Djokovic, Murray, Hewitt move on in Melbourne

Tennis Betting Lines

01/19/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's champion Novak Djokovic and runner-up Andy Murray were among Thursday's second-round winners, as was home favorite Lleyton Hewitt, who beat an injured Andy Roddick at the Australian Open.

The world No. 1 Djokovic rolled past Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, as the super Serb had to overcome an early service break on Day 4.

"I maybe started a little too defensive because he was hitting the ball very strong," Djokovic said. "But then after, it was the other way around."

The reigning Aussie Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titlist has now won 34 of his last 36 Grand Slam matches and is seeking a third straight major title and a third Aussie crown. A title here would put Djokovic in select company, as only four players -- Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- have captured three straight Grand Slam championships.

Djokovic will meet big-serving Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the third round on Saturday at Melbourne Park.

The fourth-seeded Murray, meanwhile, defeated France's Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in just under two hours at Hisense Arena.

Murray, who appeared in the last two finals here, including a loss to Djokovic a year ago, is playing his first major event with the legendary Ivan Lendl as his coach.

"It's been good, he's obviously one of the greatest players ever," Murray said. "He's got so much experience and he's a very funny guy. You wouldn't probably expect it by the way he was on the court, similar to myself."

The three-time Grand Slam runner-up Murray will tangle with French left-hander Michael Llodra in his next match.

In the most-anticipated match of the day, the unseeded former No. 1 Hewitt topped a 15th-seeded former top-ranked Roddick 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, as the American retired because of a right hamstring injury.

Roddick summoned the doctor and a trainer after the third set. He fell to the court in the opening set, but played on despite being in obvious pain.

"It's a miserable, terrible thing being out there compromised like that," said Roddick, who is a four-time Aussie semifinalist.

"I wanted to see what I could do. You don't really have much time for clarity in that situation. He's a tough guy to play -- he knew what was going on."

Hewitt said the injury situation was "a nightmare for both of us."

"Obviously he stretched something," Hewitt said. "It's not easy for the person up the other end of the court. It's hard to concentrate when they're having injury timeouts.

"Andy's a great competitor -- he's similar to me. He plays with his heart on his sleeve, has that never-say-die attitude as well. It's never easy to play injured or to pull out of a match. It's not a good feeling."

Hewitt and Roddick have now split 14 career matchups. Hewitt also beat his fellow former U.S. Open champ in the 2005 Aussie semis.

The two-time major champion and '05 Aussie runner-up Hewitt will face rising 23rd-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic here on Saturday. Raonic, who titled in India two weeks ago, downed Germany's Philipp Petzschner 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 on Day 4 of this fortnight.

Fifth-seeded David Ferrer, meanwhile, struggled to get past American Ryan Sweeting, who actually held a two-sets-to-one lead before the Spaniard righted the ship en route to a 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision. Sweeting recorded nine double faults and piled up 73 unforced errors in the setback.

Up next for Ferrer will be Argentine veteran Juan Ignacio Chela.

Also on Thursday, France's Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, the tournament's sixth seed, defeated Ricardo Mello of Brazil 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 and ninth-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic overcame Aussie James Duckworth 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Tsonga will play Portuguese Frederico Gil, while Tipsarevic will face sweet- swinging Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the round of 32 this weekend.

In some action involving a trio of French seeds, Julien Benneteau upset his 12th-seeded countryman Gilles Simon 7-5, 7-6 (10-8), 1-6, 3-6, 6-2, No. 14 Gael Monfils came back to beat capable Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 2-6, 6-0, 6-4, 6-2, and a No. 17 Gasquet handled Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 6-4, 6-2, 3-0, as Golubev retired in the third set.

In other second-round action involving seeds, Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin outlasted No. 19 Serb Viktor Troicki 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Japan's best, No. 24 Kei Nishikori, snuck past Aussie Matthew Ebden 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1; Gil grounded No. 26 Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; a No. 27 Chela eased past Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-4, 6-4, 6-3; and Llodra outlasted No. 32 Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4.

One other Thursday result saw Mahut defeat Japan's Tatsuma Ito 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, 6-2.

The third round will get underway on Friday, including matches for a pair of all-time greats -- the former world No. 1s Nadal and Federer. The second- seeded Nadal will take on Slovak Lukas Lacko, while the third-seeded Federer will meet massive-serving 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic.

Nadal is the reigning French Open champion and owns 10 Grand Slam titles, including an Aussie Open one in 2009 when he beat Federer here in the final. Federer is a record 16-time men's major titlist, including four championships in Melbourne.

Also on Day 5, seventh-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych will face 30th-seeded Kevin Anderson, 10th-seeded Nicolas Almagro will battle 21st- seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka and 11th-seeded former U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro will be opposed by Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu.

Two other quality matchups will pit 13th-seeded 2011 Aussie Open quarterfinalist Alexandr Dolgopolov against rising Aussie teen and 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Bernard Tomic and 16th-seeded 6-foot-9 American slugger John Isner versus 18th-seeded Feliciano Lopez.

Intercaisno Tennis Betting News


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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

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.

Stanley Cup betting

New York, NY – October 3, 2007 – The dress rehearsal is over! The NHL preseason has ended and now that fans have had a glimpse of what is to come it is time to hit the book! Stanley Cup odds are live at MySportsbook.com, the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino.

The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings remain on top of the odds charts after an impressive start in the preseason. Betting lines opened for both teams at 6-1 in June. Since then the Sens have fallen to 7-1 and the Red Wings are now caught in a pack including the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes, the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks, all at 10-1.

MySportsbook.com has also posted props on each team’s point total for the regular season. The Senators lead the charge at 108.5 followed by the Ducks at 106.5. Detroit will attempt a repeat for the prize as the Red Wings are deadlocked with the Predators at 104.5 a piece. The temporary loss of highly touted rookie Evgeni Malkin puts a lot of pressure on the stick of assistant captain Sidney Crosby - his lowly Pittsburgh Penguins are listed at 71.5.

Even if bettors are not brave enough to put their money on the underdog, an early bet on the favorites at sportsbook.com tends to produce bigger payouts than a mid-season wager. Placing a $1,000 bet last summer on the Detroit Red Wings or Ottawa Senators would have paid out to $8,000 and $10,000 respectively, opposed to a $2,500 or $3,000 payout at the beginning of the playoffs.

Stanley Cup Odds    

 Ottawa Senators
Detroit Red Wings 
Carolina Hurricanes  
San Jose Sharks     
Anaheim Ducks    
Philadelphia Flyers 
Calgary Flames     
New Jersey Devils 
Buffalo Sabres   
Dallas Stars    
New York Rangers  
Nashville Predators  
Vancouver Canucks 
Colorado Avalanche  
Minnesota Wild    
Tampa Bay Lightning    
Boston Bruins    
Florida Panthers   
Montreal Canadiens   
Atlanta Thrashers 
Toronto Maple Leafs  
Edmonton Oilers      
Phoenix Coyotes    
Los Angeles Kings      
New York Islanders   
Columbus Blue Jackets  
St. Louis Blues      
Pittsburgh Penguins 
Washington Capitals   
Chicago Blackhawks    
7-1
10-1
10-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
12-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
15-1
20-1
20-1
25-1
25-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
40-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
80-1
80-1
100-1
100-1 

NHL Regular Season Points - Team Must Play 82 Games 

Team     
Ottawa Senators      
Anaheim Ducks 
Detroit Red Wings   
Nashville Predators 
San Jose Sharks 
Calgary Flames     
Philadelphia Flyers    
New Jersey Devils     
Buffalo Sabres    
Carolina Hurricanes       
Dallas Stars          
New York Rangers   
Minnesota Wild     
Atlanta Thrashers     
Montreal Canadiens    
Team        
Los Angeles Kings           
Tampa Bay Lightening   
Vancouver Canucks 
Boston Bruins       
Colorado Avalanche 
Edmonton Oilers  
Phoenix Coyotes  
Toronto Maple Leafs   
Florida Panthers 
Columbus Blue Jackets   
New York Islanders   
Chicago Blackhawks  
St. Louis Blues  
Washington Capitals 
Pittsburgh Penguins  
Over/Under
108.5
106.5
104.5
104.5
103.5
101.5
100.5
99.5
97.5
97.5
97.5
95.5
94.5
93.5
92.5
Over/Under
91.5
91.5
91.5
89.5
89.5
88.5
88.5
86.5
84.5
82.5
80.5
72.5
72.5
72.5
71.5

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey sportsbook needs.