Cashed some nice tickets last out and hopefully we can take that momentum into tonight’s match-ups. Only 3 games on the card.

Parlay #1: Bet $25 to win $172.31

1. Washington (+105) at Tampa Bay

2. Wash/TB UNDER 5.5 (-120)

3. Columbus (+110) at St. Louis

Parlay #2: Bet $25 to win $148.25

1. Columbus (+110) at St. Louis

2. Dallas at Los Angeles (-175)

3. Dal/LA UNDER 5 (+110)

Parlay #3: Bet $25 to win 119.96

1. Washington (+105) at Tampa Bat

2. Wash/TB UNDER 5.5 (-120)

3. Dallas at Los Angeles (-175)

KEEP YOUR BETS SMART!

We still can’t seem to find any luck in the NHL, but still going to stick with the parlays and hope we can get hot down the stretch.  Now that the playoffs are drawing closer, teams that have a chance at the playoffs are really going to start picking it up on the defensive side.  Check out the stat sheets on the far right hand column and you will see that the majority of teams are on an UNDER streak. That trend should continue for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. Therefore, you will see Phil playing many UNDERS for the rest of the year.

NHL Picks for March 3, 2011:

Parlay #1: $25 to win $140.32 WINNER

1) Minnesota/New York UNDER 5 (+105) MIN 3 NYR 1 WINNER

2) Nashville/Vancouver UNDER 5.5 (-145) NAS 3 VAN 0 WINNER

3) Ottawa/Atlanta UNDER 5.5 (-110) OTT 3 ATL 1 WINNER

Parlay #2: $25 to win$130.87 WINNER

1) Montreal/Florida UNDER 5 (+105) MTL 4 FLA 0 WINNER

2) Nashville/Vancouver UNDER 5.5 (-145) NAS 3 VAN 0 WINNER

3) St. Louis/Washington UNDER 5.5 (-125) WAS 3 STL 2 WINNER

KEEP YOUR BETS SMART!

Went 1-1 last night for a small overall loss. Still struggling along trying to put together a nice run. Giving out several small parlays tonight.

Parlay #1 for $25 to win $115.91

a) NY Islanders/Washington Under 5.5 (-110)

b) Montreal at Atlanta (+100)

c) Florida at Carolina (-210)

Parlay #2 for $25 to win $93.75

a) NY Islanders/Washington Under 5.5 (-110)

b) Colorado/San Jose Over 5.5 (-120)

c) Colorado at San Jose (-280)

Parlay #3 for $15 to win $76.58

a) Colorado at San Jose PL (+100)

b) Montreal at Atlanta (+100)

c) Boston (-190) at Ottawa

KEEP YOUR BETS SMART!

Was with Phil yesterday celebrating his birthday at the Rio and suffered a brutal beat as we had parlayed Toronto and the Under 6.  Toronto was up 2-0 entering the 3rd period and was up 2-1 with under 5 minutes left. If you saw the game you know that Toronto allowed a late goal to make it 2-2 and gave up a goal within the first two-minutes of overtime to lose 3-2. Brutal.

Monday Plays:

1. Chicago (-120) at Minnesota for 1 unit. Chicago has won 5 of their last 6 and continue to play very solid hockey. In addition to the solid play you get Chicago at a decent price likely based on the fact they are playing back-to-back road games, but still value there getting them less than -140. Minnesota has not been quite as sharp as of late, but clearly have the ability to play with any team in the NHL.  The teams have met three times this year with Chicago winning 2 out of 3.  This game should be pretty close, but will take a shot with Chicago as I just think they are the better overall squad.

2. Detroit at LA Kings (-120) for 1 unit. Two good teams here and this should be a pretty good match-up. Giving a slight edge to the Kings as they have been solid at home going 16-9, but Detroit has been great on the road as well going 14-8.  Both teams tend to play towards the under in respect to the Kings at home and Detroit on the road so it should be low scoring. The Kings offense has been great their last few having scored 11 goals in their last 3 games. I think they continue to roll tonight and pull out a win at home.

The picks for Wednesday didn’t make any us any money, but that is the way it goes in the betting world.  Looking to get this post started right with some winners on Friday night.

NHL Bets for Friday, February 18, 2011:

Boston/Ottawa OVER 5.5 (-105) for 2 units

NY Rangers at NJ Devils (-140) for 1 unit

Anaheim (+110) at Minnesota for 1 unit

Philadelphia (-135) at Carolina for 1 unit

Anaheim/Minnesota OVER for 1 unit

St. Louis at Buffalo Puck Line (+200) for 1 unit

Comments are always welcome.  I lean towards playing several parlays keying most of the bets off my best play of the night. My biggest bet will be a 2-team parlay, with 2 to 3, 3 team parlays.  I will usually leave the key bet off of one ticket so that I have a chance to break even if my the top bet loses.

Back with some hockey picks.  Living in Vegas you meet some people that do make some decent side money betting different sports and finding good value in games that most people don’t even consider looking at.  I will be posting this Vegas local’s picks whenever they become available to me, which is usually pretty often. He will also follow my standard 1-2 unit bets with some minor deviations if he believes the line warrants a bigger play.

1. Toronto/Buffalo OVER 5.5 (-120) for 3 UNITS! This is his biggest bet year to date in the NHL. (I have been following him since December).

2.  Los Angeles/Columbus UNDER 5 (+120) for 2 units.

3. Pittsburgh/Colorado OVER 5.5 (-120) for 2 units.

4. Washington/Anaheim UNDER (-130) for 1 unit.

5.  Los Angeles vs Columbus (+100) for 1 unit.

6. Carolina at New Jersey (-130) for 1 unit.

7. Dallas at Calgary Puck Line (+180) for 1 unit.

Good Luck.

NHL playoff betting has seen a lot of upsets over the first couple of days, but the underdog came out on top in only one of the three matchups we have slated for Saturday. Here’s a look at how Game 2 will shake out for these teams.

Bruins vs Sabres odds – Saturday, 1:00 PM ET

The Sabres should be favored at home after a 2-1 win in a scrappy Game 1, and Ryan Miller was a monster in the pipes for Buffalo, stopping 38 of 39 shots. The Bruins knew it was going to be tough to beat Miller, the probable Vezina winner and the MVP of the Olympics, and the fact they scored the second-fewest goals in the NHL can’t help matters. Miller had a 2.13 GAA at home during the regular season, and we don’t see that changing against the low-scoring Bruins. Take the Sabres for a 2-0 lead in your NHL betting book.

Canadiens vs Capitals odds – Saturday, 7:00 PM ET

The Capitals will be favored to rebound from a 3-2 overtime loss at home in Game 1, and this was an up-and-down game that you figure would favor the Capitals, who outshot the Canadiens 47-38. But Montreal did an amazing job on Alex Ovchekin, who was largely double-teamed and didn’t even manage a shot on goal. The Capitals will figure out a way to solve that on Saturday night as Ovchekin also got off to a slow start in last year’s playoffs, but picked up the pace. In fact, the Capitals lost their first two at home against the New York Rangers last year, and ironically, Scott Gomez played a huge role for the Rangers. It was Gomez who tied it up on Thursday for the Canadiens, setting up Tomas Plekanec’s overtime winner. But they won’t go down 0-2 this year: go with the Capitals in your sportsbook.

Kings vs Canucks odds – Saturday, 10:00 PM ET

Mikael Samuelsson’s second goal of the game was the overtime winner in a 3-2 win for the Canucks, who outshot the Kings 44-27, but ran into a hot Jon Quick between the posts for Los Angeles. Quick kept the Kings in it, and they even had a chance to win just before Samuelsson’s goal, if not for great reflexes from Roberto Luongo, who had to reach behind him to slap the puck away after a Jack Johnson shot. The Kings showed a lot of heart and guts in this game, and being such a young team, they never looked overwhelmed. The shot discrepancy isn’t a big deal because the Canucks are an excellent team at home, but they’re going to need more from Drew Doughty, who spent most of the night chirping with Alex Burrows. Look for the Canucks to take a 2-0 lead with a sportsbetting win on Saturday.

The playoffs are a time when sportsbook experts look at a team’s regular season record and determine how they may perform in the playoffs. The Buffalo Sabres had a quietly effective season. For the first 40 games of the season it looked like the Sabres were going to win the President’s Trophy again, but in the second half of the season the team fell asleep and while they were able to hang on to the Northeast Division, they failed to put together a consistent effort on any given night.

The sports betting vibe on the Boston Bruins is much different. The Bruins beat the Sabres four out of the six times the teams met this season, and the Bruins have won six of their last 10 games. When you bet NHL playoffs games, you need to look at the whole regular season to determine how a series will play out. This series between the Sabres and the Bruins will be physical, low scoring and it could very well go seven games. The Bruins proved that home ice is not a comfort as they won in the Sabres’ building during the regular season.

The difference in this game, and the whole series, could be speed. The Bruins are missing three starting defensemen due to injury. Mark Stuart is out with a finger injury, Dennis Seidenberg is gone due to arm surgery and Andrew Ference is hobbled with a groin injury. With half of their starting defense out, the Bruins will need to figure out how to contend with new Sabre speedsters such as Tyler Ennis and Nathan Gerbe. The Sabres may find themselves able to get behind the Bruin defense on a regular basis.

The NHL odds makers have the Sabres at 15 to 1 to win the Stanley Cup, and they have the Bruins at 35 to 1. One of the reasons for the gap between the two teams is goaltending. While the Bruins have found their answer in Tuukka Rask, it took them half the season to figure it out. That may not be fair to the Bruins as  Rask has put up the best goaltending numbers in the league and is challenging Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie.

Ryan Miller has been as steady as a goalie can be. The new American Olympic hero has posted a 2.22 goals against average for the season, and he has had another 40+ win season with 41 wins. Miller is the reason that the Sabres defense can pinch in the offensive zone and allow defensemen like rookie sensation Tyler Myers to put 48 offensive points on the board which includes 11 goals.

The Bruins are without their scoring ace Marc Savard, but the slack is being picked up by scorers such as Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Don’t forget captain Zdeno Chara and his 44 points as well. The Bruins also still have their top goal-scorer Marco Sturm in the lineup as well.

If the Bruins defense cannot figure out the Sabre offense then this could be a short series. But the Bruins may decide to physically punish the Sabres as a way of counteracting the Sabres speed. The only question is; can the Bruins catch the Sabres to punish them?

Pick: Buffalo Sabres 3-1

As online betting for The Masters begin to take shape on the golf course, the NHL enters its last weekend of the regular season. The Toronto Maple Leafs are holding up the basement of the Eastern Conference while the Montreal Canadiens are involved in a battle for position among the bottom playoff teams in the conference. The sportsbook experts know that the Canadiens need this game, but the Leafs never give in to the Montreal Canadiens.

The Leafs have two things going against them in this game; they have no scoring punch any more since players like Lee Stempniak were traded and they are playing in Montreal. Just like NBA betting, in the NHL the arena can make a difference. But this NHL game preview is about a storied rivalry that dates back to a time when the parents of many current players were not even born. The bad blood here is thick, and that makes for a very interesting game.

The best the Montreal Canadiens can hope for is to finish sixth in the conference, but with the Boston Bruins having a game in hand over the Canadiens it may be difficult for the Canadiens to move up. The Canadiens do have more wins this season than the Bruins, and that may enter in to it when the season ends.

The sports betting world gave up on the Leafs early when the Leafs opened up the season with a long string of losses. The Leafs didn’t win a game until their ninth game of the season. They could not score and their goaltending was suspect at best. Some trade deadline moves helped a little, but what has really helped the Leafs is the emergence of goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, also known as “The Monster”. But just like every other player on the Toronto team, the Monster is inconsistent. He will hold teams to one and two goals for a few games, and then let five or six past him for the next few games.

The Canadiens do not have any problems in net. Jaroslav Halak has emerged as the number one goalie, and he will be the man the team leans on in the playoffs. It is very probable that Halak will not play this game as the team may rest him for the playoffs. Carey Price is a capable backup, but he can be shaky when he has not played for a few games. A Toronto / Montreal game is not for the weak of heart, and if Price is shaky early then it could be a long night in Montreal.

We will get to see what the Canadiens are really made of in this game. Regardless of who starts in goal, the atmosphere will be electric before the game starts. The Canadiens need this game and they do not want to leave points on the table at the end of the season to the worst team in the conference. If the Canadiens play their big guns such as Michael Cammalleri and Brian Gionta for regular shifts in order to win the game, then the Leafs will be in trouble.

Toronto will not sit back in this game, but in the end it may not matter. In order to score goals a team has to create pressure and the Leafs offense is not capable of doing that against a fast and strong defense like what the Canadiens have. The only thing that is guaranteed is that this will be a good hockey game.

Pick: Montreal Canadiens 5-3

Take a break from the masters betting to enjoy tonight’s NHL game of the Maple Leafs vs the New York Rangers. Sportsbook betting or not, tonight should be a fast paced and enjoyable game to watch.

NHL Game Preview

Here are two teams that are in completely different situations as the NHL season winds down.

The Maple Leafs

The Map Leafs are not in a good place at the end of this season. They are sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference and are second-last in the entire league. While other teams in a similar place can draw some positives from this situation, like having a top pick in the draft, the Maple Leafs traded their first round draft pick to the Bruins. This leaves them at the bottom with no bonus points to collect at the end of the season.

The only positive aspect of this entire situation is that the Leafs need to play hard to the very end in order to help sell next year’s tickets and display their individual and team abilities to management. Plus, giving away a top pick to the Bruins is not something that Leafs want to do. Therefore, they will be playing hard to the very end. Their pride is on the line. The best way to start the next season right is to end this one on a high note.

The Rangers

The New York Rangers are desperately fighting for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Boston Burins are three points ahead with three games remaining. At this point, things are not looking too bright for the Rangers, but there is still a chance.

The Rangers botched their Tuesday night game against the Buffalo Sabres; a game the Rangers desperately needed to win. Why even mention desperately? All teams fighting for the last playoff spot are desperately trying to win.

Goaltending was an issue in Buffalo when Henrik Lundqvist was replaced by Alex Auld. This is definitely not a good time for the Ranger’s number one goalie to go on a cold streak. They need him desperately to perform at the top of his game as their NHL playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. Those who enjoy hockey betting would have a tough time picking the rangers to make it at the end.

Even with a valiant effort in the next three games, the season is no longer entirely in New York’s hands. All Boston needs to do is hold on, and the Rangers will not be able to do anything about it. Philadelphia has a point on Boston, but they have also played one extra game. Whatever does end up happening, the Rangers are now simply hoping that either, Boston or Philadelphia loses their remaining games and somehow the Rangers win. A long shot, but possible.

Tonight’s Game

The Rangers are favorites to win tonight against the Leafs, but not by all that much. It will be Jonas Gustavsson taking on Henrik Lundqvist. Gustavsson is still young and appears shaky at times. It seems like a hit and miss with him for now. On the other hand, watch for Lundqvist to come out strong tonight. He is the seasoned veteran and will be expected to carry the team in these final three games.

The Rangers have more riding on this game and should show more desperation than the Leafs. For the sportsbetting fan, the Rangers are likely to pull it off. Will they cover the spread? If Gaborik has his say, they will.

The Rangers are likely to win.