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02/23/2012 - Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Belgian Xavier Malisse knocked off second- seed and defending champion Andy Roddick 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 in first-round action at the $1.155 million Regions Morgan Keegan Championships on Wednesday.
Roddick started strong by winning the first two games of the second set, but his lead was quickly erased as Malisse got back on serve, and then broke Roddick in the final game to secure the win. It was Roddick's earliest exit at this tournament in 12 appearances on the indoor hardcourts at The Racquet Club of Memphis.
Third seed Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, who was the runner-up at this event in 2009, polished off American Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 6-2, while fourth- seeded Canadian Milos Raonic followed up his win in San Jose by topping Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in one hour and 29 minutes.
Raonic lost to Roddick in last year's final to give Roddick his third consecutive title at this event.
Diminutive Belgian Olivier Rochus upended fifth-seeded Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), while seventh-seeded South African slugger Kevin Anderson drove out oft-injured American Robby Ginepri 7-5, 6-3.
German Philipp Petzschner knocked off sixth-seeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6).
Additional opening-round wins came for Austrian Jurgen Melzer, Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Germany's Benjamin Becker. Melzer defeated Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Istomin was last week's San Jose runner-up to Raonic. Kubot topped American Jesse Levine 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, while Becker finished off Dudi Sela in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
The 2012 Memphis champ will pocket $277,915.
<< Avs turn tables on Kings with home victory
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny tallied twice as Colorado finished
off a season sweep of Los Angeles with a 4-1 decision at Pepsi Center.
"From start to finish tonight we played our game. We kept attacking
even after
<< Ellis' last-second shot lifts Warriors over Suns; Curry injures foot
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monta Ellis scored 26 points and made the game-
winning jumper with one second left, lifting the Golden State Warriors over
the Phoenix Suns, 106-104.
Ellis' fadeaway jumper with Grant Hill in his face snap
<< Vinci out at Monterrey Open
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci was a
second-round loser at the $220,000 Monterrey Open on Wednesday.
Vinci fell to Russian Nina Bratchikova 7-5, 7-5 in 1 hour, 21 minutes on the
hardcourts at Sierr
<< Packers TE Finley tweets 2-year deal
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers and tight end Jermichael Finley have
agreed on a two-year deal.
Finley confirmed a report of the deal on his Twitter account Wednesday night,
saying:
"It's TRUE! Thank you so much to the Packers
UNLV handles Boise State >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chace Stanback drained four three-pointers en
route to a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds as No. 21 UNLV took care of
business on Wednesday with a 75-58 victory over Boise State.
Brice Massamba contrib
Paul leads Clippers past Nuggets >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Paul had a season-high 36 points to
go along with nine assists as the Los Angeles Clippers pulled away in the
fourth quarter to down the Denver Nuggets, 103-95, at Staples Center.
Blake Griffi
San Diego State sneaks past Wyoming in OT >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamaal Franklin scored the first five points
of overtime and finished with 12 points all together to help No. 24 San Diego
State sneak past Wyoming, 67-58, at Viejas Arena on Wednesday.
Garrett Green came o
Stanford two shots clear in Singapore >>
Singapore (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angela Stanford made a couple of late birdies to
complete a six-under 66 on Thursday and take the lead after one round of the
HSBC Women's Champions.
Stanford holds a two-stroke lead over five players, incl
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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