St Etienne eases relegation worries
Soccer Betting Lines
02/07/2010 - Saint Etienne, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St Etienne moved seven points clear of the bottom three on Sunday with a comfortable 3-0 win over Monaco at the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium.
Blaise Matuidi had the home side in front after 14 minutes, and goals from Gonzalo Bergessio and Emmanuel Riviere in the final 15 minutes sealed the win, which is only the second in 11 games for St Etienne.
Monaco could have moved into third with a win, but they are now sixth, level on 39 points with Auxerre and Marseille.
St Etienne entered the game without a goal in its last six home contests, but that streak came to an end in the 14th minute when some good work by Dimitri Payet allowed Matuidi to fire into the bottom corner of the net from 10 yards.
Bakary Sako came close to doubling the lead before halftime when his volley sailed inches wide of the post, while both goalkeepers needed to be alert to keep the match at 1-0.
St Etienne's Jeremie Janot kept out a good effort from Thomas Mangani, with Monaco netminder Stephane Ruffier doing well to keep out Bergessio's shot.
Ruffier was unable to prevent Bergessio from scoring 15 minutes from time, however, as he easily beat the keeper with a side-footed shot after a good pass from Riviere.
The hosts remained two goals ahead when defender Yohan Benalouane cleared a header off the goal line from Yannick Sagbo, and the lead was extended to three goals right before the final whistle with a great individual goal from Riviere.
Lyon remained in fourth place as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Toulouse, while Marseille pounded Valenciennes, 5-1.
Mallorca, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mallorca took over fourth place in the La Liga table on Sunday as Jose Carlos Nunes scored in the 81st minute of a 1-0 win over Villarreal at the Son Moix Stadium. Mallorca entered the match having wo
<< Syracuse thumps Cincinnati on the road
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Rautins had 20 points, as third-ranked
Syracuse downed Cincinnati, 71-54, at Fifth Third Arena.
Kris Joseph had 17 points, while Scoop Jardine and Arinze Onuaku each chipped
in with 11 points for t
<< Ohio State rallies in second half to clip Lady Lions
University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samantha Prahalis hit five three-
pointers and scored 26 points to pair with 12 assists, as No. 8 Ohio State
rallied from down 14 in the second half to secure an 86-73 win over Penn
State.
<< Ovechkin's hat trick keys Caps' OT comeback over Pens
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Knuble scored on the power-play with
2:11 remaining in overtime, and Alex Ovechkin recorded a hat trick, as the
Washington Capitals fought back from a three-goal deficit to edge Pittsburgh,
5-4, an
<< UConn rolls on with 46-point win
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles scored 20 points and Maya Moore
added 16, as top-ranked Connecticut demoralized Louisville on the road in an
84-38 romp at Freedom Hall.
The Huskies (23-0, 10-0 Big East) took a commanding 5
Udine, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antonio di Natale scored two goals in stoppage time to complete a hat trick as Udinese beat Napoli, 3-1, on Sunday at the Stadio Friuli. Di Natale put Udinese in front after seven minutes when he followed
NFL Inactives (Sunday, February 7, 2010) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive players
for Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS VS. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS, 6:25 P.M. (ET)
Saints - 3rd QB Chase Daniel, TE Darnell Dinkins, RB Lynell Hamilton, T
Freeney active for Super Bowl >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney
is listed as active for the Super Bowl despite a right ankle injury.
Freeney hasn't practiced all week due to a third-degree sprain and torn
ligament in h
Sharks get D Wallin from Carolina >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks made a trade on Sunday,
acquiring defenseman Niclas Wallin and a fifth-round pick in the 2010 draft
from the Carolina Hurricanes for a second-round pick in the 2010 draft.
Wallin, a
Carter leads Magic over Boston >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter led a balanced attack with 20
points and Dwight Howard logged 16 points and 13 rebounds despite battling
foul trouble, as Orlando rallied back from an 11-point halftime deficit to
beat Bo
Betting the NFL preseason
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.