Levin extends lead at Phoenix Open
Golf Betting Lines
02/04/2012 - Scottsdale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spencer Levin didn't have the kind of big performance he put together during his first two days at the Phoenix Open, but avoided big mistakes Saturday and emerged with a commanding lead.
Levin shot a three-under 68 during his third round at the TPC Scottsdale to move to 17-under-par 196. He had posted 65 and 63 for his first two rounds, and had only one bogey Saturday to protect his lead.
The 27-year-old is now on track for his first PGA Tour victory, six shots ahead of Webb Simpson, who made a run on the back nine. He threatened to get within three shots at one point, but couldn't sink a key birdie putt at 16. An ill-timed bogey at No. 17 dropped Simpson further back, and he finished with a 68 to move to 11-under.
Bubba Watson (67) and John Huh (69) are tied for third, one shot behind Simpson.
Phil Mickelson carded a four-under 67 in Saturday's third round and is tied for 10th at minus-eight.
Harrison Frazar started the day within three shots of Levin, still having to play the final three holes of his second round -- frost delays on Thursday and Friday set the tournament back.
However, Frazar played his 21 holes in four-over par to slide down a leaderboard. He posted a 73 for his third round and sits in a tie for 12th at seven-under.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
Ozone Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odds-on favorite Alpha cruised to victory on Saturday in the $200,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. The race, which was not run last year, is a prep event for Aqueduct's $1 million Wood Memorial on April 7
<< No. 4 Stanford cruises past Arizona
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joslyn Tinkle led the way with 22 points and 11
rebounds and No. 4 Stanford demolished Arizona, 91-51, on Saturday.
All five starters scored in double figures including Chiney Ogwumike, who had
18 points and 1
<< Moultrie lifts No. 22 Mississippi State over Auburn
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arnett Moultrie scored 21 points and pulled
down seven rebounds to lift No. 22 Mississippi State to a 91-88 win over
Auburn.
Renardo Sidney had 17 points, Dee Bost added 15 points with seven assists
<< North Carolina downs Maryland
College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Zeller scored 22 points and Harrison
Barnes had 18, as No. 5 North Carolina used a late surge to down Maryland,
83-74, at Comcast Center on Saturday.
The Tar Heels (20-3, 7-1 ACC) had lost fi
<< Schenkeveld brace lifts Excelsior out of the cellar
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Led by a two-goal performance from
Bart Schenkeveld, Excelsior climbed out of last place thanks to a 3-1 win over
10-man Venlo on Saturday.
The Dutch defender, on loan from Feyenoord, grabbed goals
Oldsmar, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lightly raced Battle Hardened came from off the pace to capture Saturday's $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The 1 1/16-mile race is the final local prep for the Tampa Bay Derby on March 10.
Northern Iowa knocks off No. 13 Creighton >>
Cedar Rapids, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After Antoine Young's three-pointer from
the top of the arc tied the game at 62 with five seconds remaining, Anthony
James raced up the floor and buried a step-back three-pointer at the buzzer,
lifting
Nager elected USGA president >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States Golf Association announced
on Saturday that Glen D. Nager has been elected the 62nd president of the
organization.
"It is a privilege to serve the game of golf," said Nager. "I look f
I'll Have Another surprises to win Robert B. Lewis Stakes >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I'll Have Another, the longest shot in the
field, pulled an upset in Saturday's $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa
Anita Park. The 1 1/16-mile stakes is a stepping stone to the $750,000 Santa
Anita D
49ers' Jim Harbaugh wins coaching honor >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has
won the NFL Coach of the Year, in voting conducted by the Associated Press.
Harbaugh, who wrapped up his first season as a head coach with a 13-3 regular
season
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.
It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.