Following another narrow defeat our last time out the last weekend in June, we are back and definitely at it for a loaded July 8 and 9 weekend of exciting parlay action. Close calls in losing by one leg has unfortunately been a common theme throughout the early portions of the summer, but the beauty of these long-odd parlays is you often just need one to hit to make-up for some down weeks! We enter the month of July feeling good about our process, and are confident we’ve got winners in store for this weekend ahead.
As always, we’ve got all of your weekend betting needs covered! We’ll again have some CFL betting on tap, which has been quite profitable for us so far this season. We will also be covering some ongoing MLB action, perhaps some NBA summer league and Wimbledon tennis, and of course a massive UFC 290 betting card to further delve into.
In this weekend’s piece we’ll again do our best to deliver you with a valuable parlay payout to further enjoy this exciting weekend action! Of course as we’ve done over the past few weeks, these picks will be introduced by my level of confidence in each particular wager.
Without further ado, let’s dive into a thrilling slate of games for this Saturday and Sunday. As always, betting lines are taken from Bovada directly, and we’ll help you build a valuable ticket based off of your level of risk-tolerance. Enjoy!
Weekend Parlay Picks
| Picks | Odds |
|---|---|
| St. Louis SC PK | -118 |
| Alexander Volkanovski | -375 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | -130 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | -195 |
Pick 1: St. Louis SC PK (-118)
Saturday, July 8th at 7:30 PM EDT
We haven’t focused too much on MLS with our weekend parlay selections, but Saturday evening brings about a good opportunity on the pitch.
Toronto FC was one of the most hyped squads entering the season. Big money overseas acquisitions of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi were brought in from Serie A to provide added offense and goal-scoring. It simply has not materialized for the Reds in the first half of the MLS season. TFC are floundering at the moment, with many injuries throughout their squad. They have recently fired former manager Bob Bradley, and interim coach Terry Dunfield seems over his head.
Julian De Guzman just said on TSN that Toronto FC are becoming the most embarrassing team in Major League Soccer and on the continent. It’s hard to argue that he’s wrong…
— Michael Singh (@MichaelSingh94) July 5, 2023
The hosts enter Saturday night at BMO Field winless in their past seven games, and have lost four straight. Mid-week they were simply trounced by Orlando City by a 4-0 score-line, and despite their perceived skill and talent, the focus and determination just isn’t there with this crew. Add in the fact that all of Richie Laryea, Federico Bernardeschi, Jonathan Osorio, Michael Bradley, and Lorenzo Insigne will be absent on Saturday night, and it’s a surprise to see a full-strength St. Louis side with very reasonable odds entering this contest.
Toronto sits second from the bottom in the Eastern Conference, mustering just 19 points across twenty-two matches. Their opponents however enter red-hot, as the recent expansion side has taken MLS by storm of late. They sit atop the Western Conference entering weekend play, currently holding 35 points, from twenty matches.
St. Louis is well-coached and play with excellent structure under manager Bradley Carnell. They won’t get sucked into Toronto FC’s free-flowing offensive style, and should absolutely be able to exploit the weakened back-line of the Reds. All season, St. Louis has been getting it done with scoring by committee, as they’ve seen twelve different players find the back of the net in all competitions. That’s an impressive feat, and one that should be helpful as they take to the road Saturday evening.
St. Louis’ striker Nicholas Gioacchini has emerged as one of the top young talents in the league, and his blend of pace and shooting ability should cause fits for TFC’s defenders. Toronto has been incredibly poor at keeping the ball out of their net, and with first-team keeper Sean Johnson away on international duty with the USA at the moment, look for the St. Louis SC offense to be able to take full advantage.
Hard to forget this one from @Nicholas_gioacc 😮💨 #AllForCITY x @EdwardJones pic.twitter.com/Cc7JRMHuFE
— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) July 6, 2023
While backing St. Louis on the three-way moneyline would provide +150 odds, as this is our opening selection of the weekend parlay, we’ll play things a tad safer and back the road team on the ‘draw no bet’ market. This means that if St. Louis wins, we win. Though if the contest finishes in a draw, the bet is ‘pushed’ and only the remaining wagers in our parlay will count towards our impressive totals! We love the value of visiting St. Louis side for Saturday night in Toronto, and see this as a very worthy opening wager for the weekend parlay!
Pick 2: Alexander Volkanovski (-375) vs. Yair Rodriguez
Saturday, July 8th at 11:45 PM EDT
The main event of this Saturday’s loaded UFC 290 fight card will see a thrilling title fight in the featherweight division between the current champ Alexander Volkanovski, and his worthy opponent in Yair Rodriguez.
Though Volkanovski enters Saturday night in Las Vegas coming off of a tough loss at lightweight to Islam Makhachev, Volkanovski remains elite at 145 pounds. Though this is often billed as one of the sport’s toughest divisions, with a vast amount of many impressive contenders, for years it has been Volkanovski that has set the tone.
Rodriguez however represents one of his tougher tests to date, but Volkanovski had won 22 fights in a row prior to that Makhachev setback, and the thinking here is that he begins a new streak on Saturday night. Volkanovski is simply too good at this weight class, blending impressive lower-body strength with a stunningly long 71-inch reach. As a result, expect him to again hold the edge in striking exchanges against the Mexican fighter, and very few can out-wrestle Volkanovski if he chooses to take this to the ground.
Yair Rodriguez has talked a big game in the lead-up to this clash, and though the skills seem there, he has never tested himself against the calibre of fighter he’ll be standing across from Saturday night in Las Vegas. Rodriguez disposed of Josh Emmett via submission back in February, but showed many weaknesses in a February 2021 defeat to Max Holloway. In that contest, Rodriguez was out-struck badly, and seemed to fade across the 25-minute bout.
Rodriguez has certainly rocked some opponents before, but his power pales in comparison to what Volkanovski can offer up. The Australian has doubled the Mexican in knockout victories across their respective careers, and we’ve really yet to see Volkanovski truly hurt or rocked within the octagon.
The fireworks will extend to the weekend as Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodríguez will fight for the undisputed featherweight title!pic.twitter.com/UtxFABtsye
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) July 6, 2023
That impressive chin, durability, and stamina should allow Volkanovski to push a relentless pace for all five rounds on Saturday night. Volkanovski enters with many avenues to emerging victorious once again; he can stand and bang, or take Rodriguez to the mat and work his heralded ground and pound. He’s incredibly well-rounded and disciplined within the cage, and it’s hard to see Rodriguez being able to withstand takedown attempts and being able to wrestle with Volkanovski.
It’s a steep price, but let’s not forget that the Australian fighter has yet to lose as a featherweight within the UFC. Expect a motivated and calculated fighting plan, and one that results in a controlled decision victory for one of the best to ever do it in Volkanovski.
Two-Team Parlay Odds
If you prefer to just go with a two-team Saturday parlay card, a parlay of St. Louis SC PK or ‘Draw No Bet’ (-118) and Alexander Volkanovski (-375) has parlay odds of +134. This means you would win $134 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
Pick 3: Hamilton Tiger-Cats (-130) vs. Ottawa Redblacks
Sat. July 8th at 7:00 PM EDT
The CFL is back, and we have been quite successful with our selections throughout the first few weeks. Saturday night’s clash features the winless Hamilton Tiger-Cats, eagerly seeking a victory as they host the 1-2 Ottawa Redblacks.
On the grind 😤#Ticats | #CFL pic.twitter.com/AfCvwxLQwF
— Hamilton Tiger-Cats (@Ticats) July 6, 2023
Hamilton has dropped close contests to the top teams in the league, but aren’t playing anywhere near their potential. At home, against a weakened Ottawa side should bring them their first victory of the year however. Ottawa has been incredibly mistake-prone of late, throwing a staggering five interceptions across their first three outings. They remain uncertain at the all-important quarterback position, and it seems likely that a tandem of Nick Arbuckle and Tyrie Adams will feature in Hamilton. It is uncertain if regular starter Jeremiah Masoli will be available.
That uncertainty should play into the hands of the hungry Tiger-Cats, where their defense needs a bounceback showing. Despite some big signings and impressive stops from this unit back in 2022, the Hamilton defensive group has struggled in the opening weeks. They have conceded 37.3 points per game, albeit against some elite offenses. One point of optimism for Hamilton entering this game has been the play of young, inexperienced QB Matthew Shiltz. The CFL youngster has emerged with a big arm, and passing vision. He threw for 345 yards last week, and should be in line to shred a woeful Ottawa secondary on Saturday evening.
At home, against a weakened opponent, it’s now or never for the Tiger-Cats. Their defense should have an easier time against Ottawa, while Matthew Shiltz will likely find this Redblacks’ stop unit to be incredibly forgiving. They boast a pedestrian pass rush, and haven’t been opportunistic at securing turnovers from their secondary. This is a light price on a talented Hamilton side, and expect them to get a required win over Ottawa on Saturday night.
Three-Team Parlay Odds
Taking the first three parlay bets of this weekend’s parlay card, with St. Louis City PK (-118) along with Alexander Volkanovski at -375, and adding in the Hamilton Tiger-Cats moneyline at -130 will return exciting +314 parlay odds. This means you would win $314 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
Pick 4: Toronto Blue Jays (-195) vs. Detroit Tigers
Sat. July 7th at 1:10 PM EDT
Our final selection of this weekend four-pack parlay will be on the diamond, where the Toronto Blue Jays look to continue their impressive road form with a series in Detroit.
The Jays’ offense is finally showing some signs of waking up, and playing to their true potential. Though May and June were lean months for their heralded batting lineup, Toronto has started to put up the power many fans thought they’d see all season long.
The Jays enter Saturday winners of three straight contests, sweeping the White Sox earlier in the week. They’ve averaged 4.45 runs per game and have struck out less over the past few weeks. More patient at-bats are resulting in more positive outcomes at the plate, and they should be able to take full advantage on Saturday of the Tigers’ Matt Manning.
Whit Merrifield… again.
He’s hit his 3rd and 4th home runs of the season tonight. This one ties it up, 4-4. #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/X5tVqv4tay
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) July 7, 2023
Manning will get the nod on the mound for Detroit in game two of this series. He enters with a very mediocre 4.84 ERA, and has conceded four earned runs in his past three outings. Manning has also struggled recently against the Jays, losing 9-3 to Toronto back in April of this season. Expect the Toronto bats to continue with their torrid pace and get into the Detroit bullpen early in this contest.
Toronto will counter with their ace on the hill, and one of the likely contenders for this year’s AL Cy Young award in Kevin Gausman. He dominated these Tigers back in April, going eight strong innings, and managing 11 strikeouts in a narrow victory. Gausman has given up just three earned runs in his past three starts, and has 26 K’s in just eighteen innings during that span. Batters have been confused when dealing with him at the plate, and his patented splitter is one of the best out-pitches in all of baseball right now.
The odds are lofty on the favoured road Blue Jays, but given the form of their offense, combined with the quality of Kevin Gausman – this is a worthy final leg to a confident parlay play for this upcoming weekend. The Blue Jays are in the thick of an incredibly competitive wild-card push in the American League, and know that their quality should feast on the inferior Tigers. Expect the pace of their bats to continue, en route a convincing victory in game two of this series on Saturday afternoon.
Kevin Gausman is an MLB All-Star! pic.twitter.com/TACI3al7p9
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 2, 2023
Four-Team Parlay Odds
And there you have it, folks! Four exciting wagers spanning throughout a loaded Saturday slate to add a little excitement to your betting needs this weekend. If you do choose to wager on all four selections of this parlay card, you will receive parlay odds of +526. This means that you would win $526 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
