Spurs officially re-sign F Jefferson

Basketball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs officially re-signed Richard Jefferson on Wednesday, reportedly to a contract at least three-years in length according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Jefferson opted out of the final year of his contract on June 30 to test the free agent market, forgoing the $15 million he was originally due in 2010-11.

The Spurs acquired Jefferson in a trade with Milwaukee as part of a three-team deal last offseason. He figured to fit right in with the veteran club, but struggled in recording his lowest numbers since his rookie year in 2001-02.

In 81 games with the Spurs, the University of Arizona product logged 12.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in just over 31 minutes per game.

Jefferson, the 13th overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft, spent the first seven seasons of his career with the New Jersey Nets. He owns career averages of 17.0 points and 5.2 rebounds in 652 contests.

Worldcupbets Basketball Betting News

<< Warriors sign undrafted free agent Jeremy Lin
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -The Golden State Warriors have signed undrafted free agent guard Jeremy Lin.The team announced the deal with the former Harvard star and Bay Area native on Wednesday.The 21-year-old Lin averaged 16.4 points, 4.5 assists and 4.4

<< 76ers sign free agent Battie
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -The Philadelphia 76ers have signed free-agent center Tony Battie.Team president Ed Stafanski said Wednesday that the 76ers want Battie to provide frontcourt depth and a ``veteran presence'' for younger players.Terms of his contrac

<< Nolan Ryan lobbies for auction of Texas Rangers
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -Nolan Ryan is urging a bankruptcy judge to auction off the Texas Rangers on Aug. 4 as planned, saying a delay could hurt the team and maybe even cost them slugger Josh Hamilton.The Hall of Fame pitcher testified Wednesday in

<< NL Central: All eyes now on Oswalt
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a 38-56 record and a 14-game deficit to make up in the National League Central standings, it's safe to say the Houston Astros aren't going anywhere this season. But will Roy Oswalt? With the Seattle Mariners having sh

<< Sabres sign Kaleta, avoid arbitration
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to terms with winger Patrick Kaleta on a two-year contract. Kaleta had been scheduled for an arbitration hearing later this month. The 24-year-old scored a career-high

Reds option Owings, recall Fisher >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds optioned Micah Owings to Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday and recalled pitcher Carlos Fisher from the same club. Owings, in his second season with the Reds, is 3-2 with a 5.40 earn

Tigers bring up Sizemore >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers recalled infielder Scott Sizemore from Triple-A Toledo and optioned pitcher Casey Fien to the Mud Hens. Sizemore was batting .329 with six homers, 13 doubles and 19 RBI in 41 games with

Rachel to face six in Lady's Secret >>
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, will take on six challengers in Saturday's $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park. The 1 1/8-mile race will be the champion filly's second career start a

Blazers officially sign G Matthews >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers have officially signed restricted free-agent guard Wesley Matthews. As per club policy, no terms of the deal were announced. However, a report in the Oregonian last

Szczur, Thomas headline All-CAA team >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Villanova and Richmond, the last two FCS champions, lead the way on the Preseason All-CAA Football Team with eight and seven selections, respectively. Villanova senior Matt Szczur was named in two spots, a

American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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