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
01/18/2007 - College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The women's basketball game between Colorado and 17th-ranked Texas A&M was postponed Wednesday due to inclement weather. The game will be played on Thursday, January 17, at 7 p.m. (et) at Reed Arena.
The Buffaloes arrived safely in College Station Tuesday night, but icy conditions continued to hamper travel in the area. Texas A&M was closed Wednesday, for a second straight day.
<< Hawks picks up first win in Minnesota in nearly a decade
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson poured in 29 points and doled
out eight assists, and the Atlanta Hawks ended almost a decade of futility in
Minnesota with a 105-88 thrashing of the Timberwolves.
Josh Smith scored 21 point
<< Florida State upends No. 23 Virginia Tech
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Al Thornton's game-high 27 points and 13
rebounds led Florida State to an 82-73 win over 23rd-ranked Virginia Tech at
the Tucker Center.
Toney Douglas added 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the flo
<< Tolbert, Prowell lift Auburn over No. 22 Tennessee
Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Frank Tolbert poured in 24 points and Quan
Prowell added 21 points and eight rebounds as Auburn rattled off 18
consecutive points in the second half to topple 22nd-ranked Tennessee, 83-80.
Rashe
<< No. 16 LSU topples Ole Miss
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tasmin Mitchell posted 19 points on 6-of-14
shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead 16th-ranked LSU past Ole Miss, 62-55.
Terry Martin scored 15 points for the Tigers (13-4, 2-1 Southeastern), who
have
Cornhuskers top Wildcats >>
Lincoln, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kiera Hardy scored 22 points and grabbed six
rebounds as Nebraska posted a 70-63 decision over the 25th-ranked Kansas State
Wildcats at the Devaney Center.
Kelsey Griffin donated 15 points and seven rebou
Lehtinen tallies twice as Stars outshine Flames >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jere Lehtinen's pair of goals lifted the Dallas
Stars to a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames at American Airlines Arena
Joel Lundqvist and Stu Barnes also scored for Dallas, which has won two
straight gam
Avalanche hold on, snap Coyotes' road win streak >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny scored twice, Milan Hejduk posted
a goal and two assists, and Tyler Arnason finished with three helpers as
Colorado held on to beat Phoenix, 4-3.
Andrew Brunette had a goal and an assist
Brennan staying at Hawaii >>
Honolulu, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan, who broke the
NCAA single-season touchdown passing record, will return for his senior season
instead of making the jump to the NFL.
Brennan announced his intentions at a pre
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.
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. 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