Florodamarlins Football Betting News

<< Indians aim for sweep of visiting Royals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The finale of a three-game series between Kansas City and Cleveland ensues this afternoon, as the two worst teams in the AL Central get together again at Progressive Field. Bruce Chen is slated to make his 17th star

<< Rays face Red Sox in series finale at the Trop
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A critical series between AL East rivals concludes tonight in Tampa, as the hometown Rays host the Boston Red Sox in the rubber match of a three-game set from Tropicana Field. A pair of successful hurlers will battle th

<< Rangers, A's set for another Arlington battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers will continue their journey to an AL West title tonight, when they close out a three-game series with second-place Oakland in Arlington. Gio Gonzalez will get the ball for the Athletics this after

<< White Sox, Yankees close out series in Windy City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Cellular Field is the site of this afternoon's rubber match of a three-game series between the hometown White Sox and visiting New York Yankees. Ivan Nova will make his second Major League start today against Chi

Durant leads USA past Slovenia at Worlds >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant poured in 22 points, as the United States recorded another comfortable win at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, beating Slovenia by a 99-77 score. Rudy Gay added 16 points for the

Edoardo Molinari wins for second time in 2010 >>
Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoping to join his brother Francesco on the European Ryder Cup team, Edoardo Molinari put together a stunning finish to win the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. Edoardo fell two stro

Denver Broncos 2010 Season Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Identity is an important thing in the NFL. Supporters of the Denver Broncos, some of the most loyal, passionate and vocal in the league, certainly know who they are as a fan base. But do they, or does anyone else for that

Suarez bags hat trick as Ajax pounds De Graafschap >>
Doetinchem, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A hat trick from Luis Suarez put Ajax well on its way to a 5-0 thumping of De Graafschap at De Vijverberg on Sunday. Suarez scored twice in the first half and again in the 85th minute, betw

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.