Hockey February 8th

4-5-1 in Hockey up 4.19 units

Finland – Sm Liiga

Jukurit Helsinki over 4.5 for 3 units at -112. Helsinki has been averaging over 4 goals a game in their last 5, while Jukurit just gave up 4 goals to a below average Assat team. Helsinki have the second most home goals in the league. Erik Thorell is playing well in his first season with Helsinki and had two assists the last time these two teams met.

Helsinki -1.5 for 1 unit at -102. I think this one could get out of Jukurit’s control. Helsinki has been playing some of the best hockey in the league recently. Helsinki’s only home loss this year was to league leaders Karpat.

NHL

San Jose Sharks ML OT included at -104 for 1 unit. Sharks have lost two straight at home, but their skid ends here. The Sharks have been playing better than their results have indicated recently. Martin Jones is 4-0-1 in his last 5 at home for the Sharks.

Snooker February 8th

5-2 in snooker up 3.95 units

Mark Williams ML for 4 units at -145. This line is fishy to me as I had Mark Williams as a lot bigger favorite. Li Hang did win the last time these two played, but that was before Mark Williams got hot. Li has lost his last 5 matches against good competition, while Williams has won his last 10 matches against arguably better competition. Williams is a joint favorite to win this event at 20/1 odds.

Stuart Bingham ML for 3 units at -300. Bingham is a joint favorite to win this Shoot-Out at 20/1 odds as well. He gets an unranked opponent in the first round in James Silverwood. Silverwood has lost his last two matches against unranked competition. Bingham rarely slips up at the beginning of tournaments. Thought this line would be close to -450, so a value play here even at high juice.

Mark King ML for 2 units at -180. Ashley Carty has never beat King in an event. King is a fairly consistent player. King usually only loses to tough competition, Carty does not really qualify as that. Best of luck.

Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Judd Trump, and Ding Junhui all chose not to participate in this tournament. I can’t speak for all these players, but I can promise Ronnie is not playing because the first place prize is not big enough. Ronnie has been feeling ill this year, but if this purse was considerably bigger than the 150,000 pounds it is.. he’d be there.

 

NCAAB February 8th

15-10-1 on NCAAB in 2017 up 5.25 units

30-26 on NCAAB in 2018 up 9.02 units

Duke -1 for 4 units. UNC-Duke, one of the best rivalries in all of sports. UNC has not been able to cover 3s all year and Duke is making over 45% of their 3s in their last 3 games. Grayson Allen will most likely go off. Duke scores more points and allows less points than the Tar Heels. Duke has been winning in recruiting in recent years (much too Calipari’s dismay. Calipari isn’t salty at all mentioning how much his former players are worth), but UNC has been winning in March and April. I just think Duke is the better team at this point in the season. Duke doesn’t have a bench, but their starters are pretty damn good. If Grayson Allen can silence the Dean Dome like Austin Rivers did a few years back, he will go up the all-time Duke white boy list passing Greg Paulus and others by my estimation.

South Alabama -6 for 3 units. Little Rock away from home fade. South Alabama is 13-6 against the spread this year and now they get one of the worst teams in the conference. Little Rock has lost 6 in a row. University of South Alabama has lost 3 in a row, but all were on the road. No way USA doesn’t cover with the Olympics starting today too.

Gonzaga -12 for 2 units. Gonzaga won this game by 33 earlier this year at home. Gonzaga is hitting their stride again after some mid season hiccups. Gonzaga leads Pacific in every statistical category except blocks. My numbers said this line should be about 18 so I am taking the value here. Best of luck.