This weekend the top betting events again start with the Olympics!! There's also a full slate of Major League Baseball action as teams start to head down the stretch towards the playoffs.

2020 Tokyo Olympics Betting

The Olympics are front and center this weekend and some top  events are available for wagering. Players looking to do some betting on the Olympics, shop around for the best lines, as they vary widely from book to book.

The U.S. Men's basketball team seems to have righted the ship a bit with a huge, confidence building win over Iran. After an opening game loss to France, the U.S. beat the Iranian team by 54 points, easily covering the 40 point spread set by bookmakers. 

The Americans are scheduled to play the Czech Republic on Saturday at 8AM Eastern in the final game of the Group stage for both squads. Again, shopping the line, industry giant, BetOnline has the U.S. favored by 24, while mainstream outlet FanDuel has them at -23.5. 

Meanwhile the U.S. Women's Basketball team continues to win, despite not looking sharp in their first two wins in Tokyo. They beat Nigeria in the opening game 81-72, despite 25 turnovers. This was first time since 2004 that a team came within single digits of the U.S. squad in Olympic play. The Americans did beat Japan on Friday 86-69, but again had 17 turnovers and were behind after the first quarter. 

The top online sportsbooks have posted the U.S. Women as 13.5 point favorites over France, who lost to Japan in both teams' opening games. The Americans should beat France handily, but if the same situation arrives with Japan in the opening quarter, this would be a prime Live Betting opportunity. This is the final game of the Group Round for Team USA and they have to be more consistent and take better care of the ball in the Medal Round. Spain, China and Belgium are all undefeated in Group play as well. 

The U.S. started out as massive favorites, posted by sportsbooks worldwide at -1100 prior to the tourney and the odds have risen to -1250 at leading sportsbook, BookMaker. On paper it looks like no one can beat the American women, but odds have dropped on both Belgium and Spain. They are now tied for second place on the leaderboard at +1400.

Post MLB trades betting tips

The calendar turns to August on Sunday and it is time for baseball's top contenders to separate from the pretenders. MLB World Series hopefuls have started to make moves to hopefully get over the hump and ensure playing in October. 

Seven All-Stars have been traded so far including Nelson Cruz, Adam Frazier, Eduardo Escobar and Kyle Schwarber. The Nats are throwing in the towel for 2021 with a trade sending top hurler Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers started out the season as the favorite to hoist the Commissioner's Trophy, and despite being behind the Giants in the NL West, are now in an even better position to get to the World Series. Washington also let top reliver Daniel Hudson go to the Padres, left-handed relief pitcher Brad Hand to Toronto Blue Jays and outfielder Kyle Schwarber to the Boston Red Sox. The Cubs head to Washington this weekend with a series price of a pick 'em at BookMaker. On Saturday, Chicago sends Kyle Hendricks (12-4, 3.85 ERA, 91 SO) to the hill and so far Washington hasn't listed any starters for the weekend games. Fading the Nats is most likely a good betting strategy for the rest of 2021. 

The top team in the American League also got a bit richer, as the Houston Astros got big bullpen help in by acquiring Kendall Graveman (10 saves, .82 ERA, 30 games) from Seattle and Yimi Garcia (15 saves, 3.47 ERA, 39 games) from the Marlins. This weekend Houston heads to San Francisco in a battle of the two teams with the bests record in each league. BookMaker has a price of -110 on both squads for the series. San Francisco is favored (-125) tonight with Kevin Gausman on the mound at Jazz Sports. The Giants are 13-7 when he takes the hill, but in his last two starts Gausman only pitched 7 and a third innings while yielding 8 runs. Tomorrow afternoon Houston's Zack Grienke (10-3, 3.48 ERA) takes on Alex Wood (9-3, 3.65 ERA). The Astros are 15-6 when Grienke starts and are 25-17 against left-handed starters this season. The only caveat, the 'Stros are just 2-5 in interleague play. Still, look for a great series and back the Under in Saturday's matchup, with a look at Greinke's number as well.

Best of luck with all of your wagers this weekend!