 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Federer avoids first-round shocker at WimbledonTennis Betting Lines06/21/2010 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six-time champion Roger Federer was on the ropes Monday but managed to avoid an opening-round shocker against game Colombian Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon. The 60th-ranked Falla stunned Federer by winning the first two sets on Day 1 and served for the match in the fourth set, but the super Swiss staved off his Colombian counterpart to record a gutsy 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 victory on the famed Centre Court at the storied All England Club. The reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Federer found a way to win on a day where he clearly was not at his best. He avoided losing in the first round here for the first time in eight years. Falla played the match of his life on Monday, which included the unlikely two- sets-to-none lead. The 26-year-old Colombian played some brilliant baseline tennis for the first four sets. He broke the mighty Federer with a backhand volley in the first set to grab a 6-5 lead, and then held serve to capture the opening stanza. In the second set, the surprising Falla recorded another huge break when the world No. 2 Federer netted a forehand on his way to a 3-4 deficit. Falla consolidated the break on his way to a stunning 6-4 set victory. Federer saved a pair of set points, at 4-5 in the second, but Falla ultimately prevailed on a fourth set point with a quality forehand volley winner. After going up by two sets, Falla summoned a trainer to work on his left leg, which required treatment on a couple of occasions in the opening-day duel. In the third set, Falla had chance to break for a 5-4 lead, but the Swiss great, down love-40 at one point, wound up saving four break points to assume a 5-4 lead. Federer then broke Falla to win the third set, which he did with a much-needed forehand winner. In the fourth set, Falla broke for a 1-0 lead, but Federer held tough and would get the break back nine games later to pull even at 5-all. Falla was serving for the match, leading at 5-4. The 16-time major champion Federer managed to force a fourth-set tiebreak, which he won easily, and then dominated the fifth set at love to breath a sigh of relief. The Basel native wound up winning 10 of the last 11 games. Federer, who tallied seven double faults on Monday, needed 3 hours, 18 minutes to advance, which he did with the help of 21 aces and five service breaks. Falla settled for three breaks in the round-of-128 tussle. The 28-year-old Federer is now 3-0 versus Falla this season, including a second-round victory at the French Open. Federer improved to 52-5 lifetime at Wimbledon. The top-seeded Federer has appeared in the last seven finals here, winning six of them. He beat Andy Roddick in last year's memorable finale, which featured a grueling 30-game fifth set. With the win last year, Federer became the men's all-time leader with a 15th major title. Federer's second-round opponent on Wednesday will be Serbian Ilia Bozoljac. In other action involving top-16 seeds, German Florian Mayer toppled No. 11 Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) and No. 16 Austrian Jurgen Melzer topped Jamaican Dustin Brown 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. The Croatian Cilic was an Aussie Open semifinalist back in January. Melzer reached the French Open semis earlier this month. A mild upset came when Poland's Michal Przysiezny took out 17th-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Other seeded Day-1 winners were No. 21 Frenchman Gael Monfils, No. 22 Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and No. 28 Spaniard Albert Montanes. Lopez dismissed American Jesse Levine in four sets.
<< Denver Nuggets 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nuggets are coming off another solid regular season and a seventh straight playoff appearance but George Karl's battle with neck and throat cancer proved to be too much to overcome as the team bowed out in the first round
<< Dallas Mavericks 2010 Draft Preview
<< Cleveland Cavaliers 2010 Draft Preview
<< Chicago Bulls 2010 Draft Preview
<< Tigers to recall Sborz
Chile downs record-setting Swiss >>
Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Gonzalez scored 15 minutes from time as Chile downed 10-man Switzerland, 1-0, on Monday at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium to take over the top spot in Group H. Switzerland set the rec
Detroit Pistons 2010 Draft Preview >>
Golden State Warriors 2010 Draft Preview >>
Houston Rockets 2010 Draft Preview >>
Indiana Pacers 2010 Draft Preview >>
Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it. He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games. "Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote. He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games. Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk. Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible. Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines. Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy. With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season. Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas). And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.) The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors. While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger. Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under. One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it. Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami. What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5. That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well. MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple. "The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money. "At the end of the day, we liked the home team." So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams. In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish. MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover. The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing. Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed. MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash. To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Will Ohio State continue to run the table in College Football betting odds? Speaking of revenge, Notre Dame will be out for some against Michigan State, following last year's 44 - 41 overtime loss to the Spartans in South Bend. The thirteenth-ranked Irish, listed as a 3-point favorite, will also be looking to avenge last Saturday's thrashing from the Michigan Wolverines. The Spartans, meanwhile, have won seven of the last nine match-ups against Notre Dame and are coming off an impressive 38-23 victory over Pittsburgh. Out west, 22nd-ranked Arizona State will be battling for their first victory over 21st-ranked California since 2000. Although the Golden Bears are listed as 7.5-point favorites, the Sun Devils are 3-0, lead the nation in sacks with 18 and possess the Pac-10's leading passer in sophomore quarterback Rudy Carpenter. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs. Date Favorite Opponent Point Spread For complete NCAA football odds and World Series odds please visit MySportsbook.com |
|
