Short-handed Mavericks down Jazz

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rodrigue Beaubois scored a season-high 22 points to power the short-handed Mavericks to a 116-101 win over Utah.

Lamar Odom added a season-best 19 points and Jason Terry scored 18 off the bench for Dallas, which played without Dirk Nowitzki (sore right knee) and Delonte West (strained right hamstring). Starting point guard Jason Kidd left the game in the first quarter with a strained right calf and didn't return.

Despite the injuries, the Mavericks shot 55 percent and went 11-of-19 from three-point range on the way to their fourth win in five games.

Brendan Haywood contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Shawn Marion notched 16 points for Dallas, which has won six in a row against the Jazz. The Mavs have beaten Utah in 15 of their last 17 home games.

Paul Millsap scored 20 for the Jazz, who have suffered back-to-back defeats.

Wwwmarksix Basketball Betting News

<< Hawks edge Pistons in OT
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson scored 30 points, including a game-tying three-pointer in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 107-101 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons. Marvin W

<< Wade returns as Heat down Knicks
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade sparkled in his return to the lineup, scoring 28 points, and the Heat withstood a bevy of three-pointers from New York to earn a 99-89 victory over the short-handed Knicks. LeBron James totaled 31

<< Rose boosts Bulls over Bucks
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Rose was in MVP form on Friday, as he poured in a season-high 34 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 107-100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at United Center. Carlos Boozer contributed 20 points and

<< Hornets beat Magic to snap 9-game skid
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Landry netted a team-high 17 points and the New Orleans Hornets rolled over the Orlando Magic, 93-67, on Friday to snap a nine-game losing streak. Marco Belinelli had 15 points, Jason Smith scored 1

<< USA tops Costa Rica to seal Olympic berth
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The U.S. women's national team punched its ticket for the 2012 Summer Olympics on Friday with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica in the semifinals of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying. After outscoring its three oppone

Nets hold off Cavs >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deron Williams recorded a double-double with 27 points and 10 assists as the Nets held off the Cavaliers 99-96 at Quicken Loans Arena. Kris Humphries, who left Friday's shootaround with an illness, fought

Rockets soar past Wizards >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With leading scorer Kevin Martin out due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, the Rockets still didn't have a problem handling the lowly Wizards on Friday night. Chase Budinger returned from a three

Love, T'Wolves top Spurs >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Suddenly, Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves have the San Antonio Spurs' number. Love had 18 points and 16 rebounds Friday night and the Timberwolves scored the final 10 points of the game

Pierce powers Celtics to 4th straight win >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Temporarily, the Celtics may not have Rajon Rondo or Ray Allen in the lineup, but they still have Paul Pierce. As the Pacers cut Boston's lead to two in the third quarter, Pierce put the team on his ba

No. 5 Duke routs Clemson >>
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tricia Liston had 16 points. leading No. 5 Duke to a dominant 81-37 win over Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum. Elizabeth Williams added 14 points, five rebounds, and five blocks and Richa Jackson scored 13 poin

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.