Italians set to face Ukraine in Fed Cup QFs
Tennis Betting Lines
02/03/2012 - Biella, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Italy, which has won three of the last six Fed Cup titles, will host Ukraine this weekend in a best-of-five World Group quarterfinal.
First up on Saturday in Biella, Italian Sara Errani will face Kateryna Bondarenko, while the second opening singles rubber will pit the hosts' Francesca Schiavone against Lesia Turenko on the indoor red clay at Lauretana Forum. Schiavone was last year's French Open runner-up and titled at Roland Garros in 2010.
Sunday's reverse singles have Schiavone taking on Bondarenko and Errani facing Turenko, while the Day-2 doubles will pit an Italian duo of Errani and Roberta Vinci against a Ukrainian tandem of Olga Savchuk and Yuliya Beygelzimer.
Team Italy is captained by Corrado Barazzutti, who also has veteran Flavia Pennetta at his disposal, while the Ukrainians are piloted by Igor Dernovskyi.
The winner in Biella will meet the Czech Republic-Germany victor in April's semifinals.
Italy is 3-0 all-time versus Ukraine in Fed Cup play.
Charleroi, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2012 Fed Cup quarterfinal between Serbia and host Belgium will get underway Saturday with a singles match between the visitors' former world No. 1 star Jelena Jankovic and Kirsten Flipken
<< Kvitova ready for Fed Cup action against Germany
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Petra Kvitova will play in Saturday's
second opening singles rubber in the Fed Cup quarterfinal between her reigning
champion Czech Republic team and a host German squad.
Saturday's first singles bo
<< Irsay: Manning not yet cleared by Colts
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said
early Friday morning that quarterback Peyton Manning has not yet been cleared
to play by the team.
Reports on Thursday indicated that Manning has been cleared by
<< Play called for wind in Qatar; tourney reduced to 54 holes
Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The heavy wind that sent scores soaring in
round one, became too much in round two.
The second round of the Qatar Masters was suspended on Friday due to high
winds and unplayable conditions at Doha
<< Blazers lose in Sacramento
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Thornton returned from a four-game
absence and scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, lifting the
Sacramento Kings past the Portland Trail Blazers, 95-92.
Raymond Felton and Jamal
Oldsmar, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday gets solidly onto the Kentucky Derby trail with the running of the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes. The 32nd edition of the 1 1/16-mile race has attracted a field of 11 three- year-ol
Cubs avoid arbitration with Garza >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs avoided arbitration with Matt
Garza on Friday, signing the starter to a one-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Chicago Tribune reported the
settlement to be for
U.S. men to face Canada in June friendly >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The U.S. men's national team will be renewing
its rivalry with Canada on June 3 when the two sides meet up at BMO Field in
Toronto for a friendly.
The game will be part of the Centenary celebrations fo
Wizards visit ACC to take on Raptors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors try to avoid a third straight loss
this evening when they welcome the woeful Washington Wizards north of the
border to the Air Canada Centre.
With star forward Andrea Bargnani sidelined with a calf inj
Nuggets entertain Lakers at Pepsi Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets shoot for a two-day sweep of Los Angeles
when they welcome a Lakers team that has struggled on the road this season to
the Rocky Mountains.
The Nuggets were in the City of Angels on Thursday and summari
College Football Betting Tips From a Pro
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.