Floridamatlins Football Betting News

<< Ferrer wins Ordina opener
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion David Ferrer highlighted Monday's first-round winners at the Ordina Open, a final grass-court Wimbledon tune-up. The third-seeded Ferrer drove past Dutch wild

<< Kentucky's Meeks to remain in NBA Draft
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky junior guard Jodie Meeks has opted to remain in this month's NBA Draft. Meeks did not hire an agent, leaving him eligible to return to new head coach John Calipari for his senior season, but an

<< Tursunov, Querrey advance in Eastbourne
Eastbourne, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov and tall American Sam Querrey were among Monday's first-round winners at the Aegon International tennis event, a final grass-court Wimbledon tune-up. Tursunov

<< Nordqvist climbs 190 spots in rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Anna Nordqvist climbed 190 places in the world rankings following her victory Sunday at the McDonald's LPGA Championship. Nordqvist's first career major championship -- and first win of an

Bruins GM Chiarelli gets extension >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins revealed on Monday that general manager Peter Chiarelli has been signed to a multi-year contract extension. Terms of the deal will not be disclosed, and the announcement will b

Notre Dame F Harangody to return for senior year >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Notre Dame junior forward Luke Harangody announced Monday he will return to South Bend for his senior season and withdraw his name from this month's NBA Draft. Harangody did not hire an agent, le

Martin poised to make the Chase >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Earlier this year, Mark Martin was looking to shrug off a series of misfortunes, as he sat 34th in points following the spring race at Atlanta. Since then, the 50-year-old driver has moved up to eighth in

Crew's Schelotto wins MLS Player of Week award >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus Crew forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 13, it was announced on Monday. Schelotto scored two goals in the Crew's 2-1 come-from-be

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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