Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
03/12/2010 - Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A new day brought only more weather problems for the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open, which still wasn't halfway through the first round when play was suspended Friday because of darkness.
Rain continued to pose a problem at the Trump International course, which has seen more than a foot of the wet stuff since last weekend.
Skip Kendall reached five-under par through his first nine holes to take a one-shot lead over two players, but only half of the field had even teed off following two stop-and-start days.
On Thursday, only 18 players hit shots before play was suspended for the day because of rain. The first round resumed for 21 minutes Friday morning before being stopped again.
After a nine-hour delay, golfers were sent back on the course at 4:35 p.m. local time and got in only two hours of play before the round was suspended yet again because of darkness.
Norway's Henrik Bjornstad discovered his new tee time was 5:34 p.m. and said on his Twitter page: "Waited all day to play 3 holes? What a joke." He actually finished four holes and went one-over par on them.
The plan is to resume the first round Saturday morning at 7:10 a.m. local time -- 6:10 a.m. (et) -- although the Weather Channel is forecasting even more rain for the area.
The PGA Tour said the already sodden course received six-tenths of an inch of rain Friday. That came after it got 6.6 inches on Thursday and more than five inches over the previous six days.
"A complete mess," Bjornstad tweeted.
Kendall birdied three of the eight holes he completed Friday in between stoppages. He had eagled his first hole, the par-four 10th, before play was halted on Thursday.
Richard S. Johnson, who was through eight holes, and Kevin Streelman, who has played seven, were tied for second place at four-under par. Omar Uresti reached the back nine at three-under.
Ten players were tied at two-under par, while John Daly was among a large group knotted at one-under. Only 66 players in a full field had finished at least one hole.
"Just got in from a wet round -- watching some television and goin to bed," Daly, who had an eagle and a bogey, said on his Twitter page. "[My tee time is] at 7:10am."
Hopefully, his finger were crossed.
<< Chiefs sign veteran center Wiegmann
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs have signed
veteran center Casey Wiegmann.
The 14-year pro spent the last two seasons with Denver and started in all 32
regular season games. He has gone the last eight
<< Blake advances at BNP Paribas Open
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former top-five American James Blake was
an easy first-round winner Friday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP
World Tour Masters event.
Blake cruised past Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-2
<< Redskins bring in RB Johnson
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins signed running back
Larry Johnson on Friday.
Terms of the deal were not announced, but a report in the Washington Post says
the contract is for three years and a total of $12 million
<< Bucs ink LB Alston
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced the
signing of linebacker Jon Alston on Friday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Alston spent the last three seasons with Oakland. He recorded 23 tackles in
LeBron returns against Sixers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James was in the Cavaliers'
starting lineup on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers, returning from a
two-game absence.
James missed a loss to the Bucks last Saturday and a win over the Spurs o
Stanford women drop Arizona, gain Pac-10 semis >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike tallied a game-high 25
points with 10 rebounds as No. 2 Stanford downed Arizona, 72-52, in the
quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament.
Jeanette Pohlen scored 15 points and Kay
Packers sign Pro Bowl S Collins through 2013 >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers announced Friday that
the team has signed safety Nick Collins to a multi-year extension through the
2013 season.
Collins had been a restricted free agent, and the team previously
Packers ink DT Pickett to extension >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers signed nose tackle Ryan
Pickett to a long-term extension through the 2013 season on Friday.
Pickett, 30, who has spent the last four seasons of his nine-year career with
the Packers, t
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting