NFL Betting Preseason Schedule -NFL Odds

The NFL Betting odds have been listed at online sportsbook for the opening week of the NFL preseason schedule. Leading off the start of the new NFL Betting season is the “Hall-of-Fame” game in Canton, Ohio featuring the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans. At SPORTSBETTING.com the Titans opened as 3-point favorites.

The early sports betting action from the preseason bettors came in on the designated visitor, the Buffalo Bills, and they currently sit as a 3-point underdog with -125 juice. The Titans are coming off an impressive 2008 campaign, but head into the 2009 season with several big question marks. Most notably, what will be the impact of Albert Haynesworth’s departure (free agency to Washington). It is difficult to overstate his importance in that defense. And the QB situation continues to be worth watching. Vince Young is entering his fourth season as a pro and it really is a critical year for him. If he ends up sitting on the bench this season, it could be very tough to resurrect his career.

Kerry Collins comes into camp as the #1 pivot. Give Collins credit, as he did a great job of managing this offense, but let’s all remember, this is Kerry Collins. He needs a ton of support from the running game and play-calling that keeps things very basic. In addition, he needs the benefit of a great defense to bail him out once in a while and to provide field position that puts them in highly advantageous situations. I wouldn’t count on Collins having another near perfect season.

Young will be looking to take the #1 spot away this preseason, and he has a shot – if he can hold it together and step up. This bodes well for those who are betting on the Titans in the preseason. Young is going to want to show very well when he is handed the ball, and in a lot of situations, he should have an edge facing other teams #2 units.

Looking back at the NFL gambling results from previous Hall of Fame Games, last year the Washington Redskins topped the Indianapolis Colts 30-16, with the Redskins covering the pointspread. In 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints kicked off the NFL Betting preseason schedule, with the sports betting world wading in and betting on the Steelers heavily in that matchup. The bettors won that battle, as the Steelers beat the ‘Aints 20-7, covering the spread.

You can watch this year’s Hall of Fame Game on NBC, starting at 8:00 PM ET on Sunday, August 9th.

Check out SPORTSBETTING.com for their special 25% Preseason bonus.

Check all the NFL Preseason Schedule ,NFL Odds, NFL Betting at SPORTSBETTING.COM.

This Week in Baseball-Dodgers keep rolling-Baseball Betting

MLB Week Preview

There has been no better team in MLB Baseball betting circles this season than the Los Angeles Dodgers. Winners of six of their last eight games against the moneyline, the Dodgers have been the most profitable club since the first pitch on opening day. Los Angeles didn’t even miss its stride when Manny Ramirez was suspended for 50 games before the All-Star break.
One team the Dodgers haven’t had much success against over the past number of seasons is the St. Louis Cardinals. L.A. is only 20-41 in its last 61 meetings with St. Louis, and has cashed a mere eight times in its last 24 games at Busch Stadium.

LA Dodgers at St. Louis

Despite having the best right handed hitter in the game in Albert Pujols, the Cardinals (53-48, -1.45 units) have been incredibly anemic against left handed pitching this season. With slugger Matt Holliday on board following a trade over the weekend baseball betting with the Oakland Athletics, St. Louis hosts the league-leading Dodgers (62-36, +19.90 units) in a four-game set beginning on Monday night.

The Cards are banking on Holliday to give the team some protection for Pujols, and to help improve on their .227 batting average against southpaws. St. Louis has been particularly brutal against lefties over the last 10 games, hitting .211 as the team has gone 4-6 against the MLB moneyline.

Barring an immediate reversal, the Redbirds are in tough for at least two of the games in the series. Veteran lefthander Randy Wolf (5-4, 3.45 ERA) takes the ball for Los Angeles in the opener, while southpaw Clayton Kershaw (8-5, 2.96 ERA) toes the rubber on Wednesday night.

Houston at Chicago Cubs

Currently in the mix for top spot in the National League Central, the Cubs (51-45, -3.31 units) head into their four-game series with the surging Astros (50-48, +3.78 units) playing their best baseball of the season for backers.

Chicago had cashed eight of its last 10 games heading into Monday night’s series opener to grab a share of top spot in the division. Not to be outdone, Houston is hot on the Cubbies’ trail with seven moneyline victories over its last 11 outings to sit just one game back.

Both clubs hit the field with key players either banged up or on the disabled list. Lance Berkman (calf) is on the 15-day DL for the Astros, while Derrek Lee (neck) is day-to-day this week for the North Siders. Cubs bettors won’t have the services of All-Star Ted Lilly (shoulder, knee), although Ryan Dempster (toe) is expected to come off the DL to start on Tuesday night. Check out the Baseball Bet Odds at SPORTSBETTING.com.

Colorado at NY Mets

If the Cubs or Astros can’t cash the NL Central, they could get into the postseason by taking the wild card. To do that, they’ll have to keep pace with the Rockies (54-44, +10.12 units), who travel to Citi Field on Monday night for a four-game showdown with the Mets (46-51, -6.31 units).

16-5 over its last 21 games away from home, Colorado is only 5-22 in its last 27 meetings with the Mets in New York. Conditions are ripe for the Rockies to turn the trend around this week, with the Mets dealing with a slew of injuries.

With Carlos Beltran (knee), Jose Reyes (calf), Carlos Delgado (hip), Gary Sheffield (leg), John Maine (shoulder), and J.J. Putz (elbow) all out of the lineup, New York is already looking ahead to next season.


NY Yankees at Tampa Bay

Sharp bettors are eyeing the under for this week’s three-game series between the Yankees (60-38, +0.34 units) and the Rays (54-45, +1.63 units) beginning on Monday night at Tropicana Field.

New York is 2-7-1 O/U in its last 10 games heading into the set, while Tampa Bay has been an even stronger under wager with a 1-8 O/U mark in its last nine contests. The Yanks have foiled oddsmakers’ expectations because of the stellar performance of their pitching staff during the streak: New York’s starters have a 3.10 ERA over their last 10 games (9-1 SU), while the bullpen (2.31 ERA) has been even better.

With the Yankees leading the Rays by 6.5 games in the AL East, this is a prime opportunity for Tampa Bay to make up some ground. The Baseball teams have split the season series at four games apiece, with New York having taken two of three when the teams met at the Trop back in April.

For More Information about the hot running MLB Baseball Betting Games check out SPORTSBETTING.com.

NFL Football Betting Online Preseason Odds

Hall-of-Fame game - The kick-off to the 2009 NFL Preseason schedule is closing in, with the first matchup taking place Hall-of-Fame weekend. That launches a little more than four weeks of NFL action, featuring 11 nationally televised games and is the official start of the NFL betting season.

Online sportsbooks will have all the NFL preseason odds posted soon, as teams head to camp. NFL preseason Week 1 odds will be up, plus you can look at Week 1 NFL odds which are live now.

View NFL Betting odds.

The annual Hall-of-Fame game features the Buffalo Bills vs. the Tennessee Titans in Canton, Ohio on Sunday, August 9th. The matchup, which will be nationally televised on NBC, was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Football League.

When you’re involved in online sports betting, you are probably already starting to think about these preseason games, reading one or two NFL annual preview magazines and cruising NFL-focused sites.

Preseason NFL betting takes some finesse, as handicapping the exhibition games is quite different than handicapping NFL regular season tilts.

The first thing I do when betting on the NFL Football Betting Online during the preseason is look at QB depth and then quickly move on to handicapping the situation. If a team has a real QB battle going on, with two or three decent pro-level pivots on the roster who are going to be playing, this is of real interest. Look for quality on the depth chart below the starter. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady won’t have a significant impact on the NFL preseason betting results over the first couple of weeks. But the second and third stringers will. Keep this in mind.

The situation is also highly relevant. Particularly look for coaches and teams that are in spots where they might be really motivated to win. Preseason NFL games is the only time of the sports betting year when you will find varying motivations coming into a game. One coach might not care at all about whether his team wins or loses, he simply wants to get some players reps, evaluate a few key newcomers or watch for a positional battle or two. But it is not uncommon for a team like that to be facing a coach who does actually want to record a “W”, for whatever reason.

If the coach is a rookie and lost in Week 1, or the team is coming off a bad season and a new coach is looking to install a winning attitude early, etc. Fact is, some coaches simply don’t care about winning during the preseason and others do. Try and read local papers for pre-game interviews and see if you can pick up whether the coaches have been gameplanning for their preseason matchup. It’s unusual for a coach to spend time gameplanning for an opponent during the exhibition season, as they’re more focused on player evaluation, getting their schemes in place, etc. But if they’re studying film and putting in place plays to counteract or go after another team’s schemes, pay extra close attention. This is important to know when handicapping preseason games.

Looking at the betting odds during preseason games is not as critical as it is during the regular season. The first step in NFL handicapping during the “real” season is to check out all the NFL odds for that week and start the process of looking for value somewhere on the betting board.

That isn’t the case during August. You really don’t see significant favorites through the first couple of weeks of preseason ball. You’ll see many of the lines hover around 3, the obligatory number of points given to the home side. Don’t get too caught up with the pointspread when online sports betting during the early going of the NFL preseason.

Check out the sportsbook for odds updates, injury news, trends and sports betting tips all day, every day.

College Football Betting-Urban Meyer Deserves College Football's Highest Salary

Pay University of Florida football Coach Urban Meyer even more than the obscene gobs of money he already makes.

Pay him more than any coach in College Football Betting.

Pay him more than any coach in pro football.

If Nick Saban makes $4 million, pay Meyer $5 million.

If Bob Stoops makes $6 million, pay Meyer $7 million.

If Pete Carroll makes $8 million, pay Meyer $9 million.

Yes, there is an alarming and troubling "arms race" going on in college football right now to see which of the nation's best coaches will make the most money.

Oklahoma just renegotiated Stoops' contract to pay him nearly $4 million a year. Alabama is currently renegotiating Saban's contract to pay him even more than that. LSU Coach Les Miles has a clause in his contract that says he must make at least $1,000 more than any other coach in the Southeastern Conference.

Meyer currently makes $3.25 million annually, and UF President Bernie Machen has rightfully said his coach should be the highest paid in the SEC.

For more check out College Football Betting.

Heisman NCAA Football Betting Trophy Odds

Let’s get ready to rumble – again!

With Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy coming back for another season of college ball, which should result in another wild contest for the Heisman Trophy.

Online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com posted the Heisman Trophy odds and it looks good that we could have a two-time winner, something that has only happened once before (Archie Griffin of Ohio State won the Heisman Trophy twice in back to back years - 1973-74).

Florida Gators QB Tim Tebow is the odds on favorite to win the trophy in 2009.

SPORTSBETTING.com currently have him listed at 3-2. Tebow was the 2007 winner. Early action being wagered at the online sportsbook has about 20% of all the betting action coming in on Tebow.

The 2008 winner, Sam Bradford, is at 2-1 odds.

Those two are followed closely by Colt McCoy at 5-2.

All three have a great shot at winning, but Tebow is the favorite for a reason and it’s not about marketing (although that helps). He is the best player in college football, not a question. People who have been around college football for a long time are even prone to saying Tim Tebow could be the best college football player in history. Add to the fact he is playing on the best team in the nation and you have a perfect combination. What can trip up his ride to New York to accept the award – if Florida loses a couple of games or if he gets injured.

It is very difficult to see Tebow not winning this if the Gators go undefeated (very likely) and he stays healthy.

A repeat is going to be more difficult for Bradford in 2009, as he doesn’t benefit from a team stacked with great players. His supporting cast has dropped off heading into the new season.

And while it’s hard to bet on Tebow with such a short price (I feel he has a great shot at winning), I won’t be touching Bradford. I just don’t think he can get the support he needs from this Oklahoma squad.

Can Colt McCoy step up into the spotlight – quite possibly. He has a distinct advantage over the other two, something that Tebow doesn’t have – an experienced O-line. McCoy almost hit 4,000 yards passing (34 TD passes). I like this Texas team and think they can make a real run at the Championship, backed not only by McCoy, but they’re solid on both sides of the ball.

McCoy could be worth putting a few bucks down on.

Check out all the NCAA Football Betting Heisman Odds

Here’s a short list of the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy, as provided by SPORTSBETTING.com

CJ Spiller - 20 - 1

Daryll Clark - 18 - 1

Jonathan Dwyer - 15 - 1

Jevan Snead - 15 - 1

Evan Royster - 12 - 1

Jahvid Best - 10 - 1

Terrelle Pryor - 8 - 1

Colt McCoy - 5 - 2

Sam Bradford - 2 - 1

Tim Tebow - 3 – 2

Check out SPORTSBETTING.com for all the NCAA Football Betting.

Basketball Odds -Kidd Re-ups With Mavericks

After losing to the Hornets in the first round of the 2008 playoffs, Avery Johnson was fired, and Rick Carlisle was hired as the new head coach for the Dallas Mavericks. After getting off to a rocky start at 2-7, the Mavericks eventually found themselves with the sixth spot in the western conference playoff bracket for 2009. This was after going 50-32 (ninth consecutive 50+-win season) and about three to four weeks earlier, weren't even sure if they were going to make the eighth and final spot. But a run of 5-1 in their last six regular season games got them to a game over the Hornets for sixth place. Dirk Nowitzki also entered the postseason with a streak of twenty-five consecutive games of scoring 20 or more points, which was ended in the first game of the quarterfinals series verses the arch-rival, San Antonio Spurs.
The Mavericks surprised many people by winning Game 1, 105-97 in San Antonio. The Spurs would come back to win Game 2 though, by twenty-one points, as the series shifted to Dallas, as the two teams had both won a game. Dallas, who had only lost one game at home after the All-Star Break, won both Games 3 and 4 at home, by twenty-one and nine points, 88-67, and 99-90. San Antonio was just trying to win Game 5 to extend the series, but they couldn't do it as the Mavericks eventually took over and won by thirteen, 106-93, clinching the series, as they would get out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2006 playoffs when they advanced all the way to the Finals.
Point guard Jason Kidd has re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks for three-years at over $25 million reports ESPN.

The Mavs are listed at +1800 to win the Western Conference next season.

For More Checkout Basketball Odds at SPORTSBETTING.COM

Baseball-Duke,Hoffman Join NL All-Stars

With the S.F. Giants’ Matt Cain (elbow) and the L.A. Dodgers’ Jonathan Broxton (toe) both injured, replacements have been named.

Cain will be replaced by Pittsburgh Pirates southpaw Zach Duke and San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman will take Broxton’s spot.

The National League is a +103 underdog for the All-Star game.

For more about Baseball Lines check out at SPORTSBETTING.COM.

Serbia College Basketball-Wisconsis’s Coache

Serbia had a 3-pointer to win the game, but the shot by Ivan Paunic didn't go down.

So on Tuesday night in Belgrade, the U.S. team escaped with a 68-66 victory in the final pool-play game prior to the medal round in the World University Games.

Every year one of the USA College Basketball Betting -based teams heads overseas to play a true road game and the response is always the same: The Americans had no idea it would be this intense.

This happens countless times on these trips, whether it's in Argentina, Brazil or, as in the case this week, Serbia.

Coaches from the United States -- Wisconsin's Bo Ryan and Miami's Frank Haith -- were amazed by the intensity of the game, the crowd, the players and the overall atmosphere the U.S. team endured in front of 14,000 fans at the Belgrade Arena. This isn't like the Olympic team playing to an NBA-friendly crowd in Beijing, either. The Serbs and the U.S. don't exactly have the coziest relationship.

That's why it should come as no surprise that the U.S. delegation is heavily guarded on the trip and doesn't go anywhere without an armed presence.

And it should come as no shock that the intensity in the building was raw.

"Basketball is huge in Serbia. It's their national sport,'' Ryan said by phone from Belgrade on Wednesday. "I had heard about it, but until you're here, and you see it -- it's incredible."

The whistling by the fans during the final few possessions was apparently deafening. On three successive possessions, the Americans got to the line, only to miss five straight free throws: the first two by Penn State's Talor Battle, the next two by West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler and one more from Villanova's Corey Fisher before he made his second attempt.

"It was like playing at Duke or North Carolina,'' Haith said. "It was unbelievable. There was an intensity there, playing Serbia. It was one helluva win for us. They're good -- really good.''

Ryan had to go with more strength in this game, leaning on Clemson's Trevor Booker and Purdue's Robbie Hummel in the second half as foul trouble plagued the slender Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State. Haith described Serbian big man Miroslav Raduljica as a massive human being at "7-1, 290-something."

"People have no idea how awesome a win this was,'' Haith added.

The Americans may end up facing the Serbs in the gold-medal game if the favorites hold. The Americans play Bulgaria in the quarterfinals Thursday and would play the winner of Russia-Lithuania in a semifinal match Friday. The other bracket pits Serbia-Turkey and Germany-Israel. The championship game is Saturday.

If the U.S. is going to win this tournament, it might need another game from Battle like the one he had against the Serbs. He was 7-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 on 3s and scored 17 points in 22 minutes. Battle wasn't the first choice to make the squad a few weeks ago at the trials in Colorado Springs. The expectation prior to the event was that Arizona's Nic Wise would earn the nod. But Battle, fresh off leading the Nittany Lions to the NIT title, won the job and has been a bit more consistent than Fisher at the point.

NFL Super Bowl Odds -Do the Cowboys offer NFL Future Odds value?

Looking over the 2009 NFL Future Odds the first week of July, and more specifically, focusing on the Super Bowl odds, it’s pretty much a story of déjà vu. The usual suspects can be found at the top with the exception of some slight adjustments over the last few years.

The New England Patriots are the odds-on favourite, sitting with Super Bowl odds of 6-1 at most online sportsbooks, with the defending Super Bowl champ Pittsburgh Steelers right behind them at 10-1 odds.

The NFC steps up in the next two spots, with the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles the favourites from the National side and then it’s back to the AFC with the next two spots, as the Peyton Manning-led Indy Colts slide in to the fifth spot and the Chargers are sitting as the sixth biggest favourite at 15-1.

None of these teams are in unfamiliar territory as they have all been top tier clubs the last few years heading into each new season, even if their actual season performances didn’t live up to the pre-season billing.

But of note for NFL betting purposes is the Dallas Cowboys future odds situation as the 2009 season approaches. At Online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com the Cowboys slide into the #7 spot on the future odds list “To win the Super Bowl”. The Cowboys have odds of 16-1. That is a few spots lower than we’re used to seeing them, but like most years, probably still too high.

This is a team that hasn’t played a second round playoff game since Monica Lewinsky was sneaking into the White House, but every year you can find them close to the top of the future odds list as one of the biggest favourites. And every year they are always one of the favourite teams for sports bettors.

“The Cowboys are one of those teams that attract a lot of attention from the sports betting community, and that is the case during the season, after the season and heading into new seasons.” stated Mike, one of the sportsbook managers at SPORTSBETTING.com. “This NFL future odds betting volume on Dallas hasn’t been as strong this off-season as the past two or three years, but we have noticed a slight increase recently as the media and bettors start to pay more attention to the upcoming NFL betting season”.

Dallas unloaded their number one receiver in the off-season, but also got rid of a huge dressing room distraction as well, when they let Terrell Owens go (he’s now in Buffalo). So things have been quieter in Big D this summer. They still have a very talented offensive unit, anchored by Tony Romo and Marion Barber. Add in Felix Jones and receiver Roy Williams and they should be able to score points.

Bet NFL Futures Odds

Defensively they also boast impressive talent, notably DeMarus Ware, Jay Ratliff, Terence Newman, Ken Hamlin, Mike Jenkins and free agent signings Igor Olshansky and Keith Brooking.

But even with the talent, it’s hard to suggest risking a future odd wager on them. They play in a very tough division, are saddled with mediocre coaching and don’t seem to have that toughness needed to turn it up down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Talent abounds and they’ll certainly compete with any team in the league, but betting them at 16-1 to win it all doesn’t have much appeal for me.

There are better NFL future odds options on the board. Over the next few weeks I’ll look at those betting options that offer great value.

Check out the Odds to win Super Bowl XLIV at SPORTSBETTING.COM

Will Woods Be A Tiger at British Open?Golf Betting Online

Tiger Woods won this past weekend’s AT&T National event at Congressional Country Club and basked in the glory by giving a horrible acceptance speech.

Will Tiger maintain his hot play from his latest tour victory going into the upcoming British Open?

The next golf major takes place in Scotland and Tiger is currently listed at +225 to win this year’s event, which begins on July 16.

For more, check out Golf Betting at SPORTSBETTING.COM

Tampa Bay Road Favorites Sunday Night|Baseball Betting Lines

The Tampa Bay Rays are the favorites on the ESPN Sunday nighter, as they face the Rangers in Texas. Baseball betting action has been evenly split throughout the day, with the Rangers actually getting 54% of all the volume with a couple of hours to go before the first pitch will be tossed.

Check out the current baseball betting lines and props for Sunday’s feature TV game

Arizona’s Webb Back In September

Sports Gambling - After placing SP Brandon Webb on the DL with a shoulder injury back in April, the Arizona Diamondbacks received some welcome news when Webb opted not to have surgery.
According to MLB.com, Webb saw three specialists, who all said that he didn’t have to go under the knife.
Webb said he plans to get in some starts in September.

Seattle And Sabathia Go Under

The Seattle Mariners are in the Big Apple to play a series against the New York Yankees, which continues tonight.
CC Sabathia gets the start for the Yanks and in his last five games against Seattle, the Over/Under has gone 0-5.
Tonight’s Total is set at 9.5.