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02/08/2012 - Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Triple Crown race winners Ruler On Ice and Shackleford head a field of 11 older thoroughbreds for Saturday's 1 1/8- mile Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. The two four-year-olds will each be making their 2012 debuts.
Drawing post three is the 2011 Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice. The gelding, trained by Kelly Breen, will be ridden by Rosie Napravnik, one of Breen's regular jockeys.
"She's been riding up a storm at Fair Grounds," said Breen about Napravnik. "With Garrett Gomez out (with an injury), it's an opportunity to go with Rosie."
Owned by Lori and George Hall, the gelding proved to be one of the top three- year-olds last year. Along with his Belmont Stakes win, he was third in the Breeders' Cup Classic after being bumped at the start.
"At times he has a little bit of trouble with the pace. He's just not that quick out of the gate," said Breen.
Ruler On Ice was third in the Sunland Derby, second in the Federico Tesio, third in the Haskell, fourth in the Travers and runner-up in the Pennsylvania Derby. He wrapped up his 2011 season with an unfortunate fifth in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs.
Ruler On Ice has banked more than $1.6 million for the Halls with three wins in 12 career starts.
Shackleford, last year's Preakness Stakes champ, will start from post nine with regular rider Jesus Castanon in the saddle. Trained by Dale Romans, the chestnut colt is owned by Michael Lauffer and W. D. Cubbedge.
In addition to the Preakness win, Shackleford posted a second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile behind Caleb's Posse at Churchill Downs. Earlier at Churchill he was fourth in the Kentucky Derby and then fifth in the Belmont Stakes.
"He hasn't missed a beat. He hasn't missed a beat in his life," Romans said.
In 12 career starts the colt has three wins and is within $15,000 of the $2 million mark in lifetime earnings.
Here is the complete field for the Donn in post position order: Where's Sterling, Jose Lezcano; Mission Impazible, Javier Castellano; Ruler On Ice, Rosie Napravnik; Redeemed, Edgar Prado; Soaring Empire, Julien Leparoux; Al Khali, Alan Garcia; Flat Out, Alex Solis; Trickmeister, Ramon Dominguez; Shackleford, Jesus Castanon; Hymn Book, John Velazquez and Sangaree, Rajiv Maragh.
Post-time for the Donn Handicap is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. (et).
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never a sure thing as evidenced by Green Bay's win and cover as the favorite
in the 2011 contest. However, with the Giants victory as 2.5-point underdogs
last S
<< Good weather means increases at Oaklawn
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not one day of racing has been missed at
Oaklawn Park in 2012 allowing the track to increase daily purses. The track
announced Wednesday that overnight purses are going up $5,000 a day starting
this we
<< Padres take a flyer on Jeff Suppan
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres on Wednesday signed
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spring training.
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<< No problem: Houston lands 2013 NBA All-Star Game
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2013 All-Star Game will be held in Houston,
the NBA officially revealed on Wednesday.
The game itself will be played at the Toyota Center on Sunday, February 17
with All-Star festivities starting two da
Reds, Ludwick complete 1-year deal >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds and outfielder Ryan
Ludwick have finalized a one-year contract.
The deal, reported last month but not announced until Wednesday, includes a
mutual option for the 2013 season.
T
Capello leaves England no better than he found it >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The appointment of Fabio Capello as manager of England's
national team in December 2007 was supposed to be a step in the right
direction following the disappointing 18-months that Steve McClaren spent at
the hel
Panthers sign long snapper to 4-year deal >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers signed long snapper
J.J. Jansen to a four-year contract on Wednesday.
Jansen, 26, has played all 48 games in his three NFL seasons with the Panthers
and went without a mistake this p
Catania, Roma finish all square in resumed match >>
Catania, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The final 25 minutes of Roma's match at
Catania concluded on Wednesday with neither side able to break the 1-1
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The match was suspended after 65 minutes bec
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)
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.
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.
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.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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