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02/12/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Florida Panthers will try to post their first three-game winning streak since early December when they visit the New York Islanders for today's clash at Nassau Coliseum.
Florida, which leads Washington by two points atop the Southeast Division, has posted consecutive 3-1 victories since Tuesday's disappointing 4-0 road loss to the Capitals.
Another win today would give the Panthers their first three-game win streak since Dec. 3-8 and would also ensure that Florida stays ahead of the Caps in the division race. Washington also has a tilt this afternoon against the Rangers in New York City.
The Panthers were in action Saturday afternoon in New Jersey and were able to record a 3-1 victory against the Devils. Florida's Kris Versteeg put the Panthers ahead in the second period with his fifth goal in four meetings against New Jersey this season. Versteeg has 21 total goals this season to lead Florida and he also paces the club with 46 points.
Former Devils backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen got the better of his former teammate, Martin Brodeur, stopping 27 shots for the win. Sean Bergenheim also scored and Mikael Samuelsson added an empty-net goal in the victory.
Jose Theodore could get the start in net for Florida today for the first time since Jan. 20. The veteran backstop recently returned from a knee injury and suited up as Clemmensen's backup on Saturday. He is 14-9-5 with a 2.50 goals- against average this season.
Panthers defenseman Jason Garrison left Saturday's game in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return. He is questionable for today's test.
Florida is 12-12-4 as the guest this year and is completing a brief two-game trip today.
The Islanders have earned a point in six of their last seven games (4-1-2) and are coming off Saturday's overtime win against visiting Los Angeles. Mark Streit netted the game-winning goal 96 seconds into extra session to lift New York to the 2-1 decision.
Michael Grabner scored the lone goal in regulation for the Islanders, who bounced back from Thursday's regulation loss to Montreal. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 34-of-35 shots to pick up the win.
The Isles are trying to break into the Eastern Conference playoff picture and are currently eight points out of a postseason berth.
Today's contest marks the end of a three-game homestand for New York, which is 12-12-5 on Long Island this season.
Florida beat the Isles twice back in October and has taken five of seven overall in this series. The Panthers have two wins in their last three trips to the Coliseum and Theodore recorded a shutout there back on Oct. 8 in a 2-0 decision for Florida.
<< Lakers finish Grammy Road Trip in Toronto
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a bad case of Linsanity safely in the rearview mirror
the Los Angeles Lakers will get back to business and finish their annual
Grammy Road Trip north of the border against the Toronto Raptors.
The Lakers served as not
<< Jazz start tough stretch in Memphis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memphis continues a five-game homestand Sunday when it
welcomes the struggling Utah Jazz to FedEx Forum.
The Grizzlies improved to 2-1 on the residency Friday when Rudy Gay scored 21
points as Memphis defeated the Indiana
<< Warriors entertain Rockets in Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will shoot for a fourth straight win
tonight in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors.
The Rockets improved to 3-1 on a six-game road trip Thursday in Phoenix when
Luis Scola scored 16 points and wa
<< Rangers welcome Caps for matinee at MSG
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off another dominating performance against their
nearest division rivals, the first-place New York Rangers will welcome the
Washington Capitals for today's battle at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers visited Philade
Kings end road trip in Dallas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings will try to end a rough road trip on
a positive note when they visit the rival Dallas Stars for today's Pacific
Division battle at American Airlines Center.
The Kings are 1-3-1 so far on a six-game sw
Pens welcome Bolts to Steel City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins tied a season-high for goals in a
game on Saturday and will try to carry some of that offense into tonight's
contest when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins host
Sharks begin epic trek in St. Louis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place San Jose Sharks will make the first stop on
their longest road trip of the season tonight, as they visit the St. Louis
Blues in a Western Conference showdown at Scottrade Center.
The Sharks lead the Pacific
Red Wings shoot for NHL home record vs. Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to tie the NHL record for
consecutive home wins when they shoot for their 20th straight victory at Joe
Louis Arena tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers.
It's fitting that the Red Wings wil
MySportsbook.com Favors Fighting Irish to win College Football betting odds
According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.
Although MySportsbook.com has listed Notre Dame as the 5-1 favorite to win thecollege football College Football betting, fans in Columbus do not need to cancel their tickets to Glendale just yet. The Ohio State Buckeyes, listed right behind the Irish at 7-1, are also heavy favorites to win college football’s most coveted prize, while West Virginia, USC and the 2007 National Champion Texas Longhorns - all listed at 8-1 – are strong contenders as well.
MySportsbook.com has also posted gambling odds on the conference championships for the ACC, Big 12 and SEC. In the ACC – it could be anyone’s title, particularly for the two schools from the Sunshine State. Florida State and Miami, both listed at 2-1, are favored to win the ACC Championship Game odds, with the ‘Noles hoping to finish in the nation’s top 10 for the first time in five years, and the ‘Canes looking to avenge their 10-7 loss against FSU in last year’s ACC Championship betting.
Moving west to the Big 12, MySportsbook.com has betting lines listing Texas as 7-5 favorites to repeat as conference champions, even though the Longhorns lost their national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young to the NFL. In the south, the Auburn Tigers – led by Heisman-hopeful senior running back Kenny Irons – have been given the best odds to win the SEC Championship odds at 5-2.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.
| Notre Dame Ohio State West Virginia Texas USC Florida California Auburn Oklahoma Iowa Louisville Florida State Michigan Miami (FL) LSU Penn State Virginia Tech Nebraska Tennessee Georgia Arizona State Oregon Clemson Texas A&M Texas Tech Alabama Arkansas Boston College Michigan State Maryland South Carolina Colorado Purdue Georgia Tech TCU UCLA Arizona Pittsburgh Iowa State Wisconsin North Carolina State Virginia North Carolina Fresno State Hawaii Northwestern BYU Oregon State UNLV Field (Any Other Team) |
5-1 7-1 8-1 8-1 8-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 18-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 25-1 40-1 40-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 70-1 70-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 150-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 250-1 250-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 400-1 500-1 500-1 500-1 500-1 1000-1 1000-1 40-1 |
| Miami (FL) Florida State Virginia Tech Clemson Georgia Tech Boston College Maryland Virginia North Carolina State North Carolina Wake Forest Duke |
2-1 2-1 3-1 7-1 15-1 15-1 15-1 30-1 30-1 30-1 50-1 500-1 |
| Texas Oklahoma Nebraska Texas Tech Colorado Iowa State Texas A&M Kansas State Missouri Kansas Baylor Oklahoma State |
7-5 9-5 9-2 12-1 14-1 15-1 15-1 30-1 30-1 35-1 100-1 100-1 |
| Auburn Florida LSU Georgia Tennessee Arkansas Alabama Mississippi South Carolina Mississippi State Kentucky Vanderbilt |
5-2 11-4 4-1 6-1 7-1 7-1 9-1 20-1 28-1 75-1 100-1 300-1 |
For complete NCAA football odds please visit Mysportsbook.com.
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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