Wwmlb Soccer Betting News

<< Gilardino vows to stay at Fiorentina
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Italy striker Alberto Gilardino has vowed to remain with Fiorentina next term, despite a disappointing season for the Florence club this time around. La Viola are currently in ninth place in Serie A

<< Ribery set to miss final through suspension
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich's call on UEFA to be lenient with Franck Ribery has fallen on deaf ears after the France star was handed a three-game ban which rules him out of the Champions League final. The Bundesliga g

<< Hodgson fears Zamora will miss out
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fulham manager Roy Hodgson fears that key striker Bobby Zamora will miss Thursday's crunch Europa League semifinal second leg encounter with Hamburg at Craven Cottage. The 29-year-old former Bright

<< Sullivan: Zola could resign
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Co-owner David Sullivan claims that Gianfranco Zola has "indicated" he may resign as West Ham manager at the end of the season. The Italian's future at Upton Park has come under constant scrutiny

Hoiberg returns to Iowa State >>
Ames, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fred Hoiberg was introduced Wednesday as the new men's basketball coach at Iowa State and called the return to his alma mater "a dream come true." Hoiberg, who starred for the Cyclones in the 1990s, agree

Liverpool signs Charlton youngster >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool have wrapped up the signing of talented Charlton Athletic teenager Jonjo Shelvey for an initial fee of $2.6 million, which could rise to as much as $4.5 million. The 18-year-old has agreed

Hilbert set for Stuttgart exit >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stuttgart midfielder Roberto Hilbert will leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the season. The 25-year-old moved to the club from Greuther Fuerth almost four years ago and was an ever-pr

Riki commits future to Deportivo >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Getafe striker Riki has signed a new contract with Deportivo La Coruna that will keep him at the Riazor for another three seasons. The 29-year-old has spent the last four seasons with Depor and is

NFL Football Office Pools : NFL Football Contests

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Schedules

Welcome to our free football office pool page. Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury -- Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.

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To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.

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.