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12/29/2006 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Given that this is the last week of the regular season, what better time than the present to release the hottest trends for all 32 NFL teams. Some clubs are heading into their final game with a lot on the line, such as the Giants and a few other NFC teams trying for that second wild card spot, while a few playoff squads are battling for first- round byes.
ARIZONA is 5-1 ATS in its last six games and OVER the total in five straight.
ATLANTA is 2-6 ATS in its last eight games. The Falcons have also gone UNDER the total in seven of their last eight and four straight on the road.
BALTIMORE is 8-1 SU and 6-3 ATS in its last nine games, going OVER in its last two.
BUFFALO is 7-1 ATS in its last eight contests, including three straight covers away from home. The Bills have also gone OVER the total in five of their last six games.
CAROLINA is 1-4 ATS in its last five and has gone OVER in three of its last four.
CHICAGO is 5-2 ATS in its last seven games, but 0-2 ATS in its last two. The Bears have gone OVER the total in four straight and all seven at Soldier Field this year.
CINCINNATI is 5-1 ATS in its last six tilts and the Bengals have gone UNDER the total in five of their last six games.
CLEVELAND is 6-3 ATS in its last nine and 4-1-1 ATS in its last six road games.
DALLAS is 4-0 ATS in its last four games as a double-digit favorite, but the Cowboys are just 1-2-1 ATS in their last four overall.
DENVER is 1-6 ATS in its last seven contests. The Broncos have gone OVER the total in all four games Jay Cutler has started.
DETROIT is 0-7 SU and 2-5 ATS in its last seven games. The Lions are 1-6 ATS and 5-2 to the OVER in their seven road games this season.
GREEN BAY is 3-0 SU and 2-1 ATS in its last three contests. The Packers have gone UNDER the last two games, but are 3-0 to the OVER in their last three on the road.
HOUSTON is 2-4 both SU and ATS in its last six and has gone OVER in four straight.
INDIANAPOLIS is 2-5 ATS in its last seven and 5-2 to the UNDER in those games.
JACKSONVILLE is 2-5 SU and 2-4-1 ATS on the road this season. The Jags are 4-2-1 to the UNDER on the road in 06 after going 6-2 to the OVER last season.
KANSAS CITY is 2-5 ATS in its last seven games, but is 4-2 ATS in its last six at home. The Chiefs are also 6-1 to the UNDER in their last seven contests.
MIAMI is 1-3 SU and ATS in its last four and has gone UNDER the total in five consecutive games. The Dolphins are 2-5 ATS on the road this season.
MINNESOTA is 2-7 ATS in its last nine match-ups and 0-4 ATS in its last four at home. The Vikings have gone OVER in five of their last seven overall.
NEW ENGLAND is 6-1 SU and ATS on the road in 06, but just 3-5 ATS in its last eight overall. The Pats have gone UNDER the number in eight of their last 11 games.
NEW ORLEANS is 4-1 ATS in its last five, but only 2-4 ATS in its last six at home. The Saints have gone UNDER the total in five of their last six games.
NEW YORK GIANTS are 1-6-1 ATS in their last eight and have gone OVER the total in seven of their last 10 road games.
NEW YORK JETS are 4-1 ATS in their last five and 6-2 to the UNDER in their last eight. The Jets are 5-2 to the OVER at home this year.
OAKLAND is 0-8 SU in its last eight and 0-4 ATS in its last four. The Raiders have gone UNDER in 10 of their last 11 and are 0-3-1 ATS vs. the Jets the last four meetings.
PHILADELPHIA is 3-0-1 ATS in its last four after going 1-5 ATS in its previous six.
PITTSBURGH is 3-1 ATS in its last four, but just 1-6 ATS on the road this season.
SAN DIEGO is 9-0 SU, but only 5-4 ATS in its last nine. The Chargers are 8-3 to the OVER in their last 11 games.
SAN FRANCISCO is 1-3 ATS in its last four match-ups after covering its previous four. The 49ers are 5-2-1 to the UNDER in their last eight games.
SEATTLE is 3-8-1 ATS in its last 12 and 1-6 ATS on the road this season. The Seahawks are 9-3-1 to the OVER in their last 13 contests.
ST. LOUIS is 2-4 ATS in its last six and 7-2 to the UNDER in its last nine road games.
TAMPA BAY is 2-6-1 ATS in its last nine and 3-1 to the OVER in its last four at home.
TENNESSEE is 7-0 ATS in its last seven and 5-0 ATS in its last five at home.
WASHINGTON is 4-1 to the UNDER in its last five, including three in a row at home. The Redskins and Giants have played five straight OVERS in Washington.
THIS WEEKS TOP PLAYS
How can I not go with the Eagles for a third straight week? They won their last two games while getting points from both the Giants and Cowboys. Now they come back home to take on the Falcons, who are a shell of themselves at 7-8 after opening the season at 5-2.
Atlanta has scored over 17 points a game just twice since October and will be lucky to get two touchdowns against a fired-up Philly defense. Jeff Garcia has meant the world to the Eagles and has directed them to four straight victories.
The 8-point line is high for a reason. Philadelphia is by far the better team heading into the last week of the season, one in which the Eagles will make the playoffs, while the Falcons will be home for the New Year.
Take Philadelphia minus the points.
Finally, the Bears host the Packers in what could be Brett Favres last game. Chicago has clinched home field throughout the NFC playoffs and will rest a lot of players, but this game could be meaningless for Green Bay if the Packers cant make the postseason. Since this game is the Sunday night contest, the Packers will know beforehand if they have anything to play for themselves.
Last season, the Bears got stomped by Minnesota 34-10 in the final game of the season and were crushed at home by the Panthers in the playoffs. Im sure Lovie Smith and the players remember that loss, so expect a much better effort in this seasons last game prior to the postseason.
Take Chicago minus the points.
<< Haller in intensive care
Augsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first goal-scorer of the 1966 World
Cup final, Helmut Haller, has been placed in the intensive care unit at a
German hospital after suffering a heart attack on Friday.
Haller made 33 appearance
<< Trojans and Wolverines mix it up in 93rd Rose Bowl
Pasadena, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Legendary college football programs USC and
Michigan add yet another chapter to their storied histories when they meet in
the 93rd Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.
USC is making its unprecedented fifth
<< Yellow Jackets attempt to sting Mountaineers in Jacksonville
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville is the
venue for the 2007 Gator Bowl which features the 13th-ranked West Virginia
Mountaineers and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
After going 11-1 and winning
<< Nittany Lions and Volunteers meet in Outback Bowl
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tennessee Volunteers and Penn State Nittany
Lions will travel South for a New Year's Day matchup in the Outback Bowl.
After a lackluster campaign in 2005, Tennessee has returned to form in 2006 by
winni
Paul sidelined a month with sprained ankle >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets guard
Chris Paul is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks because of a
sprained right ankle.
Paul was hurt during Tuesday's game against Seattle and unde
Hingis engaged to ATP's Stepanek >>
Gold Coast, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Martina Hingis
announced that she is engaged to fellow tennis pro Radek Stepanek. The Swiss
star informed a news conference on Friday that the two were engaged last month
in Prag
Woods to start 2007 at Torrey Pines >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods has decided to skip the first three
events of the 2007 PGA Tour campaign and will make his season debut in late
January, as the two-time defending champion at the Buick Invitational in
Califor
Wigan brings Haestad to England >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After being shopped around to many
Premiership teams, Norwegian central midfielder Kristofer Haestad decided to
make his move to Wigan on loan from IK Start for the remainder of the season.
The
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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In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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