Padresbwisbol Football Betting News

<< Gutierrez haunts former team again as M's edge Tribe
Cleveland,OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Franklin Gutierrez continued to torch his former team with his second homer in as many games, and Jarrod Washburn lasted into the seventh inning in a solid start, as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Clevela

<< Marlins-Phillies washed out
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's game between the Florida Marlins and surging Philadelphia Phillies at Land Shark Stadium has been postponed following a lengthy rain delay. Florida right fielder Jeremy Hermida ripped a two

<< Hornaday makes it three in a row with Kentucky win
Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. took the lead on a restart with 18 laps to go and never looked back to win Saturday's Built Ford Tough 225 Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway. The No.33 Chevrolet driver

<< Padres bring up Latos, designate Banks
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres selected the contract of pitcher Mat Latos and designated pitcher Josh Banks for assignment. Latos, who is set to make his major-league debut on Sunday against Colorado, was brought

Namoff redeems himself with game winner vs. Colorado >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United earned a valuable three points after defeating the visiting Colorado Rapids, 3-1, at RFK Stadium in Major League Soccer action on Saturday night. The win pushed United (6-3-9) into a seco

Haren's gem leads D'Backs past Cards >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Cardinal Dan Haren pitched eight brilliant innings and worked a bases-loaded walk, and the Diamondbacks staved off a late rally to edge St. Louis, 4-2, in the middle test of a three-game set.

Cubs edge Nats >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Fontenot's solo home run in the eighth proved to be the deciding run, and the Cubs held off the Nationals for a 6-5 victory. Alfonso Soriano hit a three-run homer in the sixth that put the Cubs up

Lenhart, Garey lead Columbus past RSL >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew tied a Major League Soccer record of 17 games without a home loss on Saturday by topping visiting Real Salt Lake, 3-1. Steven Lenhart scored a goal and an assist, and Jason Garey score

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."

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.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.