Sports betting has finally arrived in Tennessee.
On Nov. 1, four sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and Tennessee Action 24/7) launched online for customers in the Volunteer State.
This means that online bets can be placed on just about any sport you can think of. Wagering on the big five – baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer – is available at the professional and collegiate levels. Tennesseeans can bet on boxing, MMA, racing and golf, as well. Pretty much anything with a score being kept, really.
There a couple of unique points to Tennessee sports betting as opposed to other states’ markets. Firstly, there is a mandatory 10 percent hold. Secondly, there is a lack of prop bets on college athletics.
About the mandatory hold, Tennessee sportsbooks are required to pay out no more than 90 percent of the money wagered over the course of the year. No other state has a required hold period that extends for this long, and critics of the hold worried it may lead to poor odds and low participation. Happily, so far at least, Tennessee’s odds are very competitive with other markets. The state can review this rule next year and possibly repeal or reduce the length of the hold.
Prop bets, or proposition bets, are nontraditional bets about a small aspect of a game. Tennessee’s betting law does not allow for any bets that focus on a collegiate athlete’s individual performance. You still can bet for winners and over-unders for college sports, but no player props will be available.
Fresh off the first Sunday of NFL betting, lots of Tennessee players find themselves in the plus column. They’re taking advantage of promotional bets that the books are offering to lure in customers in a competitive market. The first week offered some great promos, but there are still fantastic sign-up bonuses and promos available for anyone wanting to get in on the action.
Notably, DraftKings is offering a bet-$1-win-$100 promo on the moneyline for this week’s Tennessee-Arkansas contest. In order to find these contests, look at the top bar on Draftkings and be sure to look for the word “Boost” on any of these platforms for enhanced betting odds. Just remember, just because it’s boosted doesn’t mean it’s a good bet. So only play contests you’re interested in winning.
Check out the Volunteer Slate on YouTube for tutorials on how to read odds and make bets.
With all that info in mind, here are some free picks to get you started:
NFL
1) Green Bay Packers -6
2) New York Giants +3
3) Las Vegas Raiders +1
4) Seattle Seahawks -3
5) Arizona Cardinals -5
CFB
1) Duke +12.5
2) Georgia -3
3) Mississippi State – 18.5
4) Texas A&M -9.5
5) Clemson -6
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