Clppers Basketball Betting News

<< Capitals turn eye to East's top seed in meeting with Lightning
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals didn't have to break a sweat in clinching their third straight Southeast Division title on Wednesday. Tonight, they'll try to move closer to locking up the top seed in the Eastern Conference when th

<< Devils try to close the gap versus Atlantic Division-leading Pens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A key battle for the Atlantic Division crown is on tap tonight in Newark as the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. The Penguins lead the Atlantic with 85 points, while New Jersey -- the

<< Lafayette and Lehigh renew rivalry in Patriot League title tilt
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arch rivals Lafayette and Lehigh will collide in the championship game of the Patriot League Tournament this afternoon in Bethlehem, with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This is t

<< Blue Devils hope to avoid upset in ACC tourney clash with Cavs
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils begin their quest for another ACC Tournament title today, as they take on the ninth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers in the quarterfinal round at Greensboro Coliseum.

Sabres try to run win streak to four games versus Wild >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will aim for a fourth consecutive victory when they welcome the Minnesota Wild for an interconference clash at HSBC Arena. The Sabres' three-game winning streak is the club's longest since a season- bes

Spurs, Wolves square off in Twin Cities >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to continue their mastery of the Minnesota Timberwolves when the two Western Conference inhabitants get together tonight at the Target Center. San Antonio has won 10 straight and 15 of the pa

Playoff-bound Cavs make a stop in south Philly >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A large lead atop the Central Division and playoff berth already sewed up has allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to give LeBron James some rest for the stretch run. The reigning NBA MVP is expected to return from his two-gam

Rangers and Thrashers both try to end slides in Atlanta >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of four-game losing streaks have made a possible road to the postseason a bit harder for the Rangers and Thrashers. Only one team will be able to reverse its misfortunes tonight. Atlanta will try to sweep the season

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.

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