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Coyotes visit Tampa with shot at sixth straight winHockey Betting Lines03/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A flurry of recent moves have paid instant dividends for the Phoenix Coyotes, who'll be trying to run their current winning streak to six games in this evening's matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning from the St. Pete Times Forum. Since making a startling seven deals prior to the March 3 trade deadline, the Coyotes have ripped off five consecutive wins to further solidify their chances for a first playoff appearance since 2001-02. The tear has given Phoenix 89 points for the season, good for fourth place in the Western Conference and just seven behind top-seeded San Jose for the Pacific Division lead. With a victory tonight, Phoenix would match a club record for wins in a single season set in 1984-85, when the franchise was located in Winnipeg. Lee Stempniak has played a major part in the Coyotes' surge, scoring six goals in five games since being acquired from Toronto earlier this month. Fellow forward Wojtek Wolski (2 goals, 1 assist, plus-three rating) and veteran defenseman Derek Morris (plus-four rating), brought in from Colorado and Boston, respectively, in deadline swaps, have made a noticeable impact as well for a Phoenix squad that has outscored the opposition by an 18-6 margin over its present streak. The Coyotes received a big lift out of one of their holdovers in their most recent win, with reserve goaltender Jason LaBarbara making 39 saves in Sunday's 3-2 shootout decision over Atlanta. Adrian Aucoin came up with the game-winning goal in the fourth round of the deciding phase. "I thought we were sluggish for most of the game, but the biggest thing is we found a way to get two points and a win," said LaBarbera, who also turned aside 3-of-4 Thrasher skaters in the shootout. "The guys played great in front of me." Stempniak, named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday, had one of Phoenix's two regulation goals and has notched eight points (6 goals, 2 assists) during a six-game scoring streak. LaBarbera will likely yield tonight to regular backstop Ilya Bryzgalov, another who's been sensational for Phoenix down the stretch. The 29-year-old has surrendered just four goals and posted two shutouts over his last four starts and is coming off a 29-save performance in a 4-0 victory over Carolina in Saturday's opener of a four-game road trip. While the Coyotes have been red-hot as of late, Tampa enters tonight's clash having dropped eight of its last 10 tilts following Sunday's 2-1 home setback to defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh. Despite their rough stretch, the Lightning stand just four points back of Boston for the eighth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Steven Stamkos has helped Tampa Bay remain in postseason contention, although the second-year center has been kept off the scoresheet in two straight outings following a franchise-record 18-game point streak. The 20-year-old ranks third in the NHL with 42 goals this season, trailing only superstars Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin in that category. Ryan Malone, who stands third among Lightning players with 21 goals, sat out for the second time in three games in Sunday's loss and is day-to-day with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Vincent Lecavalier scored the lone Tampa goal against the Penguins, with Antero Niittymaki stopping 37-of-39 shots on the night. The Finnish netminder had been working on a shutout until Pittsburgh put up a pair of goals within a three-minute span in the third period. "It looked like we had things under control, and then we take back-to-back penalties," said Bolts forward Martin St. Louis of the Penguins' rally. "You give them an opening and it's over because they start feeling good about themselves." The loss kicked off a four-game homestand for Tampa Bay, which owns an 18-9-6 record at the St. Pete Times Forum this season. The Lightning have prevailed in three straight and five of their last six meetings with the Coyotes held in Florida, as well as seven of the past eight overall encounters between the teams. Phoenix will be making its first trip to Tampa since a 5-3 defeat on February 13, 2007.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Washington Capitals have already secured a playoff spot, the Florida Panthers have been making a late push for the postseason with their play as of late. The resurgent Panthers aim for their first victory this se
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Strong play on the road this season has kept the St. Louis Blues in contention for a postseason berth. The club hasn't been able to achieve the same success at home, however, and it's had all kinds of trouble when facing the
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Horse Betting(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine). The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late. "You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest. "A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve." When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential: CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped. DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins. PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge. You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike. "You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders." Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of. (By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.) Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout." But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing." Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you." Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front." All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold. In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse. "Now," says Avello, "it's time for action." To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
Online Sportsbook Football BettingWhy Sports Betting is so much fun?Betting SportsThe most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made) Points (or Runs) ScoredAnother bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game. Future BetsSports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:
Types of BetsStraight BetInvolves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total. Sports Betting ParlaysA parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1. Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff. Round Robin BettingAdventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.Betting TeasersSimilar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it! To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. |
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