Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
03/13/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergei Kostitsyn scored a pair of goals and Jaroslav Halak stopped 21 shots, as Montreal edged Boston, 3-2, at Bell Centre.
Andrei Markov netted the other goal for the Canadiens, who won their fifth straight game and pulled into a tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with Philadelphia.
Halak posted his 22nd victory of the season and has won each of his last four starts.
Blake Wheeler and Milan Lucic tallied for the Bruins, losers in three of their last four. Tuukka Rask allowed three goals on 27 shots in defeat.
The Habs went up 3-1 at 1:41 of the third period, when a dump-in by Hal Gill to the right of the Bruins' net was misplayed in front by both Rask and a Boston defenseman. Kostitsyn, who was gliding through the slot, shoveled the loose puck into the open net.
Lucic did bring the Bruins back within a goal on a screen shot from the low slot at 11:46 after circling from the right wing into the slot, but the visitors did not solve Halak further.
Markov put the Canadiens on the board when his floater from the point on a power play hit a Bruin in the slot and changed direction at 6:02.
Montreal went up 2-0 with 40 seconds left in the period, as Markov skated behind the net and dished in front for a successful tip by Kostitsyn.
Wheeler cut Boston's deficit in half 1:12 into the second period, but Halak halted the other four Bruins shots in the frame to keep it a one-goal contest.
Game Notes
Montreal won five of the six meetings this season...The Canadiens play in Manhattan against the Rangers on Tuesday, and the Bruins travel to New Jersey on Monday.
<< Blues keep rolling, top Blue Jackets
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy McDonald had a goal and a pair of
assists, and Chris Mason stopped 24 shots, as the surging St. Louis Blues
topped Columbus, 5-1, at Nationwide Arena.
Alexander Steen, B.J. Crombeen, David
<< Smith's 11 helpers paced Atlanta over Detroit
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson finished with 26 points, as the
Atlanta Hawks used an efficient offensive performance to take a 112-99 victory
over the Detroit Pistons.
Josh Smith added 18 points and a career-high 11 assis
<< Rafalski's OT tally lifts Detroit over Buffalo
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Rafalski's power-play goal 31 seconds
into overtime gave Detroit a 3-2 win over Buffalo at Joe Louis Arena.
Buffalo's Tyler Myers was called for delay of game late in regulation and the
penalty carr
<< Bryzgalov, Coyotes shut out Hurricanes
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Bryzgalov made 29 saves to record his NHL-
leading eighth shutout, and the Phoenix Coyotes won their fourth straight game
with a 4-0 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Lee Stempniak and Martin Hanzal each
Kessel helps Leafs edge Edmonton >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Kessel scored two goals and dished out an
assist, as the Toronto Maple Leafs outlasted the Edmonton Oilers, 6-4, in a
matchup between two teams in the basement in the NHL standings.
Tyler Bozak had a
Arkansas-Pine Bluff wins SWAC title for first NCAA bid >>
Bossier City, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tavaris Washington had 14 points and five
rebounds as the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions took home the Southwestern
Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 50-38 win over Texas Southern,
giving
Knicks pound Dallas to snap Mavs' 13-game win streak >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Walker scored a career-high 23 points and
the New York Knicks were an efficient 16-of-30 from beyond the arc, helping
them snap Dallas' 13-game winning streak with a resounding 128-94 victory at
America
Smith leads Nuggets' fourth-quarter charge in win over Memphis >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.R. Smith scored 16 of his 30 points in the
fourth quarter, as the Denver Nuggets used a huge final period to defeat the
Memphis Grizzlies, 125-108.
Smith made 11-of-16 field goals, including a 7-for-10
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.
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting