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05/14/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes announced on Friday that veteran wideout Ben Cahoon will return for a 13th year.
Cahoon, a Utah native and Brigham Young product, posted a league-best 89 receptions for 1,031 yards along with two touchdowns in 18 regular-season games for Montreal. He added seven catches for 76 yards and one score in the playoffs for the Als, who won the 2009 Grey Cup.
"This is exciting news for the entire organization and our fans," said Alouettes vice president and general manager Jim Popp. "With Ben's return, we expect the chemistry between him and Anthony Calvillo will continue lifting everyone out of their seats and we can continue to enjoy one of the most poetic receivers to ever play the game."
The 37-year-old nine-time East Division All-Star ranks fourth on the all-time CFL list with 950 career receptions and holds sixth place with 12,586 receiving yards. He is the Alouettes franchise leader in 1,000-yard seasons with nine and has recorded one catch in 127 consecutive games.
Cahoon is also the all-time leader in receptions and yardage in Grey Cup history. With Montreal, he has participated in seven CFL title games and has won two times (2002, 2009).
<< Truex Jr. edges Kahne for Dover pole
Dover, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Truex Jr. qualified 0.006 seconds faster
than Kasey Kahne to win Friday's qualifying for the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover
International Speedway.
Truex, a native of nearby Mayetta, NJ, captured his fift
<< Lions agree to terms with RBs Messam, Dean
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The British Columbia Lions agreed to terms
with running backs Jerome Messam and Mickey Dean on Friday.
Terms of the contracts were not released.
Messam comes to the Lions after rushing for 1,075 yards
<< Federer, Nadal on collision course in Madrid
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer
and former top-ranked Spanish hero Rafael Nadal are on a collision course to
meet in this weekend's final at the $3.6 million Madrid Open, a clay-
court French Op
<< Casey, Colorado ready for D.C. United
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado forward Conor Casey was surprised
he was left off the U.S. 30-man preliminary World Cup roster, but admitted now
it was time to focus on the Rapids.
Casey scored two goals in a World Cup qualifier
Jones, Pirates use late burst of offense to down Cubs >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Jones collected five hits and drove in
a career-high five runs, including the tie-breaking three-run homer in the
eighth inning, to lift the Pirates to a 10-6 win over the Cubs in the opener
of a th
Piller remains hot, leads BMW Charity Pro-Am by one >>
Greer, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Piller carded a five-under 67 Friday to
take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the BMW Charity Pro-Am.
Piller, who shared the first-round lead with Ted Potter, Jr., completed 36
holes at 13-unde
Galaxy, TFC meet at The HDC >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Galaxy will try to continue
their unbeaten start to the 2010 Major League Soccer Season when they host
Toronto FC at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
While the galaxy have domin
Acting Happy captures Black-Eyed Susan Stakes >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lightly raced Acting Happy shook loose down
the stretch to win Friday's 86th running of the $175,000 Black-Eyed Susan
Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The 1 1/8 mile race for three-year-old fillies
is the
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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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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