5-18-12

[Mr. IWS]

We are looking for someone to post service plays in the evenings from 5pm and on from there. If you can spare some time, the group would really appreciate it.




Note:


ALL PLAYS POSTED ARE UNCONFIRMED UNLESS YOU BUY THEM YOURSELF. THERE IS BAD INFO PASSED AROUND FROM TIME TO TIME, SO PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK

[Mr. IWS]

MLB Predictions - May 18th

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Baltimore Orioles @ Washington Nationals - NATIONALS TO WIN (-118)
Listed Pitchers: Arrieta vs Jackson
(Note: I'm risking 2.36 units to win 2.00 units)
The Baltimore Orioles are surprising everyone a top of the American League with a 25-14 record and a 13-5 road record. I believe that the Orioles will slow down over the course of the season, but they have shown they can compete in the AL this year. With that said I'm taking the Washington Nationals at home Friday, who have also surprised a lot of people. The Nats have gotten off to a quick 23-15 start and are 14-6 at home this year. The Orioles will send Jake Arrieta to the mound who is 2-4 on the season with a 5.21 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and .255 opponents batting average. Over his last three starts he has given up 24 hits in 18 innings of work and has a 6.50 ERA. Edwin Jackson will take the mound for the Nats. He is 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and .216 opponents batting average. He has allowed 3 or fewer earned runs against in 5 of his 7 starts. Although the Nats are facing some injuries they haven't shown it offensively scoring 3, 1, 7, 8, and 6 runs over their last 5. Take note that the Nationals are 14-4 in their last 18 games as a home favorite, and they are 5-1 in their last 6 interleague home games. The Orioles are just 1-4 in their last 5 interleague road games, and are 3-8 in Arrieta's last 11 starts as an underdog. Baltimore will have to adjust to National League rules and there bullpen isn't very well rested after a 15 inning game on Wednesday. Take the Nationals to win.

[Mr. IWS]

Jeff Benton
Friday's Action
100 Dime Winner # 6 of 8 comes in the NBA playoffs, as I side with the Philadelphia 76ers against the Boston Celtics. At the time I am releasing this play to you, the 76ers are a 2 point favorite both here in Vegas and offshore.

[Mr. IWS]

Sports Wagers MLB

N.Y. Mets +138 over TORONTO Pinnacle
The Blue Jays two-game sweep over the Yankees has their stock a tad high for this matchup. Brett Lawrie, the team's top producer, is still sitting out a suspension and Adam Lind was sent down to the minors. That leaves an already weak offense even weaker. Toronto is hitting .237 against lefties and will face one here in Jonathon Niese. Niese has allowed just 33 hits in 39 frames while striking out 33. He has outstanding control and a solid overall profile with no warning signs. The Mets are fresh off a 9-4 win over Cincinnati yesterday. New York is hitting .273 over their past 10 while batting .261 on the year against southpaws. Ricky Romero is considered to be Toronto’s ace but there are plenty of red flags in his profile. His BB/K ratio is bordering on second-rate at 26/36 in 53 innings. Romero has an xERA of 7.31 over his past three starts and that’s two runs higher than his actual ERA over that span of 5.12. In the past two seasons, Romero's numbers have declined significantly in the second half of the year. This season, the drop seems to have arrived much earlier and Romero could be one of the most overvalued pitchers in the game right now. Play: N.Y. Mets +138 (Risking 2 units).

Oakland +103 over SAN FRANCISCO Pinnacle
Once again, we’ll fade Barry Zito because his numbers are some of the most misleading in the game. Here’s a guy with a 2.53 after seven starts but has walked 20 batters while striking out 23. He has a fly-ball bias profile but has somehow managed to keep balls in the yard for now. That won’t last and neither will his .213 BAA. His xERA of 5.84 over the past month tells the real story of who he really is. Zito's command is in a three-year tailspin. Nothing has changed other than his fortune. He has an unsustainable 82% strand rate and it’s just a matter of time before it all comes crashing down. Jarrod Parker has made just four starts but three of them were quality. This is a long-time top prospect that features several outstanding pitches. His fastball sits in 90-95 MPH range. He gets terrific movement to his pitches and mixes in his secondary pitches well. His hard slider can get swings and misses along with his improving change-up, which may be his best offering. Parker has an honest BAA of .223 and offers up much more value taking back a small tag than Zito does of spotting one. Incidentally, the total in this game is 6½ and it’s not because of Zito. Play: Oakland +103 (Risking 2 units).

[Mr. IWS]

Sports Wagers NHL

UPDATED SERIES PRICE AFTER GAME 2
NEW JERSEY +102 over N.Y. Rangers Pinnacle

The Rangers being favored in this series, after the split in New York, is a mistake. Outside of the third period in game 1, the Devils have dominated play from start to finish, especially in the first periods of both games, where a tone is usually set. The Rangers simply have no answers other than Henrik Lundqvist in net. Lundqvist has allowed the Rangers to hang around in both games. Without question, Ilya Kovalchuk has been the best player on the ice while the Rangers’ Marion Gaborik has been invisible and was even benched for most of the third period last game when the Blue Shirts were down a goal and needed one to tie. After back-to-back seven game series against Ottawa and Washington, the Rangers appear to be running on fumes. They’re taking more penalties than the Devils and they’re blocking more shots because the puck is in their end for the vast majority of time. If the Rangers win this series, it’ll be because of some good fortune and Henrik Lundqvist. They have shown that they cannot outplay the Devils and it’s slowly but surely taking its toll. The L.A. Kings have dominated the Coyotes and are up 3-0. The Devils are dominating in much the same fashion. Play: New Jersey +102 to win series. (Risking 3 units).

[Mr. IWS]

Paul Leiner

100* Yankees -135

50* Sixers / Celtics Over 173.5

[Mr. IWS]

Matt Rivers

300,000♦ Lakers

100,000♦ Cardinals / Dodgers Under

[Mr. IWS]

Jimmy Boyd

***TOP PLAY*** 5* NBA Playoffs "Total" Dominator
Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia Sixers Under 174

MLB Interleague SMASH
Detroit Tigers Runline (-1.5)

[Mr. IWS]

Vegas Sports Informer

3* Brewers

[Mr. IWS]

FantasySportsGametime

Baseball Friday

100* Play Detroit (-240) over Pittsburgh (MLB TOP PLAY)
Starts at 7:10 PM EST

Justin Verlander has won 34 of the last 40 games as a favorite of -150 or higher and he has also won 20 of the last 26 home games when the total posted is between 7 and 7.5 runs. Justin Verlander has won 29 of the last 41 games coming off a loss and he has an ERA of 1.78 in home starts this season.

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50* Play LA Angels (-175) over San Diego (MLB BONUS PLAY)
50* Play Texas (-160) over Houston (MLB BONUS PLAY)

[Mr. IWS]

INFO PLAYS (comp)

7* MLB FREE PICK ON SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS -110

[Mr. IWS]

Hoopsgooroo

918 Indians -150 @ 12:05p
902 Mets +105 @ 1:10p
921 A's +158 @ 2:05p
923 Orioles +109 @ 2:10p
925 White Sox +140 @ 3:35p
906 Giants -128 @ 3:45p
907 Pirates +133 @ 7:05p
928 Jays +105 @ 7:05p
930 Rays -118 @ 7:10p
912 Astros +125 @ 8:05p
915 Dodgers +107 @ 10:05p

[Mr. IWS]

The Sports Capper

Hoops Plays

FRIDAY

100* Play Boston (+2) over Philadelphia (TOP NBA PLAY)
8:00 PM EST

Boston has won 6 of the last 8 games and they have also covered the spread in 4 consecutive games coming off two division games. Boston has covered the spread in 4 of the last 5 games as a road underdog of three points or less and they are only allowing an average of 84 points a game on defense in the playoffs this season.

50* Play Oklahoma City (+2.5) over Los Angeles Lakers (Bonus)

[Mr. IWS]

WUNDERDOG
MLB 131-151 Season-to-Date ($710)
Game: Seattle at Colorado (8:40 PM Eastern)
Pick: Colorado -140 (moneyline)

The National League has struggled vs. the American League in interleague play. The Rockies, with their unique setting, have been a great exception when they get to play at home vs. the AL. In interleague play the Rockies are 29-10 over the last eight years playing at home, which includes a 16-3 mark when they are listed as a favorite. The Mariners have had their struggles on the road at just 9-16 and when they have faced a right-hander in this spot, as they have dropped their last six. They stand at 28-65 in their last 83 as a dog, and don't mount much of a threat here. They have also dropped their last four vs. the Rockies. Play on Colorado.

[Mr. IWS]

David Banks

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Los Angeles Lakers

If the Oklahoma City Thunder (53-19, 38-34 ATS) go on to win this series as
expected, the Los Angeles Lakers (45-30, 32-43 ATS) will rue letting Game 2
on the road get away on Wednesday. The Lakers executed their game plan of
slowing down the pace and not allowing the Thunder to run them off the court
like in Game 1 perfectly and LA held a seven-point lead with 2:00 left, but
Oklahoma City closed the game on a 9-0 run to avoid the upset 77-75,
although the Lakers did cover the eight-point spread. At least the Lakers are now
going home to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA for Game 3, which will
take place on Friday night at 10:30 ET with the television coverage on ESPN.

The Lakers had a chance to win with the ball down by one point with five
seconds left, when with the whole building expecting to see the ball in Kobe
Bryant's hands, Metta World Peace instead found Steve Blake wide open in the
corner, but he missed an extremely makeable three-point attempt. Thus, the
Lakers come home in an 0-2 hole vs. a team that they have beaten only once
all year, with that win coming in a late-season contest that was meaningless
to the Thunder. Los Angeles obviously gave an improved effort Wednesday after
a 119-90 blowout loss in the series opener, as they did not allow the
Thunder to run or get much penetration. Thus, Oklahoma City shot an
uncharacteristic 42.0 percent for the game with many of the misses being of the long
range jump-shot variety, and after setting a franchise record with only four
turnovers in Game 1, the Thunder turned it over 13 times on Wednesday. While
the Lakers slowed the pace adeptly, they still shot just 38.5 percent with
even Kobe making just nine of his 25 attempts for 20 points. Also, it seems
that as the bench goes so go the Lakers, and that was the case again with the
reserves contributing just 11 points not to mention Blake's key miss at the
end.

Thus, it was the Thunder stealing a win despite their third lackluster home
effort of these playoffs, as they won the first two games of the Dallas
series here by just a combined four points before dominating all of Game 3 and
the fourth quarter of Game 4 on the road to complete the sweep. Oklahoma
City's success vs. the Lakers this year aside, they will probably not sweep
this series if they bring the same effort as Game 2 with them to the West
Coast. Yes, the Los Angeles defense deserves a lot of credit and the Lakers
deliberate offense at times frustrated OKC, but the Thunder also missed quite a
few open looks and not all of their turnovers were forced. It also did not
help that Russell Westbrook shot a measly 5-of-17 from the field finishing
with 15 points after looking too quick and too strong for the Lakers' defense
while shooting 10-of-15 (27 points) in Game 1. The Westbrook that shows up
for Game 3 could be the key to the Thunder possibly taking a stranglehold of
this series.

Oklahoma City made two trips to Los Angeles to face the Lakers during the
regular season, and the Thunder won the only meaningful meeting 102-93 with
Westbrook leading the way with 36 points and Kevin Durant adding 21 as they
shot 46.2 percent as a team. The Lakers won the last meeting here 114-106 in
overtime in the game made infamous by World Peace's elbow on James Harden,
but as alluded to, the Thunder were already locked in as the two-seed in the
West at that time and had nothing to play for.

Pick: OKC THUNDER+2.5