Preakness Stakes on Tap for Weekend Betting

Nine of the last 18 horses to win the Kentucky Derby have gone on to win the Preakness Stakes. American Pharoah will try to become the third winner of both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in the last four years this Saturday at Pimlico.

American Pharoah is a -130 favorite to win the Preakness Stakes according to online sportsbook Bovada. Dortmund is going off at 15/4 to win the Preakness after finishing in third place in the Kentucky Derby and Firing Line would pay 17/4 on a Preakness win after finishing runner up in the Derby.

The Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies will both be looking to stave off elimination at home this Friday night in the Game 6's of their respective series. Washington is a 2.5-point favorite over the Atlanta Hawks and Memphis is a 5.5-point underdog hosting the Golden State Warriors at Bovada. Golden State beat Memphis by 17 points in Game 4 and 20 points in Game 5 since falling down 1-2 in the best-of-seven series.

The Houston Rockets turned a 19-point deficit into a 12-point win in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers to force a Game 7 on Sunday night. Early lines tab Houston as a 1.5-point home underdog at 5Dimes in Game 7. Los Angeles appeared to have this series locked up after taking a 3-1 lead with back-to-back wins by over 20 points, but the Rockets have responded with back-to-back double-digit wins of their own to tie the series up at 3-3.

The third round of the NHL playoffs get underway this weekend as the New York Rangers host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and the Chicago Blackhawks visit the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Both New York and Anaheim are -135 favorites at 5Dimes with the road teams going off at +125.

While Tampa Bay and New York were pushed to six and seven games respectively in the last round, Chicago and Anaheim have both had long rests. Anaheim is 8-1 so far this postseason after beating Calgary in five and Chicago is coming off a sweep of the Minnesota Wild in which the Blackhawks never trailed at any point in the series.