Proline Hockey Picks

By Dan Jackson

Proline betting is one of the world's most concentrated sports book set-ups, offering players across Canada the opportunity to bet against various given sporting outcomes. Run by not-for-profit entities on behalf of the respective provincial governments, it offers cumulative odds on the results of NHL hockey, baseball and other sporting events, raising billions of dollars for public services, charities, research and the arts. But what's Proline all about, and how does it actually work?

Proline is effectively a state-run sports book, offering individuals the chance to bet on multiple sporting events. Picking the results of between 3 and 6 events, odds are accumulated to determine a payout at fixed decimal odds (with returns obviously greater for 6 correct predictions than 3). It is this multiplier effect that makes playing Proline an attractive proposition for sports fans and gamblers alike and as a result of the cumulative odds the highest payout ever recorded on a Proline bet was $304,000.

And because it is government operated, getting involved is as easy as heading down to your local convenience store and making your selection from the available sports on offer, including, baseball, football and of course, hockey.

One of the main difficulties with Proline betting for the gambler is the tight odds it offers. Unlike independent bookmakers based in foreign jurisdictions, the odds offered with Proline don't leave much room for profit when factoring in the occasional loss. That means it's even more important to make sure you're capitalizing on your bet by identifying the most likely outcomes and leveraging the odds in your favor.

Conceptually, the true odds of a gambling outcome and the odds paid by the bookmaker diverge, giving the bookmaker his margin. With Proline, this is even more emphasized in two key ways - the odds offered being naturally lower than offshore market odds, and the exclusion of the bet in paid-out winnings. As such, the gambler needs to make sure that all factors have been taken into account in order to ensure a long-term profit, and it can seem deceptively simple to pick three correct outcomes when actuarially-speaking, the odds on offer are lesser than the odds of the predicted outcome.

Perhaps the most effective way of improving your chances of making a profit from Proline betting is through the use of algorithmically driven betting software. Based on applied mathematics, software applications can improve the consistency of betting outcomes by computing and interpreting data in a non-biased, wholly objective way, helping you pick the best selections to make up your Proline bet. In other words, through the use of Proline specific betting software, it is possible to more frequently hit a winning ticket - whether that's across 3 or 6 events.

Proline is fun to play, and it can be profitable too if you know what you're doing. Provided you make sensible, rational choices when making your bets (and that means not always backing your favorite team), it is possible to generate a consistent return on your bets whatever your sport of choice. - 31496

About the Author:

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics Are Just Around The Corner

By John A Moore

The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games are just around the corner. Worldwide excitement is starting to build. The Winter and Summer Olympics are some of the most watched sporting events in the world. The countdown has started and the opening ceremonies will commence in a little over two months from now. Vancouver was given the honor of these games over 5 years ago and has been busy getting ready ever since. Calgary 1988 was a huge success and everyone expects the same for Vancouver 2010.

The Winter Olympics are an international multi-sport event held every four years. They feature sports held on ice or snow. Events including alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating have been at every Winter Olympic Games since their inception. Other events such as luge, short track speed skating, bobsled, and freestyle skiing have been added over the years.

The Vancouver Olympic Games will be held in the City of Vancouver as well as a number of different places around Vancouver. Vancouver is located on the Pacific Ocean in the lower mainland portion of the province of British Columbia. The other British Columbia towns and villages that will assist in hosting the Winter Games are Richmond, Whistler, and West Vancouver.

The first ever Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France in 1924. These were the first Games dedicated solely to athletic pursuits on snow and ice. Prior to these games, hockey and figure skating had included as events in the Summer Olympics. Since that time, the Games have been held every four years with the exception of 1940-48 due to World War II. From 1924 until 1992, the Winter Games and Summer Olympics were always held in the same year. In 1992, in an attempt for a larger audience, the Winter Games split from the Summer Games.

The Winter Olympics are considerably smaller than the Summer Olympics. There are much fewer events in the Winter Games and there is a full week less of competition. There are also fewer countries participating. Fewer countries participating make sense as all of the completions take place on either ice or snow and there are many countries that naturally have neither of these surfaces. With that said there are a number of typically tropical countries that do participate. The most famous of these tropical competitors is the Jamaican bobsled team.

In anticipation of the Vancouver Olympics, the Canadian Olympic Association developed a program with the lofty goal of Canadian athletes achieving more Olympic medals than ever before. This program has been called "Own the Podium" and has been in effect over the past number of years. The results of this program will be seen at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. - 31496

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here