Here is a sample of the OffshoreInsiders.com crib sheet: trends and tendencies we look for in sports betting, then proactively exploit.

Get Healthy Charlotte Please

Anyone who has been a client of ours for years knows how much we exploit the dichotomous ATS and straight up teams. For those on the outside looking in, the teams that are most profitable for sharp players are top shelf teams that often win without covering or bottom dwellers that lose straight up but are able to cover the spread.

We have isolated the Bobcats as a strong candidate to keep on our radar screen. It has been a baptism by fire for first-year head coach Sam Vincent. He has learned from his early missteps, but continues to struggle with a shorthanded team.

“Leading scorer Gerald Wallace played in only one of the final six games entering the All-Star break, plus Raymond Felton, Matt Carroll and Derek Anderson all have bruised knees,” points out Curt Thomas, full-time NBA handicapper for GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com.

Thanks to their home arena hosting three college basketball tournaments, Charlotte plays 15 of 21 games on the road in an upcoming stretch. A horrid 4-18 straight up on the highway before the break, safe to say they will be getting tons of points. Thus, they just need to be more competitive to cover. They don’t need to win outright.

With a coach who has progressed with on the job training, a team that should, repeat should be healthier, they will be a more competitive team—the type of team that covers, but remains under the radar because they keep losing straight up.

Mavericks Go-Against in Three Games in Four Night Situations

The Mavericks blockbuster trade to get Jason Kidd will be a classic “step back to take two steps forward” move for the handicappers. The Mavs bench was already thin and they diluted it further to get the soon-to-be 35 year old legs of Kidd.

Losing DeSagana Diop makes them a smaller team in a conference that has most of the league’s top big men. The move should help come playoff time, but we look to fade them against teams with quality big men and in unrested situations.

However, because of the trade, the public will perceive them as better and the oddsmakers must oblige.

Hawks and Over

Atlanta is one of the most underachieving teams in the league. They have two problems: coaching and point guard. Scratch the latter. Atlanta got Mike Bibby in a trade with the Kings. With Joe Johnson, the Hawks have a legitimate 1-2 punch.

The Hawks like to run and they got a necessary cog. We look for the Hawks to sneak up on the oddsmakers and also have a lot more high scoring games.

The author, Joe Duffy is part of Dream Team at GodsTips, the anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com. Check out all the free and premium information for sports betting at OffshoreInsiders.com

As the post All-Star Game stretch run is set to begin, sportsbooks have the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons as the favorites to win the 2008 NBA Championship.

Boston is +265 while Detroit is +275 according to Bookmaker. NBA betting expert Curt Thomas from GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com says the oddsmakers recognize the Eastern Conference Champion will have an easier road than the Western Conference. “We could see a team win 50 games in the West and not make the playoffs,” says Thomas, “thus no team had an quick path while the East should come down to the Pistons and the Celtics.”

Phoenix and newly acquired center Shaquille O’Neal are next at +500, followed very closely by the Spurs at +505. Cy McCormick of MasterLockLine.com emphasizes, “The Spurs have been there, done that,” and adds that they are better than their record indicates because of several injuries.

Perennial bridesmaid and first-round upset victim last year, Dallas is +600. The Lakers, who recently added Pau Gasol to the equation, are +700.

Can LeBron James repeat and exceed last year’s one-man show? The Cavaliers are +2000, showing little respect for the defending Eastern Conference Champions.

Who is the best long shot? Thomas says it’s New Orleans at +1100. “Their starting five is their strength and benches shorten up in the postseason,” says the NBA betting guru.

To win your bets for the NBA stretch run, March Madness and more, visit OffshoreInsiders.com

The Potomac Primaries and of course Super Tuesday results taken into account. Bookmaker has Barack Obama as the betting favorite to be elected President of the United States in the 2008 Presidential Election.

Obama is -110 in the POTUS race. Fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton is +205, while Republican John McCain is +220. The field, which would include any independent or third-party candidate, is +7000.

RealClearPolitics.com, which has among its most popular features, a consensus of all the national polls, has hypothetical primary election match-ups quite close. Obama has a 47.7-44 percent lead over John McCain, but McCain gets the upper hand against Clinton 47-45.2.

McCain is struggling with support among conservatives. According to sports betting expert Joe Duffy, no political novice either, “Many conservatives will stay home if Obama is the Democratic nominee, but if it’s Clinton, it will be as simple as ABC,” Duffy pauses, “Anybody but Clinton.”

Though McCain is the presumed Republican nominee, the Democratic race is tight, but perhaps not says according to the oddsmakers. Bookmaker has Obama a prohibitive -260 favorite to be the party nominee, with once-frontrunner Clinton now at +200.

According to Duffy, Clinton is a live dog. “The Clinton machine is ruthless,” Duffy said reminding bettors of Bill Clinton’s nickname this time 16 years ago, “The Comeback Kid”.

BetUs Sportsbook allows the more general bet of which party will win the White House. Democrats are -225, while Republicans are +175.

Follow American Idol betting, updated POTUS betting odds and more on OffshoreInsiders.com

Here is a sample crib sheet of news, notes, trends and tendencies that OffshoreInsiders.com handicappers use.

Arizona, Not a Wise Bet?

Nic Wise is Arizona’s only true point guard and will likely not be back for the Pac-10 Tournament, perhaps even the NCAA Tournament. This is a huge loss and the Wildcats will toil against good pressure defenses. Those who best halftime lines, look for Arizona to struggle late in games with no depth at point guard.

However, should Zona struggle as expected then get Wise back earlier than anticipated, we will ride them, knowing their game will return.

Oregon State, Ride Them

Okay, let’s explain our successful dichotomous spread team theory again. We discount 98 percent of trends, but this has proven to be the exception to the rule. In short, if a team has a great SU record but horrid ATS record or visa versa, you ride for that to continue as it is the sign of which teams are most under or overvalued.

Oregon State has a rallying cry. They have used reports from an “unnamed coach” being quoted as saying OSU quit on the season. They will be getting a lot of points, in their remaining contests, in arguably the toughest conference. Because they are a rare substandard team in the Pac-10, Beavers bettors will benefit from sandwich games, letdown games, and look-ahead contests. They should be a good spread time from here on out.

Carolina, Vulnerable ATS

It’s not likely North Carolina is going to sneak up on any team or oddsmaker. But now they have several key injuries: star Ty Lawson remains sidelined, Marcus Ginyard is playing wounded on both feet, Deon Thompson is less than 100 percent and one of their best bench players, Bobby Frasor is out for the year.

“Chemistry” is one buzzword we actually welcome and subscribe to the theory. Keep in mind that the Tar Heels have already had three overtime games in the ACC and three games decided by two or fewer points in their first 10 conference games.

Yes, they have depth, but not only is that being tested but Carolina has had to change lineups often. While other teams are gelling this time of the year, Carolina is making adjustments.

Be Leery of Betting on Kansas State

The Wildcats have been one of the great surprises in the nation under first year coach Frank Martin. But they’ve gone from hunter to the hunted. Also, they have their biggest tests coming up at home to Texas on Feb. 26 followed by a huge rematch against a Kansas team they recently conquered. However, the rematch is at Allen Fieldhouse. We think K States Vegas betting value has reached its peak.

The author, Joe Duffy, is CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com. It’s approaching conference tournament time. From the mid-majors to the “BCS” conferences, nobody picks more winners than Dream Team at GodsTips, the anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com

Each and every season all sports should be a learning experience in sports betting. We always reflect and critique ourselves, evaluate what changes have been made by the oddsmakers and how the alterations in the sports landscape affect handicapping.

High on the list of strategy refinements this football season was the realization that I found a football handicapping Holy Grail about a quarter of a century ago yet let it slip through my fingertips.

In the pre-Internet days, one of my top sources for data was the Sports and Gaming Newswire, one of Jim Feist’s companies. I believe that was the first time I encountered the yards per point statistic.

On offense it is calculated by yards gained divided by points scored. On defense, it’s yards allowed divided by points given up. The theory is it measures efficiency on both sides of the ball.

A low number on offense is good, meaning a team does not waste yardage or “leave points on the field” so to speak.

A high number on defense is good, meaning a lot of successful defensive stands. However, conventional thinking (handicapping’s ultimate oxymoron) would say bet on the efficient teams and against the inefficient.

The stat proved not only worthless, but if anything one would be better off fading the stat. Little did I know how true the latter was and how consistent it has been with so many other improvements and refinements I’ve made in my handicapping over the decades.

We’ve written many articles on how we measure the accuracy and validity of a team’s performance. We don’t have the time and space to go over every detail but in short, we use net yardage record (a team that gets more yards “wins”) where others use straight up won-loss record. We use net yards per game comparisons where the squares employ points per game.

Others “rank” teams by total yards per game in passing, rushing and overall both offensively and defensively. In lieu of that, we use the more reliable yards per rush, yards per pass and yards per play relative to the cumulative average of their opponents to date.

For elaboration, visit the archived sports betting strategy articles at OffshoreInsiders.com, but our supposition is that these stats demonstrate which teams outplay or underplay their stats and hence, which teams have the biggest upside and which have the biggest downside. Insert the terms overvalued and undervalued.

Remember, a team’s Vegas/offshore value is most affected by their performance. But the teams that have the best, yes we said best yards per point stats are teams that are going to be overvalued and teams with the worst undervalued.

Why? The most efficient teams can only improve by maintaining the high bar they have set for themselves while increasing actual production.

The squads that, for example, waste offensive yardage by not converting them into points (bad yards per point rating) have demonstrated they are capable of more than their bottom line production has shown.

There is little debate that poor efficiency is more correctable than poor production. Remember, it’s not like one can retroactively bet stats. The more efficient teams will have the best spread records to date for the most part. As gamblers, we want to know beforehand which teams will have a reversal of fortune—literally.

This past season, we beta tested (tracked but did not bet) the theory. Voila. Yes, the teams that were wasting yards did have the biggest upside and the least wasteful teams did have the bigger downside. Essentially, it proved to be a great a great way to “buy low and sell high” and apply it to handicapping.

Best of all, the more the previously referenced stats: net yardage, yards per rush/pass/play and yards per point theories corroborated each other, not surprisingly, the stronger the play. If the data contradicted, of course it meant there was no statistical angle to exploit.

The beta testing is done. We are greatly looking forward to next football season.

No need to wait until next football season to bet on sports. The author, Joe Duffy makes his picks on GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com. With March Madness betting around the corner, note that Duffy’s prowess and work ethic has earned him the monikers of Mr. March and the Lord of the Dance.