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05/11/2010 - Shreveport, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Centenary has named Adam Walsh its next men's head basketball coach.
Walsh takes over for Greg Gary who resigned last week after two seasons at the helm. Walsh had been an assistant for the Gents the last three years. He will also assume the role of assistant athletic director.
"When we looked into the future and determined the qualities that we needed in our next head coach, the decision to promote Adam Walsh became an easy one. His familiarity with our institutional objectives and the transition process as well as his relationships with the current student-athletes make him the perfect choice," said Centenary director of athletics Dr. Tom Tallach.
Before joining Centenary in 2007 Walsh held assistant coaching positions at Paris Junior College, Odessa College and Division II Barton College.
Gary guided Centenary to a 16-44 record in his two years of service, including an 8-21 mark last season.
<< Hillman gets hook for arguing safe call at third
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman has been ejected for arguing a safe call on a double steal in the seventh inning against the Cleveland Indians.Hillman was ejected for the first time this season for arguing with third b
<< Canucks D Salo back for Game 6 against Blackhawks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -Canucks defenseman Sami Salo is back in the Vancouver lineup just two days after being struck in the groin area by a puck.Salo was on the ice Tuesday night for Game 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks, as the Canucks t
<< Rockies-Phillies rained out, DH scheduled for Wednesday
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuesday's game between the Philadelphia Phillies
and Colorado Rockies was postponed due to a storm system that is bringing
rain, and even possibly snow, to the Denver area.
The plan is to play a day-night
<< Red Sox's Cameron goes 1 for 3 in rehab stint
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) -Mike Cameron, recovering from an a lower abdominal strain, was 1 for 3 in his second rehabilitation game for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox against Gwinnett on Tuesday.Cameron batted leadoff and played center field, easily hand
Dice-K strong as Red Sox stay hot in Beantown >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daisuke Matsuzaka threw seven strong innings as
the Boston Red Sox downed the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-1, in the second of a
three-game set at Fenway Park.
Matsuzaka (2-1) gave up just one run on three hits w
White Sox use five-run fifth to beat Twins >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexei Ramirez and A.J. Pierzynski both
stroked two-run doubles in a five-run fifth inning, as the Chicago White Sox
defeated Minnesota, 5-2, in the opener of a brief two-game series at Target
Field.
Mets rally to clip Nats behind six-run eighth >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Carter's first hit as a Met was a big
one, driving in the go-ahead run during a six-run eighth, as New York rallied
to down Washington, 8-6, in the middle contest of a three-game set.
Carter, acquire
Westbrook gets first win in two years as Tribe beat KC >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jake Westbrook posted his first victory
since April 2008 with six solid frames, as Cleveland blitzed reeling Kansas
City, 8-2, at Kauffman Stadium.
Westbrook (1-2), who missed most of the last two
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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In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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