Daily Sports Betting Preview 4/23/2020: NFL Draft, Russian Hockey, Nicaraguan Soccer

• The NFL Draft starts today at 8:00 p.m. EST, and is one of the largest betting moments in recent memory.
• In Russia, the Comet League offers a chance for bettors to bet on short hockey games all day.
• In Nicaragua, Juventus Managua’s U20 squad is favored by 1.5 goals over Jalapa’s U20 team.

LAS VEGAS - Today’s edition of the Daily Sports Betting Preview covers a lot of ground, in a very short time.

The first topic for today is the NFL draft, which begins in the evening. The NFL draft is an enormous betting opportunity, and there are a lot of options for NFL draft betting.

After that, the preview turns to two under the radar sports. The Comet League in Russia is a short hockey league that is ongoing and worth betting on.

Finally, Nicaragua has kept some of its sports leagues going during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of those is its soccer league, which is the last subject on the docket today.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started.

NFL Draft Prop Betting

The NFL Draft begins April 23, 2020, at 8:00 p.m. EST, and the first round of the NFL Draft is the most hyped it’s been in a very long time.

Elite players like Joe Burrow and Chase Young are expected to be the first of the players off the board, but there is a lot of uncertainty after that.

Future potential stars like Tua Tagovailoa, Jeff Okudah, Justin Herbert and Jedrick Wills are some of the names that are being thrown around for the rest of the top 5 picks.

There are a couple of very interesting prop bets that are available on this draft day for NFL bettors, and those are the subject of this section.

First, the wide receiver position has a ton of talent available with players like Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs and CeeDee Lamb all representing elite pass-catching talent.

Which will be the first off the board? Some online sportsbooks are offering odds on that very question.

Jeudy, Lamb, and Ruggs have outpaced fellow receivers Tee Higgins, Justin Jefferson, and KJ Hamler in terms of odds to be the first one drafted.

One could argue that this is a two-person race between Jeudy and Lamb just by looking at these odds. Jeudy’s +150 odds are edged out by Lamb’s -170 odds, with Ruggs clocking in with respectable +400 odds.

The wide receiver position actually begins to highlight another interesting prop bet - whether or not the LSU Tigers or Alabama Crimson Tide will have more first round picks.

As far as wide receivers go, Jeudy and Ruggs are from Alabama, while Justin Jefferson hails from the National Champion LSU team.

Joe Burrow, of course, hails from LSU as well as safety prospect Grant Delpit. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is also expected to go in the first round, as is offensive lineman Jedrick Wills.

Overall, Alabama is favored in this category, but there is a lot of uncertainty about the draft. It would not be a shock to see some Alabama players drop and some LSU players rise.

The NFL Draft is a stellar betting opportunity, and one that sports bettors all over the world should take advantage of.

Russian Comet League Hockey

Russia has kept some of its sports leagues running during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Comet League is one of them.

The Comet League is what is known as short hockey - the periods are ten minutes instead of fifteen, making the total game 30 minutes long.

There are seven separate matches in the Comet League today, all featuring hockey gameplay that is just the same as ever.

Most of the matches are handicapped in a very similar way - so let’s take a look at an example.

At 12:50 p.m. EST, Stalker Moscow takes on Krasnye Krilya. Krilya is +120 on the moneyline, while Stalker is +110 on the moneyline - an even game.

Like most hockey games, this game has a puck line applied where the underdog is handicapped +1.5 and the favorite is handicapped -1.5.

On the puck line, Krilya (+1.5) is -255, while Stalker (-1.5) is +210. The Over/Under line for the game is set at 10.5 goals, and both the Over and the Under have -110 odds.

Nicaraguan U20 Soccer

Nicaragua, similar to Russia, has allowed for some sports to continue. Soccer is one of those sports that has carried on in Nicaragua - much to the benefit of soccer bettors around the globe.

Today’s match features rising stars - Under-20 action from some of the premier clubs in Nicaraguan soccer.

The match starts at 7:00 p.m. EST and features the U20 teams from Juventus Managua and Jalapa going head to head.

On the moneyline, Juventus Managua has oddly specific -279 odds on BetOnline’s sportsbook, while Jalapa clocks in with +522 odds and a draw has +404 odds.

Normally, odds do not get that specific, but perhaps there has been some fine-tuning of the numbers as bets have rolled in on this contest.

The spread for the game favors Juventus Managua by 1.5 goals. Juventus (-1.5) has -107 odds, while Jalapa (+1.5) has -113 odds. In other words, the spread does just enough to make the game even, which is always a compelling betting experience.

The NFL Draft is clearly the biggest game in town today, taking up the lion’s share of coverage even in this column. But under the radar betting opportunities like the Nicaraguan U20 game and the Russian Comet League can be where the real money is made today.

Best of luck to all the bettors out there during these times!