Football Betting

O's hold on to edge Rays

Baseball Betting Lines

09/05/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Corey Patterson homered and drove in three runs and Nick Markakis went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs batted in to lead Baltimore to an 8-7 win over Tampa Bay in a back and forth affair to close a three-game series.

Brian Roberts went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI for the Orioles, who took the last two games and have won six of their last nine.

Alfredo Simon (4-2) got the win in relief with a scoreless inning and Koji Uehara fanned two in retiring the side in order in the ninth to earn his sixth save.

Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Rocco Baldelli all hit two-run homers in defeat for the Rays, who remain 2 1/2 games behind front-running New York in the AL East after the Yankees fell at home to Toronto.

Dan Wheeler (2-2) was charged with the loss after giving up two runs on two walks after getting just one out for Tampa Bay, which still leads the season series, 10-5.


<< Gordon's homer lifts Royals past Tigers
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Gordon hit a go-ahead home run leading off the sixth inning, and the Kansas City Royals posted a 2-1 victory over Detroit to salvage the finale of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. The blas

<< Zimmerman, Nats beat up Pirates
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Zimmerman went 2-for-5 and drove in four runs, as the Washington Nationals handled the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-1, in the rubber match of a three-game set at PNC Park. Adam Dunn added a solo homer and

<< Fielder, Wolf help Brewers down Phils
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Prince Fielder's three-run homer in the first inning proved to be all Milwaukee needed, as the Brewers held off the Phillies, 6-2, to avoid a three-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park. Rickie Weeks had

<< Holliday, Cards take series finale over NL Central-leading Reds
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Holliday belted the game-changing three- run home run in the sixth inning to lead St. Louis to a much-needed 4-2 win over Cincinnati in the last of a three-game series. Holliday finished 2-for-4 whi

<< Southern wins MEAC/SWAC Challenge
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stump Mitchell won his coaching debut at Southern University as the Jaguars rallied past Delaware State, 37-27, Sunday afternoon in the sixth annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge at the Citrus Bowl. Corey Cushing

Blue Jays bomb their way past Yankees >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill both knocked in three runs to help the Toronto Blue Jays beat New York, 7-3, and salvage the finale of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Wells hit a two-run homer in th

Bills sign TE Martin >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills signed tight end David Martin on Sunday. Martin, an eight-year veteran, has appeared in 101 games with Miami and Green Bay. He has totaled 152 catches for 1,519 yards and 14 touchdowns

White Sox rally in the ninth to complete Fenway sweep >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Beckham and Juan Pierre drew the go-ahead and insurance bases-loaded RBI walks as the Chicago White Sox staged a four- run ninth-inning rally to take a 7-5 decision over the Boston Red Sox in the finale

Davis, Tejada and Pagan help Mets crush Cubs >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ike Davis finished a triple shy of the cycle, drove in three runs, and scored three runs, as the New York Mets dominated the Chicago Cubs, 18-5, at Wrigley Field. Ruben Tejada drove in five runs for the Met

Day takes 1-shot lead at Deutsche Bank >>
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australia's Jason Day fired a five-under 66 on Sunday to take a one-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker after the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. Chasing his second win of the season, and looking to ma

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

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.

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