Roughriders sign LaBatte, Picard
Football Betting Lines
02/16/2012 - Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders agreed to terms with a pair of offensive linemen on Thursday, signing Brendon LaBatte and Dominic Picard.
LaBatte heads further west after spending the previous four seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played in all 18 games for the East Division champs in 2011.
Picard is a six-year CFL veteran who played the last three years for the Toronto Argonauts. The 2006 draftee of Winnipeg has played in 85 regular season games.
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes signed linebacker Rod Davis to a two-year contract on Thursday. Davis, who became a free agent on Wednesday, led the Edmonton Eskimos with 79 tackles last season. He also recorded fiv
<< Rapids acquire Argentinean midfielder Rivero
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids acquired Argentinean
midfielder Martin Rivero on loan Thursday from Argentina's Rosario Central.
The 22-year-old Rivero debuted for Rosario Central at the age of 18, and made
30 app
<< Gary Carter passes away
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame catcher Gary "Kid" Carter died
Thursday. He was 57 years old.
More to follow...
<< Aguero rescues City in Europa League
Porto, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Aguero scored in the 83rd minute and
Manchester City edged FC Porto, 2-1, in the first match of their Europa League
round of 32 series Thursday.
Silvestre Varela gave defending Europa League champion
<< Broncos sign WR Hill
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos on Thursday signed free-
agent wide receiver Jason Hill.
Hill recorded a career-best 367 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 25
catches last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia injured his hamstring Thursday in a 2-0 Europa League win at Ajax, and will be sidelined four weeks. The 26-year-old Ecuadorian was injured as he set
Lions agree to terms with Byron Parker, Stu Foord >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The BC Lions agreed to terms with defensive
back Byron Parker and running back Stu Foord on Thursday.
Parker earned his third All-Star selection last season, tallying a career-high
50 tackles to go with
Eskimos ink WR Carr >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Eskimos signed wide receiver Greg
Carr on Thursday.
Carr caught 46 passes for 648 yards and four touchdowns last season with the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
"We're very pleased to sign Greg," Es
Flyers acquire Grossman >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired
defenseman Nicklas Grossman from the Dallas Stars in exchange for two draft
picks, the team announced Thursday.
Grossman has five assists in 52 games this seas
Boys and a girl, have at it in 2012 >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - From Trevor Bayne's stunning win in the
Daytona 500 to Tony Stewart beating Carl Edwards for the championship in a
tiebreaker, NASCAR indeed had an unforgettable season in its premier series in
2011.
Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.