The G2E 2024- Look back and Takeaways

 

The G2E 2024 concluded over two weeks ago but the buzz is still reasonating around the globe.One of the highlights that many of the 25,000 attendees witnessed was the implosion of the Tropicana Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

 The largest gaming conference in the world continued to talk about the lastest innovations and ideas. The conference also has taken on advocating for diversity and inclusion. The panel about that discussed Out Executive in Gaming allow for conversation that LGBTQIA professionals could share their journey in the ihe industry. Breaking the Glass Ceiling cannot be done alone - highlighted the sponsors and that mentor and develop friutful relationships with people that merit opportunities but need someone to help them. 

The Sports Betting captivation ranged from How a stand alone Sport Betting product is better than you think to the Future of Sports Betting. I want to share a perspective that is centered on what the public has gravitated toward. The business is primarily online.the wagers are largely in game and parlays are the largest source of revenue for the operators. Retail Sportsbooks must look for ways to compete with the Android and Apple users.

AI and Cashless Gaming are realities that the industry must embrace. AI will allow regulators,operators and vendors to incorporate computer science with their current framework. Cashless Gaming will save millions of dollars and expedite transactions between the patrons and the operators.

Some of the cooments I saw that highlighted their G2E Expierience were from some of my LinkedIn Network Tammi Barlow Marang- Vice President Global Responsible Gaming  stated " I appreciated seeing and learning from more diverse voices in the education trackas they took the stage,representing the C-Suite on down delivering content. I also really valued the support shown by allies from around the world who attended the African Americans in Gaming networkong events sponsored by Penn National and MGM. 2024 was a great year for the G2E> Can;t wait until 2025." 

Bill Rettig- Caesars Sportsbook Shift Supervisor stated,"The G2E was an enriching expierience.The presence of slot-playing influencers marked a shift in marketing strategies,highlighting the growing role of social media in Gaming.G2E provided invaluable insights into industry trends and fostered connections that will drive future colloborations."

The video that preceded this post was acknowleged by the following gaming professionals that I hold in high esteem. Bruce Harris,Alex Dixon,April Augustine,Jonathan MicjealsTricia Smylie ,Darien Davenport and Mary Cheeks. 

All eyes on 2025 and the Global Gaming Expo!

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WNBA Semifinals Preview

 The WNBA Semifinals starts today with the top four seeds advancing. The New York Liberty will play against the Las Vegas Aces.  The Liberty swept the Aces in the regular season 3-0. TheAces are the two time defending WNBA Champions.The Liberty have the homecourt advantage with the first two games being played in the Barclays Center. 

The Aces are led by 2024WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson. She was sekected as a unanamous choice.The Liberty are led by last year's MVP Breanna Stewart. The Aces led the WNBA in point average per game at 86.4.The Liberty weresecond with 85.6. The Liberty were in the top 5 of the following statistical catagories. New York was 2nd in rebounds and assists.

The Liberty are the betting favorite. They open at -160 to win the series and the money moved to -170. The game one odds are the Liberty favored by 4.5 and the total at 163.5.

The Minnesota Lynx are going against the Connecticutt Sun. The Lynx advanced to this round by defeating the Phoenix Mercury in two high scoring games. The Sun adavamced by defeating the Indiana Fever. The Sun were able withstand a 25 points performance from Caitlin Clark. 

The Sun and the Lynx met last year in the playoffs with the Sun winnig the series 2-1. The Sun also won the 2024 season series against Minnesota. Two of the games wee decided by less than 3 poinus.

The Lynx is led by Napheesha Collier while the Sun is led by Alyssa Thomas. Both plauers have finshed in the top 4 in the WNBA MVP voting in 2024. They were also members of the 2024 USA Womens Basketball team that won the gold medal in Paris,France.

The Lynx are the series favorite qith the listed odds on FanDuel at -198.The Sun odds for winning the series are +166.The Sun made a mid season trade to acquire Marina Mabrey,an outstanding 3 point shooter. They also have DiJonai Carrington,who was voted the WNBA Most Improved Player in 2024.

The Lynx is favored in game one by 4.5 and the total is 154.5

Predictions- Aces in 4 and Sun in 5. A'ja can will her team to win. Collier will put up impressive numbers but Sun plays defense and gets balance scoring from 6 players.

Enjoy Collier and Stewart as they play in the Unrivaled League.Here is a clip!

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NFL Games to watch - Week Two

 The NFL Games to watch in week two are on Thursday,Sunday and Monday Night Football. The Thursday Night  Football Game is on Amazon Prime.The Buffalo Bills will play the Miami Dolphins. Both teams are AFC East Rivals and won their home openers. The Bills have won 9 of the last 10 meetings between the two. Bills are underdog by 2.5. Miami is the home team/.

The Sunday Night Football Game has the Chicago Bears against the Houston Texans. The game is on NBC. The Bears nad a come from behind win against the Tennessee Titans. The Texans held on winning on the road by 2 points over the Indianapolis Colts. The Bear have the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft,QB Caleb Williams as their starter. The Texans are favored by 6 points. The game starts at 8:20 PM and Houston is the home team.

The Monday Night Football Game pits the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons.The Eagles are the home team. Philly won their opener in Brazil by beating the Green Bay Packers 34-29. The Falcons lost their home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers without allowing a touchdown.The Eagles are favored by 6.5.

My selections in these games take s me to the home teams. Buffalo struggled with the Arizona Cardinals. The Dolphins should score more than 20 points they put up against the Jacksonville Jaguars. QB Josh Allen has a injury to his non throwing hamd but is expected to play.  Fins win a close game.

Thw Texans and Eagles should put up 24 or more points and easily handle the Bears and Falcons. The inexperience of Caleb Williams will be exploited. The rust,age and lack of mobility of QB Kirk Cousins will be on full display as the Eagles have extra time to prepare for the contest.  

Expect big games from Tyreek Hill,Stefon Diggs and Saquon Barkley.

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The Top 1-0 NFL Teams

The  top five 1-0 teams in the NFL are the Dallas Cowboys,SanFrancisco 49ers,Kansas City Chiefs,Detroit Lions and Houston Texans. $ of these teams covered against the spread  and 80% of the 5 games went over. 

The Top 0-1 NFL Teams

The teams that should bounce back after losing in the final seconds of their openers are the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars. Key injuries to the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers keep them from making the cut.

The Worst 0-1 NFL Teams

The worst teams in the NFL include the Carolina Panthers.New York Giantsand the Las Vegas Raiders. The Panthers lost by over 30 points on the road. The Giants managed 6 points at home against the Minnesota Vikings. The Raiders lack of discipline and physicality on defense led to their loss on the road to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Avoid QBs Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers,Bryce Young and Daniel Jones as players to go over projected  totals in passing yardage. Check their prop action for the best price of any of this group throwing an interception in week two.

NFL Super Bowl and Win Total

 The NFL starts this Thursday. So I decided to compare my NFL win total and rankings to two reputable media sources. My selections were made prior to seeing what Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports projected.This comparision enables you to see if my thoughts align or contrast with two highly repected publications.

I will start with Sports Illustrated and the rankings of the top 12 teams. My list includes of my 8 division winners,not including the Tampa Bay Bucs and 5 teams that I think will be wild card teams.I based my selections on the prognosis that 4 teams that were not in the playoffs in 2023 will be in the 2024 pairings. 

Gaming Guy Rankings                                               Sports Illustrated

 

1).Niners                                                                  1). Chiefs

2).Chiefs                                                                   2).Bills

3).Ravens                                                                  3).Jets

4).Dolphins                                                                4).Ravens

5)Texans                                                                     5).Bengals

6).Eagles                                                                    6).Browns 

7).Lions                                                                      7).Texans

8).Bengals                                                                    8).Niners

9).Packers                                                                     9).Rams

10).Steelers                                                                  10).Lions

11).Chargers                                                                11).Packers

12).Rams                                                                       12).Eagles

With the  NFLwin total,I decided to look at the lower end of the spectrum and teams not expected to contend for the Super Bowl.

We agreed on the Arizona Cardinals going over 6.5 wins. We disagreed on the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. The reporter projected both teams to exceed 5.5. I have the Chicago Bears going over 8.5 while CBS Sports has them winning 8 games.  

Here is the link to more CBS Sports win totals. 

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WNBA Playoff Watch

 The WNBA regular season ends on . The top 8 teams will make the playoffs. The league consists of 12 teams teams so the top eight is regardless of conference standing.Since play resumed after the Olympic break,several teams are making a playoff push. The top 4 teams get home court advantage so seeding is very important.

The Minnesota Lynx have the best record post Olympics. They are 6-0 and in 2nd place. The Lynx are 2.5 games in back of the New York Liberty. The Liberty and Lynx are 8-2 over their last 10 games.The Connecticut Sun is in 3rd place ,3 games in back of New York.

The Indiana Fever are moving up in the standings and are 0.5 games in back of the Phoenix Mercury.The Fever was 11th in defensive effiency prior to the break.They have improved to 8th in that catagory. 

The Las Vegas Aces are 5-5 over their last 10 and lost by 3 points earlier this week to the Dallas Wings.A'ja Wilson scored 42 points in that game.She is the top candidate for MVP right now. The team is not scoring as much as they were prior to the break. The Aces are not rebounding or playing championship defense.They are currently in the 5th spot and would not have home court advantage.

Games to watch this week- On friday,the Fever play the Chicago Sky. Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark continue their rivalry. Tickets for this game are going for $2,000. The Liberty will play the Seattle Storm as Breanna Stewart return to face the team she won two championships with. On Sunday,there is are two marquee games. The Aces play the Mercury and the Fever play the Wings. The Wings and Fever should be a high scoring contest. Two players that you may not know but are worth watching this weekend are Kelsey Mitchell for the Fever and Satou Sabally for the Wings.

Here is a clip about two teams fighting for the final playoff spot.

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NCAA College Football Playoffs

 The NCAA has expanded the College Football Playoffs. The previous format consisted of  the top 4 teams based on the rankings of the College Football Playoffs selection committee. The CFP will adjust the process and award the top spots to the power 4 conference champions. After those teams are desinated one thru 5,7 more teams will be selected and ranked from 6 to 12.

The higher seed will host the lower seed and have home field advantage.The top 4 teams will recieve a bye as the remaining 8 will be matched with the higher seed playing the lowest. If the team that is slotted at 5 did not finish in the top 12 final ranking of the season,they will drop to the 12 seed. The next round the yop 4 seeds will be asign to a bowl game that there is a historic connection. For example,the Big Ten confrence champion would be designated to the Rose Bowl.After this quarterfinal round,a final four will remain with the winners meeting for the National Championship  on January 20,2025.

If this format were in place in 2023,Florida State would have the 5th seed and played Oklahoma.Georgia would have a home game against Penn State. Ohio State would have played Ole Miss. Oregon would have squared off against Missouri. Nased on how each of these teams performed in bowl games I have the following teams advancing. Oklahoma and Georgia would advance easily. Oregon would move on while the Ole Miss and Buckeyes would be a toss up.The Big Ten would have 5 teams in the playoffs. The Big 12 would have 3 while the SEC would 4. Noticeably absent is the ACC. With the restructuring of several conferences and the dismantling of the Pac 12,expect the power teams to get the top players via recruiting and the transfer portal. 

While the new playoff format will create excitement and generate revenue,there are some consequences.The departures of USC, UCLA,Oregon and Washington, has essentially ended the Pac-12 as a power conference. The NCAA by laws allows the Pac-12 a two year grace period to have at least 8team based on the departures. The mid major conferences  must go undefeated to merit consideration for the playoffs. teams.As a result,the power conferences will be reluctant to play against mid major schools. This will hamper the mid major programs from landing the best recruits. The playoffs will allow more exposure to the NCAA College football players.More exposure and opportunities to have Names,Image and Likeness (NIL) deals.

Enjoy this clip about the new format.

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UNRIVALED-bEST OF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

 The WNBA season is winding down with approximately 3 weeks until the playoffs. They will conclude with the Finals starting in October. But we won't have to wait until May 2025 to watch some of the best womens basketball players in the world. The Unrivaled league will start in January 2025.

The Unrivaled league is a concept developed by WNBA and Olympic standouts,Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. The league is a 3 on 2 game and will have a total of 6 teams. The initial thought was to have an alternative to playing overseas during the off season. The proposal includes offering a great salary to the participants. The games will be played in Miami,Florida/ The rules and court configuration will be announced. 

The ESPN list of the top 25 WNBA Players after the Olympic break consist of many of the Unrivaled players that have commited so far.Kahleah Copper,Kelsey Plum,Arike Ogunbowale,Jewel Loyd and Rhyne Howard are  in the mix. Angel Reese and Kayla Mcbride have recently committed to play. There are 15 aditions to round out the league.The teams will be spicked by a selection commitee based on position and skill.  

Some of the investors in the league include Carmelo Anthony,Megan Rapinoe,Steve Nash,Geno Auriemmaand Ashton Kutcher. The league is player owned and will offer the players opportunities for equity investment.With the popularity of Womens Baketball at it's appex,the league is going to be sucessful. The season will start as the NFL and College Football ending. The viewers will be positioned to enjoy 3 on 3 basketball as March Madness heats up.

WNBA Spotlight:Breanna Stewart

Breanna Stewart is one of the best womens basketball players in the world.She will be on full display during the WNBA Playoffs and next year in the Unrivaled League. Here is a clip of her exploits.

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