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02/21/2012 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - What a difference a day makes.
Kobe Bryant, just 24 hours after expressing his displeasure regarding the Lakers' handling of star forward Pau Gasol, was all smiles after scoring 28 points in Los Angeles' 103-92 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
Gasol, mired in trade talks throughout the season, totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Andrew Bynum added 14 and 19 in the win, the Lakers' fourth in five games.
Steve Blake scored 14 of his 17 points in a first half that saw the hosts lead by as many as 30. The Blazers' comeback ultimately came up short and they fell for the fourth time in six games.
"In the first half, that's the best we played, especially defensively," Bryant said. "We came out with great energy."
LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum paced Portland with 18 points apiece.
Prior to the game, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak responded to Bryant's comments by saying it would serve no purpose to announce publicly whether or not the team will deal Gasol.
A roster shakeup didn't appear necessary the way the Lakers opened Monday's contest.
Portland put itself in a hole in the first quarter, hitting just 3-of-17 (18 percent) from the field. The Lakers had separate runs of 10 and 13 points during the Blazers' slow start and cruised to a healthy 29-7 lead.
"We didn't come out ready to play. I thought we started the All-Star break early," Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said.
Blake began the second quarter with a pair of three-pointers, and two Bynum free throws pushed the margin to 30 a little later.
Batum halted an eight-minute scoreless drought with a jumper, but the Blazers were still down, 52-30, at halftime.
Seven Portland three-pointers in the third, including Batum's trey in the closing seconds, helped close the gap to 80-66 with 12 minutes to play.
The Blazers had several chances to pull within single digits in the fourth. Jamal Crawford turned the ball over trailing 84-74, and the Lakers scored the next six points, going up 90-74 on Bryant's jumper at the midway point.
With 3 1/2 minutes to play, Wesley Matthews missed a three-pointer that could have cut the deficit to nine, and again LA responded with six of the next seven points to pull away for good.
Game Notes
The Lakers close out the first half of the season with a visit to Dallas on Wednesday, while Portland hosts the Spurs on Tuesday in its final game before the All-Star break...The Lakers improved to 14-2 at home...The Lakers are 5-0 when scoring over 100 points...The Blazers announced Monday that center Greg Oden will miss the remainder of the season after having microfracture surgery on his left knee. This was the fifth surgery the 7-foot Oden has endured since he was taken by the Blazers with the first pick in the 2007 draft.
<< Vinci, Errani advance at Monterrey
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Roberta Vinci advanced to the
second round at the $220,000 Monterrey Open on Monday.
The Italian defeated American Coco Vandeweghe in 7-5, 7-5 fashion on the
hardcourts at Sierra Madre T
<< Top-seed Petrova ousted in Memphis first round
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi sent top-seeded
Russian Nadia Petrova packing in the first round at the $220,000 Memphis
International tennis event.
Giorgi ousted the former world No. 3 Petrova in straig
<< No. 13 Baylor outlasts Texas
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quincy Acy carried No. 13 Baylor to a comeback
win, a hard-fought 77-72 victory over in-state rival Texas sealed by Pierre
Jackson's clinching free throws in the final minute.
Acy made up for poor shootin
<< Nuggets slip by T'Wolves in OT
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arron Afflalo drained the go-ahead shot with
33.7 seconds remaining in overtime and the Denver Nuggets outlasted the
Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-101, on Monday.
Afflalo had 20 points overall and Al
Local rivals collide in Raleigh >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels
continue their run toward the ACC regular-season title, as they make the short
trip to Raleigh to take on rival NC State in a conference battle at the RBC
Center.
Ro
Top-ranked Kentucky eyes up SEC crown >>
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sporting the nation's longest win streak,
the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats are closing in on an SEC regular-season title
and hope to gain at least a share of the conference crown this evening, as
they take on t
Instate rivals clash in ACC affair >>
Blacksburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Virginia Tech Hokies shoot for back-to-
back wins for the first time in 2012 as they host the 25th-ranked Virginia
Cavaliers in ACC action tonight at Cassell Coliseum.
VaTech, which has won a total of ju
Wolverines meet Wildcats in Big Ten action >>
Evanston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Riding a three-game win streak, the 11th-
ranked Michigan Wolverines try to make it a clean sweep of Northwestern, as
the two Big Ten programs clash at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston tonight.
Michigan, now tied
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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.
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