| Date | W/L |
| 4/19/2026 - NBA | WINNER |
At 9 pm, our selection is on the San Antonio Spurs minus the points over Portland. San Antone stumbled badly in its final regular season game when it was upset by Denver, 128-118, as a 9.5-point home favorite. Victor Wembanyama, though, didn't play in that game. And the Spurs are the league's 2nd best NBA defensive team when he's on the floor, but bottom 10 when he is not. The Spurs are 52-21-2 ATS off a home upset loss when they were favored by 8+ points in that defeat. That bodes well for the Silver and Black tonight. As does the fact that the Trail Blazers are a brutal 69-107-7 ATS in the Playoffs, including 24-45-3 ATS vs. foes off a SU loss. Lay the points. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
| 4/19/2026 - NHL | WINNER |
At 7:30 pm,
our selection is on the Buffalo Sabres over the Boston Bruins. There's a
strange thing happening in Buffalo in late April and it's called
professional ice hockey. The Sabres broke the longest post-season
drought in NHL history (14 seasons) this season, and not only will they
be playing hockey, they will be hosting it. By finishing first in the
their Division, the Sabres are guaranteed home ice for the first two
rounds, and it begins tonight at KeyBank Center with a visit from the
Boston Bruins. Buffalo can't take this team for granted as Boston won
the season series (three games to one) and ended its regular schedule
with two big wins over the Blue Jackets and Devils. But the Sabres were
especially tough at home this season (26-15, +8.3 net games) while the Bruins struggled on the
road, going 16-16-9 away from Boston (7-6-8 in the second half) and
those overtime losses -- while somewhat valuable in the regular season
-- won't help them now. The Sabres were 5-1 this year in games
when revenging a same-season loss at home (and 25-11, +15.6 net games the past 3 seasons). And Boston is 24-38 (minus 16.9 net games) on the road off a win. Take Buffalo. As always,
good luck...Al McMordie. |
| 4/19/2026 - NBA | WINNER |
At 3:30 pm, our selection is on the Oklahoma City Thunder minus the points over the Phoenix Suns. The Thunder will start their defense of their championship this Sunday afternoon. And defending NBA Champs have gone 21-11-1 ATS in their initial Playoff game, including 16-6-1 ATS if their win percentage was .650 (or better). This is a revenge game for OKC, which was blown out, 135-103, by the Suns on the final day of the regular season. The Suns are a woeful 16-39 ATS vs. foes off upset losses, while OKC is a dominant 94-65-5 ATS off a straight-up loss, including 7-2 ATS their last nine playoff games, and 38-21-2 ATS when playing with revenge. Lay the points. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
| 4/19/2026 - MLB | WINNER |
At 1:35 pm,
our selection is on the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Tampa Bay Rays. It
wasn't that long ago that Mitch Keller was going to be the future of
starting pitching in Pittsburgh. Drafted out of High School by the
Pirates in the 2nd round in 2014, Keller signed and made his MLB debut
in 2019, long before Paul Skenes or any of the other young Pirate
hurlers were on the radar. He signed a long-term deal in 2024 but had
trade rumors swirling around him at the 2025 deadline. Now 30 years
old, Keller is a bit of a forgotten man in the young, talent-laden
Pirate rotation, and that's probably fine with him. He's off to a great
start to 2026, with a 1-1 record and 2.86 ERA in four starts covering
22 innings. He's faced the Rays twice before in his career, with a 3.60
ERA in 10 innings with 13 strikeouts and two walks. Today is the
rubber game in this three-game series after the Rays won in extra
innings last night. Still, the Pirates are 4-1 in Interleague games this
season. Take Pittsburgh. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
| 4/18/2026 - NHL | LOSER |
At 8:00 pm,
our selection is on the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Philadelphia
Flyers. The Flyers clinched their first post-season appearance in six
years with a dramatic shootout victory over the East-leading Hurricanes
on Monday (and followed it up with another win over the Canadiens for
good measure). With the Eagles having disappointed last NFL season and
the Phillies inexplicably scuffling so far (and of course the 76ers
likely not going anywhere), this sports-crazed town is understandably
excited that the Flyers are back in the playoffs. But a first-round
series against their cross-state rival Penguins is never easy, and it
certainly won't be this year. Pittsburgh rested almost all of its stars
as soon as it clinched its playoff spot which should pay dividends in
this series, especially given the ages of Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and
Karlsson. These two split the season series, 2-2, but the Flyers needed
OT in both of their wins while the Pens took their two games easily.
Philly comes in on a three-game win streak but they are 0-6 this season
trying to make it four-in-a-row. Take Pittsburgh. As always, good luck...Al
McMordie |
| 4/18/2026 - OTHER | LOSER |
At 4 pm, our selection is on the Birmingham Stallions minus the points over Orlando. The Stallions have started the season 1-2, including back-to-back upset losses in Weeks 2 and 3, at Houston (22-20) and at St. Louis (34-30). Meanwhile, the Storm are off to a 3-0 start. However, Birmingham's first three games were all on the road; this game will be at Protective Stadium, where the Stallions have won 10 of 12 games the past two seasons. We'll take Birmingham, as UFL teams are 16-4 ATS their last 20 following back to back losses, when their opponent is off a SU win (including 9-0 ATS if our 'play-on' team was on the road in their previous game). Take the Stallions. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
| 4/18/2026 - NBA | WINNER |
At 3:30 pm, our selection is on the UNDER in the Denver Nuggets/Minnesota Timberwolves game. The Nuggets come into this game off 5 straight 'OVERS,' while the T-Wolves have gone Over the total in each of their last three games. We'll look for a lower-scoring affair in this Game 1, as playoff series have gone UNDER 64% since 1990 in the first game if each team was off 3+ Overs. Even better: the first game of an NBA Playoff series in Round 1 has gone UNDER 70.8% since 1990 when the two teams involved were division rivals. Take the UNDER. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
| 4/18/2026 - NBA | WINNER |
At 1 pm, our selection is on the Cleveland Cavaliers minus the points over Toronto. The Cavs have been installed as a big home favorite for this Game 1. And home favorites of -8 (or more) points have gone 106-83-2 ATS in Game 1 of a Playoff series, including 69-53-2 ATS in Round 1. Toronto is a terrible 2-12 SU and 2-11-1 ATS when catching more than 6 points in a Playoff game. Lay the points with the Cavaliers. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
| 4/18/2026 - OTHER | LOSER |
At 12:30 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Battlehawks + the points over DC. These two teams met in Missouri in Week 1, and the Battlehawks came away with a 16-10 upset victory, as a 4-point home underdog. Since that loss, the Defenders have gone 2-0 with blowout wins over Columbus (44-26) and Houston (45-7). And their 38-point win last week was the largest victory in the UFL's 3-year history. We'll take the Battlehawks in this re-match, as underdogs have gone 51-41 ATS in the UFL, including 16-10 ATS vs. foes off back to back wins. Additionally, home teams off double-digit wins are a dreadful 5-13-1 ATS. And favorites are 3-10-1 ATS after scoring 33+ points. Take St. Louis + the points. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
| 4/17/2026 - OTHER | WINNER |
At 8 pm, our selection is on the Columbus Aviators + the points over the Dallas Renegades. We played on Columbus last week as a big road underdog at Dallas, and got the $$$ when Columbus lost by just 5, as an underdog of more than a touchdown. This rematch will be played in Columbus, and we'll take the revenge-minded Aviators. Indeed, teams playing back to back games against the same opponent have cashed
55.1% (107-87-9 ATS) in the various Pro football leagues (e.g., UFL,
USFL, XFL, CFL, NFL), if they lost the previous meeting (with each
league showing a profit). That bodes well for Columbus. As does the fact that home dogs are 6-1 ATS this season. Grab the points. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
