Wooooo Hoooooo! I had a good week and am proud to report the deficit is under $1,000! Last week I placed one simple wager. It was an obvious one and it paid off. MLS in Vegas has been a rough road to this point, but an educational one as well. After 17 weeks of MLS play, most clubs are at or around the halfway point in their season, leaving plenty of time for this series to make a comeback in 2015. Now let’s have a look at these new season totals and see how much work there is to do.

HIT! $400 on SKC at -$155 = (100/155) * 400 = $258

NEW 2015 SEASON TOTALS
Picking Winners: 13/29
Picking Draws: 2/7
Total Earnings: ($818)

While I’m thrilled to the deficit back into three figures, MLS in Vegas could to turn into a real sh*t show over the next month: The US Open Cup resumes on July 21/22 and 8 MLS clubs will be taking part. There is also the small matter of 44 MLSers receiving call ups to represent their country in the upcoming Gold Cup (which is going to be epic by the way). The international absences and additional USOC matches can be a double edged sword – with so many backups and so much uncertainty, these MLS summer matches become even more unpredictable than they were in the spring. At the same time, we see some teams less impacted by international call-ups and that have already been eliminated from the USOC. Those clubs will have an excellent opportunity in July to make a real move up the table, and, as winnable match-ups present themselves, we’ll be looking to capitalize. Columbus Crew, Montreal Impact, Portland Timbers and DC United are four clubs that have shown they can score goals and win matches, and all four of those clubs will only be missing one player during the Gold Cup. On the other hand, FC Dallas and RSL will be missing five players, and not just average contributors either. RSL will be missing legendary GK Nick Rimando, midfield maestro Kyle Beckerman, and the goal scoring Costa Rican, Alvaro Saborio. FC Dallas will be missing Blas Perez, a spiritual leader that’s led the club in goals since arriving in 2012, 2014 Rookie of the Year Tesho Akindele, and a couple of fullbacks as well (Moises Hernandez and Je-Vaughn Watson).

Knowing roster depth and the players that managers will be putting in their XIs during MLS play over the next month is crucial. For example, I don’t know much, but I do know that FC Dallas have a thin back line that’s already dealt with a number of injuries in 2015. With the Gold Cup, that back line loses starters at LB and RB. July could really suck for FC Dallas fans, but it could be great for those that invest in Dallas losing. The diligent and well read gamblers will be the ones who come out ahead over the next few weeks.

Montreal v. NYCFC – July 4th, 8:00 ET

I am quite intrigued by Montreal at an EVEN line to win here. Montreal are one of those clubs less impacted by the Gold Cup call-ups and have shown in 2015 that they can win in MLS play and not just cup competition. While NYCFC are finding a groove for the first time in club history (10 points from their last five matches), they now lose Mix Diskerud for the next month, a bad sign for a club that’s been inconsistent finding the back of the net. *Side note – Mix seems like he’s been playing lights out since that April friendly against Mexico in the Alamodome. I really hope we get to see a lot of him during the Gold Cup.*

LA Galaxy v. Toronto FC – July 4th, 10:30 ET

The Galaxy are just -$155 to win here. They are at home and playing a Toronto team that was just ravaged by Gold Cup call ups. While the Galaxy will be missing some All Star caliber contributors of their own, Omar Gonzalez, Jaime Penedo and Gyassi Zardes, they still have Bruce Arena, Robbie Keane and host of other quality players and leaders that make this one a fairly sure bet for me.

Portland v. San Jose – July 5th, 11:00 ET, ESPN 2

Portland are on fire and San Jose will be without two key offensive cogs, Cordell Cato and Chris Wondolowski (an MVP candidate thus far in 2015). With PTFC at -$170 to win, I am very intrigued. However, when picking matches involving Portland, my record is sketchy.

***Official Week 18 Picks***

• $150 on MTL to win at EVEN
• $300 on LAG to win at -155
• $250 on PTFC to win at -170