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01/17/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bidding to win his third straight major, defending champion and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia eased through his first-round match Tuesday at the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, the man he beat in last year's final, Andy Murray, needed to rally from a first-set loss to win his opening match.
The 24-year-old Djokovic lost two of the first three games to Italy's Paolo Lorenzi, then won a whopping 17 in a row to finish off a commanding 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 win at the season's first Grand Slam event.
Meanwhile, a fourth-seeded Murray, who lost in straight sets to Djokovic in last year's Aussie final, needed four sets to down promising American Ryan Harrison, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist Murray has been the Melbourne runner-up the last two years. He'll meet Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Thursday.
And American Andy Roddick, a four-time Aussie semifinalist who is seeded 15th at this particular fortnight, had little trouble in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 win over Dutchman Robin Haase.
Roddick's second-round opponent will be long-time rival and fellow former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.
Battling the heat, Djokovic popped four aces among his 22 winners against Lorenzi, who committed 30 unforced errors and won just 56 percent of his first serves at Melbourne Park.
"It took me, you know, a couple games to get into the right rhythm," Djokovic said. "It's a bit difficult conditions. I think it was really the hottest day since I've arrived here, so I'm trying to get used to that."
Djokovic, of course, began his brilliant 2011 season with a victory at the Australian Open, finishing the year with a 70-6 record. He didn't lose last year until Roger Federer got him in the semifinals at the French Open in June.
Still, Djokovic bounced back to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and owns four career Grand Slam titles, including his first Aussie championship back in 2008.
He is trying to become only the fourth player on the men's side to win three or more Australian Open titles in the Open era (since 1968).
"I feel right now -- as I said on the court -- I feel much more complete as a player and as a person as well," said Djokovic, who moved on to face Colombian Santiago Giraldo in the second round.
The powerful Djokovic has won 33 of his last 35 Grand Slam matches, dating back to the 2010 U.S. Open.
"I think it was a learning process for me in the last couple of years. I just have more confidence that I'm playing on right now," Djokovic said. "I just believe that I can win, especially against the biggest rivals in the major events."
Among the other top seeds playing during Tuesday's 32-match slate, No. 5 David Ferrer of Spain was a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 winner over Portuguese Rui Machado, sixth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga held off Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, and No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov 5-7, 7-6 (14-12), 6-3, 6-4. Ferrer titled in Auckland last week. Tsonga was a titlist in Doha two weeks ago and the 2008 Aussie Open runner-up to Djokovic. Tipsarevic was a finalist in Chennai two weeks back.
Ferrer's second-round opponent will be American Ryan Sweeting, while Tsonga will meet Brazilian Ricardo Mello.
In other action involving top-20 seeds, No. 12 Gilles Simon of France outlasted Thai Danai Udomchoke 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2; No. 14 Gael Monfils of France handled Aussie Marinko Matosevic 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3; No. 17 Richard Gasquet of France topped quality Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; and No. 19 Serb Viktor Troicki came all the way back to stop former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
A mild upset came when Frenchman Nicolas Mahut took out 29th-seeded Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 7-5, 7-5, 6-3.
Meanwhile, 23rd-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic, who titled in India two weeks ago, drilled Italian Filippo Volandri 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; 24th-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori defeated France's Stephane Robert 6-1, 7-6 (9-7), 6-0; 26th-seeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers snuck past American Jesse Levine 6-0, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 5-7, 6-3; 27th-seeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela dismissed American journeyman Michael Russell 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-4; and 32nd-seeded Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. whipped Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
The aforementioned Aussie hero Hewitt advanced with a 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 Day-2 victory over German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe. The two-time Grand Slam champion was the Australian Open runner-up back in 2005.
Hewitt will meet Roddick for a 14th time on the ATP World Tour, with the American holding a slight 7-6 lifetime advantage. Hewitt beat Roddick in the '05 Aussie semis.
Several other men reached the round of 64, including Sweeting, Frenchmen Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau, and German Philipp Petzschner. Sweeting topped German Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Benneteau was a runner-up in Sydney last week.
The second round will commence Wednesday, including matches for former champions Rafael Nadal and Federer, as well as American Mardy Fish and former U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro.
The second-seeded French Open champion Nadal, who captured the 2009 Aussie Open crown and owns 10 major titles, will face former world No. 2 and oft- injured German Tommy Haas, while the 16-time major titlist Federer, who owns no less than four Aussie Open championships, will battle German Andreas Beck.
The eighth-seeded Fish will encounter Colombian Alejandro Falla, while an 11th-seeded del Potro will take on Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.
Also on the Day-3 schedule will be seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, 10th- seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, 16th-seeded 6-foot-9 American John Isner and former Aussie Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, who will be opposed by 21st-seeded Swiss slugger Stan Wawrinka. Isner should have his hands full with former top-five star and former Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian.
<< Report: Reds, Ludwick agree to 1-year deal
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds and outfielder Ryan
Ludwick have agreed to terms on a one-year contract, according to a report.
MLB.com reported Monday night that the deal, which is pending a physical,
include
<< Royals sign Pena, Getz to 1-year deals
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals avoided arbitration
with Brayan Pena, signing the catcher to a one-year contract Monday.
The 30-year-old Pena batted .248 with 11 doubles, three home runs and 24 RBI
in 72 games fo
<< Report: Giants sign OF Pagan
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have reportedly
signed outfielder Angel Pagan to a one-year contract.
MLB.com reported Monday that the deal is worth $4.85 million for the six-year
veteran.
Acquired in a t
<< Fisher's late 3-pointer lifts Lakers over Mavs
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Fisher knocked down a three-pointer
with 3.1 seconds remaining, lifting the Los Angeles Lakers to a 73-70 victory
over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night.
Fisher's go-ahead shot, from the right
No. 2 Kentucky welcomes Arkansas to Lexington >>
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Kentucky Wildcats will try
to extend their winning streak to 10 games in a row tonight as they host the
Arkansas Razorbacks in a Southeastern Conference battle at Rupp Arena.
This will be th
Instate rivals square off in Top-25 Big Ten brawl >>
, (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 20th-ranked Michigan Wolverines try to remain perfect
at home, as they host in-state and Big Ten Conference rival Michigan State,
which enters play as the ninth-ranked team in the country.
Michigan, which along with
Cavs return home to face Warriors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers try to go above .500 this evening
when they host the Golden State Warriors at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavs moved to the break-even mark on Monday, as rookie Kyrie Irving had 25
points, seven assist
Streaking Magic open residency against Bobcats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic return home after a perfect road trip
this evening and will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of three
straight games at the Amway Center.
Orlando concluded its perfect trek on Monday in New York, a
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
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Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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