THE GAMBLING GUIDE
Bookie Busters: NBA Playoffs, Messi vs Ronaldo and more
May 4, 2018, 7:28 am
Ronaldo vs. Messi highlights a busy betting weekend. Photo courtesy of Nike, Inc.
Bookie Busters continues the winning-streak, busting the book again going 10-3 this week.
Last two weeks we are 17-5-2 ATS.
El Clasico Sunday
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
Bittersweet can be best used to describe Sunday's fixture. A glorious farewell to a soccer legend expects the fans of the Barca to be electric come Sunday.
Andres Iniesta will take the pitch for his final El Clasico, and what better way to do it than in front of the home crowd. Barcelona to the bone, Iniesta played with the Barca youth since the age of 12. He would go on to captain the under 15 team to a Victory in the 1999 Nike Cup final, netting a goal in the final minutes. It was then that he caught the eye of the former Captain Pep Guardiola, who said Iniesta would retire him. Guardiola would ultimately play a big role in Iniesta's career as a coach, and someone the midfielder looked up to as a father figure.
In a perfect world, Iniesta rides off into the sunset, after three more matches, winning his last El Clasico appearance making it a fairytale ending to a supernatural career.
Every good story has a villain, and the spoiler to this film, will be none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. With the La Liga title wrapped up for Barcelona after Messi's hat trick last weekend, the teams will be playing for pride more than anything. With Madrid having played midweek in a crucial Champions League match, how much legs will they have to run around with the ultra passing Barcelona? Another factor will be that they qualified for the Champions League Final later this month and avoiding injuries will be the priority.
The match has somewhat of a laid-back feeling to it, and I expect an open game with teams looking to put on a show, with neither having anything to lose. Madrid just played an excruciating 90-minute match, and the defense will be feeling the quick turn around.
The Pick
Barcelona is undefeated this season and will be looking to complete the feat with four matches left in the season. At Camp Nou, they have 14 wins and 2 draws. While playing on home soil, they averaged 2.8 goals a game, while their counterpart nets two goals a game on average this season when playing as visitors. Barca is 4-1-2 in the last seven in this rivalry, and I see them continuing their dominance as remaining undefeated and the Iniesta factor will ultimately pull them through. Expect end to end action
Barcelona money line 3x
Game Total Over 3.5
Match Result and Both Teams to Score: Barca and Yes +185
Will a goal be scored in both halves? YES
Messi scores a goal 2x
Both team to score in 2nd half +130
Barca and 2.5 EVEN
Plays of the week
Germany
RB Leipzig vs. Wolfsburg
Over 2.5 -144
Over 3 +112
Mainz 05 vs. Dortmund
Over 3
NBA Playoffs Friday 5/4
Pelicans vs. Warriors
Warriors over 30 1st quarter
Warriors Team total 1st half over 60
Over 119.5 First Half
For any questions or comments reach me @JerryBoKnowz on twitter
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.