Free Sports Picks of the Day
Browse all available free picks, predictions and matchup analysis for current in-season sports below.
The selections here are complimentary plays posted daily from sports betting and handicapping experts.
These picks are a secondary addition to a handicapper’s stronger releases and best bets of the day.
Monday, August 24, 2026
Calvin King
[1%] Free Play on Reds -145
Totals Guru
Free Total Annihilator On Reds vs Giants under 7½ -125
Ray Monohan
Cubs -137
Chicago is worth a free move here. The Cubs send out Kevin Gausman, who needs to produce for this rotation. Chicago got him to help bolster this rotation at the deadline and they need him to start improving. He pitched decent last timeout before being removed with hand cramps. Kelly owns an ERA above 5 and has allowed 6 runs in each of his last two starts. Chicago’s offense will get to him early, allowing Gausman to settle in. Back the Cubs. Locking this in early. Ray’s daily FREE plays are meant to be smaller bankroll plays. Money management is everything in this game, and these freebies are designed to keep you moving in the right direction. Today's FREE selection is a strong lean on the CUBS ML. The number makes sense, the spot is right, and it’s a play worth taking. You know what to do. Good luck — Razor Ray.
Monday FREE MLB ML Play
1-1 SUNDAY! EN FUEGO! 394-327 55% +3339 since Mid-Dec! The current run has been strong, and today’s card is posted. A BIG 3× Play Card is up for today, and Ray’s DISCOUNTED Day Pass gets you full access. Razor is a top-ranked handicapper across every network where his plays are sold, and he’s continuing to climb the leaderboards. As always… “Pad that bankroll one day at a time.”
Frank Sawyer
FRANK’S CUTTING ROOM FLOOR FOR MONDAY, 8/24:
My “Cutting Room Floor” plays are the situations I considered the closest to being worthy of investment but did not make the “final cut” for my official plays today for subscribers. The last play I cut for Monday is with the San Diego Padres with the money-line versus the Pittsburgh Pirates listing both starting pitchers Robbie Ray and Braxton Ashcraft. San Diego (71-60) has won three games in a row after their 8-1 win against Minnesota on Sunday. The Padres at home where they have won 10 of their last 11 games. They have also won 25 of their last 37 games at home after winning their last game. Pittsburgh (63-89) has lost three games in a row after their 4-0 loss in Los Angeles against the Dodgers yesterday. The Pirates have lost 9 of their last 13 road games after getting shutout in their last game. They have also lost 23 of their last 37 road games as a money-line underdog priced up to +150. Take San Diego with the money-line listing both starting pitchers. Best of luck — Frank.
Frank Sawyer’s Hollywood Sports DELIVERED their 25* NFLx Preseason Total of the Year last night on the Seattle-Tennessee Under to complete a HUGELY PROFITABLE DAY after CA$HING their PGA BMW Championship Long Shot Bet on Wyndham Clark who WON that event at 28-1 odds! Frank is on a 12 of 18 (67%) MLB TOTALS TEAR — and now he furthers his 10 of 14 (71%) MLB Game of the Month/Year Over/Under run with his 25* MLB American League Total of the Month for Monday night! DO NOT MISS OUT!
John Martin
1 Unit FREE PLAY on Cincinnati Reds -152
The Cincinnati Reds have a big starting pitching advantage tonight over the San Francisco Giants. Chase Burns is 14-2 with a 2.51 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 24 starts for the Reds this season. Carson Whisenhunt is 3-4 with a 7.03 ERA and 1.84 WHIP in seven starts for the Giants this season. The Giants are 5-16 in their last 21 games overall and have scored 4 runs or fewer in 12 of their last 14 games. Give me the Reds.
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Rocky Atkinson
Rocketman Sports FREE MLB play Monday 8-24-26
Philadelphia @ Seattle (9:40 PM EST)
Play On: Philadelphia -110
The Philadelphia Phillies travel to Seattle to take on the Mariners on Monday night. Philadelphia is 73-58 SU overall this year while Seattle comes in with a 62-70 SU overall record on the season. Philadelphia is 6-0 over the past week. Seattle is 24-45 this year when the money line is +125 to -125. Zack Wheeler is 10-4 with a 2.92 ERA overall this year. He is 6-2 with a 2.67 ERA on the road this season. He is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA in inter-league play this year. Logan Gilbert is 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA overall vs Philadelphia the past 3 years and he is 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA in his career against the Phillies. He has a 6.21 ERA in inter-league play this year. We'll recommend a small play on Philadelphia tonight! Thanks and good luck, Rocky
Rocky Atkinson has his MLB PLAY OF THE DAY going Monday. One of the BEST HANDICAPPERS in the world is on an impressive 20-9 69% OVERALL run over his last 29 picks! Join the same handicapper that has made $1,000/game bettors $10,740 since August 01, 2026 with his Money Line on Red Sox v. Marlins!
Rocketman is 14-6 70% last 20 CFL plays! Rocky Atkinson has his CFL Game of the Week going Sunday. One of the BEST HANDICAPPERS in the world is on an impressive 20-9 69% CFL run over his last 29 picks! Join the same handicapper that has made $1,000/game bettors $10,740 since August 01, 2026 with his Spread on BC v. Ottawa!
Steve Janus
1* Free Sharp Play on A's +135
Hunter Price
1* Free Pick on Twins -145
Brandon Lee
Monday's Free MLB Pick
PLAY ON: Phillies -110
Alex Smart
Looking at the Week 0 board this year, one number keeps staring me right in the face. TCU laying a touchdown against North Carolina over in Dublin feels like the cleanest play on the early slate.
I have been on this one for a while now. TCU has the more settled roster, especially in the trenches, and that continuity matters more than most people want to admit in Week 0. North Carolina is still sorting through a heavy overhaul in Belichick’s second season, with a new offensive coordinator trying to install a system on the fly and a pile of new bodies who have not taken meaningful snaps together yet. In college football, that gap tends to show up early, especially when both teams have to fly across the ocean for a noon kick.
Neutral-site openers have always been kind to the more physical, more experienced side. Over the last fifteen years, favorites laying between six and eight points in true neutral-site season openers have covered right around 58 percent of the time. At standard juice you only need to hit 52.4 percent to break even, so that edge is real. When you tighten the filter to games that involved long-haul or overseas travel, the favorite’s cover rate climbs closer to 61 percent and the under hits nearly 60 percent of the time. The average total in those spots has finished almost four points under the number. Jet lag is no joke, and neither is limited practice time before a transatlantic flight.
TCU has been the more consistent outfit under Sonny Dykes. His teams usually play with a clear physical identity and they do not mind grinding it out early in the season. North Carolina, meanwhile, has spent the last couple of years looking like a roster still trying to figure out who belongs where. Historical trends for ACC teams opening against Big 12 competition on neutral fields lean toward the side with better line continuity, and TCU checks that box. Favorites in this exact range that also held a clear edge up front have covered better than 60 percent since the mid-2010s. That is the kind of number that keeps the lights on if you stay disciplined.
I will take the under as a secondary piece if the total sits near 48. Early-season scoring is often suppressed when teams are still installing, traveling, and playing a little tight. Both sides prefer a physical brand of football, and that style rarely produces fireworks in the first half of a Week 0 game on foreign soil.
Hawai’i getting points at Stanford and Memphis as a small dog against UNLV are fine secondary looks if you like chasing value on the dog side. I generally leave the massive numbers alone unless the total is screaming. This TCU spot is different. It is the kind of early-season situation where the sharper side of the board usually cashes, and the travel factor only adds another layer of protection.
I have been wrong before and I will be wrong again, but this one sits right with me. Continuity, trenches, travel, and the historical numbers all point the same direction. If the line drifts a half-point either way I am still on it. Good luck if you decide to ride along.
Note: I bet this selection while was able to get -7. But it s still good at this number.
Please unless your a weekend warrior do not buy off the hook.
BUYING OFF THE HOOK
Buying off the hook is one of those moves that feels smart in the moment and slowly bleeds you over time. I have watched plenty of sharp money and square money both fall into the same trap, and the long-term numbers do not lie. You are paying extra juice to move the line half a point or a full point so a common final margin turns into a push or a win instead of a loss. Classic example is laying the three and a half instead of the three, or taking the plus three and a half instead of the plus three. The hook disappears, your ticket looks safer, and the price quietly climbs from minus one-ten to minus one-twenty or worse.
That extra juice is the real problem. Standard minus one-ten needs you to cash about fifty-two point four percent just to break even. Jump to minus one-twenty and you need roughly fifty-four and a half percent. At minus one-thirty you are staring at fifty-six and a half percent. Those two to four extra points of required win rate add up fast across a season. The probability of a game landing exactly on the number you bought off is almost never high enough to cover the cost over hundreds of plays.
Football is where the conversation gets loudest because the key numbers actually matter. Three and seven have historically been the biggest hooks in both the NFL and college game. League-wide data over the last decade shows finals of three happening in the high teens percentage range and sevens in the low double digits. Buying off those numbers is the only spot where the math gets closer to break-even. Even then you are usually still overpaying. Outside of those true keys the half-points become pure juice leaks. Teams that routinely buy from three and a half to three or from seven and a half to seven have shown thin or negative edges once you factor in the price.
Basketball is a different animal. NBA and college totals and spreads move around half-points constantly, but the distribution of final margins is flatter. Landing exactly on a three or a four happens less often than football’s big keys, so the value of buying the half-point is even thinner. Same story in baseball with the run line. Buying from one and a half to one or two and a half to two costs you juice that the frequency of those exact margins rarely repays. Soccer worldwide, whether Premier League, La Liga, Serie A or the big South American leagues, runs mostly on Asian handicaps where the half-goal and quarter-goal moves are already priced aggressively. Buying further off the number there is usually just giving the book more of your money for protection you do not need.
I have seen the same pattern in hockey, tennis, and the rest of the major venues. The public loves the feeling of being off the hook. The long-term winners almost never make it a habit. They would rather shop for the best available number, take the standard juice, and live with the occasional hook loss. The ones who grind out profits treat buying points like a last resort, not a regular tool. Only when the price is unusually soft on a true key number does the play even enter the conversation, and those spots are rare.
The bottom line is simple. Occasional, selective buys off a real key number at a fair price can be tolerable. Making it standard operating procedure is a slow leak that compounds against you. The juice almost always costs more than the protection is worth. Stay patient, shop the numbers, and let the hooks fall where they fall. That approach has kept more bankrolls healthy than any amount of buying ever will.
Alex Smart
Sean Murphy
My selection is on the 'over' between Atlanta and Los Angeles at 10 pm et on Monday.
We just saw this same matchup here in Los Angeles on Thursday and the result was a 124-88 laugher in favor of the Dream. The total hasn't been adjusted much, if at all, for this quick rematch despite that contest reaching 212 total points. Remember, the first meeting between these two teams this season was also relatively high-scoring, reaching 193 total points in another Dream victory back on July 13th. The Sparks did bounce back on Saturday, delivering a 77-68 win over the Sun here at home. That result had everything to do with a poor shooting night from Connecticut as it could make good on only 26-of-74 field goal attempts. I don't think the Sparks will be so fortunate here as the Dream are rolling offensively, knocking down 32, 46 and 37 field goals on their current road trip. The good news for the Sparks is they do currently have 'all hands on deck' and I'm confident they can put forth an offensive showing that's on par or better than we saw against the Dream last week. There's certainly threat of a letdown from the Dream as they're already 3-0 on their current road trip, which wraps up tonight. Take the over (8*).
AAA Sports
Our selection is on the Atlanta Dream to defeat the Los Angeles Sparks on Monday at 10:00pm ET for a number of reasons. Here are some of the more important ones:
Atlanta has turned up it's levels lately with a three game win streak and wins in five of it's L6 games.
The Dream are one of the top road teams as well this year with a 12-7 record in these contests. They just beat LAS by 36 points.
It's pretty obvious that Los Angeles has given this season as it had lost in six straight games before it finally beat Connecticut (a nine win team).
The Sparks are already eliminated from the playoffs for this upcoming season and do not have a lot to play for.
We're on the Dream to blow the Sparks out for the second time in less than a week.
AAA Sports
Mike Lundin
Pirates vs Padres MLB FREE PICK
**12-2 PREMIUM PICK RUN**
**100% PERFECT 5-0 FREE PICK RUN**
The Angle(s): The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to display a glaring, persistent weakness when opposing left-handed starting pitchers, carrying a brutal 12-27 record (.308 win percentage) against southpaw starters this season. That flaw presents a massive disadvantage as they prepare to face Padres veteran lefty Robbie Ray (11-7, 3.20 ERA).
Ray has been dominant over his recent stretch, posting a sharp 2.67 ERA across his past five starts. Moreover, Ray has completely had Pittsburgh's number across prior encounters, current hitters on this Pirates roster are batting a combined .205 over 39 career at-bats against him. Facing a locked-in Ray on the road makes Pittsburgh exceptionally vulnerable to another quiet offensive performance.
The Bet: Padres (3%).
Doug Upstone
Free Play – Take #957 Cincinnati -122 (-0.5 RL for F5) over San Francisco (9:45 p.m. ET, Monday, August 24)
In scoring, Cincinnati ranks #24 and San Francisco #26. The Giants figure to be held in check with Chase Burns (14-2, 2.51 ERA) on the mound for the Reds. The Cincy offense also stinks but left-hander Carson Whisenhunt (3-4, 7.03 ERA) has been brutal, especially facing RH batters, with foes posting a .330 BA and .946 OPS. The Reds offense is all about boom or bust, and the situation lends itself to the former. San Fran has scored 14 runs in its past six tries and is handled early.
>MLB Monday 88.8% Spot Play! 6-3 move
He’s 9-5 across all elements and looks to better his 185-154 long-term on all picks! Doug has a 223-183 mark on baseball picks. With NFLX here, Doug is an amazing 108-67 the last 21 years (9-1 L2Y) in August pro football!
Upstone is a highly decorated betting expert with 30 monitored titles in various sports and 114 Top 10 finishes in his stellar 24-year career. Get Doug’s Best Bets, Top Plays, Super Systems and terrific trends.
Bet smarter. Win more. Every day.
Dan Kaiser
The Chicago Cubs are 75–56 overall and 37–29 on the road. The Cubs have lost three of their last four games. Kevin Gausman gets the start for the Cubs. Gausman is 6–11 with a 4.58 ERA, a 1.30 WHIP, and 143 strikeouts in 142 innings. Kevin Gausman has allowed four or more earned runs in three of his last five starts. The Arizona Diamondbacks are 69–62 overall and 38–28 at home. They have won three of their last four games. The Diamondbacks will send Merrill Kelly to the mound. Kelly is 8–11 with a 5.37 ERA, a 1.52 WHIP, and 84 strikeouts in 129 innings pitched. Kelly has allowed six earned runs or more in two of his last three starts. Neither pitcher has been great lately, but the Cubs have the No.1 scoring offense in baseball.
Play on Chicago Cubs. This is a 3% play.
Joe Duffy
Another major regression position. Cincinnati's Luck Rating is +0.67 compared with San Francisco at -9.33, a clean 10.00-game gap toward SAN FRANCISCO. SportsLine also grades the Giants A and makes San Francisco its moneyline selection at +142.
There is useful matchup precedent: Chase Burns started against San Francisco on April 16, and the Giants won 3-0 as a +110 underdog.
Play: SAN FRANCISCO +142. Bet at +125 or better.
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