Betting on futures would be much easier if they came with a crystal ball, but unfortunately we have to base our vision of what is going to happen tomorrow with just the information we have right now. Most sportbooks set the betting odds for futures with a heavy lean towards how they believe the betting public will react to the actual numbers, so many times there is some great value to be found if you go in a different direction than the rest of the pack.
This week's expert betting tips will try and predict the future by taking a closer look at the current betting odds for sporting events that will play themselves out sometime down the road. They are all based on finding the best value possible for your betting dollar.
Penguins Top the List for Winning Back-to-Back Titles
Bovada recently released its futures odds to win the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup title, and the team at the top of the list is the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins as +800 favorites to repeat. The last time an NHL team won consecutive titles was all the way back in 1999 when the Detroit Red Wings swept the Washington Capitals in four straight games to claim their second NHL title in as many years.
Following Pittsburgh on this list is Chicago and Washington as +1000 second favorites to win it all. St. Louis is a +1200 fourth favorite, and three teams listed at +1400 betting odds include the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Rounding out the top contenders on this list are Anaheim and Dallas at +1600.
If you go back to the 2008/09 NHL season, a total of four different teams have combined to win the last eight Stanley Cup titles. Pittsburgh has now won two, Boston won in 2011, the Blackhawks are three-time winners and the Kings have two titles to their credit as well. One way to bet this future would be to split your money three ways with a smaller play on the Penguins, Blackhawks and Kings. Sorry Boston fans, I am not biting on that team's +2500 betting odds to win the Cup next year.
Keeping Things North of the Border
Hockey is the national pastime of Canada, but with the NHL shut down until next fall our friends north of the border can now turn their attention to football with the 2016 CFL regular season getting underway this week. Bovada has weighed in on that topic as well by setting the defending Grey Cup Champions Edmonton Eskimos as +400 favorites to win it all again this year. Calgary is next on the list at +450, followed by Hamilton at +500 and Toronto at +600. The one good thing about betting on CFL Grey Cup futures is the simple fact that there are only nine teams in this league to help narrow down your choices.
Applying a bit of the same logic I used in the NHL Stanley Cup futures pick, you will find that a team from the West Division has won the Grey Cup in four of the last five seasons. The only exception was Toronto's title in 2012. The British Columbia Lions started this run in 2011, but after falling to 7-11 last season their odds to win a title this season are set at +900.
Saskatchewan won the 2013 CFL Grey Cup, but with just three wins in 2015 the Roughriders' odds to turn things around in a big way are set at +800. That leaves Edmonton and Calgary as the top two teams in the West and the most likely candidates to keep this division winning streak alive after each hoisted the Cup the last two years.
Bouncing Back in the 2016 Open Championship
Last week's US Open at Oakmont worked out just fine for fourth-favorite Dustin Johnson at +900 betting odds, but the rest of golf's big four fell flat on their faces at one of the toughest venues in professional golf. Jason Day was the favorite to win last week at +600, but the best he could do was a tie for eighth after starting the tournament with an opening round 76.
Jordan Spieth was a +700 second-favorite to defend his 2015 US Open title, but he ended up in a tie for 37th after shooting 75 in the final round. Rory McIlroy rounded out this power foursome at +800 betting odds to add another major title to the resume, but he failed to even make the cut following a 77 on the card in the opening round.
All four players are back at the top of this list for next month's Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland, and it could be a great opportunity to bet on redemption in professional golf's third major of the year. Day, Spieth and McIlroy all offer some solid value at +700 odds to win this event. And now that Johnson has gotten the monkey off his back as the best player never to win a major, his betting odds of +1000 to win again could be an interesting way to go.
Read more articles by Dave Schwab
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