Blue Jays sent Halladay to hill versus Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim target their fourth straight win this evening when they open a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.

Los Angeles, which will be starting a seven-game road trip tonight, enters this series on the heels of sweeping the Minnesota Twins over the weekend, outscoring them 20-6 and improving their major league best home record to 40-17. The Angels have won six of seven, 12 of their last 17 and still hold a three-game edge on the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

As good as the Angels have been at home, they have struggled away from the friendly confines of Angel Stadium this season, going just 29-30 on the road. They, along with the Milwaukee Brewers, are the only division leaders with a losing record on the road.

Hoping to reverse that trend tonight will be 26-year-old left-hander Joe Saunders, who is 6-0 with a 3.46 earned run average. Saunders' most recent win came last Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox, as he allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Saunders has faced the Jays just twice in his career, going 1-0 against them with a sparkling 1.80 ERA.

The Blue Jays will counter with ace right-hander Roy Halladay, who is an impressive 9-1 in 12 home starts this season. Halladay won his second straight start at Rogers Centre on Wednesday against the New York Yankees, as he surrendered four runs and six hits in seven innings to run his record to 13-5 on the year to go along with a 4.17 ERA.

Halladay is 4-4 lifetime against the Angels with a 5.48 ERA in 11 starts.

Toronto enters this series after splitting a four-game set with the Kansas City Royals, dropping Monday's finale 6-2 at Kauffman Stadium. Alex Rios and Curtis Thigpen each knocked in a run for the Blue Jays, who lost for only the fourth time in their last six tries.

Jesse Litsch (4-5) was tagged for five runs -- two earned -- on six hits over 6 2/3 innings.

This is the first time these teams have played this season, but Toronto won the season series 6-4 last year and is 16-9 in the matchup since the start of the 2004 campaign. The Angels have also struggled north of the border, where they have won in just one of their last seven visits.

Onlinevasino Baseball Betting News

<< White Sox kick off road swing in Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox begin a week-long West Coast road trip tonight with the first of three consecutive meetings with the Oakland Athletics at McAfee Coliseum. Chicago took two of three games from the A's at the Coliseum

<< Mariners, Twins continue set at Safeco Field
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After coming through with another thrilling victory on Monday, the Seattle Mariners will attempt to continue their recent roll in tonight's middle test of a three-game set with the struggling Minnesota Twins from Safeco Fiel

<< Lester returns to Fenway as Red Sox continue series with Rays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester returns to the Fenway Park mound for the first time in nearly a full year when the Boston Red Sox resume a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays this evening. Lester hasn't pitched in Boston since a s

<< Cubs' Zambrano eyes win No. 15 vs. Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano will try for a third time to become the National League's first 15-game winner tonight in the Chicago Cubs' opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field. Zambrano captured h

<< Bonds, Giants resume trek in Atlanta
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Bonds will go back from being cheered to most likely getting booed tonight when the San Francisco Giants continue their now nine- game road trip with the opener of a three-game set with the Atlanta Braves at Turner

Karstens goes for Yanks against Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Youngster Jeff Karstens tries again for his first win of 2007 tonight when the New York Yankees host the Baltimore Orioles in game two of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. The right-hander, who'll turn 25 next month

It's official: Kyle Busch to JGR >>
Huntersville, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the worst kept secrets was made official when Joe Gibbs Racing announced on Tuesday that it had signed 22- year-old Kyle Busch to a contract. The younger brother of 2004 Nextel Cup champio

Cardinals have chance to close gap on struggling Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers will play the first of three games against the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals this evening at Miller Park. Milwaukee is just 1 1/2 games ahead of the Chicago Cu

Padres begin key series with playoff-hopeful Rockies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Francis will try to keep his unbeaten streak intact when he takes the mound this evening for the Colorado Rockies in the opener of a three-game series with the NL West-rival San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Francis

Downtrodden Dodgers continue home set with Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers will try to stop a three-game slide when they resume a four-game series this evening versus the Houston Astros at Chavez Ravine. Los Angeles, which has lost nine of 11 and is 4-14 over its last

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.

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.