There is a full slate of National Football League games on Sunday plus the Sprint Cup Series` season-ending race at Homestead-Miami. Here`s your Daily Sports Roundup.
Conference bully Davidson again had the best pointspread record last year, something students of college basketball betting will be watching this season. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
VCU not only did it on the court but also proved kindest to college basketball betting devotees of the CAA last season. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
College basketball betting fans will take note that only three of the conference’s nine teams had winning pointspread records last season. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
Call it short-term memory loss if you like but NFL betting fans can get spoiled on a team’s previous season’s results. The notion lingers of the Patriots, Colts, Cowboys, Chargers, Packers and Giants as elite teams while the Dolphins, Raiders, Falcons, Rams and Ravens are etched in the brain as sub-standard football clubs.
Big 12 teams were 70-57-2 ATS outside their conference last season, providing a winning trend for students of college basketball betting. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
Atlantic 10 basketball betting junkies profited from the league’s 83-64-2 non-conference ATS mark last season. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
College basketball betting followers did well going against the WAC in one-conference games (33-57-2 ATS) and will be watching that trend this year. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
Missouri Valley Conference teams were worth a wager at home last year, something college basketball betting followers will be monitoring this season. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
Memphis gets most of the coverage but college basketball betting fans know that other Conference USA teams may be better pointspread plays than the Tigers. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
The teams with the best records also were the best bets in the Atlantic Coast Conference last year, a trend which college basketball betting fans will watch closely this season. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
College basketball betting fans have to be careful gauging the ever-changing power struggle in the Big Ten. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
For all its prowess, only five of 16 Big East teams had winning records against the number last season, something college basketball betting devotees will be watching closely this year. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
Only three of the Pac-10’s teams failed to post a winning pointspread record last season, making the league a favorite of college basketball betting fans. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
There should be a lot of volatility in the SEC, forcing college basketball betting aficionados to stay on their wagering toes this season. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
NCAA hoops, which are pushing the NFL for the most popular wagering sport among North American gamblers, won’t tip off until November but college basketball betting fans can get an early start on the action right now.
Motivation should be the only question as bettor-friendly Boston seeks a second straight NBA championship after competing in the NBA’s weakest division. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2007/08 season are in parentheses:
Sports betting darling Detroit should be able to hold off Cleveland in a division that always offers many wagering opportunities. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2006/07 season are in parentheses:
The Magic were also magic to NBA betting fans last season but a rising Heat and a dangerous team of Wizards may have something to say about that this year. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2006/07 season are in parentheses:
Having emerged as a serious contender last season two or three years before most predicted, don’t expect the Jazz to wait around for the rest of the division to catch them. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2006/07 season are in parentheses:
The Lakers not only were the best team but the best pointspread team in the division a year ago. The former may be easier to achieve than the latter this season. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2006/07 season are in parentheses:
It would be wagering justice if New Orleans, the team with the best pointspread record in the Western Conference last season, won it all this time, which is a distinct possibility. Straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS), and over/under (O/U) records for the 2006/07 season are in parentheses:
Minnesota and Green Bay were a combined 13-5-2 ATS outside the division last year, a trend which could continue this season for those two NFC North contenders.
The US Open Tennis Championship takes center court in Flushing Meadows, New York, beginning Aug. 25 but for the first time in recent wagering memory oddsmakers can't even agree on which players should be made the tennis betting favorites to win the men's and women's singles titles in the year's fourth and final Major.
New England's dream season ended in a nightmare in the Super Bowl but it's difficult to see how the Patriots won't dominate this division again, certainly straight up and probably against the spread, as well.
There's not much separating Pittsburgh and Cleveland at the top of the division this year and, come to think of it, Cincinnati and Baltimore at the bottom.
Just five of the Sun Belt Conference's nine teams have pointspread records dating back eight years so there's not a great statistical data base for bettors. Among independents, only Navy has been a reliable play since 2000.
The Giants may have won Super Bowl LXII just five months ago but in a lack of NFL betting respect only the late Rodney Dangerfield could appreciate, New York isn't even favored to win its own division this season.
The Giants may have won Super Bowl LXII just five months ago but in a lack of NFL betting respect only the late Rodney Dangerfield could appreciate, New York isn't even favored to win its own division this season.
Only one Conference USA team, East Carolina, has enjoyed a winning pointspread record over the last eight seasons, so there are wagering opportunities here.
The WAC may not be at the top of every gambler's list but many of the conference's teams have fallen into statistically reliable betting categories over the past decade.
With two-time defending champion Tiger Woods still in rehab following June knee surgery, golf betting fans shouldn't have any difficulty finding value at the final Major of the year, the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, Aug. 7-10.
Olympic Games betting never has enjoyed the action of a World Cup, a Wimbledon, an NBA Championship or a World Series, but the inclusion of soccer, tennis, basketball and baseball, not to mention dozens of other sports popular in different parts of the globe, should ensure that the bi-annual five-ring circus, which gets underway in Beijing, August 8, will keep both bet makers and takers hopping.
The continued popularity of NFL preseason betting can be linked to America's growing addiction to anything football. Bettors, particularly those in the United States who have survived a five-month hiatus from their favorite wagering sport, seem unwilling (or unable) to endure another five weeks before the NFL preseason.
Pac-10 teams were 21-14 ATS outside their conference last season but don't appear to be as strong, overall, this year. Teams are listed in predicted order of finish with 2007 records, returning starters (RS) - including kickers - and returning lettermen (RL) in parentheses:
Don't go to sleep on the Big East. Conference teams were 22-16-1 ATS outside their league last year and, if history is a guide, could be undervalued and underestimated by oddsmakers again in 2008.
When it comes to boxing betting, anything that removes the outcome from the hands of the judges is preferable, thus the affection gamblers have for those knockout prone heavyweights who seem to rarely leave matters to the ringside pencil-pushers.
For the greater part of a decade, when it came to golf betting, the key question always was whether to take a short price on Tiger Woods or put your cash on some other player at much longer odds.
If gamblers accept assurances that doping scandals truly are a thing of the past, then Tour de France betting should get a wagering boost when the world's most revered bicycle race wheels out of the western naval port of Brest on July 5 to start its annual three-week journey across the country before concluding with a ride down the Champs-Elysees in Paris, July 27.
Anyone who is contemplating a round of golf betting tees off by asking themselves if Tiger Woods, the world's No. 1 ranked player and the most dominating force on the links since Jack Nicklaus, is worth the price.
Favorites may have been dominate in recent years but if you want to do more than just scratch the surface of French Open Tennis Championship betting, look to, well, the surface.
Legendary oddsmaker Roxy Roxborough was fond of saying that NFL betting is part reality and part perception, a description that aptly fits this year's recently concluded NFL draft.
The first thing you should know about Preakness Stakes betting is that it's even farther removed from the Kentucky Derby, the opening leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, than the 494 miles that separate Louisville from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, the site of the triad's middle jewel, May 17.
Rain may have washed away the race's second round of qualifying on May 11 but many bookmakers, looking for maximum wagering mileage, raced to open their windows for Indy 500 betting on the annual Memorial weekend American racing classic at the Brickyard, Sunday, May 25.
The Kentucky Derby, dubbed "The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports," surely is the greatest two minutes in horse race betting and, come to think of it, probably also is the two greatest minutes in sports betting.
Don't get too cocky if you did well betting NBA basketball during the regular season because the playoffs, which tip-off at the end of this month, are a whole new ball game for gamblers.
Joe Calzaghe has never lost (44-0, 32 knockouts) so it shouldn't come as
a major surprise that the former super middleweight champion of the world opened as a solid favorite
to continue his unbeaten streak before HBO's cameras at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, April 19.
As the only one of golf's four major events that can boast a permanent home course, betting The Masters is a little more predictable than golf betting in general.
It was in early 1992, just after the successfully concluded Gulf War, when the first President Bush had a popularity rating of 90 percent that Roxy Roxborough, the nation's preeminent price maker at the time, came under fire for political future book betting odds he'd posted on the upcoming US presidential election.
The best two sports betting days of the year, the opening round of the NCAA
Men's Basketball Tournament, dribbles into the wagering picture on March 20 and
21 and gamblers already are sharpening their attacks for the 32-game onslaught.
There's no doubt that the Red Sox and Yankees are the bullies of the American League East but baseball betting aficionados understand that straight up achievement doesn't always translate to wagering success, arguing for a more sophisticated analysis of the upcoming Major League Baseball campaign.
The Indians were the surprise team in the American League Central Division a year ago, not only winning on the field, but at the wagering windows, as well.
The Angels may have coasted to a comfortable victory in the AL West but astute
MLB betting fans also were able to find winning plays for the other three teams
in the division last year.
Proving that MLB betting is a difficult pursuit for even the most studious sports bettor, the Nationals, who finished a distant fourth in the NL East, were a lot more reliable a bet that the heralded Mets, who were in the division hunt until the final weekend of the season, last year.
The Cubs won last year's National League Central title (and are favored to do
so again in 2008) but savvy baseball betting fans were more than able to find
wagering nuggets throughout the division by either betting on or against
certain teams in certain situations.
With four teams over .500 and three teams involved in the post-season (the
Rockies beat the Padres in a one-game playoff for the wild card), the National
League West was a high-profile division last season, not just for baseball fans
but for fans of MLB betting.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup series puts pedals to the metal later this month but sports betting enthusiasts need not wait a minute longer to jump start their wagering engines.
While most of us have bid farewell to 2007, it's not too late for one final look back at the athletes, administrators and journalists who have given the arena of sports and sports betting such fabulous lip service over the past 12 months
With over half the NBA regular season complete, this would be both a convenient and appropriate time for NBA betting fans to take a detailed look back at the more than 600 games that have been played
The teams had barely left bone-chilling Lambeau Field in Green Bay when the word arrived from up high (actually, the second floor of a building in Las Vegas)
It was the colorfully named "Deep Throat" who, cloaked in a dark and desolate parking garage in the motion picture, "All the President's Men," admonished Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward to "follow the money" in the Watergate investigation.
Shouldn't anyone eyeing a serious sports bet or three on the NFL Playoffs have their TV remote set to the Weather Channel? Don't games where there is snow, rain and/or wind favor the underdog?
Sports betting, particularly football betting, has become significantly more sophisticated over the past decade with players mining years of research in an effort to gain an edge on sports books.
Sports betting, particularly football betting, has become significantly more sophisticated over the past decade with players mining years of research in an effort to gain an edge on sports books.
A 23-59-3 pointspread record outside their league last season tells college basketball betting followers all they need to know about the prowess of the Ohio Valley Conference teams.
The four MAAC teams that won 18 or more games straight up also had winning records against the spread last season, a trend college basketball betting enthusiasts will be monitoring this year.
The conference's only 20-game winner also was the only reliable pointspread play, an emerging trend that college basketball betting aficionados will be watching this season.
With a non-conference record of 41-51-1 ATS, college basketball betting followers of the Sun Belt Conference had to be careful picking their wagering spots last season.
All five teams that had a winning straight up won/lost record also were successful against the spread last season, something college basketball betting followers will be eyeing this year.
Conference bully Davidson also had the best pointspread record last year, something students of college basketball betting will be watching this season.
The three teams that won 20 or more games, Butler, Wright State and Illinois-Chicago, also had the best pointspread records a year ago, a trend college basketball betting enthusiasts surely will be watching this season.
Six of the eight teams had losing pointspread records outside the conference, an indication to college basketball betting technicians to tread lightly with this group.
Sports betting, particularly football betting, has become significantly more sophisticated over the past decade with players mining years of research in an effort to gain an edge on sports books.
The Big 12 played just .500 ball ATS outside the conference last year, leaving students of basketball betting to ponder if the league will be as good as advertised this season.
The Pac-10 could be the nation's strongest hoop loop this year, hardly a surprise to college basketball betting fans who backed the league's teams to the tune of a 63-48-3 ATS record versus non-conference foes.
Back-to-back titles by Florida and a 77-63-2 out-of-conference ATS record have alerted every college basketball betting aficionado to the power of the SEC.
Sports betting, particularly football betting, has become significantly more sophisticated over the past decade with players mining years of research in an effort to gain an edge on sports books.
Sports betting, particularly football betting, has become significantly more sophisticated over the past decade with players mining years of research in an effort to gain an edge on sports books.
Of the eight teams in the Sun Belt conference, only two, Troy and Middle Tennessee, had winning records last year and just one, Troy, is above .500 for the past seven seasons.
Western Michigan and Toledo look solid but overall the MAC appears mediocre at best with a quartet of teams (Miami, Temple, Buffalo and Eastern Michigan) having won two or fewer games last season.
Southern Mississippi and Houston, the winners of the respective East and West divisions of CUSA last season, again will be the teams to beat this year.
For the second year in a row, there could be another undefeated BCS bound team from the WAC, only this season it's more likely to be Hawaii than Boise State.
The MWC is a league with three strong teams and six weak ones with BYU, TCU and Utah clearly in position to dominate. The Cougars get the nod because they get to play both the Horned Frogs and Utes at home this year.
Either West Virginia or Louisville - but not both - could have a chance to play for the national championship. The teams meet before a Thursday night national television audience in Morgantown, Nov. 8. Notre Dame will be the best of the three independents, though Navy may have more victories this season.
Oklahoma and Texas meet in the Red River Shootout in the Cotton Bowl on Oct. 6 in a contest that could decide one of the representatives in the BCS title tilt.
USC will begin the year as the top team in the nation, a position the Trojans will have a good chance of defending, if they can negotiate road trips to Oregon and California.
With HBO as an unwitting accomplice, betting on boxing should move to the top of the sportsbook betting menu around the globe over the first three Saturdays in July.
The Mets came within a game of the World Series and hope that better health, especially in the pitching staff, and a good mix of emerging young players and veteran performers, will get them to the October Classic this year.
Chicago's fall from World Series champion to also-ran can be traced to a pitching staff that yielded exactly one more run per game (3.61 to 4.61) than in 2005.
The Yankees scored the most runs in baseball last year and a lineup that features Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez, Hidecki Matsui, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano figures to be every bit as potent this season.
While betting totals for the Feb. 25 Academy Awards won't approach what was wagered on Super Bowl XLI earlier in the month, with a worldwide television audience estimated at more than two billion people, there's plenty of incentive - including cultivating a slew of new bettors - for sportsbooks to post prices on many of the top categories.
While the end of one year and the start of another always bring about a measure of self - examination for the gambler, it should be comforting to know that over the eons, other people, some of great fame, repute and disrepute, have pondered the complexities of sports betting, gambling and luck, as well...
NBA betting is a lot like baseball betting; a player needs discipline and stamina to deal with the daily drain of a long and debilitating six-month season.
The 23rd edition of the Breeders' Cup - renamed the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships five years ago to give it a sense of global importance - comes to Churchill Downs (and sportsbooks everywhere), Nov. 4 so even if you're not one who regularly plays the ponies, this is the time to make horse betting your passion.
Astute bookmakers - most other types soon are wearing paper hats at fast food joints - realize that the greater the number of wagering choices in an NFL betting equation, the easier it is for them to hide the vigorish.
Friday the 13th looms large in the sports betting world, forcing bet makers and bet takers alike to superstitiously cross their fingers even though there's no credible evidence that the second Friday of this month will carry more risk than any other day.
Chicago Bears (11-5 SU, 9-5-2 ATS, 4-11-1 O/U): The Bears gave up the fewest points in the NFL last year and dominated their NFC North rivals by a wide margin, trends which should continue in 2006.
Here are thumbnail sketches of the NC East and NFC West teams. Numbers in parentheses indicate last year's straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS) and over/under (O/U) records...
The Greek Sportsbook released the opening betting lines for the first week of college football. As most online sports bettors rejoice at the prospects of the upcoming season, The Greek continues previewing the BCS conferences.
AFC North: PITTSBURGH STEELERS (11-5 SU, 9-7 ATS, 8-6-2 O/U): The Steelers lost several key players, including Antwaan Randle El, from last year's Super Bowl winning team but the biggest loss is the one that didn't happen, to QB Ben Roethlisberger, who seems to have recovered from a motorcycle accident.
The Greek Sportsbook recently released future book odds for baseball's postseason awards. Online sports bettors will find some intriguing opportunities in the Cy Young, Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards.
The Greek Sportsbook is currently offering college football game-day lines, as well as odds on the conference champions, season 'over/under' win totals and the winner of the Heisman trophy.
Some people are critical about the quality of the NFL exhibition season. However, for the sharp bettor, there can be an abundance of good opportunities.
Fed an August diet of preseason games where motivation was questionable and lines and betting limits reflected a queasiness of confidence, you can't blame gridiron gamblers or the bet takers at The Greek Sportsbook if they're starved for some real NFL betting when the regular season starts this month.
The dog days of summer are here but that doesn't mean that baseball bettors, panting from the daily drudgery of the sport, have to roll over and play dead.
Handicapping Mistake #5: There are several tried and true rules of the game, such as, "Never bet a horse to do something he hasn't done before," "Never bet a 3-year-old against older horses in the spring," "Never bet fillies against colts," "Never bet maidens versus winners," and "Never bet the highest weighted horse on a muddy track," which always should be followed.
Handicapping Mistake #4: Public prognosticators can help you win. Those who can, do. Those who can't, make selections in newspapers or via a telephone service, hold seminars or write books.
The Heisman Trophy is awarded in early December, but its outcome can be wagered on now. The Greek was the first online sportsbook to release lines on the Heisman.
Handicapping Mistake #3: Class will tell: "Years ago, before there were reliable speed figures and when there were fewer horses and fewer racetracks, class might have meant something. Today, there's no such thing as class," said the professional horse player.
Handicapping Mistake #2: Never let the tote board influence your wagering decisions: "You couldn't possibly make a dumber statement," one of Nevada's best professional horse bettors who asked that his name not be used.
The planet's biggest and most widely bet sporting event, the World Cup of Soccer, kicks off in Germany June 9 and it's no surprise that the globe's grandest and most innovative bet taker, The Greek Sports Book, already has a series of prices posted for the 32-nation extravaganza that makes America's Super Bowl look like a provincial backyard game of touch football.
Last time out, The Greek Sportsbook examined the four handicapping pillars - speed, pace, track bias and value - on which a foundation of successful horse race betting is based.
Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither, for that matter, was Athens so if you're planning to bet on horses with The Greek Sportsbook, it would be wise to analyze the four essential pillars on which race handicapping is constructed...
With the Greek Sportsbook offering a myriad of wagering options on thousands of games each season, sophisticated gamblers understand that in order to be successful betting online on Major League Baseball, a player needs to concentrate on eight core factors...
The Kentucky Derby won't be run until the first Saturday in May but The Greek Sportsbook already has prices posted and is accepting wagers on the 132nd Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.
With The Greek Sportsbook offering a money line, runs line and total on every Major League Baseball game, that's 2,430 regular season baseball games, you wouldn't think there'd be any need to expand the sports betting menu beyond those appetizers.
The 2005/06 NFL season has come and gone and the 2006/07 campaign still is a couple of months away but before the handicapping buzzards pick the carcass clean, it's time to wash up, put on our scrubs, make like Kay Scarpetta or Temperence Brennan (or any other medical examiner on your fiction reading list) and perform a pointspread postmortem.
Shouldn't sportswriters, journalists and commentators know something about odds and oddsmaking before they issue proclamations and offer opinions on gambling?
Defending champion Tiger Woods opened as a strong +175 favorite (bet $100 to win $175) to win his fifth Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, April 6-9, but if that price is a little too short for your wagering taste, The Greek Sports Book is offering double-digit odds (and more) on every other golfer in the elite field.
