Hot bets in the sports wagering world can be cash cows or clunkers. Finding the opportune time to ride the train or abandon ship separates the winners from the losers. Covers.com examines some recent sizzling action on the betting board.
NCAA
Kent State Golden Flashes
Guarantees in sports can produce a plethora of reactions. They can serve as bulletin board material for the disrespected opponent or invoke a deafening laugh among the fans and media.
But a recurring gambling trend when a player or coach promises a win is heavy action on that guarantee.
After a 34-14 dismantling by Iowa State in Week 3, head coach Doug Martin guaranteed his team would become bowl eligible. Since that guarantee Kent State hasn’t just shown flashes of gold, the team has been an absolute gold mine.
The Golden Flashes have won four of their last six games, but more importantly are 6-0 ATS during that span.
Heading into Saturday, Kent State is listed as a soft favorite of 3.5 points at Akron.
Undefeated teams outside of Florida, Texas and Alabama
The phrase “style points” gets thrown around this time of year for teams looking to bust into the BCS picture.
This season, more than a handful of programs remain undefeated, but the bottom tier of those teams may never get to put their unblemished records on the line for a national title.
Heading into Saturday, Iowa (9-0), Cincinnati (8-0), TCU (8-0) and Boise State (8-0) fell under this category and have all been getting pounded by the public in recent weeks.
The feverish four combined to go 11-1 ATS during Weeks 7, 8 and 9 while outscoring opponents 430-131.
This week each of the four teams carry a spread of at least 15 points. Every team except for Iowa has encountered a line increase and all of the teams have the majority of bets coming in on them.
NBA
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets looked like a resurrected ballclub last season with the addition of Chauncey Billups. Denver still embodied a thug aura with Carmelo, J.R. Smith, K-Mart and the Birdman, but played with more cohesiveness than ever behind the leadership of Billups.
Former Tar Heel Ty Lawson is going to be the next Chris Paul. Both are a shade under six-feet and weigh in at 190 pounds dripping wet. Nuggets fans won’t miss Billups once he decides to hang up the sneakers because Lawson will be Law-Dog in D-Town for many years to come.
The Heat handed the Nuggets their first loss of the season on Friday night. That defeat resulted in the second ATS loss on the season for Denver with the first coming against Memphis by one point.
Denver has a tendency to start games slowly, but have outscored opponents in the second half this season by an average of 9.7 points.
NFL
Betting against teams with fewer than two wins
The poor folks in Sin City had to delay installment of a platinum-plated shark aquarium on the 45th floor of the Hilton after Week 8 of the NFL season.
The Vegas sportsbooks took one of the biggest hits in history after that Sunday’s bloodbath which witnessed six upper-echelon teams win by a margin greater than 28 points.
The Cleveland Browns (1-7), Kansas City Chiefs (1-6), St. Louis Rams (1-7), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-7) and Oakland Raiders (2-6) might have elected to kiss their cousins that day rather than receive the beat down administered by their opponents.
Add the Tennessee Titans (1-6), Detroit Lions (1-6), Washington Redskins (2-5) and Seattle Seahawks (2-5) to that list and you have nine “fade away on any given Sunday” selections.
These teams are consistently showing up as double-digit dogs and the betting nation doesn’t blink an eye when laying the points.
NHL
Colorado Avalanche
The other smoking hot team in the Centennial State is the Avalanche.
Coming off one of the most pathetic years in franchise history after finishing dead last in the Western Conference, the Avs have melted the ice during the 2009-10 campaign.
The frozen season remains young, but Colorado is leading the Northwest Division after one month of play with a 12-5 record that includes a 6-0 home mark.
The Avalanche have flooded backers pockets with cash as the most profitable team in the league this season. Throwing $100 on the Colorado moneyline each game would have you more than a grand in the black.