Seahawkd Football Betting News

<< Redskins release John Hall
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins released veteran kicker John Hall on Wednesday. Hall played in just five games last season for the Redskins and made 9-of-11 field goals with nine PATs. He was placed on injure

<< Starks, Aggies advance over Buffaloes
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Takia Starks scored 16 points as top- seeded Texas A&M defeated Colorado 62-45 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. A'Quonesia Franklin and Patrice Reado added 13 points apiece for the

<< Bryant receives one-game suspension
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant was suspended one game on Wednesday by the NBA for striking Minnesota Timberwolves guard Marko Jaric in the face during Tuesday's double-overtime loss.

<< Texans sign Clark
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Texans have agreed to a contract with unrestricted free agent linebacker Danny Clark. Clark saw action in all 16 regular season games and both playoff games last year with the New Orlean

Central Connecticut wins NEC crown for tourney berth >>
New Britain, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javier Mojica scored 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as top-seeded Central Connecticut State claimed the Northeast Conference title with a 74-70 victory over second-seeded Sacred Heart. Tristan Bla

Chatman to resign >>
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LSU head women's basketball coach Pokey Chatman announced on Wednesday that she will resign at the end of the season. "I have notified the University today that I will step down as head coach of the

Bosh and Bargnani lead Toronto past Memphis >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Bosh tallied 19 points and Andrea Bargnani donated 18, as Toronto built a large lead en route to a 94-87 victory over Memphis. Juan Dixon scored 17 points in his second start with the Raptors

Pachulia's career night leads Hawks over Wizards >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zaza Pachulia scored a career-high 27 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Atlanta Hawks over the Washington Wizards, 100-97. Playing without starter Joe Johnson due to a calf injury and key

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.