Cliooers Basketball Betting News

<< Jazz continue solid play
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz (20-8) are four games ahead of the second place Denver Nuggets in the Northwest Division. They look like they are ready to end their three-year drought of postseason play. The Jazz are 10-3 when they

<< Eskandarian headed to Toronto
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC took another step towards its inaugural Major League Soccer season by acquiring forward Alecko Eskandarian from D.C. United in exchange for a partial allocation. The 24-year-old was the to

<< Iverson and Nuggets need to get familiar with each other
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets made a blockbuster move when they acquired All-Star guard Allen Iverson and reserve Ivan McFarlin from the Philadelphia 76ers last Tuesday for a pair of 2007 first-round draft picks, point guard Andre Mi

<< San Antonio does it all
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Once again the San Antonio Spurs have the total package. They play strong team defense, everyone touches the ball on offense and Gregg Popovich is one of the best coaches in the league. San Antonio is an impressive 21

Chelsea held to draw despite Drogba's double >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Only three days after Chelsea narrowly escaped Wigan with the maximum points on Arjen Robben's stoppage time goal, the Blues were not so lucky on Tuesday. Ashley Cole's late miscue led to an own go

Angels' Rivera to undergo surgery >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Juan Rivera will undergo surgery on his broken left leg on Wednesday. Rivera, 28, was playing for the Oriente Caribbeans against the Aragua Tigers in Maracay, V

Dorsey gets the start for Cleveland >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns named Ken Dorsey as their starting quarterback for the season finale against the Houston Texans. Dorsey gets the nod after backup Derek Anderson separated his shoulder in Sunday

Phoenix-Denver game rescheduled >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns-Denver Nuggets contest that was postponed due to blizzard conditions in Denver on December 20 has been rescheduled for Monday, February 5 at 9:00 p.m. (et). In addition, the start

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.