Chipper leaves Braves-Cubs game, day-to-day with sore side

Baseball Betting Lines

04/08/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones left Thursday's game against the Chicago Cubs with a sore right side.

Jones had walked in the bottom of the third and raced to second on Brian McCann's ground ball back to Randy Wells, whose errant throw to second base allowed Jones to reach safely.

Jones stayed in the game but didn't come out in the field in the fourth. Omar Infante replaced him at third base.

The former No. 1 overall pick in the 1990 draft slugged a two-run homer to lift Atlanta to a 3-2 win over the Cubs on Wednesday.

Jones, who turns 38 later this month, has not played over 150 games since the 2003 campaign.

Roolingstone Baseball Betting News

<< Real signs Beckerman to four-year deal
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake signed captain Kyle Beckerman to a new four-year contract Thursday. Beckerman, an 11-year MLS veteran, has started 83 games since joining Real in a trade with the Colorado Rapids during the 2007

<< MLS increases roster size from 24 to 26 per team
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer announced Thursday it has added two additional roster slots per club for home grown players identified and developed by the team. MLS made the adjustment as part of its ongoing efforts

<< Wisconsin rips RIT, advances to NCAA men's ice hockey final
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Stepan posted two goals and two assists as Wisconsin routed RIT, 8-1, in a Frozen Four matchup from Ford Field. Justin Schultz and Blake Geoffrion posted a goal and one assist each for the Badgers (2

<< Couples leads Masters; Woods two back in return
Augusta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fred Couples fired his lowest round ever at The Masters, a six-under 66 on Thursday, and earned the first-round lead at The Masters at Augusta National. Tiger Woods made his return to golf and it was a trium

<< Ronaldo predicts Real will beat Barca
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cristiano Ronaldo said Thursday he is "sure" Real Madrid will beat Barcelona on Saturday in the El Clasico. Real Madrid and Barcelona enter the match even on points with 77 atop La Liga, and win for either s

Rays P Niemann leaves game >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeff Niemann left the game in the second inning of Thursday's game against Baltimore after being struck in the right shoulder with a batted ball. Miguel Tejada lined a pitch off

Rutgers reportedly parting ways with basketball coach Hill >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rutgers is reportedly parting ways with men's basketball coach Fred Hill, putting an abrupt end to a four-year tenure stamped with consistent losing. The Newark Star-Ledger reported that Hill rejected

Saban finds plenty to like on Tide offense >>
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -Alabama coach Nick Saban isn't one to lavish praise on his football team, especially not during spring practice when the goal is improvement.He's having trouble finding much fault with an offense that returns virtually every p

Canadiens-Hurricanes Sum >>
Montreal 0 1 1-2Carolina 0 2 3-5First Period-None.Second Period-1, Carolina, Staal 27 (Jokinen, LaRose), 1:24. 2, Carolina, LaRose 10 (Staal, Kostopoulos), 4:51. 3, Montreal, Gionta 27 (Moore, Markov), 11:21.Third Period-4, Carolina, Staal 28

Devils-Panthers Sum >>
New Jersey 0 1 1-2Florida 0 1 2-3First Period-None.Second Period-1, New Jersey, Elias 17 (Zubrus, Parise), :59. 2, Florida, Frolik 20 (Horton, Ballard), 6:03.Third Period-3, Florida, Dvorak 14 (Olesz, Matthias), 1:14. 4, Florida, Horton 19

Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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

MySportsbook.com is the Internet’s largest online sportsbook site serving customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. Founded in 1997, MySportsbook.com was the first sports book to introduce reduced margin wagering, using a -105 pricing model that gives bettors up to 50% better value on wagers than traditional bookmakers. With low minimum bet requirements and the highest maximum limits on the Web, MySportsbook.com has earned an industry leading reputation for providing consistent value to the player, professional customer service and the quickest payouts online. Fully licensed and regulated in Antigua and the UK, the company offers a secure environment for sports betting, horse racing and online casino games.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts credit cards needs.