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03/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals hardly seemed to miss Alex Ovechkin on Tuesday night and the Southeast Division champs will shoot for another win this evening without the Russian superstar.
Ovechkin will complete a two-game suspension tonight while his Capitals visit the Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center.
Despite Ovechkin's absence from Tuesday's contest at Florida, the Capitals slammed the host Panthers by a 7-3 score. Brooks Laich led the way for Washington with two goals and an assist.
Ovechkin is serving a two-game suspension for shoving Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell into the boards from behind in Sunday's 4-3 overtime win.
Campbell is out for 7-to-8 weeks with a fracture to his clavicle and ribs as Ovechkin, who was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for the hit, was suspended for the second time this season.
"We tried harder because the game's No. 1 player wasn't there," Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said of his team's response to Ovechkin's absence. "When he's not there, we don't rely on big brother."
Brendan Morrison had a goal and two assists while Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin each added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won two of their last three.
Jose Theodore stopped 34 shots in the win for Washington, which sealed up its third straight division title last week and holds a commanding 16-point lead over New Jersey and Pittsburgh for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Tonight marks the third stop on a four-game road trip for the Caps, who are 21-10-5 as the guest this year. Washington will complete the swing Saturday with Ovechkin in tow against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Hurricanes made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals last spring, but it appears they will miss the playoffs for the third time in four seasons this year. Carolina is 14th in the East and 10 points behind Boston for the eighth and final postseason berth.
Carolina has lost two straight and three of its last four games and was slammed Tuesday by visiting Boston. Mark Recchi was one of three Bruins to record a goal and an assist, leading Boston to the 5-2 win at RBC Center.
Eric Cole scored both goals for the Hurricanes, while Manny Legace allowed all five goals on 37 shots in the loss.
"I was awful. I have to make some saves," Legace said. "It's as simple as that. There's no one else to blame but me."
The Hurricanes are 18-14-3 as the host this year and are completing a four-game homestand tonight.
Washington has won three of four meetings with the Hurricanes this year and the Caps have a superb 16-3-0 record against the Southeast Division as a whole this year.
The Capitals have taken eight of 12 overall in the series, but have dropped seven out of 10 in Raleigh.
<< Bruins set for rematch with Cooke, Penguins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Penguins and Bruins met, Boston wound up
losing its best offensive player to a concussion after a questionable hit by
Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke.
Cooke is expected to be in the lineup tonight when Pittsburgh
<< Road-weary Hornets visit Nuggets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sole possession of second place in the Western Conference
is on the line for the Denver Nuggets tonight as they get ready to host the
reeking New Orleans Hornets.
Denver is currently deadlocked with idle Dallas for the No.
<< Magic visit Heat in possible playoff preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In-state rivals square off in the shadow of South Beach
Thursday when the Miami Heat play host to the playoff-bound Orlando Magic.
The Magic have been on a roll recently and are currently the second seed in
the Eastern Con
<< Bucs sign S Sean Jones
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed free agent safety
Sean Jones to a two-year contract on Wednesday.
Jones spent the 2009 season in Philadelphia and started nine games. He had 61
tackles, two interceptions and a sac
Devils visit surging Maple Leafs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Although it's highly unlikely to result in a playoff spot,
the Toronto Maple Leafs have put together one of their best stretches of the
season over the past week. They'll try to sustain that newfound momentum into
a three-gam
Surging Wild head to Nashville for key late-season clash >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators are riding
three-game winning streaks, but only one club is in the playoff picture.
The Wild look to continue their playoff push this evening at Bridgestone Arena
versus the
Road-weary Sabres make a stop in Tampa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An inability to win on the road has plagued the Buffalo
Sabres as of late. The Northeast Division leaders will attempt to reverse that
negative trend when the team visits a venue it's had great success in during
recent years
Flyers vie to end 13-year winless drought in Dallas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers have goaltender Michael Leighton to
thank for keeping them alive in the postseason race. However, the team will be
without its waiver-wire gem when it goes for its first win at Dallas in over
13 years
American Idol Betting Odds: Season 6
The online gambling websites are in the process of deciphering each American Idol contestant and his or her chances of winning Season 6 to come up with the early American Idol betting lines.
Tim Dalton of MySportsbook.com has been locked away in a soundproof room coming up with all the latest tallies, we are told. "American Idol has become one of the most significant betting events of the year," claims Jack Black of MySportsbook.com. "Last year, millions were bet during the season across the globe, not just in America.It's tough early on since we really do not have a glimpse as to how well each of these individuals will perform solo on a week-to-week basis. It's like Week 1 of the NFL. Pre-season means nada!
We do know the 24 finalists however.
Sanjaya Malakar is the young man whose sister failed to make it into the Top 24. He's very low key but - unless he totally flubs - will probably win over the young girlie vote for a few weeks anyway. He's too young to go all the way, according to Payton O'Brien.
Brandon Rogers - Who?
Phil Stacy is the military guy who missed his daughter's birth because of the Memphis audition. He should go a good distance.
Chris Sligh - He's got the humor and in many ways he's the Anti-American Idol much like last year's winner Taylor Hicks was. And this is why he'll probably get pretty far in this competition. He's chubby, white with a big curly afro....but more importantly, a great voice! People love "real", not "real cute" to go all the way.
"Blake Lewis should go far because of his uniqueness and looks. He's the boy next store with a twist - he beat boxes. But on top of this, he's a great singer, and I adore him," Payton O'Brien relayed.
A talented beat-boxer Blake Lewis was a hit during the group sing in Hollywood but Simon explained that this is a singing contest just before he told him he was “in.”
Paul Kim has caught our own roving reporter, Jenny Woo's eyes.
"I love the fact that there is a Korean American on the show and he is bound to get more Asians tuning into the show," Woo said from her Miami Beach estate. "There has never been a major presence of Asian-Americans on American Idol in the past. He's a hottie with a nice voice so that should help to take him far. Expect heavy betting action from the Asian community."
Sundance Head - He's not perfect, but he's got the personality that will take him through a few weeks, plus he's got the lineage (son of Roy Head - whose 1965 single, "Treat Her Right," hit No. 5 in the charts)
And the others:
Rudy Cardinas
AJ Tabaldo - the 5th time is the charm
Nicolas Pedro
Chris Richardson
Jared Cotter
The girls
"Melinda Doolittle has one of the best voices," says MySportsbook.com Reporter and an acclaimed dancer in her own right, Destiney Lewis. "It is great to see a back up singer step out like she has. The girl needs to gain more confidence but that can also be a positive. I think she will go far."
Alena Alexander - Those tears (she never seems to stop bawling) should get her far.
"Single mom Lakisha Jones I suspect will be a pretty big favorite entering Week 1 of the competition," says Destiny Williams. Jones is an excellent singer and down to earth. "She'll have a wide appeal," echoed O'Brien.
Nicole Trellis - Seems to exert confidence.
Amy Krebs - a powerful singer.
Antonella Barba
Gina Glocksen
Hailey Scanardo
Jordan Sparks
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Sabrina Sloan
MySportsbook.com is offering a 20% signup bonus with an initial deposit (i.e. open your American Idol betting account with $300, receive another $60 in which to bet with).
Last two contestants will be?
1 Male/1 Female +100 (a $10 bet pays $10 plus your initial $10)
2 Males +170 (a $10 bet pays $17 plus your initial $17)
2 Females +130 (a $10 bet pays $13 plus your initial $10)
MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook accepts Visa Credit Cards and online sportsbook accepts Mastercard Credit Cards for easy American Idol betting lines.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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