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August is here and sports betting action is about to pick up

The season approaches, so are your NFL bets ready to go?

Amanda Nunes, top, goes to strike Julianna Pena during a mixed martial arts women's bantamweight title bout at UFC 277 on Saturday, July 30, 2022, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)
Amanda Nunes, top, goes to strike Julianna Pena during a mixed martial arts women's bantamweight title bout at UFC 277 on Saturday, July 30, 2022, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)Read moreRichard Rodriguez / AP

Welcome to August, a transitional month in the sports-betting world. It’s the Wednesday equivalent of the gambling calendar; when we get past the hump of baseball and make our way toward football. The first NFL preseason game is Thursday.

More events mean more money. Last year, the monthly handle in Pennsylvania jumped from $304 million in July, to $348 million in August, to $578 million in September when football really took hold, according to figures compiled by LegalSportsReport.com. The shift in 2021 was more dramatic in New Jersey going from $578 million in July to $664 million in August. Jersey then posted the first $1 billion month for a U.S. state last September.

The NFL did recreational sports bettors a favor by reducing the preseason schedule from four games to three last year. Square bettors don’t handicap preseason games, they guess them. But the sharps find advantages. Do some homework, and a profit is possible. Seattle, for instance, has a quarterback competition between Geno Smith and Drew Lock which coach Pete Carroll is encouraging. Somebody could get enough playing time against opposing second- and third-team defenses to offset the pain of putting actual money on Geno Smith or Drew Lock.

Handle with care

Sports betting handles in July-August-September for the last three years:

2019

Pennsylvania: $59m-$109m-$194m

New Jersey: $251m-$293m-$445m

Nevada: $235m-$287m-$546m

2020

Pennsylvania: $164-$364m-$462

New Jersey: $315m-$668m-$748m

Nevada: $165m-$474m-$575m

2021

Pennsylvania: $304m-$348m-$578m

New Jersey: $578m-$664m-$1.0b

Nevada: $409m-$427m-$786m

Handle numbers compiled by LegalSportsReport.com and are rounded off here. … Because of the pandemic, there were NBA and NHL regular season and playoff games in the summer of 2020.

August highlights

Thursday, Aug. 4: Jacksonville vs. Las Vegas begins the NFL preseason. The Raiders opened -1, line has climbed to -2.5. Favorites have covered four of the last five HOF games.

Thursday, Aug. 11: Tennessee at Baltimore: This has some intrigue given the Ravens have won 20 preseason games in a row and are 18-1-1 against the spread in that span. Baltimore opened -3. They were up to -4 as of Sunday.

Friday, Aug. 12: N.Y. Jets at Eagles: The Birds were 1-2 ATS in last year’s preseason.

Saturday, Aug. 13: Kansas City at Chicago: The over/under is 35, highest on the board. Feel the excitement.

Thursday, Aug. 18: BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club. First time the PGA has come to Delaware. A strong field is expected since it’s part of the FedEx playoffs.

Friday, Aug. 19: The Phillies start an 11-game homestand with a four-game set against the Mets. They’ll play a doubleheader on Aug. 20.

Sunday, Aug. 21: Eagles at Cleveland: Wonder if the Browns will know Deshaun Watson’s status anytime soon.

Saturday, Aug. 27: Eagles at Miami. South Florida in August. At least it’s a night game.

Saturday, Aug. 27: Hey, it’s college football. About a dozen games on the schedule, including Vanderbilt at Hawaii at 10:30 p.m. for the degenerates among us.

Sunday, Aug. 28: Detroit at Pittsburgh: The final game of the preseason schedule. It’s fun watching the Steelers fans lose their minds over the name of their stadium.

This & That

*The Mets expect Jacob deGrom back this week, possibly Tuesday. Their preseason odds to win the National League were around 5-1, and already factored in the star pitcher’s return in August. They’re currently +275 to reach the World Series and -300 to win the NL East.

*Aaron Judge’s 12 homers in 14 games moved his AL MVP odds to -400. He was -110 at the beginning of July, 20-1 preseason.

*A FanDuel customer in Connecticut won $69,000 when Joselyne Edwards won a split decision over Ji Yeon Kim in Saturday’s UFC 277. Then gave it right back by taking 2-1 underdog Julianna Pena, who was carved up by Amanda Nunes.