Sports Gambling

The National Hockey League is down to its final four teams and two of them, the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes, will be in action today, with the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers kicking in Monday.

There are plenty of great storylines in each of the four remaining teams and two series that feature squads who really don't care for one another all that much. The potential is there for a pair of memorable series, although things don't always work out that way.

Still, sports fans could do a lot worse, especially than the Devils and Rangers, which is one of the better rivalries of the league in recent years.

We'll take a look at both series in 2012 NHL Conference Finals in the Hockey Betting section of the site.

Photo: New Jersey's Zach Parise looks to lead the Devils past the New York Rangers. (Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images)

We'll stick with our customary look at each round of the NBA playoffs, this time jumping ahead to the NBA Conference Finals.

In the past we've discussed long-term trends versus short-term trends and how professional sports will typically, over time, correct itself, if we are seeing a high percentage of overs or unders, favorites or underdogs covering. The NBA Conference Finals are a perfect example of that, as there are definite long-term trends, but they haven't held up over the past five seasons and in some cases, have pronounced tendencies that go the other way.

Read NBA Conference Final Trends in the Basketball Betting section of the site.

Photo: LeBron James of the Miami Heat. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

A full field of 20 horses are expected to go off in today's Kentucky Derby, as thunderstorms are forecast several times during the day, making the Run For the Roses as unpredictable as ever.

Union Rags has become the betting favorite as of early Saturday morning, but even he is at 5-to-1 odds, giving decent prices on all of the entries.

But with so much uncertainty for today's race, your best bet may be to look for a longshot, bet small and hope for the best.

We'll take a quick look at the race in 2012 Kentucky Derby located in the Betting on Other Sports section of the site.

Photo: Dullahan takes a leisurely stroll around the Churchill Downs track in preparation for today's Kentucky Derby. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

It's time to jump ahead to the second round of the NBA playoffs, so you can get a bit of a head-start on your handicapping.

The NBA Conference Semifinals have shown even more pronounced trends than the first round, including some that directly oppose one another, so it's important to look at each round of games a bit differently if you're a situational handicapper.

Read NBA Playoff Second Round Trends located in the Basketball Betting section of the site.

Photo: Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

When we first came out with our Statistical Baseball Betting System we knew that it was going to be a bit of a learning experience for everybody, myself included. It was designed to be a strong foundation and it does have promise.

Since the original article came out, I have thought of a few things you may want to consider adding to the system if you're inclined and can find the time. One of the biggest advantages to the system is that it is easy to use, as well as fast, and while certain adjustments might show a slight increase in performance, they can add considerable time to the process.

Read Baseball Betting System Tweaks in the Baseball Betting section of the site.

Photo: Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates a game-winning home run against the Washington Nationals. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The second round of the NHL playoffs begin tonight in Arizona, where the Predators take on the Coyotes, and the other three will get started over the weekend.

The Blues are the favorites to come out of the West, while the Flyers are slight favorites in the East, despite being the No. 5 seed and the No. 1-seeded New York Rangers still alive.

We'll look at all of the second-round playoff prices and updated Stanley Cup odds in 2012 NHL Conference Semifinals in the Hockey Betting section of the site.

Photo: Pekka Rinne will look to get Nashville to the Western Conference Finals with a series win over Phoenix. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The NBA playoff field is set, so it's time to take a look at post-season trends each of the teams have developed over the past seasons. Some teams, such as Memphis or New York, have little in the way of playoff history, while the old standbys, such as Boston and the Lakers, have plenty of games to look at.

As would be expected, certain teams have some noticeable trends, while others haven't had a tendency to play one way or the other.

We'll look at all of the teams and their trends in NBA Playoff Team Trends located in the Basketball Betting section of the site.

Photo: Earl Watson and the Utah Jazz have been solid playoff favorites. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The NBA playoffs are just around the corner, so it's time to switch gears a bit and look at first-round trends from the past five years. As always, we'll look at both side and total trends.

There were a few more tendencies than might be expected and we'll look at them in NBA Playoff First Round Trends located in the Basketball Betting section of the site.

Photo: Matt Barnes of the Los Angeles Lakers. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

This article is essentially the same as the one right below it, but this time we'll look at the National League teams and the starting figures for both teams and pitchers.

We'll give another example using real numbers for the 2012 season in case there are still any questions.

With the numbers already calculated it only takes a minute or two to make a line for each game and it will be interesting to track the system both in the first third of the season, as well as the final two-thirds when we're using current numbers.

Read Baseball System National League Starting Numbers in the Baseball Betting section of the site.

Photo: Mat Latos of the Cincinnati Reds. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Our statistical baseball system that we presented last week drew some attention, so to make things a bit easier for everybody, I went ahead and did the starting 2012 numbers that you can use for the first third of the season.

All of the teams' offensive numbers are given, along with pitcher ratings for most who started 10 games last season. This will cut your work down quite a bit and make predicting games a snap.

Read Baseball System American League Starting Numbers in the Baseball Betting section of the site.

Photo: Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki. (Photo by Rick Yeatts/Getty Images)