Cologne snaps skid at Kaiserslautern

Soccer Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Kaiserslautern, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cologne snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday as Odise Roshi scored in the 72nd minute of a 1-0 Bundesliga win over 10-man Kaiserslautern at Fritz-Walter-Stadion.

Cologne had lost its last three matches by combined scores of 8-1, and striker Lukas Podolski - who leads the squad 15 goals - was lost to injury, but Ariel Borysiuk was sent off after 39 minutes for Kaiserslautern and Cologne pounced.

Roshi bagged his first goal of the season 18 minutes from time, shortly after coming on as a substitute, as he latched onto a Christian Clemens cross off a corner and headed home past Kaiserslautern goalie Kevin Trapp.

The goal came just over 1 1/2 minutes after Roshi entered the game and Cologne held on over the final 20 minutes to snatch its third road win this season.

Cologne climbed to ninth in the table on 24 points, ahead of Wolfsburg on goal differential. Kaiserslautern is winless in 10 straight and just one point off the foot of the table.

Freiburg 2, Werder Bremen 2

Freiburg, Germany - Jonathan Schmid notched the tying goal in 70th minute to spoil a brace from Claudio Pizarro and Freiburg tied Werder Bremen 2-2 at MAGE SOLAR Stadion on Sunday in the Bundesliga.

Pizarro put Bremen ahead just before the half hour, but Cedric Makiadi had the hosts level in the 31st. Pizarro handed Bremen its second lead in the opening minute of the second half, but Schmid equalized midway through the session.

Schmid's goal came off a well-struck shot that skipped off the hands of Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese, off the right post and in to answer Pizarro for a second time. Pizarro has 15 goals this season, just two behind leader Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich.

Freiburg remained at the bottom of the table, but climbed level on points with 17th-place Augsburg. Bremen sits fifth, but eight points out of fourth and the final Champions League berth.

Wwwe-finet Soccer Betting News

<< Borini's brace powers Roma past Inter
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A goal in each half from Fabio Borini helped Roma to a comfortable 4-0 win over Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday. Juan put Roma in front after 13 minutes when he headed home Francesco Tott

<< United rallies to claim draw at Chelsea
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United fell two points back of Manchester City on Sunday, but Sir Alex Ferguson's side did well to claim a point at Stamford Bridge as the club rallied from three goals down to snatch a 3-3 dra

<< Penny signs with Japanese club
Fukuoka, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran pitcher Brad Penny has signed a contract to play with the SoftBank Hawks of Japan's Pacific League, the team announced on its website. Penny spent last season with the Detroit Tigers, pitchi

<< Youzhny whips Lacko for Zagreb title
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian Mikhail Youzhny cruised past Slovakian Lukas Lacko in straight sets in Sunday's final at the Zagreb Indoors tennis event. The third-seeded world No. 39 Youzhny doused the unseeded Lacko 6-2,

<< Aceves, Red Sox avoid arbitration
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox and pitcher Alfredo Aceves have agreed to terms on a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration with the 29- year-old relief pitcher. The deal is worth a reported $1.2 million with an add

Serbs overcome Belgians to reach Fed Cup SFs >>
Charleroi, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serbia got a tie-clinching doubles win from Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic on Sunday in order to reach the 2012 Fed Cup semifinals. The Serbs won their best-of-five quarterfinal against host Be

Celtics handle Grizzlies, earn fourth straight win >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Garnett had 24 points and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics handled the Memphis Grizzlies, 98-80, at TD Garden. Paul Pierce added 21 points while Ray Allen and Chris Wilcox each netted 12 as the Celtics

Serena leads U.S. past Belarus >>
Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams recorded a Sunday singles victory to move the United States into the Fed Cup World Group Playoffs. The 2011 U.S. Open runner-up Williams improved to 2-0 this week by overcoming Anastasia Y

No. 9 Michigan State defeats No. 23 Michigan >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Draymond Green had 14 points and 16 rebounds, as No. 9 Michigan State earned a convincing 64-54 win over No. 23 Michigan on Sunday. Keith Appling and Branden Dawson both added 10 points for the

Thomas lifts Bruins over Capitals >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Thomas stopped 35 shots to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Brad Marchand and Rich Peverley each had a goal and an assist while Milan Lucic a

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.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Since the late 1990's, MySportsbook.com has been an online sportsbook / poker room / casino that focuses on quality.. MySportsbook caters to the experienced sports fan who values reliability and accuracy, with great attention to detail. MySportsbook's success over the past 3 years has made them the envy of the sports gambling industry. There are hundreds of sites appearing all over the Internet claiming to be the next best sportsbook online, each one is trying to use the same marketing techniques as MySportsbook originated.

If you want to try the most stylish and reliable type of online sportsbook, go with MySportsbook. Most online sportsbooks give you live odds and plenty of games and events to bet on, at MySportsbook they'll give you that and more. While perfection may be a lofty goal, MySportsbook attempts to achieve that goal. All sorts of ways to bet on football, football betting, Super Bowl betting lines.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.