00:03:29]:

No. Definitely not.

Shane Mercer [00:03:31]:

Definitely not. Definitely not. You guys expected this? You expected to see ads go down? I I thought maybe they would go up before they started to come down.

Andrew Pace [00:03:53]:

It's hard hard to go up, you know, when you're at the top. Right? Like, that's kinda that's kinda why I would say I'm mostly not surprised is it it really look. We we didn't do that episode as, like, oh, the big bad sportsbooks. How dare they advertise? It was we were being bombarded. It was pretty nuts. So so I don't think you can really go up from that. That's that would be just my comment to that. I would yeah.

John Wilson [00:03:59]:

Yeah. I mean, at the it's, you know, the cycle of a new market and advertising in a new market. Right? Like, eventually, in the in the beginning, maybe when things get regulated, you know, I remember five years ago, six years ago when things got regulated, in a lot of the states, the you know, maybe a lot of people didn't know who all of the books were or what books are available. So it made sense, especially for the smaller books that weren't DraftKings and FanDuel to advertise a lot. Right? Or maybe like Caesars and MGM brands that people would only know from going to Vegas or other, you know, gambling centric, cities, you know, like Atlantic City or something. So those brands needed to get out there and let people know. But, eventually, just everybody knows what it is, you know, what's available and or they have friends that know. So when they get into it, the friends are gonna tell.

John Wilson [00:04:45]:

So it kinda just naturally made sense to me. And I'd worked with some people in the industry who were on more on the new player procurement side, many years ago before I was really doing what I'm doing now. And, I remember them telling me back then that these companies were just bleeding an insane amount of money, on advertising, and it was just gonna have to stop. So that was probably four years ago, which was about probably, I think, was about what the peak was according to that article we were looking at earlier.

Andrew Pace [00:05:14]:

I I think it was it was something crazy. Like, DraftKings spent, like, $400,000,000 in their first year just on Facebook ads. Yeah. It's it's So, like, through Meta, the numbers were out of control. Not sustainable, Shane. Obviously, we've talked about this, Helen. They're, like, adopting this Uber model, like, pay whatever you have to acquire the customers, and then you have them afterwards because you won the market. And I sort of disagreeing that that's the way that sports betting works.

Andrew Pace [00:05:40]:

But there definitely is that element to, like, get rid of these 90 other providers, and then let's settle in on, you know, these five to 10 that that that are available. So, yeah, I'm I'm definitely not surprised that the the marketing's down both from the standpoint of, people not maybe receiving it the same way they used to. Like John saying, hey. They might have actually learned about a sports book. Right? And then the second part being just the profitability of the books themselves is a major factor. And the effectiveness of your ad, it doesn't matter if you have the best ad in the world. Your effectiveness is obviously gonna go down over time as you've reached, you know, the same market over and over and over again. And I don't think they've had a problem reaching new people.

Andrew Pace [00:06:22]:

I don't think there's an ad that flicks on today where someone's like, oh, what's that? You know, they've kind of accomplished that that side of things from a marketing standpoint. So that makes sense.

Shane Mercer [00:06:34]:

Yeah. You know, I I think too when we think about, the fact that especially with in in the North American market and particularly in in The US where, you know, it's it's dominated by DraftKings and FanDuel. I think, you know, pace, we were reporting on it maybe a a few weeks back or or a couple months ago, you know, that FanDuel and DraftKings own something like, you know, close to 80% of the market share now. You know? So if they're you know, if if they've pushed a lot of the competitors out, then then I think, you know, naturally, you're gonna see fewer advertisements. That that kind of makes sense, I think. Right?

Andrew Pace [00:07:08]:

Yeah. The other thing too is, like, I'm not in The UK, but one of the things that I used to do pre legalization, and I still think it is effective, but, you know, you look for various, billboards and sponsorships and things like that, you know, on the soccer team's jerseys and the dart players and the handball players and all the other sports that are there. I actually found quite a few reputable books doing that back in the day, and I think that was also effective marketing. So, you know, with a lot of the things in the industry, you can kinda look over to the pond to see what they're doing to to maybe not it's it's not gonna be pound for pound the same, but to maybe see where things settle a little bit. And I don't think they're being inundated with TV ads over there.

Shane Mercer [00:07:51]:

Yeah. You mentioned something about people, being aware and knowing about sportsbooks now, and, you know, everybody kinda knows what it is, and it's not new anymore in in that sense. Well, check this out. This is a survey, and and we'll get to who conducted it because I think that's really interesting. And, John, I'm gonna pick your brain about that in a moment. But first, let's just talk about the results. So there's a new survey out. 79% of Americans have placed or plan to place a sports bet, in in then that is, within the year, I think it looked at.

Shane Mercer [00:08:26]:

So it said, they they surveyed 70 750 respondents between the ages of 18 and 64, and more than half the respondents, 54% saying they placed bets a few times a year with another 30% betting weekly, during specific, sports seasons. You know, obviously, you know, we probably bet much more frequently than most, and a lot in our audience are probably thinking that that they bet a lot more. But I was a bit surprised to hear that that 80% close to 80% of Americans, either have placed a sports bet or plan to place a sports bet within the year. But, you know, John, why don't I turn it over to you since you're our guy in The States? You know, is it that high? Because in Canada, I can tell you. I don't think it's anywhere near that that number. I would say it's, you know, probably maybe a third of Canadians might put themselves in that group, but even that, I think, might be high.

John Wilson [00:09:26]:

Yeah. I mean, I I think it's actually I think it's mathematically impossible because the state of California doesn't have regulated sports betting, and they've actually they've, by popular vote, have, elected not to have it. So, like, the the actual citizens in California have voted against it multiple times now. So that kind of gives you an indication of, you know, California is a massive percentage of the population of The United States, and they're electing not to have gambling. So to me, that says that that number is just basically impossible. It's always like it's like political polls. Like, who is poll who is who's getting polled? Who's taking the survey? Has anyone ever met anybody who's ever been polled by one of those things? You know? So I just question, like, maybe what that sample is. I mean, I think it's very high, especially, you know, where I'm from in the in the South, in The United States, people are obsessed with sports.

John Wilson [00:10:19]:

People love basically every sport here. Even baseball, they still care about. And so, you know, I I every at least every guy I know that's about in my age range pretty much. I mean, I would can't say every, but I would say 90%, have definitely bet on sports or would plan to. But but, females in this area, probably not even 30%, forty % that I know of. So that number is definitely seems quite high to me.

Shane Mercer [00:10:52]:

If you say thirty to 40% of women are are put themselves in that category, planning to place a bet or have placed a bet with within the year, I would say, like, that sounds extremely high to me. Yeah. I know that, you know, we have a few women in the inplayLIVE community, but it's it's a very small number. I know, you know, just anecdotally in my own circles, there's very few women who are placing sports bets ever. Like, maybe even in the last ten years, you know, they they probably haven't. So when you say 30 to 40%, to me, that sounds really high. But, also, my last trips to The US, I noticed women talking about placing bets, specifically on FanDuel. So, you know, I don't know.

Shane Mercer [00:11:39]:

I mean, maybe maybe there are significantly more women in The States betting now. Yeah. I think it's

John Wilson [00:11:45]:

it's a recreational thing. It's something to do on and I mean, like, have placed a bet, you know, ever. So, you know, the the the boyfriend, husband gets gets them to sign up for MGM on the Super Bowl because they get a hundred dollar free bet, you know, and then they and then they bet on it. And then, oh, now I've I won my bet. Now I have $200. I'm gonna bet $1 on these random games every other day because it's gambling. You know? It's like buying a lottery ticket. So I'm gonna bet I'm gonna bet some, like, thousand to one parlay, and then eventually, I go to zero, and I probably don't ever do it again.

John Wilson [00:12:22]:

But that's but that's kinda what I mean, by that. As I would say, a a good percentage of of the women I know, and that's probably the situation that they've taken part in that.

Shane Mercer [00:12:33]:

Right. Yeah. That that that kinda makes sense to sort of, in in sort of that smaller kind of percentage. I also wanna note that I've seen a significant rise in the number of women who want to be sports betting influencers on social media. There seems to be a ton of women that I at least from from the stuff that I'm following and seeing out there and, PACE, you're on you're on socials quite a bit. Maybe you can, attest to this or or even, you know, refute it. But, I'm seeing a ton more, women sports bettors or at least women with social media accounts who are are either, pretending to be sports bettors or perhaps bots that are posing as women as sports bettors and and trying to sort of be, you know, sports betting influencers. But it just sort of seems to be growing.

Andrew Pace [00:13:20]:

Well, if there is an increase in in female bettors, that's all good and well. But I mean, like, this this survey who did this survey, Shane?

Shane Mercer [00:13:27]:

Okay. Yeah. So we wanna talk about who did this survey.

Shane Mercer [00:13:31]:

Okay. It's actual so this is another aspect of it. And and, John, I'll come back to you, but but we'll let Pace finish this thought. This is a tax software provider called TaxAct that did this survey, and it it you know, they're doing it to raise awareness about what your responsibilities are when it comes to sports betting and filing your taxes.

John Wilson [00:13:53]:

Uh-huh.

Shane Mercer [00:13:54]:

Yeah. But but, Pace go go but, Pace, go ahead first.

Andrew Pace [00:13:58]:

So people get polled on whether they're whether they've made it better, whether they're planning on making a bet this year and they got back 79%. Well, it's like, of what range there? Because you said 18 to 64. Right?

Shane Mercer [00:14:12]:

Yeah.

Andrew Pace [00:14:13]:

So three of the years that they surveyed aren't legally eligible to gamble, and you still got to 79%?

Shane Mercer [00:14:21]:

Right. Well, we know a lot of young people are gambling whether they're allowed to or not.

Andrew Pace [00:14:26]:

Right. So if, if the males said 100% of them gamble, all the males were like, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I think you couldn't get to 79% with just the women that you should have surveyed. So I I think this one's a little bit I think there's some bias in in this survey.

Andrew Pace [00:14:43]:

That's what I would say. Yeah. With, like, seven six and a half percent. Three well, how many years is that? It's, like, forty forty six years and three at three of those years. So it's, like, six and a half, 7% of the people that were surveyed aren't even legal gambling age. So yeah. I don't know.

Shane Mercer [00:14:59]:

Okay. Yeah. Fair enough. You know, one of and, I mean, yeah, you gotta look at at who's conducting it and why. One of the things that this that this, tax act, the software provider here found, though, is that only 18% of respondents knew that, all their winnings must be reported to the IRS. Just 25% correctly identified that sports betting winnings are even taxable income. John, do you know? And I'm just sort of asking kind of, you know, generally here. I don't want you to name names or anything like that.

Shane Mercer [00:15:35]:

But do you find that that people in your circle, those who are perhaps gambling more recreationally, know that they're supposed to be reporting this to the IRS?

John Wilson [00:15:46]:

Nobody has any idea. And I always tell everybody in my group I'm not a tax expert. They should consult a tax expert before they do anything with their taxes, relating to anything, not just sports betting or gambling of any kind.

Shane Mercer [00:16:01]:

But And that and that disclaimer applies to the show as well for anyone out there listening.

John Wilson [00:16:05]:

But it's, you know, like, how many people how many people go to a casino and gamble and either win or lose and report any of that and know and or know that they should or know that they could claim a loss, you know, in gambling. It's you know? Or or other there's so many other things too. Like, when you join a pool for, some type, you know, at work and you're putting in money for the masters or, you know, like, there's all these different things that, like, I just encourage people to go read about this or ask a tax expert about it because you probably actually if if you're like most people and you've lost money in these things over time, you've probably not taken advantage of, you know, your ability to to to write some stuff off. So, but, no, most most people have no idea, that that gambling in in general is is taxed or or could be a write off. So yeah.

Andrew Pace [00:16:56]:

Wow. I think I think I think the point John made there was or could be a write off. That's the real one.

Shane Mercer [00:17:02]:

Yeah.

Andrew Pace [00:17:02]:

Right? So, when you play slots in Vegas, probably anywhere in The US. Right? But, like, I don't know what the amount is. It's, like, $1,200. They don't just pay your account. You they it's called a hand pay. And they have to a representative from the casino actually comes and pays you by hand. But before they do, they take 30% off the top right away, in tax owed. So it's actually kinda detrimental to hit a $1,200 payout on a slot machine because, in fact, you gotta deal with, you know, someone someone that's gonna come, pull pull the tax right off the top.

Andrew Pace [00:17:40]:

Doesn't matter how much you're down that day. Off comes that 30%.

Shane Mercer [00:17:43]:

Right.

Andrew Pace [00:17:43]:

So it's kinda like the gift card concept. If you guys know why Costco sells gift cards, to prominent places in your area, for $80 for the hundred dollars. Right? So 20% discount. They do it because approximately, like, 35% of people never claim their gift cards. So they know net the restaurants that's or companies that sell to Costco, they know that net of, their sale to Costco. They will get, that money back, separately of their individual profit margins and encouraging people to come in on unclaimed gift cards. Right? So it's the same concept with this.

Andrew Pace [00:18:21]:

Like, if you're in Vegas and someone gives you a hand pay and they take 30% off the top, you have to now, claim your losses in order to be able to get, you know, that money back. So a lot of this stuff is, you know, the human element of filing the paperwork and those types of things become a bit of a hurdle that lead to additional revenue for, in the case of the gift cards, who whomever is selling them, and then, obviously, in this case, the IRS, where they take the money off the top knowing that people people won't go and file. But that that's to John's point. It's that people have capital losses or betting losses that they can yeah. Like John said, go write some stuff off. And, yeah, I'm pretty sure that that isn't necessarily happening. Yeah. Unfortunately, in our world, we do make money from betting.

Andrew Pace [00:19:10]:

So it's it's the other way around. Right? These guys gotta deal with this little bit of a headache in paying the government. So you gotta pay the sportsbooks, you gotta beat the big, and then you gotta pay your taxes. It's not an easy situation.

Shane Mercer [00:19:20]:

Yeah. Yeah. John, without without giving too much away here or you know, again, John's not a tax professional. None of us here are tax professionals. But but how much it is that time of year tax time. How how difficult is it, John, as as a sports bettor to do your taxes? It's winning bettor.

John Wilson [00:19:39]:

Yeah. I mean, it it's not like it's not that difficult. I mean, it's it's a little more complicated than if you're just getting money taken out on a w two from as a salaried employee at a company or something. Right? But, again, like I said, I I use the CPA. I think, you know, if if you I look at it like it saves me money because he helps me figure that stuff out. Right? It costs money to to to go that route, but it I think I'm saving money in the long haul doing it, and I'm doing everything that I know it's I'm doing it the right way, because I think everybody should do it the right way. But, yeah, I mean, I I think it's just it's important to understand even if you go through a CPA and you have other people that are that are the experts, I think it's as important. Even if you're just a recreational gambler, but you do it often or you do it for a lot of money, I would I think you just think it's really important to understand how all that works, like, what you know, and PACE is talking about the the hand pay and then withholding, like, what triggers a w two g form.

John Wilson [00:20:38]:

You know? Like, it's a certain amount of winning, like, a a ratio of winning based on the amount that you put in to how much you got back. Right? And it's just for that one spin. Right? So, like, it's important to understand that. It's also important to understand state if you're in The United States, state by state taxes. So if you gamble in certain states, sometimes they'll withhold money, if you win, or you might or you might owe them that state money for having won there even if they didn't withhold it. Like so just important to understand state income tax laws if you spend time gambling there as well. Now, obviously, Nevada, Vegas, where most people gamble, no state income tax. You don't have to worry about that.

John Wilson [00:21:17]:

But there are other states who where you do have state income tax, you might be in that state game. So it's just important to understand all of that stuff at least at a at a high level.

Shane Mercer [00:21:26]:

Yeah. Yeah. Well well, great advice for for everybody, tuning in, to our show from The US, as you sort of go into this, into this season here. Know know what your responsibilities are and, and if you need to consult a tax professional. Don't don't, you know, just rely on us.

John Wilson [00:21:42]:

Yeah. Don't just go to Grok either or chat g p t and think that they're gonna give you the the the the absolute correct information either on on something as important as this. Yeah. It's, it's it's not worth it.

Shane Mercer [00:21:55]:

Good. Great great advice there. Okay. Well, if we are to believe the, results of that survey, that's that's something like 80% of of Americans. And and I I obviously, that would be outside of the states, that are, that are not legalized. So so, you know, I'm sure they weren't, you know, surveying people in California or Texas, etcetera. But if we are to believe it, 80%, that's a significant number. There's an article out in The Athletic, and, I'll just, share that with our with our audience here.

Shane Mercer [00:22:28]:

Headline, NBA players sound off on league's gambling partnership and their impact. Alright. So what are these NBA players saying? Well, I will scroll down here and, give you a look at the graphic because I think this sort of, you know, gives you a sense of what, generally speaking, these NBA players are are feeling. So here it is. Are the NBA's gambling partnerships good or bad for the league and why? And we have a 50, people who responded. These are all, anonymous, but all current players in the league. And you can see here, 46% coming in saying it's bad, 34% saying good, 12% kind of in the middle, good and bad. Little bit of this, little bit of that, and 8% undecided.

Shane Mercer [00:23:19]:

So kind of, you know, maybe surprising, maybe not surprising given some of the stuff that we've heard around the league and and heard from people. But why don't I give you a few of the quotes here? And, again, all of these are anonymous. We don't know who the players are, but still a 50 of them, are responding. So it gives you a sense generally of of what, you know, what the players are thinking. But but here are some of the the quotes, from the bad side. K? These are people who fall into that 46%. K? First quote, it blurs the line between intentions and purity of the game. It's a little predatory the way they push it.

Shane Mercer [00:23:59]:

You want to encourage gambling responsibly and tell gamblers, oh my god. Look at all this money you can make when reality, the only reason why these things exist is because they make tons of money. Why do you think they can spend that much money on advertising? They're taking your money and throwing it back in your face. And then the same person also saying, I get 10 messages, DMs, a game saying, fuck you. I'm gonna fuck up your family. I mean, you know, and we've heard about these these instances and stories both in the, professional level and and the college level. Here's another one from somebody on the on the no side. The gambling partnerships are horrible for the league because you guys are selling your soul for the worst type of people in your fan base.

Shane Mercer [00:24:42]:

Ouch. That that kinda hurts personally there. That I I love the NBA. They don't see us as human beings anymore, which, again, they never did. That that's that's a little bit, intense there as well. Alright. Here's one more from the bad side. It's not great when you're banning players understandably for gambling, and then you're promoting it.

Shane Mercer [00:25:03]:

So this is sort of getting into the Jontay Porter sort of situation here. It'd be like telling us not to do cocaine and then giving the players cocaine in the locker room.

Shane Mercer [00:25:14]:

That that's the bad side. I'll just give the other side of it very quickly before we sort of discuss. But the good side, here are what people are saying. I think it's just another opportunity to make money. This is a business. It's great. Gambling is great for the league. More money, more eyes, more fan engagement.

Shane Mercer [00:25:28]:

I think they're good. It's more money. So on the good side, it's, hey. They're bringing in the dollars. They're they're getting eyeballs on us. It's it's gotta be good for us. And on the no side, well, you heard a whole bunch of, of reasons there. One, let's start off with, did we think that NBA players would be this opposed to the partnerships? 46% falling in that bad category, and you can tell the ones who are responding have some very, strong feelings towards it.

Andrew Pace [00:25:59]:

Oh, jeez. It's it's tough because, you know, you'd wanna you'd wanna hear from some of the players directly almost where you go, okay. This is Kevin Durant, and he's telling us why he thinks this is bad for the league and how it's infected him personally or whatever. Right? You know, it's a 50 votes cast. You know, are we getting the the backup backup bench players casting votes or, you know, are are LeBron, Curry, and KD out there, you know, speaking on it? Right? But, I mean, like, at the end of the day, it is good for the league from the standpoint of viewership. The I don't think you can debate that. If you have money on the game or the ability to bet on the game, you're way more likely to tune in. So from that standpoint, it's it's positive.

Andrew Pace [00:26:44]:

That that's kinda what I would say. Wouldn't really have an argument. But the thing is is, obviously, I'm gonna sit here and promote the the benefits of why betting on sports can be a can be a positive thing. But I'm or we are in a in a minority in a in a big way, and I'm not referencing that we are a minority because we represent the 34%. We represent maybe the 1% of people that that actually turn a profit over the long term. So, you know, but I think this is different than maybe a political vote, right, where it's so easy to see why people would think that the other side that is bad. I can totally sympathize with with that side of the discussion and and definitely, agree with a lot of the points.

Shane Mercer [00:27:33]:

John, what what do you think?

John Wilson [00:27:36]:

Yeah. I, I'm not really surprised by a lot of those quotes in there, the sentiments. I I I do think that the dehumanization of strangers and and, specifically, famous strangers is more of a broader societal trend than as anything specifically related to sports in general and especially gambling. Like, maybe the gambling aspect and somebody losing their parley because somebody missed a shot is underscoring that that trend in society. But I think brought in broader society, people are just typically they, you know, they they dehumanize strangers more. It's just I think it's we view so much so much of our our interaction with others is through a digital device. Like, we're doing this right now and, like, how people will consume this. Right? If we we less and less interact with people face to face or or or forced to.

John Wilson [00:28:36]:

Right? So I think that's just a a broader thing, and they're kind of just getting into that here in that article under the lens of of sports betting. And, you know, I'm not surprised that all the good stuff is just related to the money because the players and their union knows that the the the revenue coming in is half theirs. So why would they be opposed, to that when it's like, how much these contracts have ballooned in the last decade. Right? So it's it it just seems kind of kind of obvious to me. I mean, I I think it the the the conversation around the irony or the the or the hypocrisy of not being able to gamble while your league promotes it is I mean, you're not the only industry where that's true. You know, people can't work for a regulatory board and a government and and gamble on the games. You know? People can't, there are people who can't be in certain aspects of media coverage of sports and and gamble on that particular sport. Right? People who vote on awards for the league can't gamble on those awards.

John Wilson [00:29:49]:

Right? Like, they can't bet on those specific markets. So there's a lot of reasons why, like, you might not be able to do that, and it's it's not just the players that are targeted by not being able to to gamble on just their own league. So

John Wilson [00:30:02]:

I kind of don't really sympathize too much with that.

Andrew Pace [00:30:05]:

Yeah. The the Coke the cocaine guy just really wants to gamble.

John Wilson [00:30:08]:

Yeah. He wants to do Coke and and gamble, it seems.

Shane Mercer [00:30:11]:

He probably is gambling. He probably is gambling. Let's be honest.

Andrew Pace [00:30:14]:

He's like what the hell, man? You you you know, you want you wanna promote these guys, but I can't do it myself. He's just he's just FOMO ing big time. We know the type. Yeah.

Shane Mercer [00:30:23]:

Yeah. Yeah.

John Wilson [00:30:23]:

Yeah. So I I I just I I hear that all the time, and I kind of the more I've heard it over the last five years, I just start kinda, like, rolling my eyes. Like, I'm sorry that you make tens of millions of dollars a a year, and you're not allowed to play same game parlays on your own league. Like, what a horrible, horrible life. What a terrible trade off. You know? Yeah. Sorry. Play the world's smallest violin, please.

Shane Mercer [00:30:51]:

Yeah. Just to give you a sense of of how many sort of respondents we had here, you know, a 50. I think there's something like 500 players in the league at any kinda given time on an active roster, and I think that, may include, the G League as well. Just sort of doing a a quick search there. So, you know, we're talking maybe about 25 about 25% of of the league responding to this, some somewhere in that range. So, yeah, it is a it is a question of of, you know, who is it exactly, what level of players, what caliber of players are we talking about here. Yeah. But still, pretty pretty sort of, you know, I I didn't think it was that many that felt this negatively about it.

Shane Mercer [00:31:33]:

You know, we've heard some people come out and say it, but I I just I was a bit surprised by that. Anyway, that's probably enough of this. I think it's maybe time to get to the stuff that, a lot of you out there, wanna hear more about, which is, hey. What are should we be looking at when it comes to betting on sports, coming up over the next week or so? John, you joined us last week to talk NBA, and we did some looking ahead and some forecasting of the playoffs. How would you say it's been going so far? I I've really enjoyed personally that Clippers nuggets series is one to watch. I think that is the series right now that I'm just dialed right into.

John Wilson [00:32:13]:

Yeah. Yeah. Those those have been some great games. I think that warriors rocket series is gonna be is gonna be a tough one. I think, you know, the warriors had a a a they they just had a lead that was too big to come back from, you know, kind of, and Houston really did a good job to cut it all the way back down to, I think, four or five there at the end. But, looked like a young team trying to figure out how to win a playoff game. You know? And so I think that one's actually gonna be kind of a a a grinder. Then we've got some like, real just trash in, like, that Thunder Grizzly series.

John Wilson [00:32:44]:

I think that Celtics Magic series is probably a joke. That Cavs heat series I think maybe Miami can take a game, and maybe they can make some games close, but I think the talent gap there between those two squads is really significant.

Andrew Pace [00:32:59]:

There's also so much incentive for a team that is so superior that has their eye, you know, maybe a little further than the first round to get that series done, to get some rest, and to be ready for that next opponent. Yeah. Especially when you're looking at the East where you go, okay. You know, we know we probably have to play the Cavs or we know we probably have to play the Celtics, whomever whichever the team you are. And you go, not only do we have to play them, but we might go to game seven, and these guys are sitting there rested waiting for us. And and maybe also knowing it is us. Right? Like, maybe it's a game six, maybe it's a game seven. And the way these leagues work too is if if you're if you're, if you're ready to go, you might start round two before round one has concluded.

Andrew Pace [00:33:45]:

So, you know, they'll they'll literally be waiting for you and and ready. And they're at home, and you gotta go travel to them. So so it it is, it definitely is an advantage to have those, you know, one and two spots and to get through those series quickly, especially in the East where you're playing a team that's below 500, which is just insane.

John Wilson [00:34:03]:

Yeah.

Shane Mercer [00:34:04]:

That that OKC series, I think, is absolutely one of those I could see OKC just, you know, wrapping this up really fast, you know, four and o in the series, especially after that first game. I'm starting to wonder if we might even see, like, a college esque spread line pregame on that on that, on those, games between OKC and Memphis. You know, we start getting up into, like, you know, a minus 15.

John Wilson [00:34:29]:

That's what it is. It's fourteen and a half, I think, for game two. I mean, when people hear this, that game will have already been played, I think. But Yeah. I do believe it is fourteen and a half right now, Tuesday midday.

Andrew Pace [00:34:40]:

Well, this is one of the things that's just so beautiful about playoff basketball, and and it just doesn't exist enough in the regular season. And it's that you don't get the Celtics coming out a little you might they might come out a little slow, but you don't get them intentionally coming out slow. You get them going. We are winning game one. We are putting our best put foot forward for four quarters straight. We're playing a complete game of basketball. And you just show and frequently see that in the regular season. And as a result of that, what you typically get is the better team winning the series.

Andrew Pace [00:35:14]:

So when we're recording this, we've seen all the game ones. Right? We may see some significant adjustments from the Lakers where they do make it a series. But at the same time, if the Wolves just run those guys over, they just simply were the better team and came out and played better than them in the series. But that's one that I could also see going, you know, potentially six, seven games for sure. If the Warriors come out and beat the Rockets in in game two, same idea. Right? So, the adjustments are gonna be made, the best foot's gonna be put forward, and the intensity level is so high. And that that's why, obviously, you see these games coming in where you're like, holy shit. The live total's at one seventy nine.

Andrew Pace [00:35:52]:

It's because it's freaking hard to get out there and score points.

John Wilson [00:35:56]:

Yep. Yeah. I think the the what I what I'm most interested in for the immediate games in front of us are the game two for the warriors and the wolves. You you stole game one on the road. How it can be so easy to have a mindset of a week. We got what we came for, and then you just you get blown out by 30 in game two, and you give momentum back to that team that feels like they found something now. You know? And the warriors, I I'd be very shocked if that's the result, but it would not surprise me at all if the wolves came out with, like, a kind of just a lackadaisical approach to that game game just given, like, their youth and and everything on that team and just kind of the way of some of those guys carrying themselves in that in that squad. And I think, like, they really need to kinda buckle down and say we can take two games here, and we need to, you know, not give them anything.

John Wilson [00:36:49]:

So I'm really looking for that.

Andrew Pace [00:36:50]:

We gotta talk about these Pistons.

Shane Mercer [00:36:53]:

Oh, Cade's looking great. Right?

Andrew Pace [00:36:55]:

They they should be two and o. Like, they they gave up a 21 o run. Yep. They gave it up again last game. That's what yesterday. That's why I took took their money line because I was like, jeez. This is a big number. And they did tie it back up.

Andrew Pace [00:37:07]:

It got to 94, 90 4. Yeah. But the Pistons could easily be two and o where they stole two in New York. I think there's a really good chance that they could win the series. And there's when you look at some of these series matchups, like, before Denver lost game two, they were normal juice to win the series. They were, like, minus one ten to win the series. So the Clippers are getting a lot of money, a lot of hype. Right? Take a look at some of these series prices in the middle of the series, especially the ones that are gonna be like the one ones, two twos, where you've watched the games and you go, okay.

Andrew Pace [00:37:45]:

This team is actually the better team. So with the Knicks, Knicks series specifically, the Knicks have been outplayed in, without question, six of the eight quarters. Like, without question, six of the eight quarters.

Shane Mercer [00:38:02]:

Yeah. Maybe even seven.

Andrew Pace [00:38:03]:

And and, yeah, may like, if you're if you're, like, UFC style scoring this thing Yeah. You know? The Knicks they're the the Pistons are the better team. I wanna see how the Pistons look at home in this series, and there's gonna be value on them for the entirety of the series in the games themselves and to actually, win the series. You might even be able to get plus one and a half in the series right now. I I don't know. I haven't looked. But, that one's really, really interesting because they seem to have the next number, for the majority of the game. It's just a matter of you know how, John, you're like, oh, the I watched the Rockets, this young team trying to figure out how to win a playoff game.

Andrew Pace [00:38:40]:

Well, there's a little bit of that inexperience there over on the Pistons where they have to figure out how to close these games out. And if they can do that, they're they're gonna win the series.

John Wilson [00:38:49]:

Yep. Yep. I mean, we've I talked for the last couple weeks leading up on on streams while we've been watching the games, betting the games like the regular season just have said a couple, you know, several times. Like, it's not gonna be easy for for the Knicks, like, in that in that first series against the Pistons. They're tough. They're a really tough team, and, they match up well. And they they outsize them in a lot of positions, which I don't think the Knicks are kinda used to, but, you know, Brunson's a a real big liability, in that series on the defensive end. So

Andrew Pace [00:39:19]:

Yeah. Yeah. They were minus 400 before the series start, the Knicks were, to win the series. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty pretty crazy.

Shane Mercer [00:39:28]:

Yeah. I think I think the point of of value on the Pistons throughout the series game by game, if you wanna look at quarter by quarter even, you know, I think I think it'll be there the whole away pace. I think that's a a really sort of great piece of actionable advice for for everybody out there listening.

Andrew Pace [00:39:41]:

Totally. Yeah.

Shane Mercer [00:39:41]:

Yep.

Andrew Pace [00:39:42]:

Absolutely.

Shane Mercer [00:39:43]:

Okay. We ought to talk puck because, John, we didn't talk any puck last week. We're into the series and into into the playoffs, pretty heavy now. We've gotta we've gotta talk a little bit about it. And, Pace, I know that you love playoff puck, maybe maybe more than than John and I. Although, John, I know you like it a lot too. And, I I gotta say, my my hockey fan ship, has certainly grown over the last few years, especially after joining, IPL. I wasn't a huge hockey guy, before, but I can tell you I'm I'm tuning in for a lot of these games now and, enjoying it and staying up late.

Shane Mercer [00:40:23]:

Staying up late to watch, like, you know, the Kings almost blow a big lead against the Oilers, you know, and and watching that stuff. And, you know, which took me to past 1AM eastern, last night. And I I think I was checking the schedule. This we're recording this on Tuesday here. I was looking at at the schedule for tonight. There's a game starting at 11PM eastern, and I'm sitting here going like, holy shit. How am I gonna stay up for this thing? But that's but before, I would never even ask myself how am I gonna stay up. I wouldn't.

Shane Mercer [00:40:53]:

Yeah. And now I'm thinking, oh, jeez. Am I gonna how am I gonna play on this? I'm gonna take a nap at some point tonight, and then wake up for for the tail end of the game or something like that. I don't know. We'll see. But, I'm bringing up the the playoff picture here, for everybody out there that that's watching us. You know, most, most of the series or all of them, I think, have one game, under the belt so far. No.

Shane Mercer [00:41:15]:

Tampa Bay and Florida.

John Wilson [00:41:16]:

Florida still hasn't played. Yeah.

Shane Mercer [00:41:18]:

Yeah. We're we're still waiting for them, and the, the jets have already, won two games against the Blues. But, John, what have what are you watching for? What series in particular are you paying close attention to? Where are you, expecting to find the most value?

John Wilson [00:41:35]:

You know, it's kind of hard with hockey for me to and I I've only I'm, like, kinda like you, Shane. Like, I was obviously been a casual hockey fan for most of my life, but I haven't really gotten into it until the last few years, like, real deep. What I do find, and I I've been kind of working on modeling some pregame hockey and trying to, you know, do some predictions on on winners. And so I what I've gone back and done is, like, if you look at the model perform over the last few years, one thing that I've I've really noticed is that in the playoffs, it actually seems unlike other sports like basketball and football, the variability on a night to night basis actually seems to go up in the playoffs. And I think the reason for that is the how how fewer scoring opportunities there are and how fewer shots on goal there tend to be in playoff games. Like, looking at, like, a 25 to 30% reduction on average in shots on goal, in games and and the playoffs. And so it's, you know, it's it's really harder to get a two or three goal lead when you simply just aren't getting as many shots on the net. And so, you know, when you have these one goal games all the way down to the wire as we've seen a couple of times already in the playoffs, like, a one goal lead is not safe even even to the last second of the game.

John Wilson [00:42:57]:

Right? And so, the variability just on a night to night basis is really high. And I actually think the it's not it's not really priced that way. Or to some to some extent, it is depending on the matchup, but, you know, you don't see the you don't see the massive favorites in the playoffs. Like, I'm just looking at the games tonight, right, or the or the next game in the series, and it's just kind of, well, you know, a lot of minus one twenty, minus $1.40, like, that kind of stuff. So they kind of know, that it's. So I think just finding I think there's value to be found on any team in any game, because, typically, you don't get these just massive favors where you get a normal juice puck line or something like that in the playoffs because the totals are so low. So that's kind of what's interesting to me is, like, you don't even really have to find underdogs really. You can just find a team that's playing well and and really well in that series and finding that goalie that's standing on his head night after night.

John Wilson [00:43:52]:

So Yeah.

Andrew Pace [00:43:53]:

I think a really good indicator in the NHL playoffs of success is going to be, not on the scoreboard, but but with your eyes. Yeah. So you can look at the stats, like the shots on goal, obviously, and time of possession and a few a few different things. But when you watch a hockey game, you can tell when a game is really evenly distributed in chances and shots and it's back and forth. And if you see consistently in the NHL where that isn't necessarily the case, but the team's losing or losing the series because in hockey that happens. Right? They drop a game and you're like, they they got outplayed. They didn't play as well as the score indicated. Typically, the team that played them better in that game actually goes on to win the series.

Andrew Pace [00:44:41]:

So keep an eye on that, especially because, you know, if you have a a a game where the the team went up one nothing, they almost can't like, kinda what John was alluding to, they almost feel like they got their job done to an extent. And, you know, they're riding high off that win. Meanwhile, the team that just outplayed them and lost, they're even hungrier for the next game. Right? So, it's really hard not to upset a favorite, but it's really hard to lose a best of seven series when you outplayed your opponent. And, typically, the only way that happens is if you have the absolute best goaltender in the league. And aside from that, it usually, comes through where the team that outplayed, their opponent, does go on to win. So I love round one of the playoffs, both NBA and NHL, because I think there's some really good series parlay opportunities. We we have one in hockey right now that's off to a really good start.

Andrew Pace [00:45:37]:

But the team that I'm actually worried about there is the Leafs. So I called the Leafs to win the series on the parlay. They got outplayed in game one. And they don't have the best playoff history, but at the same time, I I think that they know that and that makes them hungrier, and they still got outplayed. And I think the player with the most grit, the most heart, the most intensity is on Ottawa. And that can be the ringleader for the entire locker room to get out on the ice, play harder, play more physical. We see much more physical hockey, in the playoffs knowing that you can wear down your opponent, in that fashion in a best of seven series. So I'm not saying Ottawa is gonna win this thing because I actually hope the Leafs do from the bet I made, but, coming out one nothing in game one, could come back to bite Toronto in this series.

Shane Mercer [00:46:28]:

Yeah. That, the parlay there, pace that you called, I was a little late seeing it. So I I wasn't I was like, oh, I'm I don't I don't think I can get this full series thing, but what I did was I, I parlayed a game ones for those same teams, and that came through. That was that was pretty, that that was a great hit. So thanks for that.

Andrew Pace [00:46:45]:

The same would've happened for the n same would've happened for the NBA playoff series that I all the NBA that I called. And not not only that, I think they all covered the spread too. So, that it's actually it's kinda what I was just speaking to about, you know, you're playing at the highest level. You really do wanna wanna come out and and win. And, you know, there's a reason why I didn't take the caps, and there's a reason why I didn't take the Avalanche. And it's not to say those those two won't win the series, but, there's a reason why I didn't take the Oilers. The Oilers were were, favorites going into the road in their series against the Kings, but they were underdogs in game one, which I always find bizarre. It's like you're that you're handicapping the game so that the Kings are favored at home.

Andrew Pace [00:47:28]:

The Kings get at least or sorry. At they they're guaranteed four home games if it goes to seven. And Edmonton's the favorite to win the series? Not by much, obviously, but, like, you know and I understand why Edmonton's favored to win the series, but then it's surprising that the Kings are are favored to win game one so heavily. They're minus one fifty, in game one. But, yeah, it looks like that Kings Oilers series like, I can't imagine the Oilers not winning some games there. So that one should go pretty deep because the Kings did the Kings did outplay the Oilers last night.

Shane Mercer [00:48:01]:

But that came down to the wire. Yeah. That was Yeah. I I thought I thought the the Oilers were gonna were gonna complete the comeback there.

Andrew Pace [00:48:10]:

Well, they did.

Shane Mercer [00:48:11]:

Well, they did. Yeah. I mean, they almost They did. You know, the they were they didn't they didn't quite finish them off. You know, you mentioned the senators. Who's that player that you were referring to? That you know you think Come on. I I well, you're talking about casual here, base. Come on.

Andrew Pace [00:48:28]:

Okay. The intensity of both Tkachuk brothers are second to second to none in the league. Yeah. And I think I think Brady Tkachuk is like, he's he's scary. Like, he's downright scary. I would be terrified to be on the ice with that man. He's got a lot of heart. He's got a lot of physicality.

Andrew Pace [00:48:46]:

He has unrelenting intensity. And and you saw it in the in the four nations. I mean, he was he was a force. He really wanted to win. I'm I'm was happy that he didn't, but, he really wanted to win. And, yeah, he can carry that team. He can really carry that team and and bring the the energy in that locker room up to a level that, yeah, could be a problem for the Leafs.

Shane Mercer [00:49:11]:

Yeah. John, what are you looking at here in terms of, you know, teams to advance? Any any sort of, you know, value on some of these dogs that that maybe Pace avoided with his parlay?

John Wilson [00:49:28]:

Well, I it's funny he meant you brought up the senders because as soon as he started talking about teams that outplayed a a team that that had been lost the game, I that's immediately what I thought of because yeah. You know, like, I'm fortunately, in the playoffs, all these games are actually on TV, so I can watch them, instead of having to try to pull up ESPN plus on a million different screens and watch two minutes delayed, and and buffer over and over again. So I've actually watched probably, I would say, 90% of of all the games so far. And, yeah, I mean, I've I've I thought Ottawa looked it wasn't it didn't it didn't really look close to me. I thought they looked a lot better. It's just one of those games where the puck finds back of the net, for Toronto on a on a short number of shots there. As far as, like, other underdogs go, I mean, like, yeah, the the Kings are slight underdogs. I thought, again, that they really outplayed them in the first game.

John Wilson [00:50:17]:

I think the, going into that caps, have series, I really thought, like, Montreal has played really good hockey the last few months. And, obviously, Washington's really good, but, you know, they've kind of or they're a team that I was watching just to see how they looked in this series, just because I think we'd kind of taken a lot of advantage of how they were under handicapped the last couple months in a lot of their regular season games. They were playing, like, one of the best teams in the league. So, I thought that first game they played, it was pretty it felt pretty even. I mean, obviously, they went to overtime, so that would that would indicate that that's true. But I I just I didn't see much of a difference between those two teams, if I'm being honest, in that one game. So, that's definitely a series I'm gonna keep my eye on.

Andrew Pace [00:51:01]:

Yeah. And the other thing I think we saw in that game and you could make the same argument for the Oilers, but I I think there's a little bit of a different different sort of feel to it. I hate that word sometimes, but it did feel a little bit different. Washington outplayed Montreal for a couple of periods slightly, and Montreal looked unbelievable in that third period. And, obviously, there's a massive change in hockey when you're up two goals in how you play. But at the same time, Montreal did another team that was down too that that tied it up. So, I could really see them coming out and playing the way they played the third period for the rest of the series, because they've had that momentum behind them and, you know, they're playing they're playing the one seed. Right? So, yeah, it's, it's, or sorry.

Andrew Pace [00:51:54]:

The first in the division was Washington. They weren't the one. The the Jets are the one seed. Yeah. But I I think they know their underdogs, and I think they're gonna come out with some some pretty, Montreal should win a couple games. That's that's what I'll say. I I don't know that they can win the series, but I could definitely see that going six or seven.

Shane Mercer [00:52:11]:

You know, I I wonder how much of Washington's, late season sort of success there was driven by that OV, record chase. You know? I I don't know. I mean, but I I just imagine that that that dominated so many headlines. Everything around that team was was sort of, you know, focused on Ovi chasing that record and then breaking the record. I I don't know. I mean, I wonder how how that sort of loss of drive and momentum maybe affect them in this series.

John Wilson [00:52:44]:

Well, how does playing, you know, 90 games in a season affect somebody who's, like, fourty years old? You know? Like, I mean, you can think yeah. I I don't like, again, as somebody who's only followed hockey, like, I'm used to all these narratives in basketball, right, of, like, these are long grueling seasons when guys get in their upper thirties. Like, it's just hard to stay, healthy and that sort of thing. I mean, I know like, I'm sure that it hits him a little harder than it did fifteen years ago to go to go 80 plus games into the season. So I don't know how much that impacts, you know, him specifically or other older players, but something to keep an eye on.

Andrew Pace [00:53:22]:

He's definitely he's definitely the kind of player that has a few beers after the game. You know?

Andrew Pace [00:53:29]:

He doesn't he doesn't, like, go hit you know, like, the Kobe would be, like, at the free throw line after the game was over after they won because he missed one free throw. You know? And, like, he mad and shoot 500 free throws. Ovi's firing back a few beers and missing the morning skate. Right? So, you know, and he's still like, you caught the overtime winner. It's unbelievable. It really is.

John Wilson [00:53:47]:

Right.

Andrew Pace [00:53:48]:

It really it really is. He's he's an anomaly for sure.

Shane Mercer [00:53:51]:

Yeah. Yeah. Alright, guys. Well, anything else, on on the rink, on on the ice that you guys wanna touch on before we, sign off for the week?

Andrew Pace [00:54:00]:

Yeah. I would just say, like, you know, this is just such a great time of year with with playoffs and and motivations being, you know, not in question and very clear and teams willing to do things differently that they didn't do in the regular season. You know, teams with leads in the NBA, the way they handle the basketball, teams down in the NBA and how they they try to push to get back in a game. And then, of course, in the NHL, we've just seen two two goal games that, went to overtime, which, we did see in the regular season this year at a little bit of a higher clip than we had previously, but just really shows, like, the motivations are there. And, there there isn't sort of, hey. We're down two. We gotta throw on the towel. Or, hey.

Andrew Pace [00:54:38]:

We're down three. We gotta throw on the towel. You know, they're they're playing to win out there, and there's opportunities to to capitalize from a betting standpoint. So have fun, bet responsibly, and, hopefully, there's a couple of things you could take away, especially with the serious stuff where you go, hey. There might be some value out there that I'm gonna go, pick off the board.

Shane Mercer [00:54:55]:

Yeah. And, a great time of year to place a $10 wager on Pinnacle and enter the, contest. We gave away a thousand USD, put a thousand USD in someone's pinnacle account.

Andrew Pace [00:55:06]:

We didn't.

Shane Mercer [00:55:07]:

What's that?

Andrew Pace [00:55:08]:

We didn't.

Shane Mercer [00:55:09]:

We didn't? What do you mean we didn't? What happened?

Andrew Pace [00:55:14]:

Do you remember what I said when we gave it away?

Shane Mercer [00:55:17]:

Wait. We gave away we were supposed to give away a thousand USD. It did not get claimed. Is this what you're telling me?

Andrew Pace [00:55:23]:

Yeah. I feel bad. Like, do we tell the guy? I don't know. You guys let us know what you want us to do. We said you had to listen to the episode.

Shane Mercer [00:55:30]:

Wow. And he never claimed it?

Andrew Pace [00:55:36]:

Never claimed it.

Shane Mercer [00:55:37]:

That's terrible. Okay. Well, then does that mean that

Andrew Pace [00:55:40]:

Look at John laughing.

Andrew Pace [00:55:45]:

I don't know. What do we do, Shane? Do we give him till next week?

Shane Mercer [00:55:48]:

I don't know. Maybe we give him a bit of a buffer. Sure. Right?

Andrew Pace [00:55:51]:

We've given him a buffer. This is a bonus buffer.

Shane Mercer [00:55:53]:

This is a bonus buffer. You're right. Because, you know, that was two weeks ago. That I think Yeah. A week away.

Andrew Pace [00:55:59]:

And I think we said in he had a week or he had two weeks or something. We said something. It's the time is up.

Shane Mercer [00:56:05]:

Alright. Well, I I mean, maybe we give him one more week, like, really sort of extra generous bonus buffer. The one more week, if he doesn't claim it, I think you gotta roll that thousand.

Andrew Pace [00:56:17]:

We'll roll it. We'll roll it for sure. So people are not I don't think I think people know who he is, and then they haven't gone and told him because they're like, oh, let's roll that shit.

Shane Mercer [00:56:24]:

Let's roll it. Let's you know what I mean?

Andrew Pace [00:56:26]:

And then and then we can all message him. We can all message him when we're after next week gets released and be like, dude.

Shane Mercer [00:56:33]:

Dude, you missed out.

Andrew Pace [00:56:35]:

You won and lost the pinnacle the pinnacle contest, which would, like I don't know. Like, you never know what that money means to someone that might not be funny. You know?

Shane Mercer [00:56:45]:

Yeah. You're right. You're right. Yeah. Depending on what the bankroll what that person's bankroll is. I mean

Andrew Pace [00:56:50]:

But at the same time, like, he didn't check to see if he won, so I don't know.

Shane Mercer [00:56:54]:

Okay. Well

Andrew Pace [00:56:55]:

Well, open open to people in the comments, on on YouTube, on the on the YouTube comments to let us know,

Andrew Pace [00:57:03]:

What you think we should do.

Shane Mercer [00:57:04]:

Drop us a comment. Let us know what you think we should do. Maybe you wanna reach out. Maybe know who he is and you wanna reach out to him, let him know that's on you. It's up to you. If you don't want to, we'll we'll end up rolling it in to to the next one, and it would be, 2,000 USD for the next, quarter. But all you have to do is make a $10, wager on Pinnacle. Take a screenshot of it, minimum $10.

Shane Mercer [00:57:25]:

If you wanna bet more than that, by all means, go and and place more than that, and, and then send it over, to us. Send it to Rodge, at inplayLIVE, and, you'll be entered into the contest. That giveaway would be at the end of this second quarter, April, May, June, end of June, beginning of July, somewhere around there. We'll give away, another prize. It could be 2,000 USD, could be 1,000 USD. All depends on I'm pretty sure his name's Nick, the guy who won it. All depends on whether Nick claims his prize or not. So, if you know Nick, you can either be a nice a nice friend and let him know, or you can hang on to that info until, next week's episode, and then we'll we'll sort of rip that Band Aid off.

Shane Mercer [00:58:09]:

Yeah. Alright, guys. Well, a lot of fun as always. John, thanks for joining us this week. Always great to have you in. And, who knows? Maybe we'll have you back again sometime soon. We'll see. Alright, guys.

Shane Mercer [00:58:20]:

Till next week. Keep beating those books. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Behind the Lines. Remember to like, download, and subscribe. We are on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and everywhere you get your podcasts. Have a betting story or wanna be featured on our podcast? Drop a note in the comments below. And if you wanna join inplayLIVE, use promo code BEHINDTHELINES.