Atlanta's Venters, Cox suspended

Baseball Betting Lines

07/19/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves pitcher Jonny Venters has been suspended by Major League Baseball for four games and fined an undisclosed amount for throwing two straight pitches at Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder in the eighth inning of Saturday's game at Turner Field.

Venters threw behind and over Fielder's head with the first pitch of the inning and hit him in the back with his next offering and was immediately tossed out of the game.

His suspension is scheduled to begin Tuesday, though, if appealed, will be held in abeyance until the process is finished.

Fielder had smashed a game-tying home run off Tim Hudson in the previous frame that jump-started a five-run rally that carried the Brewers to a 6-3 comeback win.

Braves' manager Bobby Cox was handed a one-game suspension for the intentional actions of Venters after a warning had been issued to the southpaw after his first intentional offering at Fielder.

The veteran skipper is slated to serve his suspension during Tuesday's game with San Diego.

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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.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup

September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com.  The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans. 

Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to  name a  few.  Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR.  They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.

The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer.  Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.

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

Ryder Cup Odds

Europe
Tie
USA		 4-5
10-1
6-5


Ryder Cup Top US point scorer
Tiger Woods
Jim Furyk
Phil Mickelson
Chris DiMarco
David Toms
Stewart Cink
Chad Campbell
Scott Verplank
Zach Johnson
Vaughan Taylor
JJ Henry
Brett Wetterich		 9-4
4-1
5-1
7-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
25-1
30-1
30-1
50-1


Ryder Cup Top European scorer
Sergio Garcia
Luke Donald
Padraig Harrington
Colin Montgomerie
Darren Clarke
David Howell
Lee Westwood
Paul Casey
Henrik Stenson
Jose Maria Olazabal
Paul McGinley
Robert Karlsson		 5-1
5-1
6-1
13-2
8-1
9-1
9-1
11-1
12-1
12-1
20-1
25-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com