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02/09/2012 - St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henrik Sedin played two days after taking a puck off his ankle and scored a goal, and the Vancouver Canucks rolled to a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
Daniel Sedin had a goal and an assist while Maxim Lapierre, Manny Malhotra and Ryan Kesler also scored for the Canucks, who are unbeaten in regulation in their last eight games (6-0-2).
Vancouver stopped a streak of five straight overtime games. Henrik Sedin was cleared to play his 553rd straight game despite concerns over his ankle, which was injured while he blocked a puck in Tuesday's win over Nashville.
Cory Schneider had 22 saves for the Canucks in Thursday's victory, which knocked the Wild to 5-14-5 in their last 24 games since mid-December. They are 0-3 against Vancouver during the stretch.
Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi scored for Minnesota and Niklas Backstrom gave up four goals on 19 shots. Captain Mikko Koivu, who missed eight straight games with a left shoulder injury, returned and was a plus-1 in nearly 23 minutes of ice time.
Heatley gave the Wild their only lead 13 seconds into the game when he slipped in front from the right side and beat Schneider. But Daniel Sedin's power play goal tied it and Lapierre gave Vancouver the lead for good with 42 seconds left in the first period. Both goals came on rebounds in the slot.
Henrik Sedin's goal came 50 seconds into the middle period on a tic-tac-toe play started by his brother on the left side. Byron Bitz took that pass and fed it to Henrik low on the right side for an easy goal.
Malhotra made it 4-1 on a deflection in the third period and Setoguchi rattled one in off the post on a power play with 4:02 remaining. Kesler's goal was into an empty net.
Game Notes
The Wild started a four-game homestand that also includes visits from Columbus, Anaheim and Winnipeg...Vancouver was 1-for-3 on the power play and the Wild went 1-for-4.
<< Spezza lifts Ottawa over Nashville
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Spezza netted two goals and added an
assist, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators
at Scotiabank Place.
Chris Phillips -- playing in his 1,000th NHL game -- contribu
<< Richards lifts Rangers over Lightning in OT
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Richards scored 2:37 into overtime,
lifting the New York Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on
Thursday night.
Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan and Brian Boyle also scored for the R
<< Tennessee State shocks Murray State, topples nation's last unbeaten
Murray, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - And then there were none.
Murray State, the last undefeated NCAA Division I team, fell to Tennessee
State, 72-68, on Thursday. The ninth-ranked Racers (23-1, 11-1 OVC) had
already clinched the best s
<< Stars jump on Jackets early, hold on
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamie Benn opened and closed the scoring,
including an empty-netter in the final second, as Dallas downed Columbus, 4-2.
Stephane Robidas' goal was the final of three in the first 21-plus minutes,
and
Detroit shocks unbeaten Green Bay >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Green Bay hadn't lost since a setback last
February to Detroit.
On Thursday night, history repeated itself.
Shareta Brown scored 24 points and Senee Shearer added 23, as the Detroit
Titans ended
Curry leads Golden State past Denver >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry poured in 36 points, including six
treys, as Golden State downed slumping Denver, 109-101, at Pepsi Center.
Klay Thompson added 19 points off the bench, Dorell Wright had 15 points and
Monta Elli
Lakers outlast Celtics in OT >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The battle between the Lakers and Celtics was
fittingly decided in overtime, and it was Andrew Bynum's late tip-in that
proved to be the difference in Los Angeles' 88-87 victory.
The Lakers have won si
No. 4 Stanford handles USC >>
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike netted a game-high 22 points
and pulled down eight rebounds as No. 4 Stanford took care of business with a
69-52 win over USC on Thursday.
Chiney Ogwumike finished with 21 points, 12 reb
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)
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.
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.
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.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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