Alabama still No. 1; Boise State gains first-place votes

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama remained the top team in the latest Associated Press college football poll, but Boise State gained additional first-place votes after its thrilling victory over Virginia Tech on Labor Day.

The Crimson Tide (1-0) opened the season with a 48-3 rout of San Jose State on Saturday, but lost seven first-place votes from the preseason poll. Alabama earned 47 No. 1 tallies this week, after garnering 54 in the first poll, and received a total of 1,484 points from a nationwide media panel.

Ohio State (1-0), after a 45-7 thrashing of Marshall last Thursday, again held the second spot with four first-place votes and 1,412 points.

Boise State (1-0) rallied for a 33-30 win over Virginia Tech on Monday and solidified its hold of the No. 3 ranking. The Broncos originally picked up one first-place vote in the preseason poll, but were awarded eight this week.

TCU moved up two spots to fourth and is followed by Texas, Nebraska, Oregon, Florida, Iowa and Oklahoma. Texas also earned one first-place vote in the wake of a 34-17 win at Rice on Saturday.

Oregon moved up four spots from 11th after a 72-0 shellacking of New Mexico, while Florida's lackluster 34-12 win over Miami-Ohio dropped the Gators four spots from fourth. Oklahoma, which had received one first-place vote in the preseason poll, dropped three spots from seventh after a 31-24 triumph over Utah State.

The second 10 consists of Wisconsin, Miami-Florida, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Southern California, Florida State, Penn State, LSU and Utah. Virginia Tech dropped just three places from 10th after its loss to Boise State, while Utah is one of three newcomers this week.

Auburn, Georgia, West Virginia, South Carolina and Stanford round out this week's poll. In addition to Utah, South Carolina and Stanford are new this week, while Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Oregon State dropped out of the rankings.

Utah edged then-No. 15 Pittsburgh in overtime last Thursday, 27-24, in Salt Lake City, while South Carolina moved in after a 41-13 victory over Southern Miss. Stanford thumped Sacramento State, 52-17.

North Carolina was 18th and dropped a 30-24 decision to fellow ranked foe LSU in Atlanta after learning that 13 players would be unable to play because of an investigation into academic and agent-related issues, while Oregon State, ranked 24th, also lost a neutral-site game with a 30-21 setback to TCU in Arlington.

Four games this week feature matchups of ranked teams, highlighted by Penn State's visit to Alabama. Also, Florida State travels to Oklahoma and Ohio State welcomes Miami-Florida, while a big early-season SEC matchup pits Georgia at South Carolina.

Wwwhankooki NCAA Football Betting News

<< Top 10 holds steady through Labor Day racing
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion mare Zenyatta continues at the top of this week's NTRA National Thoroughbred Poll. There were no changes or additions to the top 10 for the first time this year. Zenyatta, 2008 and 2009 cha

<< Unexpected twist: Cincinnati's offense broken
CINCINNATI (AP) -An unexpected problem has Cincinnati revamping its offensive line after only one game.The Bearcats' offense evaporated during a 28-14 loss at Fresno State on Saturday night. A unit that is full of playmakers failed to score in the s

<< Kelly: Prepping for Mich QB Denard tough
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Notre Dame dealt with a mobile quarterback in beating Purdue last week. The Irish have a much bigger challenge this week.Coach Brian Kelly says there's a big difference between defending Purdue's Robert Marve, who could move i

<< Lithuania tops China to reach FIBA quarters
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Linas Kleiza poured in 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds, leading Lithuania to a 78-67 win over China and a berth in the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Martynas Gecevicius add

<< Roughriders trade OL Bates to Edmonton
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders on Tuesday sent offensive lineman Kelly Bates to the Edmonton Eskimos for an undisclosed 2014 draft pick. Bates came to the Roughriders as a free agent in February, but was pl

Youzhny reaches Open quarters >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny was a fourth-round winner Tuesday at the 2010 U.S. Open. The 12th-seeded Youzhny handled former top-10 Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 at the USTA Billie J

Former UCLA stars ready to shine >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Labor Day has passed, the kids are back in school and the leaves will soon begin to fall here in the northeast. That means the calendar has flipped to September and most of America is gearing up for footba

Dolphins GM Ireland takes over full club operations >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have announced that general manager Jeff Ireland will assume full control over all aspects of the football team and support staff, effective immediately. Bill Parcells, who had be

Devils, Kovalchuk finally seal the deal >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was anything but a smooth process, but Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils were finally able to consummate their long summer courtship in the early morning hours this past Saturday. Two months afte

Montero helping Sounders FC across the river >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a record of 12-7-11, a playoff spot as the Western Conference's No. 3 seed, a U.S. Open Cup Championship, and almost half-a- million in paid attendance, Seattle Sounders FC was coming off one of the most successf

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.

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.