Building Bankroll March Madness Winners

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately we are done with college basketball until Monday, November 3, 2025.

The Top 3 participants of the Building Bankroll Bettor Brackets challenge have been contacted for payment details.

Big congrats to BC for grabbing the #1 spot with 1600 points!

In This Issue:

• Building Bankroll March Madness Winners

  • Community Cappers Lock In Their Weekly Picks

    • The UNDERground Lab (3!)

  • Are Sweepstake/Social Platforms Out of Control?

    • Pennsylvania Fights Back

  • NBA Play-In Tournament: This Week

    • Best Available Championship Winner Odds

  • Teasing Next Week

Community Cappers Lock In Their Weekly Picks

Last Week: 3-1 | +2.56u

• LJ Cryer Over 2.5 Made Threes (-110) ✅ / Peak Picks

• Nathan Eovaldi Under 5.5 Strikeouts (+105) ✅ / The UNDERground Lab

• Corey Connors Top 20 Inc. Ties (+160) ✅ / Nuke Bets

• Gavin Lux Over 1.5 Hits+Runs+RBI (+105) ❌ / Locksmith

Overall Record: 23-21 | +3.39u ⚡️

The UNDERground Lab

2025: 8-5 | +2.63u

Shoutout to The UNDERground Lab for offering up all three of his premium plays for the newsletter this week. Lock ‘em in 🔐

Clay Holmes Under 4.5 Strikeouts | +140 | Hard Rock Bet

Oh man.

This is a play I can’t avoid given underlying metrics even if some indicators tell us otherwise.

The value is there however.

There are high 20+ mph headwinds blowing toward Holmes direction right field.

Holmes has had pretty good matchups thus far (Marlins twice, enough said) and in favorable conditions too (inside the domes 2/3 games).

He’s also been K’ing lefties at a high rate but should see more righties tonight.

Tonight’s winds should also affect Holmes off-speed stuff and location.

His stuff already had elite vertical break but with the winds, it should see less velocity which should make it easier for the Twins to read or make contact with.

He may also struggle finding the zone which we could see Holmes resort for to his fastballs which he has a little more control over.

This could lead to some meatballs so I like this matchup here for a regression spot.

Twins have also rank 3rd this month in K% against righties.

• Give us the UNDER for super plus money!

Joe Ryan Under 5.5 Strikeouts | +120 | DK, MGM, HRB, bet365

Slight movement from +126 (CZR) since play was released.

Ryan’s fast ball velo has been noticeably down this year but yet his four seamer is what’s the most K’s.

That definitely has something to do with his control.

Ryan tends to stay within the zone and paint the edges.

His offspeed pitches are well off the plate, however, and that is where the Mets create the most contact.

With the high winds blowing out right field, I think Ryan had trouble finding the zone today unlike he has been all season.

The Mets are patient at bat (sometimes too patient lol, gave up 4 looking K’s to Severino yesterday).

However, think the winds give Ryan’s arm problems today. Give us the UNDER!

Muohamed Gueye Under 4.5 Rebounds | +110 | ESPNBet, MGM, bet365

NBA picks are back for the playoffs!

Took a little break from it with the MLB ramping up but let’s get back to it here.

Like I said they’re the playoffs and we’re getting Gueye lines here early.

With his inexperience, I don’t think the volume will be there tbh.

Will be surprised if he even gets 15 mins with more veteran guys like Niang, LeVert, and Mann off the bench.

Orlando plays small so Gueye will be outmatched against Banchero and Wagner on the wings and will be mostly on the strong side of the ball.

Could see him being pulled here early especially with tighter playoff rotations being inevitable.

In 10-20 mins per game (being super generous with 20), Gueye averages only 3.1 boards per game so this is a steal here.

• Let’s get our first playoff UNDER!!

Gray is out of his prime, but holds an effective pitch mix with a strong slider and good strikeout rate.

But I’m backing a Yordan “reversion” night - He’s batting .235 so far this season, which is a much slower start to the season than he’s accustomed to.

With Isaac Paredes and Jose Altuve batting in front of him, I think Yordan could hit this line with 2 hits, or a home run.

Either way, taking Yordan at -110 feels like a great spot on this Monday night.

Are Sweepstake & Social Sportsbooks Out of Control?

We’ve covered sweepstake/social sportsbooks in previous newsletter issues; companies like Fliff, Rebet, and ProphetX that aren’t technically sportsbooks, but essentially operate the same.

• Users must exchange real money for fake currency before placing wagers — what most consider a major 'gray area' in the betting industry.

Gambling laws in the U.S. vary by state, which allow these "unofficial sportsbooks" a lot of leniency in how and where they operate.

Let’s take the state of Washington for example.

• Fliff, Thrillzz, and ProphetX do NOT operate in Washington.

• Rebet and NoVig DO operate in Washington

But why?

Rebet and Novig can operate in Washington due to unique business models that don’t classify them as traditional sportsbooks.

Meanwhile, platforms like Fliff, Thrillzz, and ProphetX either rely on sweepstakes models restricted by the state or lack the regulatory fit required under Washington’s tribal-only gambling laws.

But not all states like the fact that companies are operating in the gray.

Pennsylvania Fights Back

Pennsylvania, and more specifically the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), is starting to fight back however it can.

The PGCB has started sending out cease & desist letters to these sweepstake casinos, and has already issued 18 letters.

Pitre also stated that his office has reached out to Google, Apple, and Microsoft in order to get sweepstakes sites completely removed from their app stores/platforms.

Why Should Bettors Care?

Sweepstakes, peer-to-peer exchanges, and any other platform that has devised a way around bookmaker regulations are the Wild West of the sports betting industry right now.

Bettors who sign up, deposit, wager, or try to withdraw are at the complete mercy of these platforms - even less so compared to a sportsbook like DraftKings or FanDuel:

This bettor was eventually repaid as "a one-time exception" (thanks to going viral on social media), but Fliff kept this 30-day rule in effect for all users.

The Bottom Line

I personally struggle to understand how any of these platforms can operate in the US in the first place…

That said, I have created accounts and taken advantage of sign-up offers from most of them, followed by a quick withdrawal.

In an already under-regulated industry, every bettor needs to be careful about how and where they put their bankroll.

NBA Play-In Tournament: This Week

The NBA Play-In Tournament is back, running April 15-18, right before the playoffs tip off.

It was originally a COVID-era experiment in 2020–21, with the league making it permanent in 2022–23.

How It Works

• Game 1: 7-seed vs. 8-seed → Winner grabs the 7 spot

• Game 2: 9-seed vs. 10-seed → Loser goes home

• Final Game: Loser of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 → Winner takes the 8 spot

Simple. High stakes. No room for error.

Here’s how the Play-In and NBA Playoffs shape up this year:

Best Available Championship Winner Odds

Best odds at time of publishing via Pikkit.

• Thunder +180 | FanDuel

• Celtics +200 | bet365, Caesars

• Cavaliers +700 | DraftKings

• Lakers +1700 | FanDuel

• Warriors +2300 | FanDuel

• Nuggets +3000 | ESPNBet

• Knicks +3500 | Caesars

• Clippers +5000 | ESPNBet

Slip of the Week

This is the definition of reading in between the lines.

Teasing Next Week

In Issue #4 of Building Bankroll (8 months ago!) we reviewed the sports betting tool Outlier - A strong software bettors can use to find edges, arbitrage, and more.

They have been consistently improving the product since then, and I recently had the chance to chat with the team and try Outlier Pro — and to say I was impressed would be an understatement.

Next week we’ll have a full review of the Pro version, including how bettors use it today and how you can use it to build you bankroll.

If you’re really interested in trying out something like this, click here so I know.👇

Pass this issue on to a fellow bettor 🔗