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Clijsters ousts Wozniacki; Azarenka reaches semisTennis Betting Lines01/24/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - At least Caroline Wozniacki won't have to answer questions about her World No. 1 ranking anymore. Wozniacki, who has spent 67 of the last 68 weeks atop the world rankings despite never winning a major championship, lost in straight sets to defending Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) decision means Clijsters still has a chance to become the eighth women's player to successfully defend the Australian Open title and also ensures a new World No. 1 by week's end. Clijsters, seeded 11th, reached the quarters only after rallying past Li Na on Sunday in a rematch of last year's title match in Melbourne. The Belgian suffered an ankle injury in the first set, then saved four match points in the second-set tiebreaker before staving off Li in the third. The four-time Grand Slam champion had decidedly less trouble Tuesday, earning six breaks of serve at Rod Laver Arena. Wozniacki was able to force a tiebreaker in the second set, but a cross-court winner gave Clijsters match point at 6-4. As was the case for most of the match, Wozniacki was unable to win a point on her serve, as Clijsters' winner at the net sent the Dane home early yet again. Wozniacki had not dropped a set in her first four matches at the season's first major, but won just 49-percent of her service points to fall to 0-3 in her career against Clijsters. In the semifinals, Clijsters will meet Victoria Azarenka, who overcame a letdown in the first-set tiebreaker to upend Agnieszka Radwanska 6-7 (0-7), 6-0, 6-2 in their quarterfinal match. There were eight breaks of serve in the first set alone between Azarenka and the eighth-seeded Radwanska, who won all seven points in a surprisingly quick tiebreaker. Azarenka, seeded third, bounced back from losing her first set of the tournament quite swimmingly, goose-egging the Pole in a 26-minute second set. The Belarussian kept the momentum in her favor and controlled the final set to improve to 7-3 against Radwanska, who has yet to reach a major semifinal. Azarenka reached her second Grand Slam semi. The other two quarterfinal matches will be played on Wednesday, with Ekaterina Makarova, fresh off an upset of Serena Williams, taking on fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova and second-seeded Petra Kvitova squaring off against Sara Errani. Either Azarenka, Kvitova or Sharapova will take over the No. 1 ranking.
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Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Robinson scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and No. 5 Kansas pulled away from Texas A&M in a 64-54 victory at Allen Fieldhouse. Tyshawn Taylor added 17 points for the Jayhawks (17-3, 7
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Crawford helps Portland get past Sacramento >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford had 26 points off the bench, Gerald Wallace scored 20 and the Portland Trail Blazers continued to win against the Sacramento Kings, beating them 101-89 on Monday night. The Trail Blaze
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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change TeamsIt’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column. We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side. Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor. Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season. Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference. The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash. To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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." 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. To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. |
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