Football Betting

Mainz rallies to stun Wolfsburg

Soccer Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mainz came back from three goals down at Volkswagen Arena on Saturday to record a 4-3 win over Wolfsburg, giving the club its second win in as many games to start the season.

Wolfsburg lost its opener to Bayern Munich on a late goal from Bastian Schweinsteiger, but Steve McClaren's team looked well on its way to three points as Edin Dzeko scored twice and Diego netted a third goal in his debut inside of 30 minutes.

However, Mainz pulled a goal back before halftime through Morten Rasmussen before Elkin Soto and Andre Schurrle scored goals to level the match. Then, with four minutes to play, Adam Szalai completed the comeback after he took a pass from Radoslav Zabavnik and beat goalkeeper Diego Benaglio with a shot into the lower-left corner of the net.

Dzeko dominated the early part of the match as he put Wolfsburg ahead by collecting a loose ball, beating two Mainz defenders, and slotting his shot past goalkeeper Christian Wetklo.

The second goal arrived four minutes later when Dzeko played a one-two with Marko Mandzukic and flicked the return pass inside the far post.

Diego completed his move from Juventus to Wolfsburg this past week, and he made an immediate impact by scoring on the half-hour mark when he intercepted a poor back pass from Bo Svensson, rounded the goalkeeper and rolled the ball into the empty net.

Mainz got a bit of hope before the break when a long-range shot from Soto was deflected off the post and into the net by Rasmussen, while Soto turned home Lewis Holtby's cross three minutes into the second half to reduce the deficit to 3-2.

Schurrle's long-range effort in the 58th minute brought Mainz all the way back to level terms, and Szalai completed the stunning rally with a goal of his own, giving Mainz two wins from its opening two matches.

Marko Arnautovic scored twice as Werder Bremen handed Cologne a 4-2 defeat, Hamburg scored three times in the second half for a 3-1 victory over Eintracht, Hannover topped Schalke, 2-1, two goals from Papiss Cisse helped Freiburg beat Nurnberg, 2-1, while Hoffenheim slipped past St. Pauli, 1-0, with Isaac Vorsah scoring the lone goal in the 87th minute.


<< Air Force's aerial plans go beyond football field
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -Like countless other college running backs, Air Force senior Jared Tew worked on his routes over the summer.Only, he wasn't practicing patterns on the football field like others were but speeding high above the Rocky M

<< No perfect way to split a conference
A conference was expanding and splitting into divisions, and nobody knew what would happen to its two most bitter football rivals. Would they stay in the same division or be split apart?No, this isn't a tale about Michigan and Ohio State. It's about

<< Miller continues hot start for Rangers
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenny Miller continued his fast start to the new Scottish Premier League season on Saturday, scoring the decisive goal 11 minutes from time in a 2-1 Rangers win over St Johnstone at the Ibrox Stadium

<< Devils submit new Kovalchuk contract
Hackensack, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils have reportedly submitted a new contract with Ilya Kovalchuk to the NHL. The Bergen Record reported that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed Friday that the league is

<< Nebraska's Pelini mum on starting quarterback
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -Nebraska coach Bo Pelini has hinted he's picked a starting quarterback, but he isn't saying who got the nod.Pelini said after Saturday's practice that the coaching staff has a plan for the position. But everyone else will have to

USA routs Croatia in Worlds opener >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Gordon sank four three-pointers and scored 16 points, as the United States crushed Croatia, 106-78, in its opening contest of the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Kevin Durant added 14 points for the

Wigan shocks Spurs >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hugo Rodallega's goal 10 minutes from time handed Wigan an unlikely 1-0 win over Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday. The result came just a few days after Tottenham sealed a place in the

Chiefs' Sheffield released from hospital >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Cameron Sheffield has been released from the hospital after suffering a neck injury in Friday's preseason game against Philadelphia. Sheffield, who has movement in all hi

Leafs sign MacArthur for one year >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Free-agent forward Clarke MacArthur was signed to a one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TSN of Canada reported the deal is worth $1.1

Wozniacki captures third straight Pilot Pen title >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caroline Wozniacki won her third consecutive Pilot Pen Tennis title Saturday by pulling out a three-set victory over Nadia Petrova. The world No. 2 Wozniacki took the 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Petrova in a li


Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Why Sports Betting is so much fun?

Betting Sports

The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)

But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)

Points (or Runs) Scored

Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.

The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.

Future Bets

Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.

Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)

Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:
  • What team will win the coin toss
  • What player will score the game’s first touchdown
  • What will be the exact margin of victory

Types of Bets

Straight Bet

Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.

Sports Betting Parlays

A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.

Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.

Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.

Round Robin Betting

Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.

Betting Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.

These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

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.