Inter Recalls United At Serie

Soccer Betting Lines

Everton has made two key acquisitions in January, landing American international Landon Donovan on loan and signing Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson to a four-and-a-half year deal. David Moyes hopes that these two pieces can help the Toffees avoid losing their third straight league result when Everton heads to Villa Park to face Aston Villa.

 

Chelsea has its hands full with a Saturday clash against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. Under new manager Martin O'Neill, the Black Cats have won four of six Premier League games to improve to 24 points on the year. The Blues, meanwhile, have taken just six points from their last five games and are quickly fading away from the title picture.

 

And Sunday, Newcastle looks to build upon its stunning three-goal victory over Manchester United in its last outing as it hosts QPR, while Swansea City, unbeaten in its last three, welcomes Arsenal to the Liberty Stadium.

 

Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlo Ancelotti has led three European giants in Italy and England, and the Italian now has the task of developing a fourth in France. Ancelotti was named PSG's new coach late last month, and he inherits a team at the top of the Ligue 1 standings after the first half of the season. But, the former Juventus, AC Milan and Chelsea boss needs to produce better results.

 

Kombouare was under pressure after the spending spree - and every result, even wins - were scrutinized by the club's free-spending owners.

 

PSG sporting director Leonardo turned to fellow countryman Ancelotti, who is no stranger to pressure as Juve, AC Milan and Chelsea were all clubs that were not interested in just being among the best.

 

PSG managed just a 2-1 win over Locmine last week in the French Cup, as it was able to squeeze into the last 32. Ancelotti switched the club to a 4-3-2-1 for that game, but "after three days of training it is difficult to make it work," he admitted.

 

Like Ancelotti, Javier Pastore will continue to shoulder a lot of pressure - only on the field. Pastore has six goals, but as the most expensive offseason addition at around $50 million, he has still disappeared at times.

 

Second-place Montpellier hosts fourth-place Lyon on Saturday, with those clubs three and five points off the pace, respectively.

 

In Saturday's other matches, Ajaccio hosts Auxerre, Brest hosts Nice, Bordeaux hosts Valenciennes, Caen hosts Rennes, Dijon hosts Evian, Nancy hosts Lorient, and St Etienne hosts Sochaux.

 

The German-American was banned for deliberately stepping on the foot of Marco Reus, who had a broken toe, in a match against Monchengladbach.

 

"Obviously this is a very difficult moment for Jermaine," U.S. boss Klinsmann said. "He regrets the incident and has apologized to the player, his coaches and his teammates.

Wwwmapau Soccer Betting Blog

<< First Round Leaves Points From Table

<< Games Celtic Disable Crush At Del

<< Game Leads Mavericks Over Celtics

<< Game At Tonight Can

<< Points Sparks Rebounds On Pacers

Rest Points Smash Name Over Play >>

Titans Coordinator Leaving Disable Of QB ON Letterman >>

Calgary Replaces Front Down Tonight >>

Edmonton Sparks Season On Trip >>

Coyotes At Umberger Washington >>

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

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.