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05/14/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lightly raced Acting Happy shook loose down the stretch to win Friday's 86th running of the $175,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The 1 1/8 mile race for three-year-old fillies is the sister event to Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
Nine fillies entered the starting gate for the annual renewal of the Black- Eyed Susan. When the gate opened several of the starters broke in a tangle.
Taking the early lead was Khancord Kid followed closely by Acting Happy on the outside. Running right behind the top two horses were post-time favorite Tidal Pool and Harissa.
The top four runners kept their positions up the backstretch. Entering the far turn C C's Pal joined the lead group and Tidal Pool was looking for room along the rail.
Around the final turn the top five runners were bunched in a group. Tidal Pool, a slight favorite over Seeking the Title, was pinched back as the field entered the stretch.
Khancord Kid began to fade down the stretch as Acting Happy and jockey Jose Lezcano took the lead. Trained by Rick Dutrow, Acting Happy drew clear inside the furlong pole as No Such Word mounted a rally.
Acting Happy posted a 1 1/2-length victory over the late running No Such Word with Tidal Pool holding on for third. Rounding out the order of finish was Harissa, Khancord Kid, C C's Pal and Patriot Miss.
Diva Delite, ridden by Julien Leparoux, clipped heels with C C's Pal and fell entering the far turn. Seeking the Title with rider Kent Desormeaux was unable to avoid her. Both the fillies and jockeys appeared to be uninjured.
The time for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes was 1:50 on a fast track.
Owned by Jay Em Ess Stable, Acting Happy was making just her fourth career start and her first in a stakes race. Friday's victory was as a 10-1 longshot, but was worth $105,000.
The daughter of 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker has now won two of four lifetime starts for $141,540. After breaking her maiden first time out, Acting Happy was second in her next two starts.
Acting Happy returned $22.20, $10.80 and $5.80. No Such Word paid $9.00 and $5.60, and Tidal Pool paid $2.60 to show.
The updated weather forecast for Saturday's Preakness Stakes indicates partly cloudy skies, winds from the West at 10 to 20 m.p.h. and a post-time temperature near 75.
<< Piller remains hot, leads BMW Charity Pro-Am by one
Greer, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Piller carded a five-under 67 Friday to
take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the BMW Charity Pro-Am.
Piller, who shared the first-round lead with Ted Potter, Jr., completed 36
holes at 13-unde
<< Jones, Pirates use late burst of offense to down Cubs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Jones collected five hits and drove in
a career-high five runs, including the tie-breaking three-run homer in the
eighth inning, to lift the Pirates to a 10-6 win over the Cubs in the opener
of a th
<< Embarrassed Wizards hope to catch Fire
Kansas City, KA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire travel to take on the
Kansas City Wizards in a Major League Soccer clash on Saturday night at
CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
The Wizards are trying to bounced back from an embarrass
<< Cahoon to return with Als for 2010
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes announced on Friday
that veteran wideout Ben Cahoon will return for a 13th year.
Cahoon, a Utah native and Brigham Young product, posted a league-best 89
receptions for 1,031
Former NFL lineman Hand dead at 37 >>
Walterboro, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NFL defensive lineman Norman Hand
has reportedly passed away at the age of 37.
The news was reported by CBS news affiliate WCSC-TV in Charleston, South
Carolina. The Colleton County corone
Rangers activate Cruz from DL >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have activated
outfielder Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list.
The 29-year-old had been placed on the DL on April 27 with a strained right
hamstring.
He started two
Nationals/Rockies postponed, rescheduled for Saturday DH >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday night's game between the Washington
Nationals and Colorado Rockies was postponed due to inclement weather.
The game has been rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Saturday. The
first game w
Padres' Cabrera activated from DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres activated shortstop
Everth Cabrera from the 15-day disabled list Friday.
Cabrera was put on the DL April 30 due to a strained right hamstring. In 18
games this season, Cabrera is
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.
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.
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