Startgambling NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Safety among prevalent issues for Goodell
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Armed with labor peace for the next 10 years, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell discussed a number of topics Friday in his annual state of the league address. Last year's session with the assembled m

<< Berdych, French seeds reach Open Sud semis
Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seeds Tomas Berdych, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils were a trio of quarterfinal winners Friday at the Open Sud de France tennis tournament. The Czech world No. 7 Berdych handled France's Nicolas Mah

<< Derdiyok out three weeks after freak injury
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayer Leverkusen striker Eren Derdiyok will miss the next three weeks after he cut his foot on a toothbrush holder. A glass holding Derdiyok's toothbrush fell and shattered on his bathroom floor,

<< McHale will open for U.S. against Azarenka
Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A Fed Cup World Group II matchup between the United States and Belarus will get underway Saturday with a rubber between American teenager Christina McHale and newly-crowned world No. 1 star Victoria Azarenk

ACC sets new scheduling formats for expansion >>
Fort Lauderdale, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced its scheduling format once Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the league. Syracuse and Pittsburgh were announced as new members in September, giving the ACC

Report: Clippers, Martin reach deal >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Clippers have agreed to a deal, pending a physical, with free-agent forward Kenyon Martin, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Martin played for the Xinjiang Tigers of the Chinese Bask

Manning mania leaving Brady an afterthought >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's not every Super Bowl where the team with the league's worst record gets as much attention as the two that will be competing for the NFL's most cherished piece of sterling silver. Or when Chad Och

Every day still a struggle for Hamilton >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton relapsed this past week. The 2010 American League Most Valuable Player met the media on Friday to address the situation. According to Hamilton a family issue led him to

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.