Football Betting

Southwest Stakes has two divisions

Horseracing Betting Lines

02/18/2012 - Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A total of 21 three-year-olds were entered for Monday's Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The large number of entries necessitated that the stakes be divided into two divisions each with a $250,000 purse.

The mile races will be followed by the $500,000 Rebel on March 17 and the $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 14. Smarty Jones in 2004 and Lawyer Ron in 2006 won the Southwest on their way to winning the Arkansas Derby.

"This is very gratifying," said Charles Cella, Oaklawn's President. "It's a wonderful thing to have so many good three-year-olds supporting our program. This was exactly our goal when we raised the Arkansas Derby to $1 million."

The first division has a field of 11 and is headed by Smarty Jones Stakes winner Junebugred. Trained by Steve Hobby, the chestnut colt will be ridden by Joe Bravo again, this time from post six.

Owned by Alex and Joann Lieblong, Junebugred has earnings of $95,400 with two wins in three starts.

"I could not be any happier with where we are at this point," Hobby noted. "He's about as ready as he can get and I think he's moved forward from his last race."

Here is the complete field for the first division which will be race 8: Red Jack, Jon Court; Unbridled's Note, Julien Leparoux; Jake Mo, Cliff Berry; Majestic Stride, Carlos Marquez Jr.; Longview Drive, Martin Garcia; Junebugred, Joe Bravo; No Spin, James Graham; Reckless Jerry, Shane Laviolette; Ring It Up, Lindey Wade; Laurie's Rocket, Calvin Borel and Castaway, Rafael Bejarano. Post-time will be 5:41 p.m. (et).

The second division, with 10 three-year-olds, will feature Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint winner Secret Circle. The colt, trained by Bob Baffert, will break from post nine with Rafael Bejarano in the saddle. Baffert will also send out Castaway in the first division. Both horses are owned by Karl Watson, Paul Weitmann and Mike Pegram.

Secret Circle was second to Out of Bounds in last month's Sham Stakes at Santa Anita as the 1-2 favorite. The colt has three wins in four career starts for $368,990.

Here is the complete field for race 9: Z Rockstar, Cliff Berry; Adirondack King, Stewart Elliott; Scatman, Luis Quinonez; Apprehender, Inosencio Diego; Chalybeate Springs, Carlos Marquez Jr.; Pee H Dee, Lindey Wade; Cyber Secret, Channing Hill; King Corral, Martin Escobar; Secret Circle, Rafael Bejarano and Big Wednesday, Ramon Vazquez. A 6:15 p.m. (et) post is scheduled.


<< Stamkos helps Lightning edge Caps
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 40th goal and the Tampa Bay Lightning held on to down the Washington Capitals, 2-1, on Saturday night. Tom Pyatt also scored for Tampa Bay and Mathieu Garon made 23 saves

<< Sedins lead Canucks over Leafs
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Sedin had a goal and three assists as the Vancouver Canucks pummeled the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2, at Rogers Arena. Alexandre Burrows had two goals while Henrik Sedin posted four assists for the Canuc

<< St. Johns stops UConn's home win streak at 99
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shenneika Smith scored 11 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with eight seconds left, and St. John's toppled No. 2 Connecticut, 57-56, Saturday to snap the Huskies 99-game home winning streak. It was t

<< Gordon, New Mexico dominate No. 11 UNLV
Albuquerque, NM (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Gordon poured in 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, powering New Mexico to a 65-45 rout of 11th-ranked UNLV at the Pit on Saturday. Tony Snell added 12 points for the Lobos (22-4, 8-2 Mountain Wes

<< El Camino Real Derby decided by Daddy Nose Best nose
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daddy Nose Best got his nose on the wire first to capture Saturday's $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields. The 1 1/8-mile El Camino Real is the final local prep on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

Thompson, No. 10 Georgetown top Providence >>
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hollis Thompson posted a double-double, scoring 13 points while pulling down 10 rebounds, as No. 10 Georgetown defeated Providence, 63-53, on Saturday. Jason Clark also had 13 points, while H

Tavares scores twice as Islanders down Hurricanes >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Tavares had two goals and an assist to lead the New York Islanders past the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3, at Nassau Coliseum. Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen also scored for the Islanders, while

No. 3 Kansas cruises over Texas Tech >>
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Robinson scored 16 points and No. 4 Kansas extended its home winning streak to 20 games Saturday with an easy 83-50 win over Texas Tech. Travis Releford added 12 points, Conner Teahan had 11

San Francisco takes down No. 24 Gonzaga >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - They stormed the court in San Francisco on Saturday. Rashas Green scored a team-high 16 points and added five steals as San Francisco upset No. 24 Gonzaga, 66-65. Perris Blackwell posted a

No. 4 Kansas cruises past Texas Tech >>
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Robinson scored 16 points and No. 4 Kansas extended its home winning streak to 20 games Saturday with an easy 83-50 win over Texas Tech. Travis Releford added 12 points, Conner Teahan had 11

American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.