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<< Hobbled Comrie finally retires
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Comrie, who hasn't played in the NHL yet this season due to multiple hip surgeries, retired on Monday. Comrie's agent. Ritch Winter, made the announcement earlier in the day on his Twitter account.

<< Bryant to play six home games in 2012
Smithfield, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bryant University football will play six home games as part of its first season of FCS playoff eligibility, Bulldogs head coach Marty Fine said Monday. Bryant has posted a combined 26-18 record in first four

<< Johansson loses in first round at Bogota
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Mathilde Johansson was a first-round loser at the XX Copa BBVA Colsanitas on Monday. Johansson fell to Russia's Valeria Savinykh 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 7-5 on the red clay at the Centro d

<< Sporting's struggles continue
Lisbon, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sporting Lisbon fell further off the pace at the top of the Portuguese Liga after a 2-0 defeat at Maritimo on Saturday. The result leaves Sporting in fourth place and 16 points back of leaders Benfi

Flyers C Rinaldo suspended two games >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League suspended Philadelphia Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo for two games without pay on Monday. Rinaldo was given the ban for an illegal check on Red Wings defenseman Jonath

Harvard wins Beanpot consolation game >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Greiner notched the game-winner late in the third period as Harvard topped Northeastern, 3-2, in the Beanpot consolation contest on Monday evening at TD Garden. Alex Killorn and Alex Fallstrom also tal

Blue Jays ink P Janssen to 2-year deal >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays signed pitcher Casey Janssen to a two-year contract on Monday. The deal, which is worth $5.9 million, includes a $4 million club option for the 2014 season. Janssen, 30, appeare

Mountain West, C-USA to form new conference >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A new superconference consisting of the remaining members of the Mountain West Conference and Conference-USA, plus others, will be formed in time for the 2013-14 academic year. The MWC and C-USA h

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

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

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.

Betting Football

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.