11/11/2008 - Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and rising Argentine Juan Martin del Potro were Tuesday's round-robin winners at the $4.45 million Tennis Masters Cup.
The second-seeded Djokovic reached the semifinals here by outlasting fourth- seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 7-5 on Day 3 on the indoor hardcourt at Qi Zhong Stadium.
Djokovic topped Davydenko in 2 hours, 18 minutes by breaking the Russian on four occasions and firing eight aces. Davydenko could manage only two breaks in defeat.
The 21-year-old Djokovic is 2-0 and leads the four-player Gold Group, while Davydenko dropped to 1-1 for the week. The Serb is 1-1 lifetime against the gritty Russian, with both meetings coming this season.
Up next for Djokovic will be sixth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Aussie Open runner-up to the Serb back in January, while Davydenko will face the seventh-seeded del Potro. Tsonga and del Potro are making their Masters Cup debuts this week.
Thursday's Davydenko-del Potro winner will join Djokovic in the semis from the Gold Group.
The 6-foot-5 del Potro edged out Tsonga 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) on Tuesday. Del Potro is now 1-1, while Tsonga is out of semifinal contention at 0-2.
Del Potro topped Tsonga in 1 hour, 50 minutes and withstood a 17-ace barrage from the talented Frenchman. The lanky Argentine is now 2-0 all-time versus Tsonga.
Red Group action will be staged here on Wednesday, as top-seeded Swiss Roger Federer (0-1) takes on fifth-seeded American Andy Roddick (0-1) and third- seeded Brit Andy Murray (1-0) meets eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon (1-0). Simon shocked Federer here on Monday, while Murray got past Roddick on Day 2.
Murray and Simon, like Tsonga and del Potro, are Masters Cup rookies. The U.S. Open runner-up Murray has won 15 of his last 16 matches overall, including titles in St. Petersburg and Madrid.
The 13-time major champion Federer has won this event four times, including the last two years. He topped Spain's David Ferrer in last year's finale in Shanghai.
Federer is a lopsided 15-2 lifetime against his fellow former world No. 1 Roddick, but the American is 1-0 this year, with the surprising victory coming in Miami back in April. The Swiss is a perfect 3-0 in their Masters Cup encounters.
The reigning five-time U.S. Open champion Federer is the only former Masters Cup champ in this year's field.
Murray and Simon will meet for a fourth time, with the Brit holding a 2-1 career advantage. Murray is already 2-0 against the Frenchman this year.
<< Nuggets hit the road to Charlotte
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets open a three-game road trip in Charlotte
on Tuesday when they take on the Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena.
The Nuggets reached the .500 mark (3-3) on Sunday when Carmelo Anthony scored
24 points and
<< Slumping T'Wolves take on Warriors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves will attempt to halt a five-game
skid Tuesday as they conclude a three-game West Coast road swing in Oakland
versus the Golden State Warriors.
Portland All-Star Brandon Roy scored 24 points,
<< Knicks pay a visit to San Antonio
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surprising New York Knicks open a quick two-game road
trip Tuesday when they travel to San Antonio to face the injury-ravaged Spurs.
The Knicks won their third straight game when Jamal Crawford had a game-high
32
<< Kobe leads unbeaten Lakers into Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The undefeated Los Angeles Lakers kick off a short two-game
road swing Tuesday when they travel to North Texas to face the Dallas
Mavericks.
The Lakers improved to 5-0 on the young season on Sunday when reigni
Hawks swoop into Windy City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surprising Atlanta Hawks will try to remain unbeaten
Tuesday and snap a seven-game skid in the Second City as they continue a four-
game road swing in Chicago against the Bulls.
The Hawks opened the trip with a h
Iverson, Pistons aim for a win at Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit has dropped two straight games since making a
blockbuster trade to acquire nine-time All-Star Allen Iverson last week. The
Pistons will try and stem that tide Tuesday when they arrive in California's
capital
Habs try to halt skid, take on Senators >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to avoid a third
consecutive loss when they welcome the Ottawa Senators for a Northeast
Division clash at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens have dropped back-to-back games for the first time th
Islanders host Flyers in New York matinee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders will host a Veterans Day matinee
when they welcome the Philadelphia Flyers for this afternoon's matchup at
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Flyers and Islanders are the bottom two teams in the
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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.
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