Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Home runs are not easy to hit, but the St. Louis Cardinals made it their job in last night's win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The NL Central-leading Cardinals will try to go deep again Tuesday in the second installment of this four-game series at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals were down by two in the fifth inning of Monday's game before Albert Pujols cracked a two-run homer followed by solo shots from Allen Craig and Skip Schumaker one out later to take the lead for good. Randy Winn then led off the sixth inning with a home run for the Cardinals, who went on to post an 8-4 victory, their sixth in a row.
Pujols collected two hits and three runs batted in, while Jon Jay went 2-for-3 with an RBI in a winning effort. Blake Hawksworth managed to pick up the win even though he gave up four runs and 10 hits over six innings of work.
"I got us in a hole early, but they picked me up and got the 'W'," Hawksworth said.
St. Louis was coming off a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers and is 5-0 on an eight-game homestand. It also sits a half-game ahead of Cincinnati in the NL Central standings.
The Cardinals have a good shot at staying on top in the division with Chris Carpenter slated to take the mound Tuesday night. Carpenter ended a three- start winless streak (0-2) the last time out on Thursday in a 7-1 win over the visiting Dodgers, as he tossed eight innings of one-run ball with six K's.
Carpenter pushed his mark to 10-3 in 20 starts to go along with a 3.16 earned run average. The right-hander and 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner is 7-2 in 11 home starts this season and will make his ninth career start against the Phillies. Carpenter is 4-2 with a less desirable 5.73 ERA in his first eight appearances against Philadelphia.
The Cardinals are 37-21 in games started by Adam Wainwright, Carpenter and Jaime Garcia this season.
Philadelphia's start of the second half hasn't gone as planned, having dropped two straight and four of five games since the All-Star break. The Phillies, who entered the midway point of the season with a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, got a rough outing from starter Kyle Kendrick last night.
Kendrick was 4-0 in his career against St. Louis before surrendering seven runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings of work. Chad Durbin gave up the only run in relief for the Phillies, who are now six games off the lead in the National League East Division.
"My command was off all night. I was falling behind hitters," Kendrick said.
Shane Victorino had two RBI and Ryan Howard chipped in a pair of hits and knocked in a run in defeat. Jimmy Rollins had an RBI as well for the Phillies, who recently lost three of four games in Chicago and are 18-12 against NL Central foes in 2010.
Jamie Moyer has fared well in his career against St. Louis, going 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 12 games (11 starts), and will take the mound Tuesday. Moyer has lost three straight starts since a personal three-game winning streak and lasted just three innings in Thursday's 12-6 road setback against the Cubs.
Moyer allowed six runs and five hits to fall to 9-9 in 18 starts to go along with a 4.88 earned run average. The veteran lefty is 4-6 in 10 road starts this season.
The Phillies had a four-game winning streak in the Gateway City come to an end last night. They still lead the 2010 season series by a 3-2 count.
<< Line of Scrimmage: NFL GameChangers '10: Specialists
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Belichick has achieved considerable
success during his 10-season stint as head coach of the New England Patriots,
but for those with the time or wherewithal to look at his resume' with a
magnifying glass
<< Monty selects vice captains for Ryder Cup
Wentworth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - European Ryder Cup captain Colin
Montgomerie has selected Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley as his
vice captains for this year's team.
The 2010 Ryder Cup will be staged October 1-3 at the Cel
<< Miller expecting plenty of open looks with Heat
MIAMI (AP) -With just about every Miami Heat acquisition this summer, another recruiting story seems to emerge.Dwyane Wade helped lure LeBron James and Chris Bosh. James played a big role in talking Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike Miller into coming to
<< Giants subdue Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nate Schierholtz's two-run homer in the
fourth inning proved to be the difference, as the San Francisco Giants held
off the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2, in the opener of a three-game series between
these t
Dodgers' Kershaw goes for 10th win versus Lincecum-led Giants >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers young starter Clayton Kershaw has never
reached double digits in wins and will get a chance tonight against the NL
West-rival San Francisco Giants in the continuation of a three-game series
from Chavez Rav
Rangers try to deal spiraling Tigers a seventh straight loss >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Hunter hopes to deliver Texas' first series win in
Detroit since 2007 this evening, when the Rangers play the middle test of
their three-game set with the Tigers at Comerica Park.
Texas had lost 11 straight in Detroi
Reds hand ball to rookie Leake vs. Nationals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Reds are going to be careful with how many innings
rookie Mike Leake racks up this season. They might be tempted to take the
leash off tonight given how well he pitched against the Nationals last time.
Leake
Cubs, Astros continue series at Wrigley Field >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs had the wind taken out of their sails in
last night's loss to the Houston Astros and will try for a measure of revenge
Tuesday in the second installment of a three-game series at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs wo
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting