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07/21/2010 - Kiev, Ukraine (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croatian striker Eduardo signed a four-year contract on Wednesday with Shakhtar Donetsk, bringing to an end his time at Arsenal.
The move is believed to have cost Shakhtar a reported $9 million, and it was announced on the club's official website on Wednesday.
"Today on July 21 FC Shakhtar have signed a Brazilian-born Croatian forward Eduardo Da Silva from Arsenal on a four-year contract being anticipated by all the international media," read a club statement.
Eduardo suffered a terrible leg injury in February 2008 that sidelined him for almost a year, while he leaves the Gunners having scored 20 goals in 67 appearances.
<< Bacsinszky moves into quarters in Austria
Bad Gastein, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Timea Bacsinszky
recorded a comeback win Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals at the Gastein
Ladies tennis tournament.
The Swiss Bacsinszky dropped the first set to qualifier
<< Brewers broadcaster Uecker nears return to booth
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers announced on Wednesday
that legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker will make his return to the booth on
Friday, when the team begins a three-game series versus Washington.
The 75-year-ol
<< 2010 FBS Positional Analysis: Defensive Linemen
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - They are literally the first line of
defense, the one group of players that controls the tempo of the game more than
any other. They can completely negate skilled offensive performers with their
tenacious pla
<< Parker to return to Clemson football team
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Parker announced Wednesday he will return
to Clemson to play for its football team for the 2010 season.
Parker, who helped Clemson's baseball team reach the final four of the 2010
College World Series
Ajax ends talks with Bayern Munich over Van der Wiel >>
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ajax has put an end to talks with
Bayern Munich about the sale of defender Gregory van der Wiel, according to
the Amsterdam club.
Bayern manager Louis van Gaal was hoping to add the right back
Liverpool adds Wilson from Rangers >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers teenager Danny Wilson has
completed his transfer to Liverpool after signing a three-year contract with
Roy Hodgson's side.
The 18-year-old, who won the SFA and Football Writers' Youn
Inter signs Ranocchia to new contract >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan manager Rafa Benitez has completed
the signing of Genoa defender Andrea Ranocchia on a long-term deal.
The 22-year-old central defender teams up with the San Siro giants after
spending the pr
Arsenal hands new deal to teenager Coquelin >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French teenager Francis Coquelin has signed
a new long-term contract with Arsenal, who have confirmed that the 19-year-old
will spend the 2010-11 campaign on loan with Lorient.
The midfielder made three f
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
The 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)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another 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.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports 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.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves 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.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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