Thursday's Betting Tips
Covers.com
Weather watch
Thunderstorms are in the forecast for St. Louis, where the Cardinals host the Diamondbacks. There’s a 64 percent chance of rain for Thursday.
Who’s hot?
Cincinnati Reds: The Red have won five in a row heading into the series finale with the Mets Thursday.
Who’s not?
Texas Rangers: The Rangers have dropped three straight outings – all to the Yankees – heading into Thursday’s series finale.
Game of the day
Tampa Bay Rays at Los Angeles Angels (+109, 7.5)
Injury that shouldn’t be ignored
Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys Pro-Bowl tight end could miss the first part of the NFL season after suffering a serious injury to his spleen. Witten led Dallas in receptions last season and has been Tomy Romo’s safety blanket since he took over the starting job in 2006. The Cowboys are 3.5-point underdogs versus the Giants in Week 1.
Notable quotable
"I didn't want to get in, because I was so scared of KG yelling at me if I messed up. I would sit on the sideline. I might not even get in the whole practice, because I didn't want KG to yell at me." -- Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley about being afraid of teammate Kevin Garnett.
Betting news and notes
Week 3 of the preseason is the closest NFL teams get to a true regular season game. But because the Cleveland Browns play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3 of the preseason and then again two weeks later in Week 1, they will be treating Week 2’s meeting with the Green Bay Packers as their full dress rehearsal as to not tip their hand versus the Eagles.
The WNBA is back from the Olympic break Thursday, but the Seattle Storm will have to wait two more games before getting MVP center Lauren Jackson back. Jackson took the first half of the season off to focus on the Olympic and won’t return to the team until next Tuesday’s game versus No. 1 Minnesota. Seattle is a 8.5-point home fave against Phoenix, which returns star Diana Taurasi who also sat out the first half of the season.
The Dodgers are 12-1 when playing in the Eastern time zone this season. Los Angeles is a +121 underdog in Pittsburgh Thursday.
New York hasn't been swept in Cincinnati since the season-opening series in 2005. The Mets are +136 underdogs in Cincy Thursday.
Kansas City has gone 17-8 in one-run games since losing its first five of the season. The Royals are -114 faves hosting Oakland Thursday.
Five Things You Need to Know for Thurs, Aug. 16
By ATSSportsline.com
5 Things You Need to Know in Sports
Want to start your day off right? Looking for some action and the most interesting events of the day? Football returns on Thursday with two games and so does the WNBA Here is a brief look at the top four important matchups of the day along with a glance at future odds.
1)Cincinnati at Atlanta, NFL Preseason Week 2
The Bengals are coming into this game without both starting running backs so expect Andy Dalton to throw when he's in there. Atlanta lost at home to Baltimore last week 31-17, but played well in the first quarter. Matt Ryan has two very good targets in Roddy White and Julio Jones. Cincinnati is 10-2 ATS in Week 2. Atlanta is a 4.5-point favorite and the total is 38.
2)Cleveland at Green Bay, Preseason Week 2
Brandon Weeden gets the start for Cleveland as he tries to hold off Colt McCoy for the starting job. Weeden will play the first half, while Aaron Rodgers will probably play one quarter at the most. The Packers have a ton of injuries on both sides of the ball, but so does Cleveland, who will be without rookie RB Trent Richardson (knee). Green Bay is 19-4 OVER in Week 2. Green Bay is a 3-point favorite and the total is 40.
3)Tampa Bay at LA Angels David Price (15-4, 2.750 ERA) vs. Dan Haren (8-9, 4.68 ERA)
The Tampa Bay Rays have lost two straight including fall to Felix Hernandez on Wednesday afternoon 1-0. And Hernandez threw a perfect game. David Price won't have to perfect but he'll need to be very good against the Angels, as the Rays are starting to lose their brief grip on the wild card. Tampa Bay is 8-1 last 9 in series. Tampa Bay opened as a -120 favorite and the total is 7.5.
4)WNBA returns with three games
Yes, the WNBA took a month off during the Olympics and they are back. Will the players be jet-lagged? Some of them might while others may not have kept in shape over the break. Seattle is a 7.5-point favorite against Phoenix. Olympian Sue Bird takes on Olympian Diana Turasi and Seattle will still be without star center Lauren Jackson, who took the first half off to prepare for the Olympics with her native Australia, for another 2 games.
5)Odds to Men's U.S. Open Tennis Tournament
The U.S. Open starts on August 27 from Queens and Rafael Nadal will not be competing due to a knee injury. With Nadal withdrawing, that changes the odds around some though Nadal would not have been the favorite. Defending champ Novak Djokovic is the favorite. Here are the updated odds from Bovada for the U.S. Open.
US Open 2012, Men's Singles - Outright Winner
Novak Djokovic 3/2
Roger Federer 11/4
Andrew Murray 3/1
Juan Martin Del Potro 8/1
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 25/1
Robin Soderling 40/1
Tomas Berdych 50/1
Mardy Fish 66/1
Marin Cilic 150/1
John Isner 40/1
Milos Raonic 33/1
Andy Roddick 100/1
David Ferrer 50/1
Bernard Tomic 80/1
Gael Monfils 150/1
Richard Gasquet 150/1
Alexandr Dolgopolov 200/1
Stanislas Wawrinka 200/1
Janko Tipsarevic 150/1
David Nalbandian 150/1
Gilles Simon 200/1
Fernando Verdasco 150/1
Feliciano Lopez 200/1
Marcos Baghdatis 200/1
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Las Vegas Notebook
By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com
Wi-Fi Wagering
Cantor Gaming unveiled their Wi-Fi wagering system that now allows bettors to be from almost any device while within the state of Nevada.
"Introducing Wi-Fi enabled sports wagering on personal computing devices was a natural goal after releasing our Android-compatible sports wagering application last October," said Lee Amaitis, president and CEO of Cantor Gaming.
Cantor Gaming sports book director Mike Colbert details the easy process of signing up.
"The best way to do it is go on-line to CantorGaming.com where you can download the application to your lap top, any tablet or phone. It will work with any Wi-Fi connection and you can bet everything through it that we offer inside the book."
Colbert also adds that as of now, bettors will have to make deposits through one of the Cantor books around town, but they can use debit or credit cards to fund the account. Colbert didn't say that process with debit or credit cards might be allowed in the near future, but I kind of got the feeling that it was something they are working on to get approved, which will make the entire process the easiest ever seen in Las Vegas.
With Cantor getting into the online business, it now gives Station Casinos Sports Connection some competition. For the last 10 years, Stations has had that market all to itself.
No Parlay Cards??
One of the other new innovations Cantor books will implement this year is not using parlay cards in the sense we have all been used to over the years. They'll have daily cards posted through account wagering that will be offered in the book and on their new apps, but not in the paper format we have been accustomed to.
This is completely revolutionary from the sense they are abandoning a part of the business that comprises close to 15% of all revenues for many books during football season. Parlay Cards generally hold 30% and are wildly popular with folks that have a mild understanding of how to bet sports. These are the same type of people that line up to enter the no-point contests. Las Vegas loves parlay cards.
The Cantor approach is going after the future and getting people acclimated NOW with all the technology they currently have available. By offering daily cards, they no longer will have stale spreads, they don't have to worry about sharp groups playing round-robin cards and in the process, can also offer higher odds.
It will take Las Vegas locals some time to getting used to, but I wouldn't be surprised to see several books follow suit in the same way or another after another year of getting pounded by the groups. But by no means, do I ever see a local chain of properties like Stations, Coasts or South Point eliminating the paper parlay cards altogether. There's too much money at stake.
The M Resort and Palms are both considered locals properties, and both have Cantor Gaming books. I am almost positive the property GM at both will hear some static from angry guests that can't get their cards like they have been accustomed to in the past.
Station Casinos Unveils Football Contests
No one offers more overlay cash on the table to be taken during football season than Station Casinos. It's a business model that has been highly successful over the years and has kept contestants consistently coming through the doors sampling all the other amenities offered throughout the casino.
Stations will again be offering $2 million in cash and prizes for their popular Great Giveaway contest, which has been voted the most popular in the city for 18 straight years. In addition to the cash prizes, the $25 entry fee also allows contestants the opportunity to win cars and houses by either picking the most winners or losers. They even have a category that pays out for being very ordinary called the fiddle-in-the-middle.
A few years ago, Stations came up with the concept of 'Last Man Standing,' a different type of contest from Great Giveaway that appeals to bettors more because it has a point-spread attached. For $25, contestants pick one game a week. If you win that week, you get to pick again the following week until eventually there is one last man, or woman, standing. All the entry fees are returned as prize money and they guarantee $75,000 for the pro contest and $25,000 for the college.
Last year the pro payout was $86,325 and if a contestant is fortunate enough to win both the pro and college contest, Stations kicks in an additional $100,000 bonus. Some of the promotions Stations will continue this year is the $1 million parlay cards offered on Wednesday and Friday's. 15-out-of-15 against the spread pays $100,000 and 20-out-of-20 pays $1 million. They'll also be offering $1 hot dogs and Budweiser's at any of their casinos whenever there is a football game on. Stations definitely makes it hard not to stop by one their 19 books throughout the city. Realistically, it costs you more money to stay home and watch the games.
2013 Masters Odds posted
It didn't take long for the LVH's Jeff Sherman to have enough information needed to post odds on next year's Masters. Tiger Woods didn't win a major this season, but he did come close enough to make Sherman believe he's on the brink of capturing one as he was made the 11/1 favorite. Rory McIlroy is next at 13/2 followed by Phil Michelson (15/1), Luke Donald (20/1) and Lee Westwood (20/1).
Bubba Watson, who won this year's Masters, is listed at 25/1 and Ernie Els, who won the British Open, is once again in the conservative, but respectable, price of 50/1.
Because these odds will have been posted for so long with several thousand new visitors taking action home with them, it's easy to understand why the Masters annually has the most action of any golf tournament.
Barclays Premier League is Back
It's hard to believe that the Premier League is back in action so soon, but the 2012-13 season kicks off this weekend. The LVH has posted Manchester City as the EVEN money favorites to repeat followed by their rival, Manchester United at 9/4. Man City won their first ever Premier League title last season.
The LVH lists Chelsea as the third choice at 9/2, followed by Arsenal (15/1) and Tottenham (25/1). Liverpool, an18-time top division winner is also listed at 25/1. After that, every team is listed at 150/1 or higher with the bottom 12 teams at 1000/1 of higher. The parity in England's proper football league is not quite the same as it is in American football's top division.