09/05/2008 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano was diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis in his right shoulder Thursday.
Already expected to miss his next scheduled start Sunday against Cincinnati, Zambrano will likely take the mound September 14 at Houston after an MRI revealed the hurler needed anti-inflammatory medication and a few days rest.
Zambrano left after five innings of Tuesday's 9-7, 11-inning loss to Houston due to an apparent relapse of a tired arm. Zambrano was scratched from his Sunday afternoon start against Philadelphia because of the problem.
On Tuesday, he lasted 86 pitches before telling Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild he didn't feel well, then left the game.
The 27-year-old right-hander is 13-5 in 27 starts this season with a 3.58 ERA.
<< Winton's four TDs lift DSU to OT win
Dover, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The performance of Delaware State senior
quarterback Vashon Winton at times on Thursday night might have been enough to
frustrate the average signal-caller.
Winton misfired on more passes than he compl
<< Kings ink F Stoll to four-year deal
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings agreed to terms on a
four-year contract with restricted free agent center Jarret Stoll on Thursday.
Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 26-year-old Stoll was
<< Commodores upend 24th-ranked Gamecocks in SEC opener
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Hawkins rushed for 84 yards and a
touchdown and Chris Nickson threw a touchdown and ran for another, as
Vanderbilt knocked off 24th-ranked South Carolina, 24-17, in the SEC opener
for bot
<< Kansas City sweeps doubleheader, series against Oakland
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Guillen went 2-for-4 with three RBI
and a run scored as the Kansas City Royals swept the doubleheader and three-
game series against the Oakland Athletics with a 9-6 win.
Alberto Callaspo drove i
Nats send Bergmann to mound versus Braves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Jason Bergmann faces Atlanta for the fourth
time this season tonight when the Washington Nationals visit Turner Field for
game two of a four-game series with the host Braves.
Bergmann has started in 21 of his
After epic road swing, Twins return home to host Tigers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins return home after their lengthy road
trip this evening to face the Detroit Tigers in the start of a three-game
series at the Metrodome.
The Twins, who will be playing at home for the first time since Au
Visiting Indians start set with Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians try to continue their recent mastery
of the Kansas City Royals this evening when the AL Central rivals kick off a
three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
Cleveland has won its last three against the Ro
Closing in on AL West title, Angels take on White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hope to move one step
closer to their fourth AL West title in the last five years when they open a
three-game series this evening with the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox
at U.S. Cellula
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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.
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