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09/04/2010 - Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ted Schulz fired a eight-under 64 at Pebble Beach on Saturday to grab a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the First Tee Open.
Schulz, who is making his 12th Champions Tour start of the year, completed two rounds at 12-under-par 132.
Pebble Beach and Del Monte Golf Course were used for the first two rounds. Sunday's final round will be contested at Pebble Beach.
First-round leader Mark Calcavecchia managed a one-under 71 Saturday, but slipped into a tie for second place at minus-nine. Tom Kite, who won the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, carded a four-under 68 at Pebble to join Calcavecchia in second place.
Tom Pernice, Jr. is alone in fourth place at eight-under-par 136 after shooting 70 at Del Monte.
Schulz started on the back nine at Pebble Beach and got off to a fast start with birdies on 10 and 11. He posted back-to-back birdies from the 13th to jump to eight-under.
The 50-year-old birdied the 16th, but gave that stroke right back with a bogey on the 17th. Schulz made the turn at minus-nine thanks a birdie on the 18th.
Schulz, who won twice on the PGA Tour, made it two in a row again as he birdied the first. He birdied the third and sixth to move to 12-under. Schulz parred his final three holes to grab the second-round lead for the first time on the Champions Tour.
Calcavecchia started on the first at Pebble Beach on Saturday. His front nine consisted of eight pars and a single birdie on the par-three fifth.
Around the turn, Calcavecchia got to 10-under with a birdie on No. 10. However, he bogeyed three of the next four holes to slide to minus-seven. He got two of those strokes back with birdies at 16 and 17.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
<< Chiefs deal S Page to Patriots
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs traded veteran
safety Jarrad Page to the New England Patriots for an undisclosed draft pick.
Page started in 39 of the 53 games he played in for the Chiefs over the first
four
<< McMurray holds off Busch for Atlanta Nationwide win
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamie McMurray won his first Nationwide Series
race in nearly six years by taking Saturday's Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor
Speedway.
McMurray, who won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the Sprint Cup
<< Jaguars get to 53; Williamson and Alexander among cuts
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wide receiver Troy Williamson and safety
Gerald Alexander were among the notable players cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars
on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to 53 players.
Williamson, the No. 7 ove
<< Seahawks cut Houshmandzadeh, 20 more
Renton, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was
given the boot by the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday after spending just one
season with the team.
The release of Houshmandzadeh came amid several moves by the Seahawk
Chiefs release 13, including Morgan; Leggett and Urban to IR >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Safety DaJuan Morgan was among the most
prominent players released by the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, as the team
reduced its roster to the 53-player maximum.
Morgan played in 28 games as a Chief after
Jurrjens, Braves shut down Marlins >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jair Jurrjens and two relievers combined on a
four-hitter as Atlanta stifled Florida, 2-0, in the middle meeting of a
three-game set at Sun Life Stadium.
Jurrjens (7-4) allowed three hits, while he w
Federer, Djokovic, Soderling reach fourth round in Flushing >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer,
2007 U.S. Open finalist Novak Djokovic and two-time French Open runner-up
Robin Soderling were easy third-round winners Saturday at the U.S. Open.
The secon
Revolution top Sounders at Gillette Stadium >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution kept their slim
Major League Soccer playoff aspirations alive with a 3-1 win over Seattle
Sounders FC at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night.
Goals by Chris Tierney, Marko
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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