Meet Jon Metler, Our Betting Analyst
Jon Metler
Betting Analyst
4+ Years ExperienceHaving played, coached, and officiated basketball, Jon naturally turned his focus to the NBA when he entered the sports betting world. With over 15 years of experience, he specializes in spreads, moneylines, and player props—always chasing value through sharp market analysis. A firm believer in analytics, Jon trusts the numbers to guide his bets. He monitors NBA betting markets 365 days a year and uses 10+ sportsbooks to find the best prices. If there are NBA games on, Jon’s up early, caffeinated, and already placing his favorite bets.
What makes Jon Metler an expert?
Jon's sports betting journey has been going strong for over 15+ years. His passion for the industry, along with his desire to continue learning and sharing knowledge about sports betting, led him to take a role in 2021 writing daily picks articles for Sportsbook Review. Since then, Jon has transitioned into a new role as a Sports Betting Analyst with Covers, where he is leaning more heavily into the video and social media side of the content space, hosting shows on the Covers YouTube channel.
Experience
Covers.com
Sportsbook Review
- Sports Betting Analyst
- November 2021 - December 2023
Education
Jon attended the University of Windsor, where he earned a Bachelor of Human Kinetics with a specialization in Sports Studies. He also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Human Resources Management, which he obtained from St. Clair College after graduating from the University of Windsor.
University of Windsor
- Bachelor of Human Kinetics (Sports Studies)
St. Clair College
- Postgraduate Certificate (Human Resource Management)
15+ years in sports betting
Sports betting isn't just a hobby of Jon's; it's a lifestyle, and it's been that way since the clock struck midnight on his 18th birthday.
5+ years in writing
Jon has been sharing his sports betting knowledge with the masses for over five years, sharing the edges he has found with his followers.
Passion for finding edges
Jon lives to uncover edges in the market. The possibility of getting a price that is five cents better keeps him up late at night and gets him up early in the morning.
10+ years making social media content
Jon started an X account in 2014 to share his sports betting takes. The community now sits at over 40K+ people that he enjoys interacting with every single day.
How does Jon stay up to date?
Ryan stays up to date with the latest news, injuries, line movement, and betting insights.
Basketball Reference
If you're looking for any form of historical statistic or a game log from three seasons ago, or maybe you're just curious about what Tracy McGrady's player efficiency rating was when he led the NBA in scoring, Basketball Reference has it all.
NBA.com
NBA.com is a great place to find all the advanced analytics for the season, packed with various tracking stats that can be very useful for your handicapping.
Covers NBA Picks
Our Covers NBA Picks page features all our top bets for any given game day. Whether it’s moneylines, spreads, or player props, our experts share their favorite bets of the day right here.
Q&A with Jon
Where does your love of sports come from?
My dad was a teacher and was very involved with athletics at the local high school. I think my interest came from being in the gym and watching high school sports throughout my childhood. It grew into a passion for watching professional sports on television and wanting to copy my favorite athletes as a kid in the driveway.
Did you play sports when you were younger?
This might come as a shock, but I played a ton of basketball and also ran track & field as a sprinter in high school. Saturday morning basketball as a kid and playing in the driveway quickly transformed into travel basketball and competing on the AAU circuit as a teenager. Being the captain of the varsity basketball team at my dad’s high school—where he was a teacher—and winning a school record number of games in one season is one of my fondest memories of playing the sport.
What do you look for in a sportsbook?
I look for a sportsbook with the best price on the market for the bets I want to make, so all of them play a crucial role in my day-to-day betting. The more sportsbooks you use, the better, because at the end of the season, even a couple of cents better on a price can make a big difference in your units won.
What’s your best advice for sports bettors?
Any outcome is possible in sports betting, but you’re trying to find an outcome that is more probable than the sportsbooks have priced it.
On the Covers player pages, you can see all of the past totals for a player's most recent games. This is very useful for seeing how the market has been adjusting their player props based on recent performances.
Jon's areas of expertise
Jon specializes in betting on the NBA, with a focus on spreads, moneylines, and player props.
NBA player props
Player prop betting has exploded over the last couple of seasons, and the NBA offers some of the best player prop markets in any sport. My personal favorite is betting on the assists market.
NBA spreads
Nothing beats betting on a good old-fashioned spread, and handicapping this market is absolutely my favorite thing to do each day. I don’t fear the injury reports—I look forward to them.
Jon's memories
🚀 Big wins
My dad and I attended the Meijer LPGA Classic in person, and we placed a bet on Leona Maguire at +2,000 before the tournament began. Walking the course and cashing the ticket on Father's Day with my dad sweating the same bet was pretty awesome.
😭 Bad beat?
A futures bet on the Atlanta Falcons to win the Super Bowl. I don't think I need to elaborate on this topic.
Jon's Articles
It's not just Jon doing the research
Eric Rosales
Betting Analyst
Eric has been involved in sports media in many different capacities since graduating from journalism school in 1999, back when getting your own column in a newspaper was still considered a thing. He doubled down and graduated from broadcast journalism school five years later, which led to a move to Toronto and a career with The Sports Network (TSN). From behind-the-scenes production work, he moved into the digital realm, where he had his own hoops column (At the Buzzer), while regularly live streaming and chatting with fans during broadcasts as the character known as LeBlog James. He was also a key contributor to TSN and CTVs Olympic programming during the 2012 London Games. Eric eventually found his way into the sports betting field in 2016 and has been a mainstay ever since. He was tagged on Twitter as a Top 10 NBA sharp during the 2021 season and has been interviewed about basketball and his handicapping process on shows from Vancouver to India. Eric is now a jack-of-all-sports at Covers, where his predictions span the alphabet soup: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, F1, WNBA, Euro, and Copa. When making picks, he focuses on finding value first and foremost, and ensuring readers have all the information they need to make an informed choice.
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Ryan Gilbert
Betting Analyst
Ryan Gilbert brings the passion and pain of being a Philadelphia sports fan. After graduating from Monmouth University with a finance degree, he now uses his statistical background to find inefficiencies in betting markets. With past stops at NHL.com, NBC Sports, and currently at Covers, Ryan's hot picks blend well with the cold ice of a hockey rink.
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Phil Naessens
Betting Analyst
Prior to joining Covers in 2022, Phil Naessens spent 38 years as a resident tennis pro in Las Vegas, Mykonos, and Corfu, Greece. Hes the past host of the Phil Naessens Show (Armed Forces Radio), and currently hosts the Crush and Rush Tennis Podcast. Phil is the author of the Betting 101 series (MLB, NFL, NCAAF, and Tennis) and has written for numerous publications, including Advance Local, SB Nation, FanSided, and Lenny Melnick Fantasy Sports. His favorite sports to bet on are tennis, MLB, WNBA, Euro mens and womens hoops, NCAA sports, NFL, and the NBA. Phil has numerous betting accounts in the US and Europe, and his best advice is to line shop for the best value possible.
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