Showtime mini-series to look at the ‘Action’ around sports betting

The oddsboards and the action can be intoxicating. The Temple Owls are getting three points? Of course they’re going to win. This is Fran Dunphy’s final season. The players are going to send him out with a postseason run.

Then reality sets in. The Owls’ offense bogs down like the Schuylkill at rush hour, and the Dunphy era ends in a whimper with an 11-point loss.

The cable network Showtime on Sunday (8 p.m.) will be kicking off a four-part series examining sports betting, the complicated, intimidating and often frustrating world where people try to predict how other people will perform, often under impossible pressure.

“The act of gambling is part of what we are as humans,” sports gaming psychiatrist Timothy Fong said in the first episode. “It tickles our psychology. It tickles our [need for] natural rewards. A patient said it so well. He said, ‘Gambling is like eating, breathing and sleeping. It makes me feel alive.’”

That patient probably has a problem.

>>YouTube: Trailer for the Showtime series “Action”

The first show looks at three people who make their living off sports betting.

Bill Krackomberger is the big-time bettor who sees only the yellow and orange of the oddsboards and the green of the cash that comes and goes more quickly than a Steph Curry three. “Krack” says he can’t name 15 NFL players, but knows the numbers and the teams’ tendencies. He had a Temple football game in mid-October for $5,500 laying 6.5 points. The Owls won by 7. It doesn’t always go his way, of course.

Kelly Stewart worked her way up from cocktail waitress to respected analyst. She colorfully explains her love for Tom Brady is only as fleeting as an interception headed the other way. “Vegas Dave” Oancea is the tout. Sells picks for $500 a pop. Talks in all caps. Seems lonely.

The show oscillates back and forth between Vegas and Atlantic City and is centered on the recently completed NFL season, the first one after the Supreme Court overturned the ban on mainstream sports betting outside of Nevada. Showtime doesn’t glorify sports betting, but instead offers a glimpse into its peculiar world.

“There are a lot more losers than there are winners,” said legendary broadcaster turned sports betting analyst Brent Musburger. “You may think it’s easy, but come on in and try. Because it’s hard.”

LAS VEGAS — Not many people are following North Dakota State and NC Central, but as always, Double V has the numbers. And we might even make a few bucks.

The other team from Durham, NC Central, can hoop. The Eagles have been phenomenal against the spread, covering eight of the last nine with one push. Central’s overall spread mark is 18-11-1, 13-8 on the road, and 9-6 as an underdog. The Bison’s overall spread mark is 15-16, 7-11 on the road, and 11-8 as a favorite.

Dakota relies on three-point bombs, and if they’re just a little off, the kids from Durham, the other kids, should be able to cover five and a hook. Keep it on the light side.

In the late game, got the Big East vs. the Pac-12 tonight as Arizona State, -1.5 points, hooks St. John’s in a First Four game at Dayton.

Bobby Hurley vs. Chris Mullin. Old school, baby! The Sun Devils won six of their last eight, covered five, and have gone under in five of the last seven. The Red Storm stumbled down the stretch, losing and failing to cover four of the last five. The Devils’ overall spread log sits at 17-14-1, 8-7-1 on the road, and 11-9 as a favorite. The Johnnies’ overall spread mark is kinda ugly at 13-18-2, 5-9-1 on the road, and 5-5 as an underdog.

Not strong on either game, so what to do? Two-team six-point teaser, of course. Take Central from +5.5 to +11.5 and the Storm from +1.5 to +7.5, and it’s $70 to win $50.

*Favorite * Points* Over/under *Underdog

Wednesday/Dayton, Ohio

N. Dakota St * 5.5 * 134.5 * NC Central, 6:40 p.m. (truTV)

Arizona St * 1.5 * 152.5 * St. John’s, 9:10 p.m. (truTV)

>>Full and up to the minute college basketball odds

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Thursday/Hartford

Florida St * 10.5 * 133.5 * Vermont, 2 p.m. (TBS)

Marquette * 4.5 * 149.5 * Murray St., 4:30 p.m. (TBS)

Villanova * 6.0 * 130.5 * St. Mary’s, 7:20 p.m. (TBS)

Purdue * 12.5 * 129.0 * Old Dominion, 9:50 p.m. (TBS)

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Thursday/Jacksonville

LSU * 7.5 * 160.5 * Yale, 12:40 p.m. (truTV)

Maryland * 5.5 * 147.5 * Belmont, 3:10 p.m. (truTV)

Kentucky * 22 * 132.5 * Abilene Christian, 7:10 p.m. (CBS)

Wofford * 3.0 * 142.5 * Seton Hall, 9:40 p.m. (CBS)

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Thursday/Des Moines, Iowa

Louisville * 5.0 * 135.5 * Minnesota, 12:15 p.m. (CBS)

Michigan St * 18.5 * 133.5 * Bradley, 2:45 p.m. (CBS)

Nevada * 2.0 * 132.5 * Florida, 6:50 p.m. (TNT)

Michigan * 15.5 * 131.5 * Montana, 9:20 p.m. (TNT)

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Thursday/Salt Lake City

Auburn * 6.5 * 143.5 * New Mexico St., 1:30 p.m. (TNT)

Kansas * 7.5 * 144.5 * Northeastern, 4 p.m. (TNT)

Gonzaga * 26.5 * 152.0 * Fairleigh Dickinson, 7:27 p.m. (truTV)

Syracuse * 2.0 * 133.5 * Baylor, 9:57 p.m. (truTV)

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Friday/Columbia, S.C.

Mississippi * 2.0 * 142.5 * Oklahoma, 12:40 p.m. (truTV)

Virginia * 23.5 * 130.5 * Gardner Webb, 3:10 p.m. (truTV)

Duke * NL * N. Dakota St/NC Central, 7:10 p.m. (CBS)

Virginia Comm * Pk * 126.5 * C. Florida, 9:40 p.m. (CBS)

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Friday/Columbus

Cincinnati * 3.5 * 138.0 * Iowa; 12:15 p.m. (CBS)

Tennessee * 17.5 * 150.5 * Colgate, 2:45 p.m. (CBS)

Utah St. * 3 * 134,5 * Washington, 6:50 p.m. (TNT)

N Carolina * 24.5 * 166.5 * Iona, 9:20 p.m. (TNT)

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Friday/Tulsa, Okla.

Texas Tech * 14.5 * 137.5 * No Kentucky, 1:30 p.m. (TNT)

Buffalo * NL * Arizona St/St. John’s, 4 p.m. (TNT)

Houston * 12.0 * 141.5 * Georgia St., 7:20 p.m. (TBS)

Iowa St * 6.0 * 140.5 * Ohio St., 9:50 p.m. (TBS)

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Friday/San Jose

Kansas St * 5.5 * 120.0 * Cal-Irvine, 2 p.m. (TBS)

Wisconsin * 1.0 * 118.5 * Oregon, 4:30 p.m. (TBS)

Mississippi St* 7.5 * 136.5 * Liberty, 7:27 p.m. (truTV)

Virginia Tech * 10 * 126.5 * Saint Louis, 9:57 p.m. (truTV)