Messi's hat trick leads Barca over Valencia
Soccer Betting Lines
03/14/2010 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi had second-half hat trick and Barcelona beat Valencia 3-0 on Sunday in a clash of top-three clubs in Spain's La Liga at the Camp Nou.
Messi scored in the 56th, 81st and 83rd minutes to increase his La Liga-high goal total to 22 through just 26 matches.
Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat trick for Real Madrid in a 4-1 win at Valladolid, as it bounced back from its Champions League exit to stay level on points with Barcelona.
Although Real holds the lead through goal differential, Barca actually holds a slight edge because it won the teams' only meeting 1-0.
Barcelona plays the second leg of its Champions League Round of 16 series this Wednesday against Stuttgart at the Camp Nou. Barca settled for a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany.
Real Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday by Lyon. The Spanish side lost the first leg 1-0 in France, and could only manage a 1-1 tie in the return leg at the Bernabeu.
Real took out its frustrations Valladolid, with Cristiano Ronaldo opening the scoring before Higuian scored his hat trick to increase his goal total to 19 - second in La Liga behind Messi.
Madrid won its eighth straight in La Liga, and still hosts Barcelona with just 12 matches left in the season and no European matches to worry about.
"I am very happy with the way we played. Every match is like a final and today we needed to win to stay positive," Real coach Manuel Pellegrini said on the club's website. "We need to compete for the title. The players know what is at stake and don't want everything done so to date to be in vain.
"The team proved it's on the right track."
Joseba Llorente and Damian Escudero scored to lead Villarreal to a 2-0 victory over Xerez, Fernando Soriano scored to lead Almeria over Malaga 1-0, Tenerife beat Espanyol 4-1 to make a move toward climbing out of the drop zone and Real Zaragoza tied Racing 0-0.
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Park posted a goal and an assist, while Blake Comeau added three helpers, and the Islanders recorded back-to- back wins for the first time in nearly two months with a 4-1 win over Toronto. Matt
<< Gonchar caps Penguins rally over Lightning
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergei Gonchar notched the game-winning score
early in the third period, as Pittsburgh clipped Tampa Bay, 2-1, at St. Pete
Times Forum.
Pascal Dupuis also tallied for the Penguins, who snapped a two-game s
<< Seedorf's late goal leads AC Milan over Chievo
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Substitute Clarence Seedorf scored in injury
time and AC Milan edged Chievo 1-0 on Sunday at the San Siro to close within
one point of Inter Milan for first place in Italy's Serie A.
Seedorf entered the ma
<< Streelman, Collins share lead in Puerto Rico
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Streelman and Chad Collins
were atop the leaderboard Sunday at 12-under par when the third-round of the
rain-delayed Puerto Rico Open was suspended for the day due to darkness.
Rain delay
<< Report: Jets sign Tomlinson to two-year deal
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets have reportedly inked
running back LaDainian Tomlinson to a two-year deal.
Financial terms were not available, according to the New York Daily News.
The likely Hall of Fame back spe
NEW YORK (AP) -North Carolina and Connecticut are lending some serious star power to the NIT.The Tar Heels were a No. 4 seed in the bracket released Sunday, the second time in the past three years that the defending national champion missed the NCAA
Coyotes nip Thrashers in SO >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Aucoin scored the game-winning goal in
the fourth round of the shootout, as the Phoenix Coyotes edged the Atlanta
Thrashers, 3-2, at Philips Arena.
Rich Peverley got Atlanta on the board with a
Raiders acquire LB Wimbley from Cleveland >>
Alameda, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Raiders announced Sunday that they
have acquired linebacker Kamerion Wimbley from the busy Cleveland Browns for
an undisclosed draft choice.
While the draft choice remains undisclosed officially,
Report: Beckham to miss World Cup due to Achilles tear >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - English superstar soccer player David Beckham
will reportedly miss the World Cup in June after suffering an apparent tear to
his left Achilles while playing for AC Milan.
The injury occurred Sunday night in a
Bobcats win sixth straight, snap Orlando's eight-game win streak >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Jackson recorded 28 points, six
rebounds and as many assists, as Charlotte matched a franchise-best winning
streak with its sixth straight win, 96-89, over Orlando.
Raymond Felton checked i
College Football Betting Tips From a Pro
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Online Sportsbook Football Betting
Why Sports Betting is so much fun?
Betting Sports
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)
Points (or Runs) Scored
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.
Future Bets
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.
Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)
Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:- What team will win the coin toss
- What player will score the game’s first touchdown
- What will be the exact margin of victory
Types of Bets
Straight Bet
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.
Sports Betting Parlays
A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.
Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.
Round Robin Betting
Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.Betting Teasers
Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.