Floridamarlims Football Betting News

<< Blue Jackets activate Carter
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated center Jeff Carter off injured reserve. Carter separated his right shoulder during a game against Anaheim on January 8. He has posted 10 goals and 17 points

<< AZ signs coach Verbeek to two-year extension
Alkmaar, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AZ Alkmaar gave coach Gertjan Verbeek a two-year contract extension on Thursday, locking him up through the 2014-15 season. Verbeek, 49, joined the Dutch side before the 2010-11 season and led the c

<< Louisiana Tech RB dies at off-campus apartment
Ruston, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louisiana Tech running back Tyrone Duplessis was found dead at his off-campus apartment on Thursday morning. The 21-year-old was in his third year at Louisiana Tech. The cause of death is not yet known and an

<< Chievo hands struggling Novara another loss
Novara, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Pellissier and Cyril Thereau scored on each side of halftime as Chievo downed struggling Novara, 2-1, on Thursday in Serie A. Pellissier opened the scoring on 33 minutes and Thereau added a second goa

Indians have deal in place with 1B Kotchman >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians reportedly have a one- year deal in place with free-agent first baseman Casey Kotchman. The deal is worth $3 million plus incentives, according to MLB.com. The Indians have not confir

Packers promote Clements to offensive coordinator >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers have promoted Tom Clements from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator, the team announced on Thursday. Former offensive coordinator Joe Philbin left two weeks ago to become

Magic's Howard to start All-Star Game in Orlando >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic was the leading vote-getter with 1,600,390 votes and will start for the Eastern Conference in front of his home crowd at Amway Center in this month's All-Star Game. The star

Padres agree to terms with P Owings >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Micah Owings on a one-year contract. "Micah will compete for a spot on our staff," said executive vice president/general manage

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.