Kentucky Derby betting players will be looking at the favorites for the “Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports” next weekend, and NHL betting players are in the same boat. Vancouver were the overall favorites, but they barely made out of the first round against their bitter rivals from Chicago. Boston also got rid of their most hated rivals, and now are plotting revenge against the team who completed a historic comeback in last year’s playoffs.

Vancouver won the first three games of their series with Chicago, then lost the last three, and the city of Vancouver was on pins and needles for Game 7, especially when Jonathan Toews knotted the game late in the third period to send it to overtime. However, Alex Burrows’ second goal of the game came in the extra period, and the Canucks exorcised some demons. Now, they move onto the next round where they will be a huge favorite against Nashville.

The Bruins also needed seven games and overtime to beat their rivals from Montreal, and they did it with three overtime wins, and they lost the first two games of the series at home. Along with Vancouver-Chicago, Boston-Montreal was the best of a wild first round, and now the Bruins will look to take on Philadelphia, who became the third team in history to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs when they stunned Boston last year. This will be a tough call, but the Bruins should still meet Vancouver in the finals, which means you should take them against the banged-up Flyers when you’re sports betting online.

Usually hoop teams that find themselves at the bottom of the NBA standings can at least take solace during the playoffs knowing the future of the franchise might be only weeks away at the draft.

Not this year.

The talent pool for the 2011 NBA Draft is extremely weak, arguably even worse than it was in 2006 when the league’s new eligibility rules barred high school players from entering the draft. (That lottery produced only two All-Stars, Brandon Roy and Rajon Rondo, and Roy’s career might be over because of his bad knees). It only got worse when North Carolina’s star freshman swingman Harrison Barnes decided to return to school.

There are no likely franchise players available, and few potential All-Stars. Still, there are players who could fill certain roles and help contribute to a team’s rebuilding efforts.

Without any overwhelming talents available, GMs will likely be best served to draft players based on positions they need to fill, so here’s a quick look at the best prospects at each of the five positions on court.

Point Guard: Kyrie Irving, Duke

Irving is the top prospect on just about everyone’s draft board. He has a great feel for the game, sees the floor well and can get to the rim. There aren’t a lot of holes in his game, and he plays a crucial position very well.

The thing is, the league has seen a sudden influx of top-tier point guards of late. Superstars at the position have become a dime a dozen, from John Calipari’s trio of Derrick Rose, John Wall and Tyreke Evans to Deron Williams and Chris Paul, the stars of the 2005 draft. In 2004, Irving would have been a rare find. But coming into a league suddenly loaded with distributors, he’s much less of an exciting prospect.

He’s not Wall or Rose, but he could be a borderline All-Star.

Shooting Guard: Alec Burks, Colorado

The two-guard spot is the weakest link in a weak draft. There are only maybe two or three first-round-level prospects. ( Some might consider UConn’s Kemba Walker an undersized two-guard, but he’s more likely to project as a scoring point in the pros.)

Burks is probably the best of the bunch, but a two-guard who shot 29 per cent from outside the arc in his last season doesn’t exactly get scouts drooling. He’s a slashing, athletic wing who should be able to get NBA scores, but his jumper is definitely still a work in progress.

Small Forward: Derrick Williams, Arizona

Williams isn’t a true 3, but at 6-8 he’s too small to take on NBA-level power forwards. Regardless of position, though, he’s one of the best prospects in the draft. A versatile, aggressive scorer, he dominated both Duke and UConn during March Madness and established himself as one of the few prospects with some star potential.

He might have trouble finding a position in the pros, but his combination of explosiveness, energy, and scoring ability make him an alternative to Irving as the number one pick.

Power Forward: Bismack Biyombo, Spain

With Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje out of the NBA, there’s a clear dearth of hilariously-named, African-born big men in the league.

Bismack Biyombo is here to fill that hole. A phenomenal athlete still developing his game, he’s been contributing consistently in the Spanish ACB, the second-best basketball league on the planet.

If he can translate his energy and athleticism to the NBA, he could be a defensive nightmare. If not, at least fans will get to listen to Marv Albert mangle his name when he’s throwing down alley-oops in the waning minutes of blowouts.

Centre: Enes Kanter, Kentucky (but not really, was ruled ineligible and didn’t play)

If shooting guard is the worst position in the draft, centre isn’t far behind. Kanter is known for being a highly-skilled and physical player inside, but he lacks great athleticism and scouts haven’t seen as much of him as they’d have liked because he never ended up taking the floor at Kentucky.

International, white big men with limited athleticism aren’t exactly the sexiest picks, but Kanter has been drawing comparisons to Andrew Bogut, who has developed into one of the league’s better young centres.

PayPerHead.com, an online sportsbook service provider for local bookmaking agents, today unveiled a new campaign featuring Vince Curatola, Johnny Sack of The Sopranos fame.

The campaign leads with Vince asking “Five bucks per head, that’s what I wanna pay…” and the website, featuring video and voice overs by Vince, walks you through the product, the process and the competition.
“Five bucks a head is really an industry first given our level of service,” a spokesman from PayPerHead.com explained. “And we very carefully and in great detail delineate on the website exactly what you get and at what price level at PayPerHead versus the other serious players, such as Price Per Head.”

And what you get is a lot, including not only the traditional online sportsbook but an optional casino, live poker, in game live betting, mobile betting, tools for managing players and their funds, layoff and scalp accounts, even a “sharp check.” “We have the sharpest lines out there and one of the most experienced stages anywhere offshore,” the spokesman said, “so if we start seeing sharp action from one of your players, we can give you a heads up. What you want to do with him is up to you.”

The choice of Vince Curatola was an interesting one. “We always liked Vince’s character on The Sopranos, as John “Johnny Sack” Sacramoni,” the PayPerHead spokesman said. “He had a certain style, classy, but not over the top; there’s a calmness and authority about him that we really admire.  He brings that serious business demeanor to PayPerHead.com, the first sportsbook-service to EVER feature any kind of celebrity in its marketing.”
With post-up books like BetUS, Sportsbook.com and SportsInteraction stopping taking US players, Bodog and others struggling with “Ecom” processing problems, the street scene is heating up and players are posting daily in forums looking for a “local out.” Players want the huge selection of markets, including live in-game betting, and the convenience of anytime betting online or via their mobile, but more and more say “they want to bet online but prefer to settle in cash on Monday.”

Is this the future of online sports betting? Quite possibly. And with firms like PayPerHead.com investing in marketing in an unprecedented way (celebs, who’d have thunk it?!) and in product (they also offer live poker, casino and in-game betting), expect to see this sector grow significantly this season.

For more information, see PayPerHead.com.

Betting on MLB baseball is hot right now as the season is really starting to get underway, but you can’t forget about the NBA playoffs, which kicks off on Saturday with four games, and here is who we think will end up clashing in the Finals.

Eastern Conference

Chicago keeps proving us wrong, and if you would have said that they would end up with 62 wins before the regular season, you have gotten some weird looks. It’s either going to be the Bulls or Miami, as Boston is looking old and while they won’t go without a fight, the Celtics won’t make it back to the Finals. Orlando has Dwight Howard, but if he goes out with foul trouble, the Magic are going to have problems. The x-factor is New York, but they’re too bad defensively. We’re sticking with Chicago.

Western Conference

Oklahoma City is our pick to emerge out of the wild West, because we’re not completely sure how healthy Andrew Bynum’s knee is, and he makes the Lakers a completely different team. No one trusts Dallas or Denver, and even though they had a great regular season, we think San Antonio will run out of gas. They leaves the Thunder, who have a great one-two punch in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and Kendrick Perkins gives them toughness.

Finals

We’re going with the Bulls to complete their dream-like season with a title in what should be an exciting series. It’s just so tough to bet against Derrick Rose after everything he has done, and the Bulls are a better defensive team than the Thunder, who will eke out a couple wins. Still, we have to lay a sports bet on Chicago for the Finals.

March Madness betting players are coming to the end of one of the craziest Tournaments in the history of the NCAA, as no No.1 seed reached the Final Four for the first time, and one matchup features the highest combination of seeds ever. Here are our Final Four picks for the weekend.

VCU Butler Betting – Saturday, 6:05 PM ET

The Bulldogs are 2.5-point favorites in their first meeting with the Rams, and with Butler as a No.8 seed and VCU as a No.11, this is the highest combination of seeds to meet in the Final Four. The Rams have been rolling through the Tournament to the surprise of, well, everyone, while Butler, who was a finalist last year, have gotten here by the skin of their teeth. VCU’s three-point shooting has been the difference in their run, but we think the Bulldogs are going to make it tough for them to get going from the outside, which is why we’re taking Butler.

UConn Kentucky Betting – Saturday, 8:45 PM ET

The Wildcats are 2.5-point favorites against the Huskies, who beat Kentucky in the 2006 Tournament, and then they romped over the Wildcats in the final of the Maui tournament earlier this year. We expect Kentucky to remember that beating and take it to the Huskies, especially Brandon Knight, who was dominated by UConn’s Kemba Walker. The Huskies are 12-0 in tournament games this season, but the run will be ended by an athletic Kentucky team anchored by a surprising big man in Josh Harrelson. Go with Kentucky in your online sports betting picks.