 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Peavy tries to win fourth straight start in finale versus AngelsBaseball Betting Lines05/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Chicago White Sox continue to be in a season- long funk, Jake Peavy appears as if he's put his early-year woes behind him. The veteran pitcher will attempt to win a fourth consecutive start and help the White Sox salvage a split of a two-game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim tonight at U.S. Cellular Field. Peavy endured a rough month of April in which the 2007 National League Cy Young Award honoree went 0-2 with an uncharacteristic 7.85 earned run average and allowed six runs or more in three of five starts. May has been a different story for the right-hander, though, as he's gone 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA in three outings and posted an excellent 22-to-2 ratio of strikeouts to walks. The 28-year-old has also worked seven innings or more in each of those tests and finished two outs shy of a complete game in last Saturday's victory at Kansas City. Peavy gave up four runs on seven hits and struck out five before exiting. He was even sharper in a 7-3 besting of Toronto at U.S. Cellular Field on May 8, limiting the Blue Jays to two runs on just three hits while fanning eight without a walk. The two-time All-Star, who's spent most of his career pitching in the NL with San Diego, has only faced the Angels once previously. That came while with the Padres on June 17, 2006, with Peavy taking a tough loss despite permitting just three runs on four hits in an eight-inning stint. Peavy will be trying to enable his team to avenge a 3-2 defeat to the Angels in Wednesday's opener. Torii Hunter put Anaheim in front with a two-run homer in the fourth inning, and starter Joe Saunders made the lead stand by twirling 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball as the Angels halted a two-game skid. Saunders (3-5) yielded only one run and four hits in his second consecutive outstanding performance. The left-hander had fired a four-hit shutout to beat Oakland last Friday. "He is pitching with confidence," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Saunders. "He's got a lot of life on his ball. He pitched a terrific game." Brian Fuentes notched his fifth save of the season despite giving up a solo homer to Paul Konerko that brought Chicago within a run. White Sox starter John Danks (3-3) pitched well in a losing cause, surrendering three runs -- two earned -- and striking out eight Angels in a 7 2/3-inning span. "[Danks] made one mistake and it cost us the game," said catcher A.J. Pierzynski in reference to Hunter's homer. "We played hard, we battled. It just didn't work out." The Angels turn to Ervin Santana, who'll be aiming for back-to-back wins for the first time this season, in hopes of gaining a sweep tonight. The hard- throwing righty halted a four-start winless skid with a solid six innings of work Saturday against Oakland, holding the Athletics to three runs -- two earned -- while striking out six batters in a 12-3 Angels verdict. Santana had posted three no-decisions and a loss following his only other victory of 2010, a complete-game four-hitter in a 3-1 defeat of Toronto on April 18. The 2008 AL All-Star is 2-1 in three lifetime starts at U.S. Cellular Field and owns a 3-2 mark with a 4.88 ERA over nine overall meetings (eight starts) with the White Sox. The White Sox won five of nine meetings with the Angels in 2009 and took two of three games between the teams in Chicago from August 4-6.
<< Tigers go for rare series win in Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Detroit Tigers won a series in the city of Oakland, the team advanced to the World Series. While the reward won't be nearly as great this time around, the American League Central contenders do have the oppo
<< Romero, Vargas square off at Safeco
<< NL West-leading Padres close set at Chavez Ravine
<< Streaking Cubs go for sweep of slumping Phils
<< Marlins try to create more problems for struggling Cards
Habs hope to get on the board in Game 3 vs. Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting shut out in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, the Montreal Canadiens hope to rediscover their scoring touch on home ice tonight when they welcome the Philadelphia Flyers for Game 3 at Bell Ce
Pirates strive to send Brewers's skid to double digits >>
Reeling Mets hoping to end struggles in Washington >>
The Great Wall of Washington: NBA Mock Draft v. 1.0 >>
World Cup 2010 Preview: Denmark capable of deep run >>
Betting the NFL preseasonRule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games." When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night. The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine. “I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.” The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark. “We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.” The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long. “It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.” Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play. “You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt." So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps? “Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says. Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins. Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet. Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter. “If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says. Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider. The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason. “We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003. Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit CardsMichael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football. As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL. The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago. Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996). But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side. Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show. Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East: Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1 Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2 New York Giants - 9 - 2 Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1). Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship. So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume. And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top. They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy. Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday. But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division. Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS. Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS. Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162. Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense? Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS. In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS. Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division. Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do. The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20. The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550. Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs. |
|
