Wnuggets Basketball Betting News

<< Kings conclude trek at Philadelphia
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings conclude a torturous four-game, season-opening road swing Monday when they invade the City of Brotherly Love to face the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wachovia Center. The Kings fell to 0-3 Saturd

<< Warriors, Grizzlies square off in Memphis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams looking for an identity meet in Memphis Monday when the Grizzlies host the Golden State Warriors at FedEx Forum. The hard-luck Warriors finally found the win column Saturday when Andris Biedrins

<< Jazz pay a visit to winless Clippers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After opening the season with a pair of wins in Salt Lake City, the Jazz hit the road for the first time in the 2008-09 season, heading to Hollywood to take on the Los Angeles Clippers tonight in the back end of a home-an

<< LeBron leads Cavaliers into Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers try to rebound from a disappointing start when they invade Dallas Monday to take on the Mavericks at American Airlines Center. All-Star LeBron James had an off-night offensively, scoring just

Brodeur-less Devils welcome Sabres to the Rock >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One thing has been consistent for the New Jersey Devils over their last 56 games, and that has been the presence of goaltender Martin Brodeur. Brodeur, though, will see his consecutive starts streak halted this evening, a

Isles host Jackets without DiPietro >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having admitted they will be without their franchise netminder for the foreseeable future, the New York Islanders will try to halt a six-game losing streak tonight in a home test against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nassau Co

Quenneville meets former squad as 'Hawks battle Avs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Quenneville's Chicago Blackhawks begin a five-game homestand tonight against the head coach's old team, as the Colorado Avalanche pay a visit to the United Center. Quenneville spent the previous three seasons with the

Week 10 Headlines >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LONE STAR STYLE: Texas Tech needed a win just like the one it got this past weekend. The Red Raiders program had long been criticized as a one-trick pony that lacked the ability to get the job done against

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.

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