2018 Gambling Olympics: The Three Donkeys Could Dominate Lodden Thinks

Highlights

• Lodden Thinks is one of 12 events in the inaugural Gambling Olympics and takes place Monday July 9.
• The 12 participants will each attempt to answer questions created by Scott the Intern. 
• The Three Donkeys could garner sharp action, but Levitan may have an edge.
  

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The 2018 Gambling Olympics is a two-day, 12-person contest taking place in Las Vegas on July 9-10. The buy-in is $2,500, and the winner gets $10,000.

Before, during and after the Gambling Olympics, we will provide extensive coverage via participant profiles, event breakdowns and live in-person analysis. Be sure to follow all the action in the Gambling Olympics section of the site.

How Does One Win the Lodden Thinks Challenge?

The object of Lodden Thinks is to figure out what other people are thinking, not what the actual answers are to questions. One person will ask another person a question, and the other players are essentially betting on who can get closer to what the person who is being asked will say.

Here are the rules:

• Everyone answers two questions as accurately as they can
• Scott the Intern will come up with the questions and no one will know them ahead of time
• Get score of 1 to 11 on each question based on how close
• Final standings based on highest total score
• Tiebreaker is most questions won

Despite potential collusion between Bales and Levitan while playing racquetball, Lodden Thinks has become a staple on The Three Donkeys Pod.

Jennings could be out for blood, still looking to redeem himself from one infamous question about the number of stars in the galaxy:

The confidence Levitan displayed in his personal lake-drinking ability was arguably even more egregious, but there will likely be a ton of ton of action from sharp bettors skewing toward this experienced trio of team captains.

Who wins Lodden Thinks?

• Peter Jennings: +600
• Paul Lo Duca: +600
• Brandon Adams +600
• BlackJack Fletcher: +600
• Adam Levitan: +600
• Michael Mooney: +600
• Pete Manzinelli: +600
• Joey Ingram: +600
• Jonathan Bales: +600
• Matt Brown: +600
• Sean Koerner: +600
• Scott Blumstein: +600

This could certainly be an event with high volatility, but those who know each other the best and interact regularly likely have an edge. Advantage: Donkeys.

Case and point, Blumstein, who sees Lodden as his weakest event:

"I haven’t played very often and will probably be surprised by how hard it is to get in other people’s brains and know exactly what they’re thinking.”

The Donks are not the only contestants with Lodden experience, but Lo Duca didn’t give bettors a ton of reasons to stray outside of the team captains for the individual title:

Where’s the Value?

It’s notable that Levitan projects Lodden as one of his best events … after Poker, DFS and Sports Betting. Shorting B.A. in anything gambling related, especially an event that requires analyzing opponents' tendencies, seems bad. He deserves a long look.

Brown has stated that he plans to focus on preparing specifically for a select few “skill contests” — Lodden Thinks is in that bucket — so captain Bales has to love seeing that type of intensity and dedication from a team member.

You could do worse than laying +600 odds on each of The Three Donkeys along with the B.A. or Brown.

Ultimately, it's hard to bet against the donkey who’s shown a tendency to go on dominant runs in this event.

My Pick (individual): Levitan +600.

My Pick (team): Levitan +600.