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07/31/2007 - Sopot, Poland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending champion Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and second-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo were among Tuesday's first-round winners at the clay-court Orange Prokom Open.
Davydenko won his sixth straight match at this event by getting past Romanian Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-4. The gritty Russian defeated German Florian Mayer in last year's finale here.
The veteran Pavel was a finalist in Umag this past Sunday.
Up next for the world No. 4 Davydenko will be Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello.
Robredo held off Polish wild card Lukasz Kubot 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 at SKT Sopot. Robredo, who captured this event back in 2001, will face surging Belgian Steve Darcis in the round of 16.
A pair of seeded Argentines bowed out on Day 2, as No. 3 Juan Ignacio Chela was whipped by his countryman Sergio Roitman 6-1, 6-2 and No. 5 Agustin Calleri was dismissed by pesky Austrian Stefan Koubek 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5. Roitman also bested Chela last week in Kitzbuhel.
A seventh-seeded Mayer avoided an upset by handling Argentine lucky-loser Juan Pablo Brzezicki 6-3, 6-3. The capable Mayer lost in each of the last two finals here.
Another upset occurred when Serbian qualifier Boris Pashanski stopped eighth- seeded Italian Potito Starace 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 3-1, as Starace retired in the third set. Starace was last week's runner-up in Kitzbuhel.
Igor Andreev completed a victory against Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti. The Russian was leading 6-0, 3-3 when play was stopped here because of rain on Monday. Andreev promptly won the second set, 6-4, on Tuesday.
Other first-round winners were the aforementioned Vassallo Arguello, Frenchmen Gilles Simon and qualifier Olivier Patience, Belgian Kristof Vliegen and the qualifier Darcis, who captured his first-ever ATP title in The Netherlands just two weeks ago. Darcis defeated Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-0), 6-4 on Tuesday.
<< Padres get Ensberg from Houston
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres acquired third baseman
Morgan Ensberg from the Houston Astros before the trade deadline on Tuesday.
Ensberg had been designated for assignment by the Astros over the weekend
after
<< Braves beef up pen with Octavio Dotel
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves continued to add pieces on
Tuesday, as they acquired right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel from the Kansas
City Royals for right-hander Kyle Davies.
Atlanta, which enters play tonight 4 1/
<< Braves finalize deal for Teixeira
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers made it
official on Tuesday, finalizing a trade that will send first baseman Mark
Teixeira to Atlanta as part of a seven-player deal.
Teixeira and lefty reliever R
<< Adu-less Real Salt Lake makes roster changes
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In addition to losing Freddy Adu on
Tuesday, Real Salt Lake placed veteran defender Danny Torres on waivers,
released backup goalie Matt Wideman and re-assigned midfielder Atiba Harris.
Adu c
Celtics' deal for Garnett done >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics have officially acquired
star forward Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a multi-player
deal.
As reported by the Boston Herald on Monday, heading to Minnesota are forward
Donato Hanover favored in 82nd Hambletonian >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Donato Hanover, winner of 12 straight
races, is the even-money favorite for Saturday's $1.5 million Hambletonian,
harness racing's signature event. The three-year-old trotter will take on nine
rivals,
Villarreal signs striker Rossi to six-year deal >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Villarreal signed former Manchester
United striker Giuseppe Rossi, an American-born Italian, to a six-year deal on
Tuesday.
Rossi, 20, was acquired for a transfer fee of approximately $14 million
Manchester United sells striker to Spanish club >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Villarreal signed former Manchester
United striker Giuseppe Rossi, an American-born Italian, to a six-year deal on
Tuesday.
Rossi, 20, was acquired for a transfer fee of approximately $14 million
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.
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March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets
With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship. Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92. After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points. Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1. Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years. With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed. UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern. Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier. OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak. Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta. But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis.
Be sure to logon to MySportsbook.com to see check out all of the early lines and “March Madness” props. Also be sure to enter the “$10,000,000 Perfect Bracket Contest”. If someone has the skills to predict every winner, they will be set for life and walk away with $10,000,000. Even if no one can cash in on the Grand Prize, with a $35,000 guaranteed prize pool and a Mazda RX-8 to the first prize winner, Sportsbook.com’s bracket is a must for all “March Madness” fans.
MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:
| EAST | National Championship | Region |
| Arkansas | 300-1 | 50-1 |
| Belmont | 1000-1 | |
| Boston College | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Eastern KY | 1000-1 | |
| George Washington | 75-1 | |
| Georgetown | 10-1 | 3-2 |
| Marquette | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Michigan State | 100-1 | 25-1 |
| New Mexico St. | 500-1 | 200-1 |
| UNC | 6-1 | 6-5 |
| Oral Roberts | 500-1 | |
| Texas | 15-1 | 5-1 |
| Texas Tech | 200-1 | 5-1 |
| USC | 75-1 | 20-1 |
| Vanderbilt | 100-1 | 30-1 |
| Washington State | 40-1 | 15-1 |
| WEST | ||
| Duke | 50-1 | 10-1 |
| Florida A&M | 1000-1 | |
| Gonzaga | 200-1 | 40-1 |
| Holy Cross | 300-1 | |
| Illinois | 300-1 | 60-1 |
| Indiana | 75-1 | 40-1 |
| Kansas | 5-1 | 13-10 |
| Kentucky | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Niagara | 1000-1 | |
| Pittsburgh | 40-1 | 8-1 |
| Southern Ill. | 50-1 | 12-1 |
| UCLA | 10-1 | 3-2 |
| VCU | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Villanova | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| VA Tech | 50-1 | 15-1 |
| Weber St | 1000-1 | |
| Wright St | 1000-1 | 300-1 |
| MIDWEST | ||
| Arizona | 50-1 | 30-1 |
| Butler | 40-1 | 30-1 |
| Davidson | 300-1 | |
| Florida | 4-1 | 4-5 |
| Georgia Tech | 75-1 | 25-1 |
| Jackson State | 1000-1 | |
| Maryland | 30-1 | 6-1 |
| Miami-OH | 300-1 | |
| Notre Dame | 100-1 | 20-1 |
| ODU | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Oregon | 40-1 | 6-1 |
| Purdue | 300-1 | 60-1 |
| Texas A&M CC | 1000-1 | |
| UNLV | 100-1 | 30-1 |
| Winthrop | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Wisconsin | 15-1 | 7-2 |
| SOUTH | ||
| Albany | 200-1 | |
| BYU | 200-1 | 40-1 |
| Central CT St. | 1000-1 | |
| Creighton | 100-1 | 35-1 |
| Long Beach St. | 500-1 | 200-1 |
| Louisville | 40-1 | 10-1 |
| Memphis | 30-1 | 4-1 |
| Nevada | 75-1 | 35-1 |
| North Texas | 500-1 | |
| Ohio State | 7-1 | 6-5 |
| Penn | 500-1 | |
| Stanford | 200-1 | 50-1 |
| Tennessee | 100-1 | 20-1 |
| Texas A&M | 12-1 | 11-5 |
| Virginia | 75-1 | 18-1 |
| Xavier | 100-1 | 40-1 |
About MySportsbook.com MySportsbook.com is the largest sportsbook and casino on the planet, where millions of adult Americans bet on sports, play poker and enjoy blackjack and other casino games online in a regulated and licensed jurisdiction. Named the "Best US Sports Book" by the industry's top magazine, eGaming Review, MySportsbook.com has been leading the online gaming industry since 1996. Dwarfing its nearest competitors in the US, MySportsbook.com has been the first to achieve every significant industry milestone, from record turnover to active users to number of bets--achieving a peak of fifteen bets per second. As the US online gaming leader, the firm and it's products have been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, ESPN, Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Financial Times, USA Today and in every major newspaper in the US.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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