This past weekend saw sportsbooks have a lot of action to offer. It also marked the transition of the regular season to the postseason for the NBA, with only one seeding game played on Saturday, which is probably why there wasn’t a lot of interest in the basketball league on Bodog. The NBA dropped in the rankings of the most bet leagues on the global sportsbook this weekend, giving up space to both MLB and the NHL, which continue to provide some exceptional entertainment.
Last Friday saw the end of the NBA’s regular season, with the Eastern Conference teams already set for the playoffs. There was only one question remaining – who would be the eighth seed in the West. That spot was determined on Saturday when the Portland Trail Blazers edged out the Memphis Grizzlies, eliminating them from playoff contention. Without any addition games on the weekend calendar, NBA action only accounted for 15.25% of the wagers. Now that the postseason is officially underway, as of yesterday, this will certainly change, and basketball will rebound to the top of the list.
MLB took first in the top-ten list on Bodog, capturing 34.17% of the bets. It was, by far, the most popular target for sports gamblers, with the second-place NHL only seeing 17.14% of the wagers. Also getting a piece of bettors’ money was the UEFA Champions League, with 5.71%, PGA’s Wyndham Championship (4.21%) and the WNBA, with 2.93%. Table tennis, which helped sportsbooks survive the coronavirus pandemic, still manages to stay in the upper rankings, and saw 2.67% of the action.
While MLB, as a whole, saw most of the action, the Trail Blazers-Grizzlies game was the favorite among sports gamblers, accounting for 18.08% of the bets. Several NBA games brought the regular season to a close on Friday helped contribute to NBA’s share of the action, with three additional games capturing a little more than 20% of Bodog’s top ten events.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic, which had a highly controversial finish, was in second with 13.92%. Miocic won, but some have argued that he played dirty, gouging Cormier in the eye during Round 2 and leaving him partially and temporarily blind. A medical examination after the fight determined that he had a torn cornea. He’s out of UFC until next February unless an ophthalmologist clears him to return sooner.
The Wyndham Championship delivered one of the best underdog victories in golf in a long time. Jim Herman was 600/1 before the tournament began, but came back to win the event. His performance certainly contributed to some of the action seen on Bodog, which is why the tournament ranked third in wagers with 11.97% of the total. With his victory, Herman went from being ranked 318th to 91st in the world.
