Lisicki, Hantuchova fall in Doha
Tennis Betting Lines
02/14/2012 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rising German Sabine Lisicki and last week's Pattaya City champion Daniela Hantuchova were a pair of first-round upset victims Tuesday at the $2.168 million Qatar Open.
Angelique Kerber stayed red hot by coming from behind to erase her ninth- seeded fellow German Lisicki 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, while promising Romanian Simona Halep upended a 15th-seeded Hantuchova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) on the hardcourts at Khalifa International Tennis Complex. Kerber captured her first-ever WTA title in Paris last week.
German Julia Goerges, seeded 16th this week, avoided an upset by blasting Belarusian Anastasiya Yakimova 6-2, 6-2, while another upset came when Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta drove out 11th-seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
Belgian Yanina Wickmayer mauled Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-2, 6-1, while Russian Maria Kirilenko held off Chinese Zheng Jie 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Kirilenko was last week's Pattaya Open runner-up to Hantuchova.
Additional Day-2 wins came for Czechs Iveta Benesova, Lucie Safarova and Petra Cetkovska, Romanian Sorana Cirstea, and Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.
The top-eight seeds here -- world No. 1 and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, U.S. Open champ Samantha Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska, former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli, defending Doha titlist Vera Zvonareva, French Open runner-up Francesca Schiavone and former top-ranked star Jelena Jankovic -- all received byes into the second round. Zvonareva, also the Doha runner-up in 2008, beat Wozniacki for last year's title here.
The 2012 Doha champion will earn a first prize of $385,000.
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Some Ivy League football programs can look down the road and know their schedules already are completed for quite a while. Princeton, for example, is booked through 2017, with some of the following season
<< Dulgheru exits Bogota
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Alexandra Dulgheru was a
first-round upset victim Tuesday at the $220,000 XX Copa BBVA Colsanitas
tennis tournament.
Italian Karin Knapp drove out the Romanian Dulgheru 6-2, 6-2 on the red
c
<< Fisher, Whisenhunt and Murphy added to NFL Competition Committee
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League on Tuesday named
head coaches Jeff Fisher of the St. Louis Rams and Ken Whisenhunt of the
Arizona Cardinals, along with Green Bay Packers president and chief executive
officer
<< This Week in Auto Racing February 17 - 19
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's time to go racing again. Speedweeks
2012 at Daytona kicks off this weekend, with the Budweiser Shootout scheduled
for Saturday and then qualifying for the Daytona 500 slated for Sunday.
NASCAR
S
<< Rays to give Maddon extension
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays and manager Joe
Maddon have agreed on a three-year contract extension, according to The Tampa
Bay Tribune.
The Rays have scheduled a Wednesday morning press conference at T
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh seed Viktor Troicki posted a first-round victory Tuesday at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The Serbian Troicki topped wild card and Dutch crowd favorite Thiemo de Bakker
Budweiser Shootout: Return of drafting at Daytona? >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date:
Saturday, February 18. Race: Budweiser Shootout. Site: Daytona International
Speedway. Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 8:10 p.m. (et). Laps: 75.
Miles: 187.5. 2011 Winn
Budweiser Shootout: Return of pack drafting at Daytona? >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date:
Saturday, February 18. Race: Budweiser Shootout. Site: Daytona International
Speedway. Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 8:10 p.m. (et). Laps: 75.
Miles: 187.5. 2011 Winn
Syracuse's O'Quinn named MISL Player of Week >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse Silver Knights goalkeeper Bryan O'Quinn
was named the Major Indoor Soccer League's Player of the Week on Tuesday for
Week 15.
With regular starter Eric Reed Sidelined, O'Quinn made 17 saves in a 21-4
Sanchez guides Barcelona to victory in Leverkusen >>
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexis Sanchez picked a wonderful time
to bag the first couple Champions League goals of his career as he scored
twice for Barcelona in a comfortable 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.
Sanc
Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.