Written by :
Published on :
These are the top betting markets for Saturday January 3, 2026 for the afternoon look ahead.
Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Bucs
Over the past few days, sportsbooks and Pay Per Head sites were seeing the Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers game getting the most action. That only changed about three hours prior to the kickoff of the Panthers vs. Bucs game.
The Bucs had won five straight against the Panthers — including four with Baker Mayfield at quarterback — until Carolina snapped the streak two weeks ago. Mayfield is 5-1 in his career against the Panthers.
Win and they're in for the Panthers. A Bucs win doesn't necessarily mean they clinch. Tampa Bay would need a Bucs win and a Falcons loss to clinch.
This one was only seeing limited volume at Kalshi all things considered: $695,245.
Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers
By comparison, $1,184,235 had been traded at Kalshi on the Seahawks vs. 49ers game.
The 49ers have won seven of the past eight meetings, including a playoff game in the 2022 season. ... Coach Kyle Shanahan lost eight of his first 10 meetings against Seattle before this current stretch for San Francisco. ... This is the second time in the past seven seasons the teams have met with the division title on the line in the season finale with San Francisco winning 26-21 at Seattle in 2019 after a goal-line stand.
The winner of this game earns the top seed, a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. The loser will head on the road next week as a wild-card team. This is the fourth time since the start of seeding in 1975 that two teams played in the final week with the winner guaranteed the No. 1 seed. ... Seattle is seeking its first division title since 2020 while San Francisco could earn its fourth in the past seven seasons.
World Leaders Out Before 2027?
With news Saturday morning that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been captured overnight and removed from power by US forces, Kalshi was quick to promote its odds on the next world leader to exit.
Not surprisingly, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was seeing a 49 percent chance of exiting.
Perhaps more surprising, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán came in second with a 46 percent chance of leaving office before 2027.
Hungarians go to the polls in April. Orbán has won the last three elections.
One in four Hungarians remain undecided. “A bit of trickery and a lot of campaigning” could shift the polls, according to political analyst Péter Krekó of the Budapest-based think tank Political Capital. “Tisza’s lead is not unchangeable.”
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
