Melzer and Golubev advance to semis in Hamburg

Tennis Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer and Andrey Golubev were two of four quarterfinal winners at the German Open Tennis Championships on Friday.

Melzer dispatched Potito Starace of Italy, 6-4, 6-1, in only 69 minutes to reach the semifinals in a fourth tournament this season.

The Austrian, who recently reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros, fired eight aces to earn his 15th clay court win of the season.

Melzer will meet Italy's Andreas Seppi, who outlasted seventh-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, 7-6 (7-0), 5-7, 7-5 in three hours and 12 minutes.

Seppi, who has reached the semis for a second time in three years at this event, has won two of three prior matches against Melzer.

Saturday's other semifinal will feature Kazakhstan's Golubev and Germany's Florian Mayer. The two will face each other for the first time.

Golubev, who suffered no let down after knocking off defending champ Nikolay Davydenko Thursday, had a relatively easy time getting past Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, 6-4, 6-1. He will be trying to reach the final of an event for only the second time in his career, having done so previously in 2008 at St. Petersburg.

Mayer rallied to beat sixth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the final four of a tournament for the first time this year. He has put himself in position to reach a final for the first time since 2006.

Intercasio Tennis Betting News

<< Kings sign free agents Wright and Jeter
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings have signed forward/guard Antoine Wright and guard Pooh Jeter, the team announced Friday. Wright averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 67 contests for Toron

<< Timberwolves' Kahn fined for inappropriate remarks
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn has been fined $50,000 for his recent remarks about forward Michael Beasley, for whom the team recently traded. Kahn spoke about Beasl

<< Riera leaves Liverpool to join Olympiakos
Athens, Greece (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Riera has left Liverpool to sign with Olympiakos, the Greek club announced on Friday. Riera signed with Liverpool from Spanish side Espanyol in 2008 for a fee of $12 million, but he has now moved t

<< Dynamo jump back into league action at Crew
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo get back into Major League Soccer action on Saturday after a two week break when they travel to take on the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium. The Dynamo (5-7-4) played three SuperLiga

<< Hamburg signs midfielder Kacar to five-year deal
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg signed Serbian midfielder Gojko Kacar to a five-year contract Friday through the 2014-15 Bundesliga season. Kacar, 23, previously played for Hertha Berlin, which was relegated after last season.

Wells, Cubs blank Cards to begin weekend series at Wrigley >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Randy Wells turned in seven scoreless innings, and three different players hit home runs, as Chicago downed St. Louis, 5-0 in the opener of a three-game set between these perennial rivals at Wrigley Field.

RSL aims to start new streak vs. Chivas USA >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake will aim to start a new streak when it hosts Chivas USA in a Major League Soccer tilt on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL (9-4-3) is coming off a 2-0 loss at Dallas that snapped a 10

Seattle tries to build momentum against Rapids >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following a successful first season in Major League Soccer, Seattle Sounders FC has fallen on hard times as they enter Sunday's contest with the Colorado Rapids at Qwest Field in seventh place in the Wes

Chakvetadze reaches semifinals in Slovenia >>
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anna Chakvetadze overcame a dropped set and saved two match points to beat fellow Russian Vera Dushevina on Friday in the quarterfinals at the Slovenia Open. The sixth-seeded Dushevina had a 5-3 le

Chen and Dambaugh in U.S. Girls' Junior final >>
Village of Pinehurst, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doris Chen and Katelyn Dambaugh won both of their matches on Friday to advance to the final of the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship. Chen first knocked off stroke-play medalist Danielle Ka

Football Betting: Defensive Rookie of the Year Awards

Oddsmakers have released the odds for the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry has been made the opening favorite.

Bet on NFL Football

Seattle took Curry with the fourth overall pick in April's NFL draft and plan on inserting him into its starting lineup right away. The Hawks traded linebacker Julian Peterson in the offseason, so Curry is expected to have a significant role in Seattle's defense next year and that's one of the primary reasons he is the favorite to win the NFL ROY Award.

Oddsmakers from online sportsbook MySportsbook.com have made Curry a 5/1 favorite to win this year's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Given that he was the best defensive prospect in this year's draft and how he'll have plenty of opportunities to make plays in '09, Curry offers a ton of value at 5/1.

Another thing working for Curry is the position he plays. A linebacker has won the defensive ROY award six straight times and eight of the last nine years. Jerod Mayo, Patrick Willis, DeMeco Ryans, Shawne Merriman, Jonathan Vilma, Terrell Suggs, Kendrell Bell and Brian Urlacher were the most recent linebackers to take home the award.

Following Curry at 5/1 are Tyson Jackson (Chiefs) at 7/1, James Laurinaitas (Rams) at 8/1, Brian Orakpo (Redskins) at 10/1, Rey Maualuga (Bengals) at 10/1 and Jerry Peria (Falcons) at 10/1.

All the players mentioned above are expected to start for their respective teams, but Jackson and Peria are going to have a tough time being recognized on a national level given they're both defensive linemen. D-linemen rarely put up the numbers that it takes to win an individual award like the ROY.

A couple of players with some value are Clay Matthews (Packers) at 12/1 and Larry English (Chargers) at 15/1. Matthews is expected to start at outside linebacker in Green Bay's new 3-4 defense and could rack up a ton of tackles. English, who was an impressive player at Northern Illinois, is expected to be a situational pass rusher for the Chargers and could rack up a ton of sacks.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, see below. And for complete odds for the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, click the link provided.

2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award

Robert Ayers (DEN) 12/1

Ron Brace (NE) 25/1

Everette Brown (CAR) 16/1

Darius Butler (NE) 40/1

Patrick Chung (NE) 30/1

Aaron Curry (SEA) 5/1

Brian Cushing (HOU) 12/1

Vontae Davis (MIA) 30/1

Louis Delmas (DET) 30/1

Larry English (SD) 15/1

Evander Hood (PIT) 25/1

Tyson Jackson (KC) 7/1

Malcolm Jenkins (NO) 25/1

Paul Kruger (BAL) 50/1

James Laurinaitas (STL) 8/1

Sen'Derrick Marks (TEN) 20/1

Clay Matthews (GB) 12/1

Aaron Maybin (BUF) 15/1

Rey Maualuga (CIN) 10/1

Roy Miller (TB) 20/1

Michael Mitchell (OAK) 45/1

Fili Moala (IND) 30/1

Brian Orakpo (WAS) 10/1

Jerry Peria (ATL) 10/1

B J Raji (GB) 7/1

Clint Sintim (NYG) 35/1

Alphonso Smith (DEN) 40/1

David Verkune (CLE) 20/1

Jason Williams (DAL) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 6/1

NFL football gambling

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

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.