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02/27/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeast Division-leading Washington Wizards wrap up a three-game road trip when they visit the New Jersey Nets tonight at Continental Airlines Arena.
Washington is 0-2 on the swing. On Sunday, Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves downed the Wizards, 98-94, at the Target Center.
DeShawn Stevenson registered 21 points in the loss for the Wizards, who have lost two straight and four of their last seven games overall. All-Star Gilbert Arenas ended with 20 points for Washington, which shot 7-of-29 from beyond the arc.
On the injury front for Washington, All-Star forward Caron Butler (lower back spasms) is questionable for tonight's contest. Butler did not play against Minnesota and is averaging 20.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 53 games this season.
The Wizards are 10-16 on the road this season. After tonight's game, they will return home for a four-game homestand versus Miami, Atlanta, Golden State and Toronto.
New Jersey, which plays the fourth of a five-game homestand, enters tonight's contest on a two-game winning streak. Vince Carter poured in 40 points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out eight assists as the Nets defeated the New York Knicks, 101-92, on Sunday at Continental Airlines Arena.
Mikki Moore added 19 points in the win for the Nets, who have won five of their last eight games overall. Bostjan Nachbar finished with 15 points and 10 boards, while Jason Kidd contributed 11 points and 14 assists in the victory.
The Nets are 16-14 at home this season. They will host the Boston Celtics on Saturday in the finale of the current homestand.
This is the second meeting of the campaign between the clubs. On November 12th, Carter hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the game into overtime and scored six points in the extra session as the Nets pulled out a 105-93 win over Washington at the Verizon Center.
Washington has lost two straight and 10 of its last 11 at New Jersey. The Nets have won two in a row in the series.
<< Lightning and Stars collide in Tampa
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Tampa Bay Lightning conclude a three-game
homestand this evening, when they welcome the Dallas Stars to the St. Pete
Times Forum.
The Lightning come into the game as winners in 10 of their past 13 games to
<< Isles welcome lowly Flyers to the Coliseum
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders play the sixth contest of their
current seven-game homestand this evening, when they welcome the last-place
Philadelphia Flyers to Nassau Coliseum.
The stand has been a successful one for the Islande
<< Penguins acquire veteran F Roberts
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired veteran
forward Gary Roberts from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Noah
Welch on Tuesday.
Roberts is in his 19th NHL season and has registered 29 points
<< Sabres, Leafs clash in Toronto
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will look to rebound from an emotional
weekend when they battle the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening at the Air
Canada Centre.
Buffalo wrapped up a high energy home-and-home series on Saturday with Otta
Mavs shoot for win No. 13 at Minnesota >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA-best Dallas Mavericks try to extend their winning
streak to 13 games when they face the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at the
Target Center.
All-Star Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds t
Red Wings aim for another victory in Chicago >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to rebound from consecutive
close losses when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks tonight at the United
Center.
Detroit had won three straight before dropping a shootout decision to visit
Avs host Blue Jackets in battle between struggling clubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to end a three-game slide
tonight, when they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Pepsi Center.
The Avalanche's latest setback came Sunday evening in Anaheim, as Scott
Niedermay
Oilers to honor Messier against Gretzky's Coyotes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers will begin their four-game homestand in
style tonight, when they honor Mark Messier before taking on the Phoenix
Coyotes at Rexall Place.
The Oilers will retire Messier's No. 11 jersey in a pr
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.
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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