Berdych, del Potro land in Rotterdam quarters

Tennis Betting Lines

02/16/2012 - Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych and former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro reached the quarterfinals at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

The second-seeded Berdych, fresh off his title in Montpellier, France two weeks ago, was leading former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 3-0 in the first set on Thursday when the Cypriot retired due to a calf injury.

Berdych will encounter Italian Andreas Seppi in the quarters. Seppi handled German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2 on Day 4.

The third-seeded del Potro popped nine aces in handling Slovakian qualifier Karol Beck 6-4, 7-5.

Fifth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet secured a berth in the quarters with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. on the indoor hardcourts at Ahoy Stadium. Gasquet's opponent on Friday will be fellow former top-10 star Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.

Another quarterfinal on Friday will pit Swiss icon Roger Federer against Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen.

The top-seeded former world No. 1 Federer received a walkover into the round of eight here on Wednesday night when Russian Mikhail Youzhny pulled out of their scheduled Thursday second-round match, citing a left foot injury. Youzhny was the Rotterdam champion in 2007 and runner-up in 2010.

The 16-time major champion Federer was the Rotterdam titlist the last time he played here back in 2005.

The 2012 Rotterdam winner will collect $385,000.

Roolingstone Tennis Betting News

<< MLS signs U.S. striker Johnson
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. national team striker Eddie Johnson will return to MLS this season, it was revealed Thursday. It will take one more day to determine which team he will play for, however. The 27-year-old Johnson, who le

<< Saint Francis names Benzel co-defensive coordinator
Loretto, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Robert Morris assistant football coach Scott Benzel was named co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Saint Francis on Thursday. Benzel has spent the last nine seasons at Robert Morris, incl

<< Erakovic, Dulko exit Bogota
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand and 2009 runner-up Gisela Dulko were a pair of second-round upset victims Thursday at the $220,000 Copa BBVA Colsanitas tennis tournament. Romanian Edi

<< United tops Ajax in Europa League
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez scored in the second half as Manchester United opened its Europa League round of 32 series against Ajax with a 2-0 win Thursday. With a combined seven European t

<< Stepanek ousted in San Jose
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Radek Stepanek was a second-round upset victim Thursday at the $531,000 SAP Open. Belgian Steve Darcis bounced the fourth-seeded Czech 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) on the hardcourts at HP Pavilion.

Oilers, Ducks swap players >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers acquired defenseman Bryan Rodney from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for center Ryan O'Marra. The 27-year-old Rodney has five goals and 15 assists in 41 games with the Syracuse Crunch

Creative Cause heads San Vicente Stakes >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Creative Cause, third in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, heads a field of six in Sunday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes for three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park. The seven-furlong sprint marks the 2012 debut f

Broncos sign WR Hill >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos on Thursday signed free- agent wide receiver Jason Hill. Hill recorded a career-best 367 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 25 catches last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Aguero rescues City in Europa League >>
Porto, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Aguero scored in the 83rd minute and Manchester City edged FC Porto, 2-1, in the first match of their Europa League round of 32 series Thursday. Silvestre Varela gave defending Europa League champion

Gary Carter passes away >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame catcher Gary "Kid" Carter died Thursday. He was 57 years old. More to follow...

Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.