Bernie Fratto talks NFL and is joined by Tony Miller!

Bernie Fratto talks some NFL gambling stories from last year, is joined by Golden Nugget sportsbook director Tony Miller, NBA win totals, and more!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is straight out of Vegas with the voice of
Biggest your host R J Bob play that to me
and his money. You are now about to witness the
strength of street knowledge live from the biggest strip, the
pregame show America has always wanted. Here's Bernie Fretto. You know,

(00:24):
there's an old Chinese proverb, May you live in interesting times?
We are. We're a society infatuated with sports. We go
to games, we watched them on TV, and now more
than ever, people love to bet on the games as
it feeds their competitive spirit and enhances the viewing participation.

(00:46):
Even if you don't get the outcome you want, you
come back for more. And that's why we all love
sports for the spectacle at all. And most of us
have two beasts that reside in our conscience, fear and faith.
They both fight each other on a daily basis. Who
usually wins. That's easy, the one you feed, and in
the world of sports, we feed our souls with goodness.

(01:08):
On that note, I'm Bernie Fratta or coming alive from
Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Tonight we dive into
the world of sports betting props. You're always hearing about them.
What do they mean? How do they work? I will explain.
I'll take a deep dive. In about fifteen minutes. We'll
be joined by legendary sports book director of the Golden Nugget,
Mr Tony Miller. I've had the pleasure of knowing Tony

(01:30):
very well since two thousand ten. He's gonna take you
behind the curtain. We'll talk about all things Vegas well
that you may not know about sports or entertainment, but
they're more than that. There are shared experiences such people
want to talk about to become the right place, We've
got a lot to talk about tonight. This is straight
out of Vegas, the pregame show you always wanted. And

(01:51):
as they say in Arnie Spanier, Minnesota, it's gonna be lit.
You know, the evolution of prop bets has become astronomical.
Just watch a sports center, watch the home un derby,
watch all the shows leading up to the super Bowl,
Watch any sporting evet, watch any coverage of any sporting event.

(02:13):
You're always hearing about prop bets, who to bet, who
not to bet, with the pros around you. Name it. Now,
let me lay this on for you to the best
I can in simplest terms, because it's upon us, folks,
football is upon us. A week from Thursday, the Raiders
will teat up against the Jacksonville Jaguars against People will

(02:34):
bet bet that game. They want action, people get high
making the bed. It's an adrenaline rush. As I said,
it enhances the viewing participation. Uh, you've got a couple
of first year coaches. First year coaches both like to win.
That's a bit of an anomally when you've got two
first year coaches coaching the same game, especially in a

(02:56):
in the Hall of Fame game. But look, Uh, people
also will bet the h the preseason because I will
tell you, the pros know you have some of your
greatest edges in the preseason. How often are you going
to get a professional contest or on one side of
the field. One team doesn't really care if they win,
they have a different agenda, and the other team very
much cares if they win. That will say that for

(03:18):
a leadership. We do that about this time every year
as we get into August. I'm getting off track a
bit betting games like that. That's about the results of
a game, Okay. And and and when you're talking about
prop bets, it could it could be how many points
are scored, and that's you know, like the overrunner. That's
like the one propt everybody's familiar with. But what if

(03:41):
you want to bet on how many touchdowns Patrick Mahomes
will throw or the number of three pointers Steph Curry
will make. That's where prop bets come in. The profits
can be some of the most fun bets to place
and root for while you're watching the game within the game.
But of course it doesn't hurt if you also try

(04:01):
to find and look for that edge and prop bets,
because likely you'll be able to find one if you
do enough, you know, research, and you'll enhance your participation
even more so if you win your bet, which is
what the objective is. So the long and the short
of it is. A prop bet is short for a
proposition bet. It's a type of bet that involves a

(04:23):
separate outcome from the game result. Now, there are three
general types of prop bets, player props, game props, and
team props. Let's take him in order. What's a player prop.
A player prop is something you bet on relating to
a specific player. Now, this could be the number of

(04:43):
strikeouts thrown by the starting pitcher, the number assists by
a point guard, the number of touchdown passes by a quarterback,
and that could be for a game or for a season.
Player props have grown an incredible popularity in recent years,
partly in due to the rise of daily fantasy sides,
because for a lot of popular sporting events there can

(05:03):
be an overwhelming number of profitets offered. The first year
they offered profits in the Super Bowl I believe was
seven Now. The first prophet ever was the would refrigerator
Perry score a touchdown? In Super Bowl twenty I believe
bear when the Bears beat the New England Patriots forty

(05:25):
six to ten and the books got creamed. I think
that was the only prop bet that year. The following
year there were about thirty nine prop bets the Super Bowl.
Justice past February they were about a thousand. So again,
there's always an overwhelming number. Strikeouts by Clayton Kershaw over
six and a half? How many shots on goal will

(05:45):
Connor McDavid have including overtime three and a half? Uh
James Harden? Will he score more or less than twenty
five and a half points? Aaron Rodgers to throw two
and more touchdowns? Joho Tani to hit a home run
and the Angels to win. There's more utile prop bets
like that. Um. They're presented in a lot of different
ways as well, because the language can differ in the Obviously,

(06:10):
some of you are probably always from mayor with player
over underbet. You know if if if Walkerbuler strikes out
more than six betters the overwinds if hard and scores
twenty two points in the underwinds based on the ones
I just gave you. So this is an example of
how they may be presented. But you've also got to
read between the fine lines. You could have a situation

(06:30):
you know, uh that will include extra names or not
include extra nings. It will include over time or not
include over time. UM. So you know you've also got
to read to find print behind the rules. Right, the
over and under beets typically are click clickable bets in
an app. Right, the unders viewed is more likely, therefore
the odds are lower if that's the case. For instance,

(06:51):
on and under, recently I looked at you had to
bet a hundred and one hundred on the under. Uh,
the over would pay a hundred and five if you
bet a hundred. Odds will vary something on e ball
player profits because the totals are generally lower. Now, I
personally do not almost ever bet individual player bets. And

(07:12):
you know there are horses for courses. You find what
you think you can win at, you find what you're
good at. You find where you believe there's likelihood. And
there's people out there listening. What are you talking about?
I went on them all time. Good? Good for you.
So people eat olives. I don't particularly eat olives, but
they must sell millions of them because I go to
the grocery store and there's rose and ros and cans
of olives lined up, and that's goofy because I'm a

(07:32):
hundred percent Italian think I like olives. But again I digress. Uh,
years and years and years ago. This is prop as
two thousand ten whatever. Uh. I had a profit on
one of the particular Lakers who have been hot, shooting
three pointers over under one and a half one and

(07:52):
a half three pointers. You roll his ankle the first
minute of the game. I guess you're gonna understand. I
didn't win. It went under. So a lot of times,
all it takes is a ball to go through Buckner's
legs or someone to miss a lap or someone to
drop a routine fly ball, and not only can it
hurt your game back, you know, in many ways, it
can hurt your your prop as well. Now there are
also game props, and these are really catching on. I

(08:16):
know here in the in Las Vegas, the Golden Nights. Uh,
there was a game prop that was hitting like clockwork
in their games. Would there be a goal score in
the first ten minutes? It was incredible. Started out, you know,
I don't know minus one, twenty, went up to like
minus one, it just kept hitting. But game props, again,

(08:37):
as we define them, there are games that there are
things that will occur in the games, such as, say
the first team to score you see that in the
Super Bowl? Who will score first? Will it be a
score in the first five and a half minutes? Will
the final score and on an odd or even number? Um,
first team to ten points? Uh? Hockey? Uh, you know,

(08:59):
the first team to score the goal? Um? Then in
football penalties, well, will the number of off sides in
the game be more or less than three and a half?
Those are what are called game props. Now, uh, you know,
the first team to score on the first team to
ten points? Those are things like that are somewhat similar bets.
The first team to scoring basketball is a bit random.

(09:20):
I don't know that I see that prop very much,
but you could see it out there. You just see
about everything out there, but what you try to find
her trends And I know a lot of times one
of the things are, uh, who will get the first
first down in the Super Bowl, meaning that you believe
that if they're going to receive the kickoff, And a
lot of times you look at the two teams and
you say, we'll look at this coach. You want the

(09:41):
coin toss Uh fourteen times this year, but only Electric
received once, which means he's not gonna have the ball first,
which means there may be more likely to get a
first down. So sometimes these game props can get very
creative and uh. A lot of times, remember the the
odds anchor is is is calibrating this in a way

(10:04):
that favors the house. They've done their research as well too,
so you're looking to find an edge. They're also looking
to find an edge. I'm gonna have Tony Miller around
in about ten minutes. He did something very shrewd. I
love Tony. He did this during the NFL Draft, which
players and pros clean up on. I don't. I think
Tony Sports Book didn't even bother offering props and I

(10:26):
gotta kick out of it. I pat him on the back.
He's not on they obligation to do that. And there
are you know, another hundred and seven books you can
you can shop at PAU. We'll talk to Tony about that.
Team props are another things that those are bets related
to an outcome, related just to one of the teams
in the game. Okay, how many individual points with the
team score? How many free throws would they make a
number of shots on goal? Uh? You know, for instance,

(10:49):
they say the Minnesota Timberwolves play the Boston Celtics in
next November, and you can bet the over or under
and whether the Minnesota Timberwolves will score more than one
and six and a half point points? Do You can
do it in in soccer too. You might play Bayern
Munich and you can get corner kicks a prop on
corner kicks? Will they have more or under more over

(11:11):
or under five and a half corner kicks? So you've
got team props, as I said, you've got player props
as I've said you've got game props. Suff I said
to say, these are proposition bets that have increased in
popularity immensely, particularly when you have major events, uh like
the Super Bowl, the World Series, and most recently the

(11:31):
All Star Game. There were a lot of profits. If
you bet on who would win the first round of
the Horn Run Derby or the horm Run derby itself,
you get the picture. Uh, profits are things to watch
throughout the fall. We will certainly have odds and ends
and tips on certain profits. We will resume with the
physic five week one in the NFL Fest is huge

(11:52):
on props. He does extremely well on props because he
does his research and he does he understands how to
find angles and uh he gives you know, he get
typically gives about a five profit. We'll give out about five,
three or four or five every year heading into the
Super Bowl. And so a lot of times there's a

(12:12):
situation like one of the profits this year that that
was really strong was time of possession with the Rams
have more type of position than the Bengals, and by
the way, uh, it came very close. The Bengals also
almost st edged them out. But when you look at
the Rams and the style of play and the way
Sean McVeigh handles sings in the second half and what

(12:32):
they had done in the course of the year past
was prologue and yes that ended up hitting for the
Rams backers. So those are just examples. You hear terms
that are banging about a lot of times, this betting
sports betting information phenomenon we're in. This information comes at
you like a fire hose, and people here terms like

(12:53):
e V or parlay or prop bits bets and what
we want to try to do periodically as nowadays upon
us his delve entityse things and take a quick break
from the norm and uh and try to be as
informative as we can. Speaking of informative, and coming up,
we're gonna welcome and a gentleman, a good friend of mine.
He's funny. He's engaging a very popular here in Las Vegas,

(13:16):
one of what I consider to be the elder statesman.
I see that in a good way of sports book
directors here, the golden nugget. I'm not sure, but I
think a little Bertie told me this might be easy
last year in the business. He's got plenty of stories.
So I will introduce you to the great Tony Miller. Actually,
you for Tony on my show at least two or
three times in the last four years. But keep it

(13:38):
locked right here because coming up Tony Miller and we
will talk all things Vegas and what's happening behind the
counter at the sports book at the Golden Nugget. I'm
Bernie Fritto or come to you live from the Las
Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. This is the pregame show
you always wanted, So don't go away. You're listening to
Straight out of Vegas, the Great Birdie Frado. Fox Sports

(14:01):
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
s R to listen live. Hey, it's Ben, host of
The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallory. Would meet a lot
to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey.
You ask one in God's name is the Fifth Hour,

(14:21):
I'll tell you it's a spin off of the Ben
Maller Show. Cold Hit Overnights on fs are. Why should
you listen? Picture if you will the world? Will we
chat with captains of industry in media, sports and more
every week. Explorer some amazing facts about the human nature
and more. Let'sten to the fifth hour with Ben Mallow
on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever
you get your podcast. Ll right back on Straight out

(14:42):
of Vegas, the bre game Show you always wanted. I'm
Bernie Fridder come to your life from Las Vegas Fox
Sports Radio Studios. It's welcome and a gentleman, good friend
of mine, longtime sports book director at the famed Golden
Nugget here in Las Vegas. Say hello to Tony Miller. Tony,
good to talk to you, buddy, Bertie, my friend. How
you being. Thanks for having me on tonight. It's great.

(15:04):
It's great to have you, Tony, And I was thinking
about I met you. We have known you since two
thousand ten. Hell back there, back then, betting apps were
barely getting started the past but had not been overturned yet.
The profit market was nowhere near what it is today.
What's your biggest take on the changes you've seen just
in the last decade in the sports betty markets, Tony

(15:27):
whole punny, Just in the last ten years, was you
know now with social media and all the outlets out
there and all the information out there that people have
in sports betting across the nation, around the world. It's
just taken off. And you're right, the prop scene is
now becoming one of the fastest things to bet on
every day on an everyday basis, is just not the
game inside no more. And the first half of that

(15:47):
in half time it's props Frost, Frost, Scholore. You know,
it's interesting, Tony, And let's I'll tell you what. Let's
not bury lead. Uh is your true say? It ain't so, Joe.
This might be your last year in the business. Um,
it's getting down to the end, Bernie. You know, it's
been a long career and uh, you know I I
think maybe two or three years. And well, you know,

(16:12):
our good buddy Rob Misch wrote a story and uh,
and one of the things, what the hell, let's do
a little name dropping, Tony, because you've really done some
great elbow rubbing with some of the biggest names, starting
with Dean Martin letter Rip. Tell the folks some of
the people you rubbed elbows with. Dean Barton was one
of them. Back in the day when I was a

(16:32):
Belma's e MGM, I got to take his luggage oke
to his suite and I rang the doorbell up there,
and I heard him, you'll come in. And as I
walked into the suite, I could see that he had
pushed all the furniture Bernie to one side of the wall,
and you know, the living room, and he had a
driver and he had a bucket of balls. He had
the balcony doors wide open, and he was hitting the

(16:52):
pulls as hard as he could right through the balcony
doors on to the desert. I'm full swinge Burnie. He
was cranking him out there, and I'm like, oh my god, dude,
this is once you're dead. But yeah, he's uh, he
was a good guy, none of that. I believe he
had to run a couple of bets for him, didn't he. Yeah, Yeah,
I rand some bets for Uck Connors and you know,

(17:16):
right down the street from the MGM with a little Caesars,
and you know, I used to go down there and
play a few bets for him and bring him right back.
That was back in the day. You'd be driving into town.
I lived in California. Then you'd be kind of heading
north on Las Vegas, Bolvard and the fame Little Caesar's Boy.
It's changed, Tony. I was talking about prop bets the
first ten minutes and how this is one area where

(17:36):
the players starting to get an edge. You did something
I'm not gonna lie. I got a nice little good
chuckle into my breath and said, well, good for him.
You didn't even bother the bet prop post prop bets
for the NFL Draft. Explain to the folks why, because
I know you have a very good reason, and I
don't blame you. You're running the business, and I get it,
you don't Bernie. The day of the draft, well actually

(17:58):
not the day of week or so before, people started
showing up in town here in Vegas, and there was
a lot of players here, there was a lot of
parents here, there was a lot of agents here, and
there was a lot of NFL people here, and you know,
I knew with there's a lot of inside information floating
around out there, and some of those bets were pretty
dangerous as far as I thought of people knowing stuff

(18:19):
that I didn't know, that you know, could happen. Even
though we cut it off twenty four hours in the van,
they knew things were going to happen on Draft Day,
and I just didn't want to take the chance. And
I'm glad. I didn't because I know the industry that
day took it on the chops as far as as
far as the draft cross went, and so yeah, I
didn't do it. You bring up about it where folks

(18:39):
were talking with Tony Miller, longtime Golden Nuggets sports book director,
a good friend of mine. Tony. You bring up a
good point, dis and gender is the discussion. A lot
of folks think, Uh, you can bet on elections, and
you can bet on the Academy Awards and things of
that nature. And obviously there's always a concern about if
he will have prior event of the outcome, uh, if

(19:03):
it's not to satt on the fielder with a box corre.
But do you think there will ever be a time
where Las Vegas books those types of events because they're
good Folks in London think we're leaving billions on the table. Yeah,
and Bernie I I tend to agree, and we are
leaving a lot of money on the table. And I
think things will change in the near future. As far
as some things you can way drawn. The presidential election

(19:24):
is definitely one of them, uh, you know, and there's
gonna be other things, the oscars and and the Academy.
I'm excusing these the Grammys and things like that on
down the road. So yeah, I definitely think things will change.
And I know in Nevada has very strict rules and
that's one of the why reasons why we leave the
industry as far as you know, where daring goes, we're
very strict here. But I think things will loosen up,

(19:44):
and I think they are day by day, and I
think that day will come for sure, Tony, what do
you know about the sports and the future of the
sports betting? Do you think there's gonna be a room
market for that? Yeah? You know, gosh, you know with
Madden Football going on right now, for the most popular
thing is among the players playing and the kids are
playing that. The problem is, you know, those older guys,

(20:04):
especially me. You know, I'm still back in the days
of Atari. So that's something I'll ever get into and
never want a book. But I'm sure it's going to
happen one day. And you know, there's so many things
you can bet on, And like I said, Bernie, this
landscape is changing right before our eyes every every year.
So a week from Thursday, Tony, we've got National Football

(20:26):
League game, We've got the Hall of Fame game Raiders
in Jacksonville. Are you starting to see a handle on that?
And what are some of the trends you're seeing heading
into this upcoming season? Who who are who are the
who's the public backing? Who are the pros backing and fading?
Et cetera. You know, being here in Vegas and uh,
the Raiders and they started training camp Burnie early, Bernie

(20:47):
that I have already got a lot of future money
on the Raiders from the over a lot of the
locals here. So that's one of the teams I do
not want to see win the Super Bowl. Um, but
you know it's gonna change for the money I need
to cent of the money on NFL futures gonna star
coming in for the next month. The guys are clamoring
at the bit to get football here. It's here now.
Many Caps are starting to pull next week and uh,

(21:08):
you know it's that time of year where guys are
ramping up and it's gonna come hard and heavy. But yea,
as far as future best go, and there's a few
other teams like long shots, the Lions and teams like that.
The Commanders that guys take a shot and shoot to
be beat the moon and try and win some big money.
So if a long shot ever comes in like that,
then I might be a little bit trop You know,

(21:29):
the everybody's talking about the f C West folks Field.
It wouldn't surprise anybody if any of the four teams
wanted war has most of the action come in just
on winning the f C West Denver. You know, Russell
Wilson has made a big difference with that team, and
I'm getting a lot of action on the Broncos and
uh so put that division. You're right, it's wide open

(21:52):
with those four teams. It's gonna be fun to watch
and anybody can win it. But Denver is the one
team right now that wins division. I would take a
beating off Tony got about a minute ago. Let's switch
to college football. The Heisman Trophy action should be brisk.
A lot of folks that I trust think Will Anderson
is a real shot. He's forty to one. Remember Hayden
Hutchinson finished second last year. I doubt they'd give it

(22:14):
to Bryce Young again back to back. What are your thoughts?
Can Will Anderson defensive infam Alabama win this thing? What
kind of action are you seen on him? Absolutely, you know,
And that's right as the price range in the Heisman
future is the ones, the four, the ones that we
get most of the action on. They don't want to
lay you know, eleven to ten or six to five
on some of these other guys. They want some action,

(22:36):
they want the value where Will Anderson definitely is one
of them, even though he is a defensive player. Hudgerson
almost got it. The fact you did get it, and
you know, so we'll see what happens, and and you
know it's gonna be. I think it's wide open this year.
It's definitely wide open. You get past the first two
or three quarterbacks and it's anybody's Hiesman Tony about thirty

(22:56):
seconds at the folks and know about your contest. You
have one of the best contests in town. Yeah, it's
called the Ultimate Football Challenge. It's a thousand dollar entry, Bernie,
and but it involves college in pro. So instead of
five picks a week and just pro football, you've gotta
do seven picks a week and does involve NFL and
college football. Pick I put every college game on the
weekend on the cart that week, plus all the pro

(23:19):
games you gotta picked seven games, and it pays the
top twenty finishers, and there's not a lot of entries
like some of these other bigger ones. So you've got
a really really good chance here in this contest. Tony
great stuff is always gonna get down. Stay hello, it's
been too long. I really appreciate you coming on. I
shoot my friend come by anytime, all right, thanks so much,
Tony really appreciated. That is Tony Miller, longtime sports director,

(23:41):
the goal of nugget. Yes, he's we only got to
one tenth of one percent of the stories. He has
Dean Martin and Chuck the Raffleman Connors. It goes from there.
Trust me, Tony's always the left of the party. Coming up,
Mack and on sports. Uh, the NBA season win totals
are out and as usual, well, there are angles and

(24:01):
there are trends, and there are analysis. There is analysis
to be handsome. We'll get right to that, but first
let's go to Brian family with the latest Thank you, Bernie.
Let's start in Major League Baseball where the Braves acts
the Angel seven to two Showy Otani did come up
with a home run in that ball game, but l
a is certainly slumping in Atlanta. Now is just a

(24:22):
half came out of first in the NL East because
the division leading Mets are fading. Manny Machado had a
two on home for the Padres and a win against
New York to to one on Saturday. The Dodgers have
offered up seven straight wins as they lead from the
Giants forward to two and LA starting pitcher Julio Utius

(24:42):
improves to nine and six on the season. He pitched
to Jim six innings of work nowhere runs five strikeouts
for him. Brady Singer a career high twelve ks for
the Royals as they dispatched the Rays six to three.
Justin Verlander leading the majors and the wins up to
thirty now on the season. After piloting the Astros over

(25:03):
the Mariners three to one, the Orioles back to five
hundred after they sliced the Yankee six to three. Garrett
Cole picks up the yell on the mount his third
on the season. He ended up blowing a three run lead.
We also saw the Brewers overcome the Rockies nine to four.
Milwaukee is a game and a half in front in
the NL Central over the Cardinals, who ended up beating

(25:25):
the Reds six to three and finally burning p G
eight two. Are making a stop in Minnesota this week
at the three M Open. They had some weather issues today,
but we're able to finish up the leaders there third
rounds and through fifty four holes. Scott Piercy is the
top of the leader board solo first minus eight seen.

(25:46):
He has been on a Terry sixty six on Saturday,
owns a four shot lead going into Sunday where he
looks to hoist the trophy and he will be seeing
off in the last group on Sunday at twelve thirty
five Easter in time. With that, let's get it back
to our man in Las Vegas. Bernie Frett. Oh, okay,
thanks Freddie, Thanks Brian. All right, let's bring it back

(26:07):
out to Las Vegas. Uh McKenzie rivers backing on sports
this week, obviously, the NBA released their season win totals.
McKenzie's got some thoughts, and some of those thoughts even
include why what the wind totals show him and what
Trent had been in recent years. While the need for
an NBA mid season tournament is prevalent, yes, and a

(26:29):
lot of people ask me when these season win totals
come out. Hey, mackenzie, twenty seven markets have just opened up.
You bet over under on any of these teams. Three
teams are off the board. By the way, Brooklyn, New York,
Utah Vegas wants no part of betting over under their
action because we have a lot of question Lakers either,
did you I couldn't find them. Yes, it's funny because
the Lakers were the first one that I saw put
up and recently they've been taken down. So forty six

(26:52):
and a half was was put up. But with all
these questions about Westbrook, you can't bet that right now
that you're right about that, all right? Continue on. So
and a lot of people ask me these questions, and
I'm like, I'm not really in love with the futures,
but I don't really have the patience for it. However,
that doesn't mean I'm not pouring over each and every
one of these numbers, because what it does is it
gives us the Vaguas market, the best biggest betters in

(27:15):
the world, their exact opinion about all of these teams.
So on an individual basis, it tells you a lot
for the Spurs. It's an end of an era. They're
expected to win twenty four games. That's about twelve less
than they won last year, and it's by far the
least in the Greg pop of the chair. But hey,
they trade away their best player. He's saying. Popovich is saying,

(27:35):
I'm willing to start this rebuild now because I care
about what's best for the Spurs franchise rather than my
own legacy, in my own win percentage. And he's passed
all that. You know, multiple time champion, multiple time Olympian,
But it is an end of an era. So I
think it's something to note, and what it tells me
about the Phoenix Suns is interesting as well. So they
won sixty four games last year. The beginning of the playoffs,
there was no question in any power ratings, they were

(27:57):
the number one team with a bullet. Well are bringing
everybody back. DeAndre Eton signed, Devin Booker's back, Chris paul
is back, but they are no longer top of the heap.
They are right smack dab in the middle of the
best top five teams. The Sun's expected to win twelve
less games from six to fifty two, but that actually
points to I think a bigger picture and why, Like

(28:18):
you said, we need that regular season tournament to really
spark interest in you. You believe there's a core. I
want to make sure we're on confuse the audience here.
Your premise was based on what you're seeing with lack
of super teams that, if I understand correctly, you're making
a case that the NBA should do it. I'm open

(28:38):
to hearing more about it. I haven't made up my
mind yet. What are your thoughts? Sure the best teams
in the NBA are expected to win significantly less games
year after year after year. The Boston Celtics are number
one right now with fifty three games. That's four games
less than the number one team has ever been. The
Clippers only supposed to win fifty two games. They were
supposed to win sixty with the same franchise and the

(28:59):
best players. What's happening well, Jeff Stouts and in Street
Clothes at In Street closes, great work on this. The
injury situation in the NBA is unlike anything else. Six
thousand games miss due to injury by far a record,
even if you throw out all the COVID games, and
it's kind of a Yorkshire test if you sell someone that,
I'm like, wow, people getting really injured that much? But

(29:20):
I said that here you know prep one time straight
out of Vegas, and so you know, some older wiser
people were like, you really think there's more injuries and
there was last year? Or do you think teams are
strategically not playing their guys these games? More and more
and more. Load management is no longer a catch phrase,
it's the way of life in the NBA. So that's
why teams that should be expected to win sixty games

(29:41):
are expected to rest their players, I don't know, twenty games.
And that's what these numbers are telling us. Top five
teams used to average fifty eight games. Now if you're
a top five team, you're supposed to win fifty three games.
Same things the opposite with the bottom of the league.
Used to be the worst teams would only win twenty games,
but now you know they're probably gonna be equal to
Ellent in games where they're getting rested on. So now top,

(30:03):
you know, bottom teams like the Spurs are expect to
win five games. That's why I think Adam Silver this
month said I'm open to a regular season tournament where
I'm gonna play Kawhi Leonard, I'm gonna play Jayson Tatum.
I'm gonna play all my guys because there's a playoff
seating or draft status, or maybe just a big pile
of money at the end of the rainbow, but something

(30:24):
to get us through the dredges of January and February.
Because six thousand games missed, all the best players missed
plenty of games. I think the NBA wants to see
something new, But what about you? What about you, Bernie Well?
I think they want to see something new, and if
they do it, I'll watch it. I know Lebron, you know,
said he doesn't want it. He said he'd never played,
fans weren't there, but he ended up doing it. So

(30:45):
I've got an open mind on it. But before we
wrap up, I'm gonna do something almost never do, and
it's making prediction based on your segment. I believe the
best bad over underwent to it a lot. First of all,
I showed the Pistons a twenty six and a half.
Does that drive with what you have? Yeah? That our
consensus number twenty seven right there. Okay, So they lost

(31:05):
fourteen games in a row during one stretch last year,
and they still managed to win twenty three. They pick
up Jade Nivy, Jalen Duran and New Rlands Noel cad
and coming Hand comes back for a second year. I
think he'll continue to mature. After the All Star break.
The Pistons actually had a ten and fourteen stretch. I
believe they go well over twenty seven wins next year,

(31:26):
and right now it's min you can grade that bet.
I think it's an excellent bet. Ja Nivy is the
kind of player that's going to make an impact right away.
And like you mentioned, the best Vegas team if you're
betting against the spread, the Pistons were the team you
wanted to bet on the entire second half of last year.
They had a new coach and their coalescing. So I
think they're on the big up arrow. Twenty seven and

(31:46):
a half, twenty six and a half, you get that
number over, seems like a fantastic bet. I'll give out
my best beat up. Come it out there. Yeah. The
Dallas Mavericks are expected to win forty seven games this year.
They were expected to win forty seven games last year.
I don't get it. I saw a huge improvement from
the Mavericks. You know, analytics wise, they were right there
with the Celtics the second half of the year. Is

(32:07):
the best team in the league. And Luca don Ketch
came into the league last year in September, you know,
not in great shape, weighing over two sixty pounds was
the report. You see him in summer playing in Europe,
playing for his team out there in Europe. He's not
gonna come in camp, not not in shape. He's gonna
come in excellent shape. Moreover, Christops rozingis out. Christian would in.

(32:28):
That's a big improvement. Even with the loss of Jalen Brunson.
I see a huge up arrow on the Mavericks. They're
only expected to win forty seven games, that's only fifth
in the West. That seems like a light arrow for
the best player in five years who will be Luka
Donkey is the best player in the league upcoming. I
want to bet on him. Now get it in early
on the train. So Mavericks over forty seven and a

(32:49):
half will be my best bet with this under unbelievable,
beautiful thirty markets just throwing in our laps in July.
I gotta love it, NB. Yeah, true, good stuff. Alright,
my Kenzie, very good, Thank you, Thanks Bertie, see you
next week. Man. All right, McKenzie Rivers making on sports.
Coming up, the Home Run Derby and the Major League

(33:10):
Baseball All Star Game are in the books. A couple
more facts, figures and numbers designed to scramble your brain.
Coming up. I'm Bernie Frattowe come to your line from
Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. This is the pregame
show you always wanted. Don't go away. You're listening to
Straight out of Vegas, one of the best in the business.

(33:31):
Bernie Fratto. We're back on Straight out of Vegas, the
pregame show you always wanted on Bernie Freddo come to
you live from Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Before
you going to further, I want to think about broadcast
team back in Los Angeles. Brian filling on the updates,
Christopher Fett and Bow Benson. They'll be with me up
to three am Pacific, six am Eastern, turning all the dinalds,

(33:52):
keeping its glued together. By the way, bo Benson asked
a good question, what's the latest time, Kevin Durant, Because
it seems to have gone radio silent. I continue to
follow a story. We all know that the brooklyn Nets
around the hunt for the perfect trade package for Katie
because he does want out, and they have put together
some good what they believe are good offers. However, they're

(34:13):
definitely afraid of and want to avoid at all costs
settling for what quote they'd say, the brooklyn Nets say
are pennies on the dollar. The irony is the trade
partner that would work the most would be the Golden
State Warriors. And from what I'm hearing, that just ain't
gonna happen. I think Bob Myers came out in Kai
boksch At this week once and for all that just

(34:33):
isn't gonna happen. It's it's interesting the Golden State couldn't theory.
They could offer Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, they could figure
the salary thing all that, right, Miami, I think has
a better shop than Phoenix. We all know because DeAndre
Ayton reupt uh and you can't move him until at
least January. So that kind of puts the brakes on

(34:56):
that Miami is very much in play. It's just that
both eyes are driving a very hard bargain. Number one.
Number two neither side is in that big a hurry,
so this could go all the way up to training
camp or a little bit before, or even maybe spilling
to the season. I do think any team that gets
k d Uh is happy to have him. I still

(35:18):
think he's arguably the most dynamic player in the league.
He doesn't want to be in Brooklyn anymore. They know that.
So just because there hasn't been a lot of blow
by blow reports, it's still there. And I think as
we get through the month of August and closer to
training camp, maybe you start to get a little more clarity.
I think if you're really, if you're Brooklyn, maybe listen.
You know what your limits are, you know what offers
you received. Pick the one that you can live with

(35:41):
the best You're never you know, if you get what
you want, that's that's pretty damn good. All right. Speaking
of the home run derby, as I mentioned Seattle of
the rookie runner up, Julio Rodriguez, you gotta get a
man his credit. He just props he made what I
would consider to be an incredibly unforgettable home run derby.
First impression, Um, he's he swung the bat like a man.

(36:04):
He had a hit eighty one home runs, which led
the field in total home run didn't win the competition,
but it marked the second most by a player in
a single derby. And I will tell you in two
thousand five, when I was living in Michigan, I was
working for CBS W KERK. We had the All Star
Game in Detroit and that was the year that Bobby
you Bray with the Philadelphia Phillies hit forty four home runs.

(36:26):
It was incredible to see in person, and there was
a completely different format then I get that, but one
guy jack and forty four home runs was surreal to see.
I would tell you watching Julio Rodriguez and I was
on TV hitting eighty one home runs. Uh, and nobody

(36:48):
really knew a lot about him. It was really sort
of his it's I mean, it's just coming out party now.
His eighty one home runs were second all time. So
of course Flat Junior vlad Garrow Junior, who had three
years ago prior to COVID, but seven more best than
Pete Alonso seventy four in one. The home on derby contest,
to me, has become a little bit like the hot

(37:09):
dog eating contests. There are some guys who take it
more serious than others going into it. I honestly thought
Pete Alonso was gonna three Pete. He should have copyright
of the name three Pete with his name pet but
he didn't give it up to uh to uh Juon
Soto right, uh he you know, won the contest and

(37:30):
uh no. Now again I've heard people talk about seek.
It wasn't Juan Soto who turned down the fort or
forty minute. Was Scott Boris. And maybe we'll revisit that
whole story a little later, but I've already told it
three or four times. I was on with Martin Wiss
and the Odd Couple Monday, and I told it Saturday
and on my show and send on Ben Mallor show.
There's an algorithm to this darning thing. Scott Boris wants

(37:52):
to get his guys to free agencies. Let's just set
that aside for now. I want to talk about um
of Julio Rodriguez here, so it's fun. I I sometimes
I get a kick out of numbers like this, the
any home run, any one home runs we hit. And
let's face it, we are society now infatuated with with
analytics and metrics and it's good. It's what all what

(38:13):
I've always said, our analytics are. They're a guideline. They're
not an inflexible. Ancor used them as a guideline out
the blnd all. But when you hit eighty one home
runs in your name is Jay Rodd and it's uh
Tuesday night in Dodger Stadium. That was a total of
thirty three thousand, five hundred and seventy ft were the
home runs or eleven thousand, one hundred ninety yards are

(38:35):
roughly six point four miles a little bit more in
a six ten k run. That's how far as home
runs if you line them up. And he finished again,
he finished second to uh Vlad Guerrero. Vlad had ninety
one home runs three years ago. J Rodd had thirty.
Check that eighty one, but he also had the second
best total distance of any derby uh Guerrero Jr. Had

(38:59):
thirty eight thousands, six from That's almost a mile further
worth of home runs than j Rod hit the other night.
In other word, Vlad's effort best at j Rods by
a mile, literally by a mile, figuredly by a mile,
and literally by a mile. It's the Department of redundancy department,
and that would make him the went had a little

(39:21):
fun with this, that would make him the all time
Seattle Seahawks leading rusher, which is currently held by Sean
Alexander from Alabama, the all time leading rusher nine thousand,
four hundred and twenty nine yards. Okay, that's enough numbers
to make your head spinning, your teeth ish, and a
little too much information. But if you're into gambling, and

(39:42):
you know you are, we're not at the halfway point
in terms of how many games remain on the schedule.
There's less than eighty one. But we are at the
de facto halfway point because we are now past the
All Star Game. The bet of the year this year
clearly was taking the under. We talked about prop bets
in first half of the show. Take the old in
athletics winning under seventy seven games this year. Oh my god,

(40:04):
the oddsmakers, they didn't even know that. Once they let
Bob Melvin the manager, walk away, and then got their
roster and tear the franchise down to the nubs. And
now they lose their ace, Frankie Mantis, their center field,
Ramon Loriano. It'll be a miracle if they win sixty
two games, much less seventy seven on the flip side.
By the way, the best team in the baseball has

(40:24):
been the New York Yankees. Their overbet should cash He
deserves a bob. Give it up to Brian Cashman, who
got some athletes and some pitchers on the roster and
they are having quite a season. All right. That is
gonna do it for straight out of Vegas. But don't
go anywhere. Coming up, we've gotta pack three hours for you.
Fox Sports Sunday. I'm Bernie Fratt Or keep it locked

(40:45):
right here. Coming up, Fox Sports Sunday on Fox Sports Radio,