Byccaneers Football Betting News

<< Bruins hang rare home regulation defeat on Blues
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Marchand scored twice as Boston doubled up St. Louis, 4-2, at Scottrade Center. Chris Kelly and Milan Lucic each posted a goal and one assist for the Bruins, who had lost three of four coming in. Ti

<< Ridnour lifts Minnesota over Utah
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Ridnour finished with 17 points, none bigger than his floater at the final buzzer, lifting the Timberwolves to a 100-98 comeback victory over the Jazz at Target Center on Wednesday. With seven t

<< Noah's triple-double leads Bulls past Bucks
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joakim Noah recorded his first career triple- double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, as the Chicago Bulls cruised past the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-91. Carlos Boozer added 20 points and seven

<< Rockets hand 76ers a 5th straight loss
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston's Luis Scola had 19 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 93-87 win over the 76ers. Kevin Martin scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Kyle Lowry finished with 13 for the Rockets,

Ellis' last-second shot lifts Warriors over Suns; Curry injures foot >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monta Ellis scored 26 points and made the game- winning jumper with one second left, lifting the Golden State Warriors over the Phoenix Suns, 106-104. Ellis' fadeaway jumper with Grant Hill in his face snap

Avs turn tables on Kings with home victory >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny tallied twice as Colorado finished off a season sweep of Los Angeles with a 4-1 decision at Pepsi Center. "From start to finish tonight we played our game. We kept attacking even after

No. 4 Kansas tops Texas A&M >>
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elijah Johnson scored a team-high 21 points to lead No. 4 Kansas past Texas A&M, 66-58, in the final Big 12 clash between the two schools. Tyshawn Taylor added 12 points, Jeff Withey contribute

Roddick ousted in Memphis >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Belgian Xavier Malisse knocked off second- seed and defending champion Andy Roddick 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 in first-round action at the $1.155 million Regions Morgan Keegan Championships on Wednesday. Rodd

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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