The NHL isn’t the easiest sport to wager on by a longshot because on any given night any team can win. You rarely see a team go on a massive winning streak and you’re going to constantly be handicapping games if you expect to make long-term profits. Before you can be a successful hockey capper you’re going to need to learn the basic fundamentals and strategies involved in betting on the NHL.

There are plenty of different strategies out there that you’re going to read at some point in time and you’re going to probably ask yourself whether or not you could use the system. The first thing you need to do is find out whether the system has been tested. If the system has been posted online, but doesn’t show any stats or results then you can usually bet that the system isn’t going to be profitable.

The best way to find an NHL betting system is through capping forums on the internet where hundreds of other cappers like yourself share tips and insight. You will be able to find lots of systems on these forums which have been proven and tested. You absolutely need to make sure you incorporate any systems you find to be profitable. Most systems that make money won’t have a lot of wagers throughout the season. For instance, you might have a system hitting at 90% the past 10 seasons, but there might have been only 3-4 qualifying games each season.

As you can see you won’t be able to solely rely on systems to pay your bills and you’re going to need to do some of your own handicapping. If you don’t know what type of information you need to look for then I advise you to briefly check out our NHL betting tips article which lists many angles and factors in determining who to pick in a given hockey game.

One mistake you need to avoid that I see a lot of new cappers make is they will bet on way to many hockey games every night. Typically when you bet on every game or most of the games you’re only going to break even or win/lose small amounts of money. The odd time you might win every game and the odd time you might lose most of the games. It’s much wiser if you only bet on the best games each night which might be 0. If there are only a couple hockey games during a given night then you might not be able to find a game that you like. Don’t feel obliged to bet every night just because you have money in your sportsbook account.

The last piece of strategy I want to leave you with is make sure you’re careful about any NHL Lines systems or picks that you need to purchase. There are a lot of people that have no business offering their picks up for sale online doing so and you need to ensure you don’t get ripped off. Not only will you lose the few bucks these people charge, but you’ll also lose the money in most cases that you wager. There are several amazing hockey cappers online who sell picks, but you need to do your research before considering the purchase of picks.

Too early to look at the NBA playoff picture for some good ‘ol basketball betting? Hardly. Out West, I’ll start at the bottom. If Phoenix was nipping at Utah’s heels for that eighth and final spot, the injury blow to Stoudemire has all but closed that door. With the Suns’ points leader sidelined for two months, the Jazz can start to sing a happy tune and focus on climbing up to a higher seed without having to look over their shoulders as much. The top of the West, while the top seed it set, isn’t so clear cut. Lakers will take that #1 spot, but I wouldn’t bet the house they’ll climb out of the West to face the Celtics (I’ll get to that in a minute).

The dark horse for this online basketball betting season (and it’s crazy to call a 36-17 team a dark horse) is the Spurs. They’re always there, and they’re never talked about. I wouldn’t worry about the Nuggets, they don’t scare anyone. In fact, I’d almost take the underdog bet that they won’t make it out of the first round. Watch that as an upset with some money-making opportunities.

Last season the Celtics were the bullies, the beasts, the tyrants of the East. Even after 30 games or so this year, everyone thought they were an early threat to beat the Bulls 72-10 record (yeah, right). Still, they rebounded from a down spell and are the team to beat in their conference. Orlando’s too fragile and Cleveland is too top heavy. The Celtics have too much depth, talent and experience to be seriously challenged for the East crown – this year, and a team that every sports gambling enthusiast should look at closely. LeBron will get some poster shots, and possibly a game-winning shot, but in the end it’ll be green leading the way to the NBA Finals.

For the finals, put your money on Spurs vs. Celtics, with the Spurs squeaking it out in seven games. Both teams have the experience, veterans, depth and egos in check to make for a series to remember.

The Spurs current NBA Odds are at 5-1 to win the finals. Behind only the Cavs and Celtics at 2-1, and the Lakers are EVEN money. I like the odds on the Spurs. A fairly safe $500 bet at AbsolutePoker could turn a nice profit come June.

And, speaking of the Bulls, they won’t be making the playoffs this year. The Brad Miller trade, if it doesn’t immediately hurt them, will prove to be largely inconsequential. The Bulls are a mess anyway, don’t deserve to be in the playoffs, and would just get trounced by the Celtics in the first round. Funny, the Bulls are 40-1 odds to win the title, but it might as well be 1,000 to 1 at FullTilt because they don’t have a chance.

The NFL is right around the corner now and it won’t be long until nearly every football fan in the world will be getting ready to bet on one of the most entertaining sports played today. The NFL is one of the most watched and bet on sports throughout all of North America and has grown a global audience by playing some games in Canada and the UK. If you haven’t bet on the NFL in the past then you’re going to want to learn the common bets you can make in NFL which is what we’re going to be looking at today.

Moneyline Bet

When you bet on football on the moneyline it means you’re betting on a single football team to win the game by only one or more points. Typically the odds for the moneyline will vary greatly based on the two teams players and a good example of the moneyline odds on a game would be Buffalo -250 vs. Detroit +155. The -250 for the Bills means that you would need to bet $220 for every $100 profit you want. If you took the Lions at +155 then you would win $155 for every $100 you bet on them. This isn’t the most common bet in the NFL although in most of the other sports it is typically the most common.

Point Spread Bet

The most common bet in the NFL is when you bet on the point spread of a game. The reason it’s more popular then moneyline bets is because the odds are all the same at -110 for every team. The difference between a point spread bet and moneyline bet apart from the odds is that there will be a pre-determined spread that one team needs to win by and the other team can’t lose by. For example, If the Bills are -6.5 then they would need to win by 7 or more points to win whereas if you took the Lions at +6.5 they could lose by up to 6 points and you would still win. The mixture of underdogs and favourites winning in point spread is a lot closer then in moneyline bets so don’t be scared of betting underdogs when you’re getting a lot of points to start the game.

Game Totals Bet

Every single NFL game will have a game total where you need to pick whether you think it will go over or under the posted total by the sportsbooks. If the Bills and Lions are playing against each other and the game total for the game is 45.5 then both teams need to combine for 46 or more points to win the over or combine for less then 45 points to win the under. Picking game totals isn’t as simple as picking teams most people find when playing in the NFL so stick with picking teams until you’re more comfortable with the teams in the NFL.

These are the most common sports betting online options available each week in the NFL and you should stick with these simple bets for the first year of betting. You can also play parlays which is when you use the bets above, but you combine two or more games on the same wager so that you get paid out better odds.