Wwpacers Basketball Betting News

<< Casey, Micheel and De Jonge lead U.S. Open
Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Casey, Shaun Micheel and Brendon de Jonge each posted a two-under 69 on Thursday, squeezing enough good shots out of tough Pebble Beach to share a one-stroke lead at the U.S. Open. The famed seaside c

<< Glaus, Hudson power Braves to win over Rays
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Glaus' two-run double in the sixth inning was the difference as Atlanta nipped Tampa Bay, 3-1, in the finale of a three-game interleague series at Turner Field. Jason Heyward homered for the Braves

<< Podsednik's home run lifts Royals over Astros
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Podsednik turned the game around with one swing, a three-run home run in the seventh inning, to lift Kansas City to a 5-2 come-from-behind win over Houston in the rubber match of a three-g

<< Kendrick strong as Phils take another from Yanks
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Kendrick pitched seven strong innings and Shane Victorino hit a two-run homer off Yankees starter Andy Pettitte, as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated New York, 7-1. Kendrick (4-2) yielded an RBI sing

Bryant, Jackson champions again; Lakers down Boston to claim NBA title >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant and the Lakers looked half- asleep at times during their most important game of the season, but in the end it was their suffocating defense that propelled them to a 83-79 Game 7 win over th

Rowdy revelers surrounding cars after Lakers win >>
LOS ANGELES (AP) -Rowdy revelers are surrounding cars that are attempting to leave Staples Center and random fights and bonfires are breaking out near the arena.Television news footage showed several people jumping on a taxi Thursday night as it att

Rowdy revelers crowd streets after Lakers win >>
LOS ANGELES (AP) -Crowds of rowdy revelers poured into the streets around Staples Center after Game 7 of the NBA finals on Thursday night, rocking cars, setting bonfires and throwing rocks and bottles at officers.Nine people had been arrested for pu

Lakers win 16th NBA title; Jackson could return >>
LOS ANGELES (AP) -With his record 11th NBA championship secured, Phil Jackson was evasive about his future with the Los Angeles Lakers.He's in the final year of his contract, with no word about a possible extension. He had said that if the Lakers wo

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.

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