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06/04/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves have placed reliever Takashi Saito on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring injury.
Saito felt tightness while pitching in the ninth inning of Atlanta's 4-3 win against the Dodgers on Thursday. He got the first two outs of the frame, but was lifted from the game and Jonny Venters recorded the final out.
The Japanese right-hander has worked to a 1-2 record and 2.92 earned-run average in 25 relief appearances this season. He has 34 strikeouts and only eight walks over 24 2/3 innings.
Righty Craig Kimbrel was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to fill the roster spot. Kimbrel was with the club for a brief stint in early May and went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in four games.
<< Carcillo out, van Riemsdyk in for Philly for Game 4
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers benched forward
Dan Carcillo and replaced him with forward James van Riemsdyk for Game 4 of
the Stanley Cup Finals.
Carcillo played the previous two games and was a minus-o
<< Ladd, Boynton in for Game 4
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Ladd
and defenseman Nick Boynton are in the lineup for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup
Finals.
Ladd had missed the first three games of the series with an upper body inj
<< Briscoe edges Franchitti for Texas pole
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Briscoe won Friday's qualifying for the
Firestone 500k IZOD IndyCar Series race after beating Dario Franchitti by the
slimmest of margins at Texas Motor Speedway.
Briscoe from Team Penske earned his s
<< Another blow for Cleveland: Sizemore out for season after surgery
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Indians center fielder Grady
Sizemore underwent surgery on Friday and will miss the rest of the regular
season.
Sizemore was expected to be sidelined 6-to-8 weeks following the procedu
Flyers have two-goal lead after one period in Game 4 >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Goals from Mike Richards, Claude Giroux
and Matt Carle were countered by a goal from Patrick Sharp as the Philadelphia
Flyers hold a 3-1 lead over the Chicago Blackhawks after 20 minutes of action
in Game 4 o
Broncos give OL Kuper six-year deal >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos made a number of moves on
Friday, including giving offensive lineman Chris Kuper a six-year contract.
Kuper, a fifth-round pick of Denver in 2006, has started 42 games in his
career.
Mariners P Fister to miss one start >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Mariners pitcher Doug Fister will miss
his next scheduled start with what is being called shoulder fatigue.
According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Fister is expected to start next
Thursday in Te
Bautista homers twice as Blue Jays handle Yankees >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista homered twice and Brett Cecil
pitched a solid eight innings, as Toronto beat the Yankees, 6-1, to kick off a
three-game set at Rogers Centre.
Bautista came in tied for the major league-lead
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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