Alex Smart Premium Picks
Alex Smart has been wagering professionally on sports and horse racing for the better part of 30 years. He has numerous top 10 Basketball and Football finishes at the Sports Monitor since becoming documented 17 years ago and has consistently finished among the nations top handicappers in all major North American sports venues
Alex Smart

Where winning means everything!Off a very profitable 5-0 100% all sports card yesterday and now Testing 21-6 78% overall MLB run that has made my dime players more than $19760.00 in bankroll expanding profits!
PREMIUM PICK STREAKS
Basketball Totals (+11510) 1634-1384 L3018 54%
NBA Picks (+9171) 2191-1927 L4118 53%
All Sports Totals (+4104) 942-818 L1760 54%
NHL Money Lines (+3680) 159-112 L271 59%
NCAA-B Totals (+3668) 528-446 L974 54%
MLB Money Lines (+2178) 1179-1097 L2276 52%
NCAA-F Totals (+855) 171-148 L319 54%
NFLX Sides (+716) 18-10 L28 64%
Fighting Picks (+596) 8-4 L12 67%
WNBA Totals (+498) 29-22 L51 57%
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**5x Top 10 NBA handicapper!**
#11 ranked NBA handicapper this season!
Now on a 127-94 run with my last 224 NBA picks! $1,000/game players have cashed in $29,230 on my NBA picks since 01/21/25 and $89,710 on my NBA picks since 12/13/16!
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YESTERDAY'S PLAYS
| Match Up | Pick | Rating | Score | Result | Profit | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tatsuro Taira vs Joshua Van | Joshua Van +147 | Premium | 0-1 | Win | 147 | Show |
| Thunder vs Lakers | Thunder -8½ -110 | Premium | 131-108 | Win | 100 | Show |
| Pistons vs Cavs | Cavs -4½ -105 | Premium | 109-116 | Win | 100 | Show |
| Mercury vs Aces | Aces -8½ -115 | Free | 99-66 | Loss | -115 | Show |
| Yankees vs Brewers | UNDER 7½ -105 | Premium | 3-4 | Win | 100 | Show |
| Braves vs Dodgers | Braves +151 | Premium | 7-2 | Win | 151 | Show |
PICKS IN PROGRESS
As the lights come on at Kauffman Stadium for Sunday Night Baseball, we're treated to a classic AL Central scrap with the Detroit Tigers visiting the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City has already grabbed the first two games of this series, including a solid win on Saturday, and they're in prime position to complete the sweep against a Tigers team that's lost five straight and sits at 18-22 overall with a dismal 6-16 record on the road. That's one of the league's worst away marks, and it shows in how flat Detroit looks once they pack their bags and head out.
The trends in this matchup tell a compelling story. The Tigers have really struggled away from home this season, and while they swept this same series back in April, that feels like distant history now. Kansas City, sitting at 19-21, has won seven of its last nine games and boasts a sturdy 13-9 home record where they've been opportunistic and tough to beat. Detroit, on the other hand, has gone just 6-16 as the visitor, often getting outscored in the later innings when their pitching depth gets tested on the road.
Both teams are hitting around .241 for the season with modest power output—Detroit with 36 home runs and Kansas City at 41, but the Royals have shown more spark lately at the plate in their home confines. Kauffman Stadium tends to suppress big rallies, and the Royals have capitalized on that by grinding out wins at home. On the mound, the Tigers are once again going with their bullpen game approach, starting with opener Brenan Hanifee (0-0, 0.00 ERA in limited action). It's a plan that can hold early but often leaves them exposed as the game wears on, especially away from home. Noah Cameron (2-2, 5.40 ERA, 28 strikeouts in 31.2 innings) gets the ball for KC. He's still finding his groove in the big leagues, but the home park and the matchup give the Royals a real advantage here.
All of this lines up for the Royals moneyline as my favorite play of the night. You don't need a blowout, just a straight-up win, and with their recent 7-3 stretch in the last 10 games, strong home splits, and the edge in bullpen freshness, Kansas City has been delivering exactly that more often than not. The situational stats back it up too: the Royals have been much better after wins lately, while the Tigers have stumbled to a 7-14 mark after losses.
I've monitored enough of these divisional battles over the years to know that one weird bounce or timely hit can change everything in a hurry. But right now, the recent form, the glaring road/home splits, and the way these teams are trending all point pretty clearly toward Kansas City taking care of business on their home field. It has that Sunday-night vibe where the Royals keep rolling and the Tigers head back on the plane still searching for traction.
Enjoy the game under the lights and the profits that hopefully come from it, there's nothing quite like these intradivision clashes when the energy is this real. Play smart
After diligently investigating WNBA slate this Sunday and hunting for that one spot where the numbers line up with real on-court reality, the New York Liberty laying around 5 to 5.5 points on the road against the Washington Mystics jumps out as the sharpest play of the day. I've been tracking these early-season games long enough to know that the first couple of weeks are full of noise, teams still shaking off the rust from overseas play, rosters turning over, and lines that sometimes lag behind what we're actually seeing on the floor. But this matchup feels like one of those classic talent-gap angles that the betting market hasn't fully priced in yet.
Start with the recent form: the Liberty just dropped a statement 106-75 win over Connecticut, putting up points in bunches while showing the kind of depth that makes them scary even on the second night of a back-to-back. Meanwhile, Washington squeaked past the expansion Toronto side 68-65 in a game that was more grind than showcase. That narrow victory might feel like momentum to some, but when you stack it against New York's efficiency and star power, it looks more like a mirage. Historically, mid-sized road favorites in the 4-to-7 point range have quietly been one of the more reliable spots in the WNBA over the past few seasons, cashing at a solid clip because the better teams tend to handle business without the blowout pressure that sinks double-digit chalk. And right now, early-season favorites overall are covering at about a 67 percent clip league-wide, which only adds to the appeal here.
The head-to-head history tells its own story too. New York has taken the last eight meetings against Washington straight up, and they've done it on the road more than once without breaking much of a sweat. The Mystics are rolling out one of the younger, more inexperienced groups in the league again this year, which creates those little inefficiencies, missed rotations, slower defensive closeouts, that elite teams like the Liberty feast on. Throw in the fact that this is essentially a post-blowout road favorite catching a home team coming off a low-scoring scrape, and you've got a recipe for the kind of edge that feels almost too straightforward for Week 1. The rest of today's card has its charms, Seattle at Connecticut could be a rock fight after both opened with ugly losses, Vegas at LA might flirt with overs given the pace, and Phoenix at Golden State looks like a pick'em, but nothing carries the same clean mismatch vibe.
Look, betting the WNBA this time of year is half art and half patience; you have to trust the eye test when the stats are still thin and the trends are just starting to whisper. I've always had a soft spot for these spots where one side is clearly built different, and today the Liberty feel like they're operating on another level. If you're firing a ticket, this is the one I'd be circling with real conviction, no projections, just what's playing out in front of us and the patterns that have paid off in similar early-season windows before. Play it smart, shop for best lines if possible , and let's see if New York delivers that professional beatdown we all half-expect.
if you've been around NBA playoffs as long as I have, you know the real gold isn't in the flashy hot takes or the latest injury buzz, it's buried in those stubborn historical trends that keep repeating themselves like clockwork. And right now, on this Sunday afternoon in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the slate gives us two solid Game 4s, but only one stands out as a no-brainer angle you can actually hang your hat on. We're talking New York Knicks at Philadelphia 76ers, where the Knicks roll in up 3-0 in the series. My pick? The Knicks to cover that modest road spread (think around -1 to -1.5) or even straight moneyline if you're feeling it. History isn't just on their side here,it's practically screaming at us.
Let's break it down without any fancy projections or crystal balls. In over 160 NBA playoff series where a team has grabbed a 3-0 lead, that leading squad has closed out the series every single time, 100 percent, zero exceptions, no miraculous comebacks in the league's entire postseason history. We're talking sweeps in the majority of cases, with the trailing team forcing a Game 5 only about 30 percent of the time across the board. And when it comes specifically to Game 4 in these spots? The 3-0 team wins roughly 69-70 percent of the time, even when they're the ones on the road staring down a desperate home crowd. That's not a fluke; it's a pattern etched into playoff DNA. The 76ers might be at home, sure, and home teams do win about 60 percent of playoff games overall, but this isn't your average road favorite scenario. This is a team that's already proven it can win on the road three straight times, facing an opponent that's staring down elimination with zero margin for error.
What makes this angle even juicier is how it plays against the grain of public betting tendencies. Everyone loves rooting for the underdog to steal one and extend the series,it's the ultimate "just one more game" narrative. But the numbers don't lie: trailing teams in this exact spot have stolen Game 4 only about 31 percent of the time historically. The Knicks have already shown they can grind out tough road wins in this series, and that defensive intensity we see so often in late-series elimination games tends to favor the side with all the momentum. It's the kind of spot where the favorite isn't just "due" to win, it's positioned to capitalize on a trend that's held up through eras of superteams, rule changes, and everything in between.
Don't get me wrong, the other game on the board, Spurs leading 2-1 at the Timberwolves in their own Game 4, has its own intrigue with the 2-1 series edge (teams up 2-1 win the series around 79 percent historically). But the edges there are far more muted. Road favorites of four points or more in the second round have a spotty track record at best, and there's nothing like that ironclad 3-0 hammer to lean on. Playoff unders can be a sneaky play in these tighter, more physical affairs too, but again, it's not nearly as compelling as the Knicks' historical lock.
I've been chasing these playoff edges for years, and moments like this are why I still get that little rush every time the ball tips off. The Knicks aren't just playing basketball today, they're stepping into a spot where the deck has been stacked by decades of precedent. . Grab it, sit back, and let history do the heavy lifting. Good luck out there, and may your bankroll stay as healthy as a 3-0 lead in the playoffs.
Sunday afternoons in May always feel like the perfect time to dig into the full MLB rotation and hunt for value on the total, and after scanning every game on the board, the Athletics visiting the Orioles at Camden Yards jumps out as the clearest spot for overs. We’re talking a posted total sitting at 9.5 (shop around, some spots might nudge it to 10), and this matchup has all the ingredients for a lively afternoon: two veteran right-handers who’ve been far from their sharpest lately, a ballpark that’s leaned hitter-friendly in recent seasons thanks to those outfield tweaks, and a pair of lineups that have shown they can put runs on the board when the pitching isn’t elite. It’s the kind of game that reminds you why we love totals betting, sometimes the numbers just line up in a way that feels almost too straightforward.
Let’s start with the arms on the mound. Luis Severino for Oakland comes in at 2-3 with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP through his first eight starts of the year. He’s been serviceable at times, but he’s also allowed traffic on the bases and hasn’t exactly been mowing down hitters at his peak velocity days. On the other side, Chris Bassitt for Baltimore is sitting on a 2-2 record but a bloated 5.91 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP over seven outings. The guy who used to live on precision and ground-ball tendencies has been giving up hits at a concerning clip this season, 44 hits in just 32 innings, and his strikeout rate has dipped noticeably. When you stack those two performances together, you’re not exactly looking at a low-scoring pitchers’ duel; these are experienced vets who’ve each had their share of recent outings where the ball found gaps and the scoreboard kept ticking.
Now layer in the park and the team trends, and the case for the over gets even stronger. Camden Yards has quietly become one of the more run-producing environments in the league over the last couple of seasons, especially after the left-field wall adjustments that have helped turn more fly balls into souvenirs. It’s not quite Coors Field, but it’s far from the pitcher’s paradise it was a few years back. The Orioles themselves have been one of the league’s better “over” teams in 2026, with their games clearing the total in roughly two-thirds of their contests so far. Baltimore might be struggling in the win column at 17-23, but they’re putting up crooked numbers more often than not when the ball is in play. Oakland, sitting at 21-18, brings a solid offensive core that’s capable of punishing mistakes, and they’ve already shown some pop in this very series. Yesterday’s 6-2 Athletics win wasn’t exactly a pitchfest, and the pattern holds when you look back at recent head-to-heads between these clubs, plenty of games have featured double-digit run totals when the starters haven’t been lights-out.
What I love about this spot, and why it edges out the rest of Sunday’s slate for me, is the combination of elevated expectations baked into that 9.5 line with pitching that simply hasn’t been suppressing runs at the level the market might assume. You’ve got recent history showing unders in a couple of these matchups earlier in the series, but the starter swap flips the script: Bassitt’s command issues at home this year and Severino’s willingness to let hitters put the ball in play create a recipe for extra-base hits and late-inning rallies. It’s the type of angle that gets me genuinely excited as a totals bettor, nothing flashy, just clean, data-backed reasoning that feels like it’s been hiding in plain sight while the rest of the board offers tighter, more pitching-dominant games with totals in the 8-to-8.5 range.
Man I can tel you , baseball totals can humble you in a hurry (bullpens have a nasty habit of showing up uninvited), but this one feels like the Sunday slate’s best opportunity to ride with the overs. I’m taking the Athletics-Orioles game over the number and hoping for a few homers, some timely doubles, and maybe even a bullpen meltdown or two to push us across that threshold. As always, bet what you can afford, shop those lines, and enjoy the games, here’s to a high-scoring send-off to the weekend.
Sunday afternoons in MLB have a way of delivering the unexpected, and if you're hunting for the sharpest underdog value on today's full slate, the Colorado Rockies on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies stand out as the clear standout play. At around +120 on the runline, the Rockies aren't just a longshot, they're the heaviest dog of the day in a spot where the payout potential feels genuine rather than gimmicky. I've spent enough Sundays tracking these rotational schedules to know that when a team like Colorado shows up as this big an underdog, it's worth pausing to look at the trends, and right now the numbers paint a picture of quiet resilience amid the struggle.
The Rockies sit at 16-24 overall this season, hardly a juggernaut, but they've quietly been one of the more profitable underdog plays in the early going. As road dogs specifically, they're 2-5, yet those games have often stayed competitive, with the club flashing enough offense to keep things interesting against stronger lineups. Their batting average hovers around .250 to .254, with solid extra-base pop that doesn't disappear just because they're away from Coors Field. Historically, Colorado has been a notorious road team—sitting around a .396 winning percentage away from home since the franchise began, but this year's version has shown a scrappier side in underdog spots, refusing to mail it in even when the odds are stacked. Pair that with starter Tomoyuki Sugano, who's posted a respectable 3.41 ERA and looked particularly steady on the road, and you've got a recipe for a game that could easily stay within striking distance longer than the public expects.
On the flip side, the Phillies are 18-22 and haven't quite lived up to their usual home dominance this season, sitting with a middling home record that suggests some vulnerability when the spotlight's on. They've been solid favorites overall in recent years, cashing at a healthy clip at Citizens Bank Park, but the 2026 edition has shown occasional cracks, public money piles on these big home favorites, yet the results haven't always matched the hype. Cristopher Sanchez on the mound for Philly brings his usual strikeout stuff and a sub-2.50 ERA, but even he has allowed a few more baserunners than ideal lately. Throw in the fact that the Rockies already stole one from this series earlier (a wild 9-7 win), and it underscores how these matchups rarely play out as chalky as the lines imply.
Look, baseball has a funny way of humbling the favorites, especially on lazy Sunday afternoons when the crowd's half-focused on brunch and the visitors decide to play above their heads. The Rockies aren't going to win the division or anything close, but in this exact spot, backing them as the runline underdog feels like the smartest value play on the entire board. It's the kind of bet that reminds you why we chase these edges in the first place: not for guarantees, but for those moments when the underdog delivers a story worth telling later. If you're building a card today, this is the one I'd circle with real conviction ...... Remember bet smart , shop for best lines if possible and of course remain disciplined and patient.
SERVICE BIO
Experience & Awards
I have been wagering professionally on sports and horse racing for 30 years.
My picks have been documented for 22 years.
I was the 2009 NFL Handicapper of the Year in 2009 in a prestigious event. I won the Ultimate Football NFL Championship in 2006.
I have been an NBA World Champion with 9 winning seasons the last 11 years.
I also continue to beat the College Hoops book makers with a high volume attack on a yearly basis.
Handicapping Approach
I have a firm belief in my systems. There is not a sport I feel I can not beat.
My handicapping can be best referred to as the 'The Smart Money Approach". I leave no stone unturned. I have a large database of information and statistics. I also take into consideration injuries, current and historical trends, and form. I also factor in the weather, surface conditions, and line movement.
Sports Betting Is An Investment
Many gamblers offer causal explanations for long runs of good and bad performance. The same is true of financial analysts. The records of bettors and investors show the same variable successes and failures.
Both investment opportunities show significant variables and both can give the investor an advantage. You need to do the proper research to consider all the facts. If you do so a long term profit is more than attainable.
I think sports betting is even better than the stock market. The investor/bettor has much more control over his funds. You can take a short break, and almost always know your bankroll has not been untouched.
In the markets you are leaving your 401K and other mutual investments in the hands of a volatile marketplace. Plus, you are being torched for huge handling fees by brokers on individual investments. These fees would make sports book managers drool.
I am not saying it is easy making a living from sports betting. But, the small percent who do consistently beat the books have a much better rate of return than that of any market investor!
This is the outlook I have on every wager I place in the sports wagering markets. I take my portfolio very seriously!
Money Management
To be a successful and profitable sports bettor you must always have a long term goal. Set that standard before you begin. You need to set aside a fairly substantial bankroll.
If you want to be conservative you would wager no more than 1-2% of your bankroll per game. No more than 3% on the best bets.
This might seem a little on the low side. But, this is a long and turbulent battle with the books. You will be happy that you practiced good money management and frugality.
Here are some additional guidelines I recommend.
1. Shop for your best possible lines (rogue lines) from the most reputable sources.
2. Stay disciplined and do not stray from recommended bankroll allocation on individual wagers. Chasing your wagers never a good idea.
3. Always keep in mind that your bankroll is your life line. It must be treated the same way you would treat finances allocated for any business venture.
4. Buy off the hook on key numbers.
5. Understanding the importance and the art of middling.
6. Keep a record of all your wagers and results and use them as part of over all statistical data base.
These are some important factors that will help you in your quest for long term profits.
I leave you with a thought from the late great Jimmy the Greek. The house does not beat the player, it just gives him the opportunity to beat himself.
*All selections have the same allocated bankroll %(which equals 1 betting unit).




