Weekly Betting Preview – Drafts take spotlight off the diamond

Online betting players will have action of another sort in their offshore sportsbook this week, as the NBA and NHL are both holding their drafts, while there is also a full slate of interleague action on the baseball diamond. Finally, NASCAR heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

NBA Draft Odds

Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin is the overwhelming favorite to be selected with the No.1 pick in the draft on Thursday, June 25 at 7:00 PM ET, and the Los Angeles Clippers are looking to turn around their terrible misfortune in the draft. Other players that figure to go in the top 10 are UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet, Spain’s Ricky Rubio, and Memphis’ Tyreke Evans, but after Griffin, the draft is a crapshoot, which will be tough to handicap for betting software.

NHL Draft Odds

It’s all about John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene in the NHL’s entry draft, which takes place on Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27. The New York Islanders are holding onto the No.1 pick and most feel they’ll take Tavares, a flashy forward who is been touted as the next big thing. But Hedman is a solid defenseman that a team could build around, and Duchene has been compared to such greats as Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman.

Baseball Betting

Midweek Series To Watch: Phillies Rays odds (Tuesday-Thursday) should favor Tampa Bay at home in this World Series rematch, but only slightly, as the Phillies are the best road team in the majors. However, Philly may be without slugger Ryan Howard, who has acute sinusitis, which could hurt their baseball lines.

Weekend Series To Watch: Yankees Mets odds (Friday-Sunday) should back the Mets at home, and they’ll be looking to avenge a losing series at Yankee Stadium earlier this month, especially a 15-0 loss in the series finale.

NASCAR Odds

The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 will take place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway at Sunday at 2:00 PM ET, and Kurt Busch won last year’s race which was cut 17 laps short due to thunderstorms. Jeff Burton leads the series with four career wins at the track, which is just over a mile in length, but his last win in New Hampshire came in 2000, which could affect the way you make your sports picks.