Bobcats no match for Blazers at Rose Garden

Basketball Betting Lines

02/02/2010 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LaMarcus Aldridge scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds in Portland's 98-79 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Nicolas Batum added 15 points and a career-high nine boards off the bench for the Trail Blazers, who have won two in a row following a three-game skid. Jerryd Bayless also scored 15 in the victory.

Andre Miller, coming off a career-high 52 points in a 114-112 overtime win at Dallas on Saturday, finished with just eight points and 10 assists on 4-of-6 shooting.

Stephen Jackson had 23 points for Charlotte, which failed in its bid for a franchise-record fourth straight road win. Gerald Wallace scored 17 to go with 10 rebounds, while Flip Murray ended with 13 points.

Charlotte was down 72-65 moving to the fourth quarter, and the Bobcats went ice cold from the field over the final 12 minutes, going 4-of-13 from the field. Portland turned seven Charlotte turnovers into eight points in the period.

Murray was fouled on a three-point try in the opening seconds of the fourth and promptly sank all the shots, but the Blazers went on an ensuing 10-2 spurt, widening the lead to 82-70 following a Rudy Fernandez pull-up three- pointer.

Portland remained ahead by double digits the remainder of the game.

The Blazers gained a 29-19 lead after the first quarter and they remained in control throughout the second, leading 51-43 at the half. Murray's three- pointer capped the third period.

Game Notes

Portland swept the season series, also winning 80-74 at Charlotte on November 14...Charlotte is 3-2 on a six-game road trip, which concludes Wednesday against the Lakers...Blazers guard Brandon Roy (sprained right hamstring) missed his seventh straight game...Fernandez had 11 points while Martell Webster and Dante Cunningham each scored 10 for Portland, which shot 53.3 percent from the field...Charlotte had 21 turnovers, leading to 28 Portland points.

Wwwsportsterminal Basketball Betting News

<< Nuggets top Kings in OT on Afflalo's jumper
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arron Afflalo poured in 12 points, including the game-winning jumper with 18.4 seconds left in overtime, as the Denver Nuggets stayed hot at home with a 112-109 victory over the Sacramento Kings at the Pepsi C

<< Emery, Flyers blank new-look Flames
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Emery posted his third shutout of the season behind 18 saves, and the Philadelphia Flyers topped a new-look Calgary club, 3-0, at the Saddledome. Mike Richards' 100th NHL goal in the game's second

<< Oilers snap 13-game skid, beat Hurricanes
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Deslauriers made 15 of his 33 saves in a scoreless third period, as Edmonton topped Carolina, 4-2, to halt a miserable 13-game losing streak. With the win, the Oilers avoided matching their lo

<< Jazz stay hot, use big fourth quarter to drop Mavs
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Millsap scored 25 points as the Jazz posted their season-high sixth straight win, 104-92 over the Dallas Mavericks. Deron Williams returned from a one-game absence and notched 18 points

<< Hamilton sparks Texas to road win at OSU
Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Hamilton broke out for 27 points to spark No. 9 Texas to an impressive 72-60 Big 12 road win over Oklahoma State. Hamilton more than tripled his season average of 8.5 ppg on 11-of-16 shooting, inclu

Alouettes re-sign Chiu to one-year deal >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes re-signed starting center Bryan Chiu to a one-year contract plus an option. Chiu started 16 games last year for the Grey Cup champions and was selected to the East Division All-Star

Utes suspend Henderson >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah freshman guard Marshall Henderson was suspended for one game for elbowing a BYU player in a game on Saturday. During BYU's 82-69 win in Provo, Henderson was ejected from the game with 34 seconds

BC to play BU for Beanpot title >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston College will take on Boston University in the championship game of the 58th annual Beanpot tournament after both schools won semifinal contests on Monday. Boston College advanced to the title game with

Rangers acquire Jokinen from Flames >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames made their second big trade in less than two days, moving forwards Ollie Jokinen and Brandon Prust to the New York Rangers in exchange for forwards Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins

Spartans and Badgers meet in Big Ten tussle >>
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Michigan State Spartans will attempt to remain perfect in Big Ten play when they pay a visit to the 16th- ranked Wisconsin Badgers, who are undefeated at home this season. Michigan State is rid

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

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.

Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

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.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

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.

RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds

Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.