We are in the midst of interleague play in baseball. For the next couple of weeks all but one game will involve a National League team playing one from the American League, with the rules of the home team being enforced. I absolutely hate interleague play. Baseball is a game of beautiful traditions, and one that should be completely and absolutely above shameful gimmicks like interleague plays. Seeing things like the two Chicago teams or the two New York squads play is mildly amusing, but it isn’t worth all of the disruption and meaningless matchups that the rest of interleague play creates for us. Those classic matchups become less and less compelling each time they are played as well – a subway series World Series wouldn’t be the novelty it was last time we saw it now that the teams play every year. If I had my way I would not only end interleague play immediately, but also purge the records of every one of the stupid games that has ever been played.
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When you are handicapping baseball one of the easiest traps to fall into is the curse of the big name pitcher. Sometimes guys who have built a reputation up over years of excellence just aren’t performing at a level that matches that reputation. If you bet on them based on what they were or can be and not what they currently are then you’re just throwing away your money. There’s no value in the bets and there’s a much better chance than you expect that you are going to lose. Here’s a look at five guys with big reputations who haven’t been doing bettors any favors this season:
Continue reading “Starting Pitchers Burning Up Bettors Money”
We are not that far away from the opening week of the 2010 NFL football season. Bookmaker has week 1 NFL lines now posted and for those wondering what they are, here they are. We have also included 5Dimes current NFL football lines to compare. The column titled open is the first number Bookmaker opened up at. Bookmaker’s week 1 odds have been out for a few weeks now and as you can see to this point the lines makers have done a great job as very few of the week 1 point spreads have moved much at all. Minnesota has seen a little action going from 4.5 to 4.
Cold Weather Super Bowl; a hot topic for bettors
Mark this one in your calendars! Super Bowl XLVIII will be the first of its kind to be played outside in a cold weather location. The NFL announced Tuesday that they will hold the 2014 championship game in Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
One thing we know for sure is that the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to have a new coach. Mike Brown was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2009, but his failure to beat the Celtics in the playoffs this year when his team was expected to win it all was the final straw. The Cavs are obviously a desperate franchise. With the uncertainty around where LeBron James is going to play next year the team can’t afford to look like it isn’t taking steps to improve, and Brown just wasn’t getting it done when it matters. There are several NBA teams looking for coaches right now, and at least one more that still could be in the coming weeks. What makes Cleveland’s job so intriguing, though, is what the team could look like next year. If James re-signs then the new coach would be taking over one of the two best players in the NBA, and would have a realistic look at multiple titles. If James leaves, though, then Cleveland is just another job in a smaller market. The job is either the best there is or it’s nothing – there is no middle ground.
For most sports bettors this is the time of year when things are at their slowest. Football is a distant memory, and won’t be back again for a long while. Basketball and hockey are winding down. Baseball is chugging along, but the relentless pace of that sport is more than some bettors want to deal with. Summer is a great time for bettors to relax, sit in the sun and drink some beer, and get ready for a long, hard fall and winter. It’s also a good time to get ready for next season by working to become a sports bettor. There are a lot of really terrible books about sports betting out there, but there are a few that are really great. When you’re sitting on the beach soaking up some rays this summer, pick up one of these classics is you haven’t read them already. You’re certain to learn something – I do every time I read through them again.
Continue reading “The Best Sports Betting Books For Handicappers”
Steve Nash had a bruised eye which will hopefully heal by Sunday, but the Suns as a whole will have a difficult time coming back from an 0-2 deficit against the Lakers for the Western Conference Title. In Game Two the Lakers came out strongly and evidently the 7.5 point favorites which the odds makers pinned them. The Suns gave up a 36 point first quarter, and even though the Suns tightened their game, the Lakers ran away with it in the fourth quarter. The Lakers travel to Phoenix for Game Three of the Western Conference Finals Series.
Today we take a look at what should be 2 of the best games of the day.
Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
Tampa Bay travels to the Bronx in an unfamiliar role this late in the season, carrying an MLB-best record of 28-11 (+1,014) into this series. To put the current record in perspective, the Rays didn’t win their 28th game of the 2009 season until June 4 (56th game). The Rays are 1-2 against the Yankees in 2010, losing the series at Tropicana Field in April. Overall, the team has dropped 10 of the last 15 meetings, including seven straight at Yankee Stadium. Their fortune may change in New York this time around, carrying an impressive 15-4 road mark (+1,050) into this division battle.
There are two main ways to bet sides in baseball – the moneyline and the runline. The difference between the two seems subtle, but the more you look at them, the more you appreciate their complexity. The most interesting thing about the two different bets to me is that if you ask baseball bettors what they prefer you’ll get a bunch of different answers, and most of those answers will be passionate. Some people favor betting the moneyline because runlines can present lousy value. Others play the runline because the payoffs are better and about two-thirds of games are decided by more than one run. As is the case in so many things, both opinions can be right or wrong depending upon your perspective and how you look to use them. To know what’s best for you you need to understand the two tools, and their strengths and weaknesses.
We are currently in the closest thing to an offseason that the NFL has these days. Players are working out and coaches are scheming, but for the rookies have been drafted, and most of the significant free agents have new homes. We have the best sense we’ve had yet of what teams are going to look like next year, so it only makes sense that this is a good time to look at the Super Bowl futures that are available to see what is interesting. There are three teams that stand out to me as being lousy bets, and three more that are at least a little interesting that their current prices (all odds are from Bodog):
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