Ian McMillin's Blog

After months of slogging through football and basketball bets, the Olympics have presented the opportunity to gamble on real sports, namely curling. Mixed Doubles Curling Prelims will actually take place before the Olympics, which I can only imagine is a strategic move by the Mass Media to keep up with viewer demand. In my opinion, this is shortsighted as most of the initial viewing spike will likely subside as viewers are forced to replace the rush of watching Olympic level curling with less exciting sports like hockey or snowboarding. Nevertheless, if they are going to give us curling this early then you better believe I am going to gamble on it. 

My Bets as of 2/5/2026

Play of the Day: Estonia ML vs Sweden +175

The Estonians have had a rough go to start the prelims, but I like them to rally in a Baltic battle against Sweden. Sweden hasn’t really played anyone, with wins against the Czech Republic and South Korea, two of the weakest sides in the tournament. They put up a nice 10-3 win against South Korea, but had a weak offensive performance in a 7-4 win against the Czechs. 

Meanwhile, the Estonians have had to go through a gauntlet in the prelims. They lost 10-5 to a Great Britain team that looks like they can win it all, and then lost again in a dogfight against Switzerland by a score of 9-7. The Great Britain loss was tough, but even then the Estonians fought hard enough to put a respectable five points on the board against a strong side. And I know that this is a bit of a copout, but let’s be real here: any Curling fan knows that a 7-9 defeat could have gone either way, so I’m not gonna punish them for losing to a solid Swiss team.

I consider the Estonians to be on par with the Swedes, so +175 is too juicy to pass up. This is basically a must-win for the Estonians, and with their two early wins I worry that the Swedes will take their foot off the gas. 

Four Team Parlay: Canada ML, Estonia ML, Great Britain ML, Switzerland ML +969

This one is a fun longshot that, other than the Estonia leg, I picked using my gut. Here’s what it was telling me: 

Great Britain should kill the Czechs in my opinion. This is their sport, and they have been performing at a high level against better sides than the Czechs.

Canada opened as underdogs against the Italians, who have the advantage of curling on home ice. I also imagine that the expected crowd played a factor in giving Italy the edge, but this only makes me more confident in Canada. If the Canadians can lock in and not let the “Third Man” of the Italian crowd get to them, then I think they are the better team and should eek out a win. 

The Swiss are playing South Korea, who I believe has the weakest team in this tournament. This is less of me picking for the Swiss and more of me picking against the Koreans. 

Between the Olympics and the Super Bowl, this weekend is one of the best gambling weekends of the year. I’ll have my Super Bowl picks blog up by the end of the day Saturday.

Disclaimer: The combination of watching curling and gambling may overwhelm your brain’s dopamine receptors. Please gamble responsibly.