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02/16/2012 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Belarusian stalwart Victoria Azarenka and rising American teenager Christina McHale were among Thursday's third-round winners at the $2.168 million Qatar Open.
The Australian Open champion Azarenka, playing in her first tournament as the world No. 1 star, leveled capable Romanian Simona Halep 6-3, 6-1 in 1 hour, 20 minutes on the hardcourts at Khalifa International Tennis Complex.
The 22-year-old Azarenka is now a sizzling 14-0 this season, which also includes a title in Sydney last month.
Azarenka's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Belgian slugger Yanina Wickmayer, who was a 6-4, 6-0 victor against Russian Ksenia Pervak on Day 4.
Joining Azarenka in the round of eight were third-seeded U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur and fourth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska. The Aussie Stosur stifled Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-3, 6-2, while the steady Radwanska rolled past American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 7-5, 6-1.
In other third-round action, the 19-year-old McHale overcame Israeli Shahar Peer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Romanian Monica Niculescu topped Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. McHale's next assignment will come against Radwanska, while Niculescu will meet Stosur on Friday.
The 2012 Doha champion will earn a first prize of $385,000.
<< Berdych lands in Rotterdam quarters
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up
Tomas Berdych reached the quarterfinals at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World
Tennis Tournament.
The second-seeded Berdych, fresh off his title in Montpellier, France two
<< Four to compete for All-Star dunk title
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana's Paul George, Minnesota's Derrick
Williams, Houston's Chase Budinger and Iman Shumpert of the Knicks will vie
for the dunk title as part of festivities at the 2012 All-Star weekend.
The Slam D
<< Hornets ink Thomas to another 10-day contract
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets rewarded forward
Lance Thomas with another 10-day contract on Thursday.
Thomas has posted averages of 2.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in seven appearances
for the club this season.
<< Dynamo reacquire Ching from Impact
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Ching's stay in Montreal is over before
he even played a match for the expansion Impact.
Just three months after losing him in the expansion draft, the Houston Dynamo
reacquired the forward Thursday f
Timbers sign Cameroonian midfielder Songo'o >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Timbers signed Cameroonian Franck
Songo'o, a former Barcelona youth player, on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Songo'o, capped one time by Cameroon, left Barca in 2005 and
began his pro career in the
Red Wings' Cleary placed on IR >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings placed forward Dan
Cleary on injured reserve, retroactive to February 8, on Thursday.
Cleary has been out since then after re-aggravating an existing knee injury.
In 55 games th
Stepanek ousted in San Jose >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Radek Stepanek was a
second-round upset victim Thursday at the $531,000 SAP Open.
Belgian Steve Darcis bounced the fourth-seeded Czech 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2)
on the hardcourts at HP Pavilion.
United tops Ajax in Europa League >>
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez
scored in the second half as Manchester United opened its Europa League round
of 32 series against Ajax with a 2-0 win Thursday.
With a combined seven European t
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.
Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.
MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.
Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.
Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.
After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.
Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.
Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.
If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.
Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.
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