Should we watch the Phillies and Dodgers (MLB odds) or McCain versus Obama (political betting odds)? Luckily at the international headquarters of OffshoreInsiders.com we have a sports bar like television set-up, but the NLCS game 5 is the only must-watch TV. We will skip the Nick Wallenda stunt on the Today Show but we will read about it on TheDailyBeast.com.  

Here is the official sports betting preview of Game 5 from Chavez Ravine. The NLCS odds have Cole Hamels as a 117 favorite over Chad Billingsley with a total of 7.5 under -125.

Hamels has a .274 OBP against on the road and .268 overall. Chad Billingsley is much better at home than on the road. In LA, he has a 10-4 personal mark with a 2.95 ERA and .304 OBP against.

Philadelphia is 8-1 their last nine to the NL West, 12-3 with a day off. They are 22-7 the last 29 to starting pitchers with a WHIP of 1.30 or higher. They’ve lost four straight with Hamels on the road against teams with a winning record.

The Dodgers are 6-1 following an off day and 9-2 their last 11 following a day off. They are 13-3 their last 16 at home both to left-handed starting pitching and at home to teams with a winning record. They are 34-13 this year after two straight games of committing no errors.

The Phillies have won 7-of-8 overall in the series. However, the home team has won 12-of-13 meetings in the series this year.   

The power of 620 sports services behind every selection has the side and total winner for tonight for a total of $16. Leo Getz hits Tampa last night as the AL Playoffs Game of the Year, now the NL version, the National League Playoff Game of the Year Phillies/Dodgers. 

Kal Elner, a handicapper out of Reading, PA hits a consistent 65 percent when “waiving his normal star rating system”.  He is also the all-time top NBA totals capper. Postseason Total of the Year Philadelphia/LA Dodgers. Click now to purchase sports betting picks from the top sports services or you can get more information and free sports pick.

It’s National Grouch Day and the Phillies will be looking to close out the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night when they play in Los Angeles. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

The vaunted NFC East took a hit last week, with the Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys all going down to defeat (and Dallas losing QB Tony Romo to boot). Philadelphia was the only NFC East club to win, as they picked up a road victory in San Francisco. The Eagles are off in Week 7, but their rivals all opened as favorites; it’s currently Dallas (-7) at St. Louis, San Francisco at the Giants (-12), and finally Cleveland at Washington (-7).

Other Notable Events

Philadelphia took a 3-1 lead in the NLCS on Monday night with a 7-5 road win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the series. Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs both homered for Philly in their key eighth-inning rally, while Chase Utley stroked three hits in the game.

Wednesday’s Game 5 will feature a pitching matchup of the Phillies’ Cole Hamels and the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley. Hamels is 2-0 so far during the playoffs, beating the Brewers in the NLDS and holding the Dodgers to two earned runs over seven innings earlier in this series. Billingsley also picked up an NLDS win, but he was rocked for seven earned runs over just 2 1-3 innings of work against the Phillies in his last start.

The oddsmakers opened the Phillies as -125 road favorites for Game 5, with the total pegged at 7.5 runs. As well, Philadelphia is listed as the -130 favorite to win the NLCS.

Who has the winner? From the power of 620 sports services behind every selection, the MasterLockLine, Leo Getz hits Tampa last night as the AL Playoffs Game of the Year, now the NL version, the National League Playoff Game of the Year Phillies/Dodgers. 

Kal Elner, a handicapper out of Reading, PA hits a consistent 65 percent when “waiving his normal star rating system”.  He is also the all-time top NBA totals capper. Postseason Total of the Year Philadelphia/LA Dodgers. Click now to purchase sports betting picks from the top sports services or you can get more information and a free sports pick

The Rest of the Schedule

The New York Rangers ran their record to a perfect 5-0-0 last time out, and they’ll be gunning for their sixth straight win on Wednesday night when they play host to the Buffalo Sabres. As well, the 2-0-1 Montreal Canadiens will get a visit from the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. Rounding out the National Hockey League’s schedule for the night: Phoenix at Chicago, Nashville at Dallas, and Edmonton at Anaheim in late action.

News from the Wire

Cowboys QB Tony Romo could miss as many as four games with his broken finger . . . Browns TE Kellen Winslow missed the team’s big upset win over the Giants with his illness . . . Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck won’t play in Week 7 because of a back injury . . . The Ravens are expected to stick with rookie QB Joe Flacco in spite of his recent struggles . . . the Arena League’s New Orleans VooDoo have decided to fold.

A Peek at the Future

If the Dodgers manage to beat the Phillies on Wednesday night the two teams will head back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Friday; if Game 7 is necessary, it will be played on Saturday . . . the American League Championship Series resumes on Thursday night at Fenway Park, with the Rays holding a 2-1 series lead on the BoSox. Boston‘s James Shields will go up against Tampa Bay‘s Daisuke Matsuzaka in that pivotal matchup.

Final Presidential Debate

According to the political betting odds Republican Presidential candidate John McCain needs a miracle to upset Democrat Barack Obama. McCain’s last stand can begin tonight at Hofstra University. Waterboarding is expected to be a hot topic if one were to believe the Internet blogs

Should I go with, against or ignore the public consensus?   What do I do with line moves?  Are they one and the same?  You ask some good questions.

Probably at one time or another you have joked, or maybe were quite serious when you said something to the effect, “Bet against my buddy, JoeBagOfDonuts.  Every game he picks, he loses.”

I knew a old hand sportsbook clerk who maintained fervently that every time some loudmouth came into his sportsbook and bragged that the oddsmakers were giving away money on a particular game or that a line was so far off, then plopped down $25 on such a “sure thing”, the clerk would immediately go to another casino and bet the other side.  He vowed that about 70 percent of the time, the big bragging, small-playing egomaniac would lose.

In actuality, the basic philosophy behind that is very compelling.  Fading public consensus plays can be actually be a very genuine and priceless starting point of handicapping.  A little known fact is that the oddsmakers very much study public betting trends when making the line. That is, in many circumstances, the linesmaker before he even posts a line, knows that recent data shows that the public is going to lean towards betting Team A against Team B, regardless of what the line is.  Hence a team that should be a 14 point favorite is posted as a 16-point chalk. Just an extra half-point here and an extra point there can prove huge over the long run.

The great equalizer would of course to have the exact information of which teams are overpriced because of public perception.  As we like to say, you can use the oddsmakers knowledge against them.

I have heard both first hand and second hand stories about guys who ran parlay card operations (for amusement only of course) who every week would compile a consensus from among their hundreds of participants.

They would then bet against all of biggest consensus plays and do very, very well.  We have found that the public consensus plays as found at contest sites such as Bigguy and Wagerline have been very accurate in measuring public perception.  Generally the top consensus plays at those sites and from outlaw information that we get fairly parallel.

I only consider something above 70-percent to be significant enough for “fading” purposes.  Consensus plays that overwhelming are often few and far between, but just like in everything else that we do, we set the bar very high.

However, so often the public confuses line moves and “public plays”.  Line moves are much more affected by the sharp player than the majority, thus merely tracking line moves does have some value, but is not a foolproof indicator of fade plays.

That’s why I compare the information that I get from my outlaw book acquaintances, offshore contacts and compare them to the Internet contest sites.  When all such information coincides, we have the chance to fade sucker plays.

Schleps can be of great value to smart players.  The more you fade them, the brighter they begin to look.

The author, Joe Duffy has his picks part of GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com A long-time veteran of the sports betting industry, Duffy got his start at Dial Sports 976 Dial It service and eventually became the most decorated scorephone handicapper in history.

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox will both be trying to pick up a win on Tuesday when they battle at Fenway Park in Game 4 of the ALCS.
The Rays will pin their hopes on the pitching of righthander Andy Sonnanstine in this game. Sonnanstine has a 14-9 record and a 4.34 ERA this season.
The Red Sox will counter Sonnanstine with Tim Wakefield. Righthander Wakefield has a 4.13 ERA to go along with a 10-11 record this season.
Odds aren't yet posted for this game, so check back later for the opening line and total.
B.J. Upton went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer as the Rays walked past the Red Sox 9-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the ALCS on Monday.
Tampa Bay cashed as +170 road underdogs as the game played over the 8.5-run total listed by oddsmakers.
Rocco Baldelli also had a three-run jack for the Rays, while winning pitcher Matt Garza allowed one run over six innings for Tampa Bay.
Jacoby Ellsbury drove in the lone run for Boston, as Jon Lester gave up four earned runs over 5 2-3 innings to take the loss for the Red Sox.
Team records:
Tampa Bay: 97-65 SU
Boston: 95-67 SU
Tampa Bay most recently:
When playing on Tuesday are 2-8
Before playing Boston are 5-5
After playing Boston are 9-1
After a win are 6-4

Boston most recently:
When playing on Tuesday are 7-3
Before playing Tampa Bay are 6-4
After playing Tampa Bay are 3-7
After a loss are 7-3
A few trends to consider:
Tampa Bay is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Boston
Tampa Bay is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 6 games when playing Boston
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 9 games on the road
Boston is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games when playing at home against Tampa Bay
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston's last 6 games when playing Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 6 games when playing at home against Tampa Bay
Boston is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games at home
Next up:
Boston home to Tampa Bay, Thursday, October 16

What a day to sit and watch television. No not just to follow the news about the Tommy Bowden firing at Clemson Tigers football and being replaced by Dabo Sweeney, the Tony Romo injury making Brad Johnson the Dallas Cowboys starter, or the Tony Gonzalez rumors, but to watch and win bets.

It’s the ALCS game three (betting preview) between Boston and Tampa, the NLSC between Philadelphia and Los Angeles and Monday Night Football between Cleveland and New York Giants. 

Christopher Columbus may have discovered America, but the power of 620 sports services behind every selection discovered winning bets. Marcia Brady sometimes known as Maureen McCormick may claim she and Eve Plumb has drug addictions, but if you are addicted to winning, here is the objective rundown of the top sports handicapping picks.

Jared Lindsey a handicapper out of Sarasota, FL is among the Top 5 handicappers all sports combined since 1995-present. Stats are out of 620 services monitored, rankings based on total net units won based on ONE unit per play. We release his 5* plays. He is No. 1 again in MLB from August 1 until today. His 5*s in MLB are now on a 29-10 run. Another 5* Devil Rays/Red Sox

Sports service out of Las Vegas is No.1 for 2008 in MLB. Playoff Best Play Of the Year Dodgers/Phillies

It applies again, the same MNF stat you’ve won with many times. Statmaven Sports is No. 1 all-time on as far as plays that have risen to the level to be re-released. Rankings trace back to the 976-LOCK scorephone. Like all elite sports service, Statmaven considers units won, not deceptive winning percentages to be the say to measure systems. However, the best ROI in sports applies on tonight’s MNF side. A super system that is 22-1 specifically on MNF applies tonight. However extended to all true national TV NFL Games (Sunday Night, Thursday and the late season Saturday games) the angle is a stunning 53-9 against the spread. Giants/Browns side

Kongpop Sukhibomrong, head of the famed Pan-Asian Syndicate which dominated Asian and European soccer for years has now taken over the North American sports scene. His group has now merged with Danny Ying of SuperLockLine fame. Pop’s syndicate is the most requested source of winners in the history of the SuperLockLine and MasterLockLine.  Today get the MNF over/under from the handicapper hotter than Vanessa Hudgens make out pictures with Bobby Bones.  

Get the three big sides for $16 Click now to purchase

GodsTips, the anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com added the NLCS winner! We have the side and total for Monday Night Football up now, the Giants-Browns. If long-term profit means anything to you, of course you are already a permanent client of GodsTips. For the rest of you, we are ahead in college football and off a winning preseason, GodsTips is also way ahead in the regular season. Sweep MNF. Click now to purchase the best in the handicapping business for $17 Click now to purchase

The founder of forensic sports handicapping is on a 9-2 run in football. Get the Rays/Red Sox side, Phillies/Dodgers over/under and the Giants/Browns side. The Monday Night Football game is supported by a 100% angle and as always we tell you exactly what it is. Click now to purchase

It’s the Tampa Bay Rays taking on the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the ALCS. The sportsbooks have Jon Lester and Boston as a 180 favorite over Tampa Bay and Matt Garza with a total of 8.5 under -115.

Tampa has lost 5-of-6 with Garza and they are 5-11 on the road with him -7 units. Boston is a mind-boggling 16-2 at home with Lester +13.8 units. In fact, going back to last year, they are 23-4 at home with him and 41-13 the last 54 with him on grass. They have won 6-of-7 with Lester overall heading into this game.

Tampa is hitting just .252 for the year on grass and a horrid .248 on the road. Boston though is hitting just .234 in their last seven games.

The Rays are 33-67 on the road to left-handed starters and 63-136 on the road against teams with a winning record. Boston is 42-12 at home to teams with a losing road record. Tampa has lost seven straight to Lester. The BoSox are a scary 46-11 at home in the series, yet Tampa has won 8-of-11 overall meetings recently.

Some over/under betting trends tell us that Boston has gone under at a 7-0-1 rate after allowing five or more runs last game.

Who wins? Check out MasterLockLine.com as they are on a typical 20-5 recent tear and even better long-term in football betting, so find out the Giants-Browns victor as well thanks to power of 620 sports services behind every selection.