Betting advice for weekend action, including the Belmont Stakes

The weekend of June 5-6 offers sports fans plenty of action and bettors can look to the NBA and NHL playoffs continuing into their next rounds. The final leg of the Triple Crown will take place on Saturday when the Belmont Stakes is run in Elmont, New York. Weekend MLB betting heats up with the first meeting between the Red Sox and Yankees this year. It should be a great sports weekend.

Belmont Stakes

It's the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. Essential Quality, who was the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, is also the favorite to win Saturday at Belmont Park.

Essential Quality is given +200 odds, but remember two things. One, how'd that Kentucky Derby work out? Remember, Essential Quality finished fourth, and two, favorites don't do so well at Belmont. Of the past 14 Belmont Stakes where a Triple Crown was not in play, the pre-race favorite has won just three times.

Some serious longshots have won too. In 2008, Da’Tara won at odds of +3800. Sarava won the 2002 race given odds of +7000. France Go de Ina is the longshot at +3000 and Todd Pletcher has two horses entered at +1500 or better, Bourbonic and Overtook. 

NBA Playoffs Game 1: Bucks @ Nets

The Milwaukee-Brooklyn Eastern Conference semifinals series begins on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It will be the first time this season that Brooklyn's Big Three - Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden - will play together against Milwaukee this season. Irving missed the first game and Harden missed the other two.  Milwaukee won two of the three games, by the way.

The key matchup will be Giannis Antetokounmpo against Durant. That, plus how well Brooklyn is able to rebound. Milwaukee was second among all playoff teams in offensive rebounding percentage and first in second-chance points.

Did you know that a major factor to becoming a true sports investor is choosing what to bet? We laid out a few main points to help you make wiser decisions.

NHL: Jets @ Canadiens

The Winnipeg-Montreal second-round NHL playoff series gets underway on Wednesday night. The two teams will play Game 3 on Sunday. 

Montreal defied all odds when the Canadiens rallied from a 3-1 deficit and upset the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1. For Montreal, it wasn't much of a surprise. The Habs were finally healthy this season.

Don't forget, this is the same Montreal team that beat Pittsburgh in last year's first round and had Philadelphia on the ropes before bowing out in six games. Pay close attention to Games 1 and 2. If you can get Montreal as a home underdog, look out.

MLB: Red Sox-Yankees

It's one of baseball's great rivalries. Boston will travel to New York to meet the Yankees for the first time this season. Surprisingly, the Red Sox are currently second in the AL West, 2.5 games ahead of their biggest rival.

The Yankees are listed at +750 to win this year's World Series. The problem is that they are underperforming. Injuries are an issue. Pitcher Corey Kluber will miss two months with shoulder problems.

The Red Sox are fourth in runs per game (5.00) and they have the third-best team batting average (.257) in the majors.

New York was recently swept by Detroit and lost four straight before beating Tampa Bay three out of four this week. Boston lost three out of four to Houston this week as well.

Check the series odds and look closely at the pitching matchups. The Yankees do not have a projected Game 1 starter for Friday night's matchup as of yet. The Red Sox send Nathan Eovaldi to the hill and the Sawks are 7-4 when he starts. There may be some underdog value in this series and keep an eye on the Friday night matchup.