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08/20/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Duensing sparkled on the mound for a second straight start, this time tossing eight innings of one-run ball, as the Twins grabbed a 7-2 win over the Angels at Target Field.
Duensing (7-1), who tossed his first career complete game in a 2-0 win over Oakland last Saturday, gave up seven hits and fanned six batters in the opener of this three-game set. He moved to 9-1 in 15 career starts.
Jason Kubel hit a three-run homer off Dan Haren in the third inning as Minnesota widened its lead to 4 1/2 games over Chicago in the AL Central. The White Sox had their game at Kansas City postponed by rain Friday, causing a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Twins, who have won seven of their last eight overall, have captured 10 of their last 11 at home.
Haren (1-4) was touched for 11 hits and seven runs over seven innings as Los Angeles lost for the fourth time in five games.
Howie Kendrick had three of LA's eight hits and scored on Torii Hunter's double-play grounder in the fourth inning.
It was rough-going for Haren at the start as Denard Span and Orlando Hudson singled. Joe Mauer followed with a sacrifice fly to center.
J.J. Hardy doubled to begin the bottom of the third and two outs later Mauer was given an intentional walk. Kubel followed with a three-run blast to right field.
The Twins padded their lead to 7-1 in the fourth. Jim Thome tripled for the 26th time in his career and Delmon Young singled to center. After Danny Valencia doubled, Hardy lifted a sac fly to left. Hudson singled up the middle later in the frame for another run.
Duensing gave up a one-out double to Peter Bourjos in the eighth, but came back to get Bobby Abreu and Kendrick on ground balls to escape the inning.
Alberto Callaspo doubled off Matt Guerrier in the ninth and scored on a Juan Rivera groundout.
Game Notes
Earlier in the day, the Twins placed infielder Nick Punto on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. The team also recalled infielder Matt Tolbert from Triple-A Rochester...The Angels, who went 0-for-5 with men in scoring position, have lost 18 of their last 24 road games.
<< Miyazato leads Safeway Classic by one
North Plains, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ai Miyazato fired a six-under 66 Friday to
take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Safeway Classic.
Miyazato, who has won four times this season, currently stands No. 2 in the
world. She had
<< Hamilton comes alive in fourth to upend Toronto
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeAndra Cobb scored a touchdown late in the
fourth quarter, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats scored 13 unanswered points in the
final frame to slip past the Toronto Argonauts, 16-12, in a divisional
showdow
<< Pelfrey gets big offensive support as Mets top Pirates
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Pelfrey tossed eight effective innings
and was backed by a 15-hit attack, as the Mets beat the Pirates, 7-2, to open
a three-game series.
Pelfrey (12-7) gave up two runs -- one earned -- on six hit
<< Overbay, Blue Jays score 16 runs in rout of Red Sox
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lyle Overbay hit two three-run home runs as the
Toronto Blue Jays dominated the Boston Red Sox, 16-2, in the opener of a
three-game set.
Overbay finished the game 4-for-5 with seven RBI and three runs sc
Sanchez, Marlins blank Astros >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anibal Sanchez allowed three hits over seven
shutout innings, and the Marlins picked apart the Houston Astros, 9-0, in the
opener of a three-game series.
Dan Uggla delivered a two-run single and Emilio Bo
Brewers upend streaking Padres >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casey McGehee went 2-for-4 with a three-run
home run and four RBI as the Milwaukee Brewers took down the San Diego Padres,
10-6, in the opener of a three-game set.
Jonathan Lucroy added a two-run home ru
Peerman scores twice as Bengals topple Eagles >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cedric Peerman rushed for 47 yards and
scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, as the Cincinnati Bengals beat
Philadelphia, 22-9, in a preseason contest from Paul Brown Stadium.
Bengals starti
Rowley throws for nine TDs as Shock down Storm in Arena Bowl XXIII >>
Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Rowley threw for nine touchdowns, leading
Spokane over Tampa Bay, 69-57, in Arena Bowl XXIII.
Rowley completed 24-of-32 passes for 237 yards for the Shock. Markee White
caught nine passes for 99 yards
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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.
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