Youzhny rolls; Bogomolov ousted in Zagreb
Tennis Betting Lines
02/02/2012 - Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Youzhny cruised into the quarterfinals of the Zagreb Indoors tournament Thursday, while fellow Russian Alex Bogomolov was eliminated by Slovakia's Lukas Lacko.
A pair of past Zagreb winners, defending champ Ivan Dodig and 2007 titlist Marcos Baghdatis, also advanced Thursday.
The third-seeded Youzhny eased past Slovenia's Grega Zemlja, 6-1, 6-3, and is now the highest seeded player remaining. Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic was beaten in the second round on Wednesday and Bogomolov was the second seed.
Youzhny, a semifinalist at this event in 2007, lost just 10 points on serve in his match Thursday. He'll next face eighth-seeded Croat native Ivo Karlovic, who handled Israel's Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-2.
Lacko dominated early and late in a 6-0, 6-7 (1-7), 6-1 win over Bogomolov. He won the first nine games of the match before Bogomolov rallied in the second set. However, 2011's most improved player could not sustain the momentum in the third.
Next up for Lacko will be seventh-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase.
The fourth-seeded Dodig needed three sets to dispose of Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, rallying for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph. Dodig, a native Croat, will next face Baghdatis, who moved on with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Poland's Lukasz Kubot.
Baghdatis will play in his third quarterfinal of 2012, having already reached the round of eight at the Australian Open tuneup in Brisbane and the semifinals in Sydney.
Friday's remaining quarterfinal will feature Austrian veteran Jurgen Melzer against German Michael Berrer, both second-round winners on Wednesday. Melzer knocked off fifth-seeded Andreas Seppi and Berrer took out Ljubicic.
Berrer lost to Dodig in last year's Zagreb final.
This week's champion will collect $90,000.
Oldsmar, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trainer Todd Pletcher has been dominating the Sam F. Davis Stakes in recent years and has another opportunity to win the event with its 32nd renewal on Saturday. The $250,000 stakes, with a field of 11 thre
<< Berdych, Monfils advance in Open Sud
Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Tomas Berdych and Frenchman
Gael Monfils were among Thursday's second-round winners at the Open Sud de
France tennis tournament.
Berdych, the Czech Republic native ranked seventh in the
<< In the FCS Huddle: Top recruits not necessarily at top schools
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ever get one of those do-not-open-until-
the-holidays packages in the mail?
Well, let's just say we will need to revisit this column in about three years.
That's because recruiting analysis is so fickle
<< NFL gives 49ers $200 million loan for new stadium
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NFL owners approved a $200 million loan on
Thursday to help the San Francisco 49ers build a new stadium in Santa Clara.
In December, the Santa Clara Stadium Authority unanimously approved an $850
millio
<< Swansea's Bodde suffers new injury
Swansea, Wales (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Swansea City midfielder Ferrie Bodde picked
up a new knee injury Wednesday and could face a longer spell on the sidelines.
Bodde has not played for Swansea since February of 2010, and has made just 59
appe
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts have hired Greg Manusky as defensive coordinator. The Colts named Bruce Arians offensive coordinator earlier this week. Manusky was the defensive coordinator of the San Diego
Chievo hands struggling Novara another loss >>
Novara, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Pellissier and Cyril Thereau scored on
each side of halftime as Chievo downed struggling Novara, 2-1, on Thursday in
Serie A.
Pellissier opened the scoring on 33 minutes and Thereau added a second goa
Louisiana Tech RB dies at off-campus apartment >>
Ruston, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louisiana Tech running back Tyrone Duplessis was
found dead at his off-campus apartment on Thursday morning.
The 21-year-old was in his third year at Louisiana Tech.
The cause of death is not yet known and an
AZ signs coach Verbeek to two-year extension >>
Alkmaar, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AZ Alkmaar gave coach Gertjan Verbeek
a two-year contract extension on Thursday, locking him up through the 2014-15
season.
Verbeek, 49, joined the Dutch side before the 2010-11 season and led the c
Blue Jackets activate Carter >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated
center Jeff Carter off injured reserve.
Carter separated his right shoulder during a game against Anaheim on January
8.
He has posted 10 goals and 17 points
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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