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07/06/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano was among six players chosen initially for this year's All-Star Home Run Derby, to be held next Monday in Anaheim.
Other players to commit from the American League are Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox and Vernon Wells of the Toronto Blue Jays. The two National League participants thus far are Corey Hart of the Milwaukee Brewers and Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cano, Hart and Wells will be in the competition for the first time. Ortiz was in the event from 2004-06, while Cabrera (2006) and Holliday (2007) also have experience.
The remaining competitors will be announced when they are confirmed.
<< Truck begin nine-week stretch at Iowa
Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date:
Sunday, July 11. Race: Lucas Oil 200. Site: Iowa Speedway. Track: .875-mile
oval. Start time: 2:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 175. 2009 winner: Mike
Skinner. Television:
<< Patrick not exactly feeling at home
Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Friday, July 9.
Race: Dollar General 300. Site: Chicagoland Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval.
Start time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 100. Miles: 250. 2009 winner: Denny Hamlin.
Television:
<< Chicagoland kicks off the second-half of 2010 season
Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday, July
10. Race: LifeLock.com 400. Site: Chicagoland Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval.
Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 267. Miles: 400.5. 2009 winner: Mark Martin.
Televisio
<< Blum to have surgery
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros infielder Geoff Blum will
undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow Wednesday morning.
The operation is scheduled to take place at the Texas Orthopedic Hospital and
will be perfor
Span's hit in eighth boosts Twins over Blue Jays >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denard Span's RBI single in the eighth proved
to be the difference, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6,
in a back-and-forth affair at Rogers Centre.
Span finished with two RBI for the Twi
Santana's arm, bat lead Mets past Reds >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Santana pitched a brilliant three-hit
shutout and also hit the first home run of his career to lead the New York
Mets to a 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field.
Santana (6-5), who had l
Zimmerman's HR in ninth lifts Nats over Padres >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Zimmerman homered off Luke Gregerson
leading off the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting Washington to a 6-5 win
over the San Diego Padres.
Zimmerman crushed an 0-1 pitch over the wall in cente
Yankees' Rivera to miss All-Star Game >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has
decided to remove himself from the All-Star Game because of several injuries.
Rivera was selected to his 11th All-Star Game on Sunday, but will not play in
the
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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