The NFL exhibition season has begun, and almost anyone who has thought of betting on a football game knows the secret to winning in the preseason: information.

Coaches routinely announce whether they're going to take a particular exhibition game seriously and how they'll use their players. That information can lead to favorable betting opportunities.

But most bettors are more interested in the regular season. Handicapper Tim Trushel (sportsmemo.com) offered what he said is a significant piece of advice to those formulating power rankings in the exhibition season.

"The No. 1 lesson is to not believe anything you see in preseason football," Trushel said. "It happens all the time. You'll see a team go 4-0 in the preseason, and everyone gets worked up and says, `Oh my gosh, they're really improved.' And then the season starts, and they fall flat on their faces.

"And it often works in reverse. Last year, Carolina was abysmal in the preseason. The linesmakers might have put a little too much weight on that, and there was some extra value in the first three or four weeks of the regular season if you played the Panthers."

Bettor Russ Culver said any good handicapper has strong power ratings.

But he said the preseason factors no more than 10 percent into his season-opening rankings. He said there are too many variables, and teams routinely don't show much in the preseason.

He said that's why former San Diego Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf looked like a future star several seasons ago. The No. 2 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, Leaf was one of the biggest busts in pro football history and retired last summer with 14 touchdowns, 36 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 50.0.

"I remember the year Leaf was sensational in the preseason," Culver said. "The reason is that the teams who played San Diego played vanilla defenses and didn't show anything. The Chargers were hoping to build his confidence, and they were running plays and doing all this stuff to try to win. At one point, I think they thought he would be the next Dan Fouts."

Leaf, instead, struggled and became one of the most notorious NFL players of recent times, not only for his poor play but his inability to get along with fans, teammates and the media.

Culver said the best thing to do during camp is to keep abreast of what is happening, either via newspapers or the Internet. Culver said there are about six or seven players on each team who are key. He said each team usually has two or three players about 32 or 33 years old that it is depending on who could go downhill, situations that bear close attention.

Philadelphia linebacker Nate Wayne is one such player. He left the Green Bay Packers as a free agent to sign with the Eagles, but there are indications that Wayne may struggle, Culver said.

"You look at the comments some of the guys in Green Bay are making, and you see that they think he really started to slide about two years ago," Culver said. "So he's a guy to keep an eye on, because he figures to have an important role for the Eagles. If he's struggling, they could have some problems."

The bottom line, Trushel said, is not to be fooled by something that means little.

"There are too many intangibles to read in a preseason game, even when it looks like both teams are going at it and playing hard," Trushel said. "Do your other work, but don't let (an exhibition game) throw you off track."