It’s official. June is in the books.
How did I do?
In my very first article here at PredictEm I stated my goals for sports betting, and I’ll restate them here:
1 – Do Not Lose Money
2 – Finish with a Profit – ANY Profit
3 – Seek the Grail: 67%
And of course – HAVE FUN!

Along with a lot of other advice for new bettors, (and any of you who are trying to stop bleeding cash and get your bankroll back to the plus side of the ledger) I recommended not treating your sports betting as an open ended, never ending war. Set goals for time frames (weeks or months) and sports (keep separate records and numbers for college football, NFL, NBA, WNBA, etc.)
Win enough battles and you’ll win the war.

June was the first window I had. Overall, all sports, I came in at 16-13, enough to bank a small profit.
I hit goal number one and two.
And I had a LOT of fun, crunching numbers and sharing my tips, methods, and picks with you.

Round one in my Battle with the Books has ended, and the judge’s scorecards have it as a 10-9 round for me.

The next window I have is July.
Same goals, as always.

The WNBA season started on May 14th, so I now have six weeks worth of data to help me try to Beat the Books in July. That should make it easier, BUT . . . I’ll have limited opportunities as the league goes on break for the All-Star game and then the Olympics.

The All Star break begins on July 18th, and they don’t come back from the Olympic break until August 14.
Like I said, limited opportunities in July.

So where will I get some action?
Hell if I know.

NASCAR?
Possibly. Depends on what track they’re at.
Even with money on it I can’t watch when they’re racing at tracks that are boring.
I need a high percentage possibility of metal hitting metal, or walls, or else my Sunday afternoon TV viewing finds me channel flipping over to Wicked Tuna. Or Naked and Afraid (but only if the chick on it is hot. If not, it’s back to channel flipping, looking for something that can hold my attention. Yes, that’s shallow, I know, but I’ve come to accept my shortcomings.)

CFL?
Possibly. But despite having been fortunate enough to live in Vancouver, BC for two years, I still find the northern version of the game a little bit weird.
Unlike football here in the US, in Canada you can score one point without kicking an extra point. I’m not sure how, I could look it up but I just don’t care enough to take time to do so. It has something to do with punt returns, or not returned, or something. And I still don’t get how the clock could show .00, which in the normal world means the game is over, but in the country that is responsible for Loverboy and Nickelback they can still run one more play.
But they did give us Norm Macdonald, so Canada will always be okay in my book.

Boxing?
It’s always been my favorite sport, but there just aren’t enough quality, evenly matched bouts to make it advantageous from a wagering point of view. Seems like every time I check the odds the favorite is -1,200.00 or higher. At the Sports book I’d see people lay odds like those and I had to refrain myself from asking, “You’re risking $1,200 to win $100. So what is it that you’re going to do with $1,300 that you couldn’t do with $1,200?”
It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Tennis? Golf? Soccer???
I don’t think so.

Like life in general, I’ll just take things day by day.

Note – all of the advice I offer is based on years as a bettor and years of experience gained while running a sports book in Vegas. I never say it’s the right way, I only say it works for me. And it can work for you, too.

Record: 0-0

• WNBA YTD (Year To Date):
• Overall: 10-9
• Favs: 5-6, Dogs 1-1
• Overs 2-1, Unders 2-1

Review: I slipped by with a 1-point win using Minnesota, but missed by 4 points with the Over in the Indy/Phx game. I had quarters of 46, 41, and 44 heading into the 4th quarter, meaning all I needed was 43 to get a Push at worst case. That number was right in line with the first three quarters, but the 4th came in at 39. I lost, but it was a really fun game to watch.

Today’s bet

Slim Pickens to choose from tonight but I’m going to take a chance with the Seattle Storm.
This game that fits a trend reversal system I use that says take the Storm to beat the Dallas Wings.

The overall record is 11- 13, not much of an edge to make me want to take Seattle.

And it’s even worse for home teams like Seattle is tonight, the record is 3-6.

The only saving grace I have is Home teams in this spot are 6-5.

So with not a lot of numbers in my favor why am I taking Seattle?

Let’s start with the fact that Seattle IS going to win the game. That means I only have to worry about the spread. And yes, the spread is high but it’s where it should be against Dallas, the worst team in the league at 4-14.

But the main reason I’m taking Seattle is because they’re killers on their home court.
Starting with their most recent victory they’ve won by 21 (against tonight’s opponent, Dallas) 12, 11 (against Connecticut, the number one defense in the league), 17, 18, 32, and 2, an average of 16 points per game.

Dallas has lost five of the last six by double digits and I’m looking for one more tonight.

Sea -11′

Open bet : Oklahoma -40′
June record, all sports, 16-13

Morning clouds to afternoon sunbreaks and then back to some evening clouds on this Sunday. Highs today peaked in the mid to upper 70s.

Tonight we will see increasing clouds with a slight chance of a pop-up shower through early Monday morning. 

Overnight cloudy skies will keep temperatures very mild with lows in the mid to upper 50s. 

Clouds will be around to start the work week, but skies will start to give way to more sunshine by midday. 

High temperatures will be again in the mid 70s, above average for this time of year.

Regional Highs Tomorrow  (FOX 13 Seattle)

Skies will clear out for the afternoon and evening, with only potentially a few clouds lingering around the Central Puget Sound. 

Looking ahead to the holiday, the Fourth of July is looking picture-perfect! Highs in the low 80s and sunny skies!

High pressure will continue to build and strengthen starting Independence Day through the weekend. Temperatures will warm into the mid to upper 80s for some parts of the Pacific Northwest by the weekend. 

No major rain or active weather expected for the extended forecast. One thing we will be keeping an eye on is the risk for wildland fires.  

After a rough East Coast road trip, the first-place Seattle Mariners were hoping a return to the friendly confines of T-Mobile Park would help them get back on track.

It didn’t work out that way.

MLB insider reports on Mariners’ trade pursuits

The Mariners dropped two of three to the Minnesota Twins this weekend and lost a series at home for the first time since mid-April. It ended a streak of nine consecutive series wins at T-Mobile Park, which was the second-longest such streak in franchise history.

Seattle benefited from some chaos ball in the series opener, rallying for a 3-2 walkoff win in 10 innings on Friday night. But the Mariners dropped the final two games, losing 5-1 on Saturday and 5-3 on Sunday.

Seattle (47-39) has now lost four consecutive series overall. The Mariners are 3-8 since rattling off a 17-5 stretch earlier this month.

Standings update

Less than two weeks ago, the Mariners held a commanding 10-game lead atop the AL West. It’s a much different story now.

Seattle’s lead has dwindled to just 3.5 games over the second-place Houston Astros (42-41), who have surged back into contention with nine wins in their past 10 games. One piece of good news: The Mariners are still 8.5 games ahead of the third-place Texas Rangers (37-46), who have lost six straight.

Hitting struggles continue

The Mariners’ hitting woes this season have been well-documented. They continued with another rough series at the plate this weekend, as Seattle mustered a total of just seven runs in the three-game set.

In some ways, the Mariners were fortunate even to scratch across that many runs. Their game-tying run on Friday night came on an error. Their game-winning run later that night came in extra innings, with the benefit of an automatic runner starting the frame at second base. And on Sunday, one of their runs came one batter after Minnesota center fielder Byron Buxton lost a fly ball in the sun.

Seattle’s offense continues to sit at or near the bottom of the majors in nearly every key statistical category. Through Saturday, the Mariners ranked 27th in runs per game (3.87), dead-last in batting average (.218), 25th in on-base percentage (.298), 26th in slugging percentage (.366) and 26th in OPS (.664). They also have the highest strikeout rate in the majors at 27.9%, which is 1.6% higher than the next-closest team.

Bullpen gives up game-changing homers

With the Mariners playing in so many low-scoring games, their bullpen consistently finds itself in high-stress situations. That pressure has only been amplified by a slew of injuries that have tested the group’s depth. So, it’s not surprising that the bullpen has been showing more and more cracks of late.

Seattle relievers combined for four scoreless innings in Friday’s extra-inning victory, but they surrendered game-changing homers the next two days. In the sixth inning on Saturday, right-hander Trent Thornton left a center-cut fastball over the plate that Buxton belted for a three-run homer, which stretched the Twins’ lead to 5-1. And in the eighth inning on Sunday, right-hander Ryne Stanek threw a splitter that caught too much of the plate. Trevor Larnach made him pay, hitting a tiebreaking two-run shot that proved to be the difference in the series.

Thornton has been great this season, posting a 0.97 WHIP that ranks among in the top 20 among AL relievers. Stanek entered Sunday with a 10-game scoreless streak. But overall, ever since a dominant first month of the season, Seattle’s bullpen has been trending downward. Since May 1, the Mariners’ ‘pen ranks 23rd in the majors in ERA (4.59) and 15th in WHIP (1.25).

Gilbert wraps up dominant June

After tossing eight scoreless innings in each of his previous two starts, Logan Gilbert took a shutout into the sixth inning Friday night to extend his scoreless streak to 21 frames. The streak ended on a two-run homer by Carlos Correa, but that was the lone blemish in another strong outing for Gilbert. The 27-year-old right-hander limited the Twins to just two runs over six innings, giving him his MLB-best 14th quality start.

It capped a dominant June for Gilbert, who posted a 1.51 ERA and a 0.62 WHIP in five starts this month, along with 31 strikeouts and only one walk. Gilbert leads the majors with a 0.88 WHIP this season and ranks fifth in opponents’ batting average (.195) and ninth in ERA (2.72). He has allowed one earned run or fewer in nine of his 17 starts and has surrendered more than four runs only once all season.

Up next

After an off day Monday, the Mariners continue their nine-game homestand with a three-game set against the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore (53-30) recently had a season-long five-game losing streak, but has since responded with four straight wins.

The Orioles’ heavy-hitting lineup averages an MLB-leading 5.25 runs per game and leads the majors in slugging percentage (.464), OPS (.781) and home runs (139). Baltimore has blasted a whopping 60 homers in June, which is 18 more than any other team. Power-hitting shortstop Gunnar Henderson is tied for second in the majors with 26 homers and outfielder Anthony Santander ranks fifth with 22 long balls, including an MLB-best 12 this month. Baltimore also has one of the top pitching staffs in baseball, ranking third in ERA (3.36) and fourth in WHIP (1.16).

The Mariners lost two of three to the Orioles at Camden Yards in mid-May. Henderson homered in all three games.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Rowland-Smith: What stands out about Mariners pitchers’ recent hiccups
• Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez putting in extra work to solve struggles
• Seattle Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Bryan Woo, Gabe Speier and more
• Seattle Mariners reliever Gregory Santos to begin rehab assignment
• Big Game Hunting: Two splashy potential Seattle Mariners trade targets

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