Nadal, Blake ready for openers in Melbourne

Tennis Betting Lines

01/15/2007 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Day 2 at the 2007 Australian Open will feature first-round matches for 16 seeded men, including two-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and last week's Sydney titlist James Blake.

The second-seeded Nadal, of Spain, will face American Robert Kendrick on Tuesday, while a fifth-seeded Blake will encounter Spaniard Carlos Moya in a rematch of this past Saturday's finale in Sydney. The Wimbledon runner-up Nadal needed all five sets to get past Kendrick in a second-round match at the All England Club last year, while the American Blake is fresh off his three- set victory over the former world No. 1 Moya at last week's final at the Sydney International. Blake has won his last three matches against the dangerous Moya.

Other top seeds set for Tuesday play are No. 3 Russian Nikolay Davydenko and No. 8 Argentine David Nalbandian. Davydenko will take on Argentine Sergio Roitman, while the former Wimbledon runner-up and 2005 Tennis Masters Cup champion Nalbandian will battle Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

Some other big names who will take to the courts at Melbourne Park on Day 2 are 10th-seeded Chilean slugger Fernando Gonzalez, 12th-seeded German Tommy Haas, 13th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, 15th-seeded Scotsman Andy Murray and 19th-seeded Aussie favorite Lleyton Hewitt. The former world No. 1 and two- time major titlist Hewitt will face American journeyman Michael Russell at Rod Laver Arena. Hewitt was the 2005 Melbourne runner-up to his fellow former No. 1 Marat Safin.

Casinoonlinewagering Tennis Betting News

<< Federer, Roddick advance; Fish ousts Ljubicic in Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Roger Federer and former world No. 1 Andy Roddick were a pair of first-round winners, while fourth-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic was sent packing Monday by American Mardy Fish at the Aust

<< Bearcats upset Blue Demons
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michelle Jones scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Cincinnati routed the 24th-ranked DePaul Blue Demons, 62-44, at Fifth Third Arena. Treasure Humphries had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Be

<< Mauresmo, Serena roll in Aussie openers
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams highlighted the opening-day winners at the 2007 Australian Open. Mauresmo is the defending champion here in Melbourne. The second-seeded Maur

<< Roddick posts marathon win to start Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Roddick's four-set battle with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, which the American ultimately pulled out, highlighted first-day action at the Australian Open. Roddick and Tsonga, of France, had an

<< Mauresmo advances to second round of Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two more seeded players joined reigning champion Amelie Mauresmo after first-round play of the Australian Open. The second-seeded Mauresmo handled American Shenay Perry 6-3, 6-4, settin

Phillies come to terms with Madson, Alfonseca >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies avoided arbitration with right-hander Ryan Madson and have agreed to a minor league deal with free agent reliever Antonio Alfonseca. The Philadelphia Inquirer report

Sharapova, Clijsters, Hingis ready for Aussie openers >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova and her fellow former world No. 1s Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis will be among the women seeing opening-round action Tuesday at the 2007 Australian Open. The to

Bulls host Duncan, Spurs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs shoot for their fifth straight win when they visit the Chicago Bulls this afternoon at the United Center. San Antonio is 3 1/2 games behind rival Dallas for the lead in the Southwest standings and n

Celtics try to halt four-game losing streak vs. Hawks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics try and halt a four-game losing streak today when they visit the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. Boston, which is four games off the lead in the Atlantic Division, dropped its fourth straight with Satur

Raptors visit City of Brotherly Love >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors visit the Atlantic Division-rival Philadelphia 76ers this afternoon at the Wachovia Center. Toronto, which is tied atop the division with New Jersey, had its brief two- game winning streak come to an

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.