08/27/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Andy Roddick along with last year's runner-up Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Russian star Nikolay Davydenko were easy first-round winners Wednesday at the U.S. Open.
Third-seeded Djokovic won his seventh match in his last eight tries in New York with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 two-hour victory over Wimbledon quarterfinalist Arnaud Clement of France.
Djokovic, who captured the Australian Open back in January, gave way to Roger Federer in last year's U.S. Open finale.
The 21-year-old Djokovic injured his left ankle while leading Clement 2-1 in the third set and had it wrapped by a trainer, but he ultimately seemed unfazed by the problem en route to the second round.
Roddick maintained good health as he breezed past France's Fabrice Santoro in the late match 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. The soon-to-be 26-year-old former world No. 1, who titled here in 2003, used his blistering serve -- which included 15 aces -- to subdue his 35-year-old opponent.
The fifth-seeded Davydenko, meanwhile, drubbed Israeli Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Davydenko, who played in the semifinals here in each of the previous two years, will meet capable Argentine Agustin Calleri in the second round.
Eighteenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro reached the round of 64 with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Canada's Frank Dancevic, while 19th-seeded Frenchman Jo- Wilfried Tsonga came from behind to best Spain's Santiago Ventura 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in his first match since May, and 26th-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov snuck past Argentine Eduardo Schwank 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). The oft-injured Tsonga was the Aussie Open runner-up to Djokovic and had been sidelined with a knee injury the past three months.
Former U.S. Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri eased into the second round with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory over fellow unseeded American Amer Delic, while former world No. 1 Carlos Moya of Spain held off Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. The former French Open champion Moya, who reached the quarterfinals in Flushing last year, will meet Tsonga in an intriguing second-rounder here.
No. 28 seed Radek Stepanek, of the Czech Republic, rolled with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 decision against Italian Potito Starace.
Additional Day-3 wins came for American wild card Sam Warburg, Romanian Victor Hanescu and Calleri, who whipped American Austin Krajicek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; Marin Cilic, the 30-seed, outlasted Julien Benneteau 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-2. The Croatian titled in New Haven last week; Robert Kendrick gutted out a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 win against France's Nicolas Mahut; Aussie Chris Guccione sent down Jesse Levine with an intense 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6) victory.
In addition, Thomas Johansson, who was the 2002 Australian Open champion, fell to Ernests Gulbis. The Latvian Gulbis dispatched his Swedish opponent in a straight-set 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory to gain the second round.
The U.S. Open marks the fourth and final major of the year.
<< Indians win 10th straight to sweep Tigers
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelly Shoppach and Shin-Soo Choo each hit
a two-run homer to lead Cleveland to its 10th straight victory, as the Indians
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Grady Sizemore ended wit
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Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Oswalt continued his mastery of the Reds
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Cincinnati at Minute Maid Park.
Oswalt (12-9) allowed one run on five hits with
<< Pedroia helps BoSox slam Yanks
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Bay finished 2-for-4 with four RBI and
Dustin Pedroia added a grand slam as Boston routed the New York Yankees,
11-3, in the middle contest of a three-game set from Yankee Stadium.
Jacoby Ellsbu
<< Delgado leads Mets past Phils, back into first place
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Delgado hit a pair of home runs
and drove in three, as the New York Mets rallied to beat Philadelphia, 6-3,
and leapfrog the Phillies to retake the lead in the NL East.
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Angels' Kendrick leaves game early >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim second baseman
Howie Kendrick left Wednesday's game against the Oakland Athletics in the
fourth inning with an injured leg.
Kendrick was running to second base on Mark
Angels' Kendrick and Aybar leave game early >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim second baseman
Howie Kendrick and shortstop Erick Aybar both left Wednesday's 6-5 loss to
the Oakland Athletics with hamstring injuries.
Kendrick was running to second ba
Angels recall Willits from disabled list >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim activated
outfielder Reggie Willits from the 15-day disabled list prior to Wednesday's
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Willits pinch-hit for Mike Napoli in the ninth t
Brown, Davis help A's hold off Angels >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emil Brown hit a two-run homer and finished
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Angels
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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