Bacsinszky beats Meusburger in rainy Austria

Tennis Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - Bad Gastein, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland beat Austrian crowd favorite Yvonne Meusburger in the semifinals of the Gastein Ladies tennis tournament on Saturday.

The second-seeded Bacsinszky rallied for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory to advance to Sunday's final, but she'll have to wait a day for her opponent as rain washed out the second scheduled semifinal between France's Alize Cornet and Julia Goerges of Germany.

Cornet and Goerges will play their semifinal on Sunday morning prior to the title match.

Bacsinszky is in position to claim her second career WTA title and first since last year in Luxembourg.

Meusburger still has never won a WTA singles crown and reached her only title match at this event in 2007.

Bacsinszky appeared to be in major trouble from the outset on Saturday, as she dropped each of her four service games in the opening set. She regrouped in the second and won the set after saving a pair of break points while serving at 5-4.

Rain started to fall in the third and Bacsinszky briefly left the court after complaining to the chair umpire about the conditions. She returned soon after and held serve for a 5-3 lead before breaking Meusburger in the following game to win the match.

Bacsinszky improved to 3-1 lifetime against Meusburger, although the Austrian had won this year's lone previous matchup in the first round of the Australian Open.

Cornet and Goerges may each have needed an extra day of rest after both went three sets to win their respective quarterfinal matches on Friday.

The 20-year-old Cornet has just one WTA Tour title, taking the Budapest crown in 2008. She will appear in her second semifinal of 2010, having lost to Iveta Benesova in Morocco this spring.

Goerges, trying for her first WTA crown, also reached the semifinals last week in Palermo. She has never played Cornet.

Sportgambleonline Tennis Betting News

<< Pressel back in front in France
Evian-les-Bains, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morgan Pressel eagled the final hole Saturday for a five-under 67 and the third-round lead of the Evian Masters. Pressel, who shared the first-round lead at Evian Masters Golf Club, fini

<< Johnson joins Choi in first at Scandinavian Masters
Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden's own Richard S. Johnson posted a two-under 70 on Saturday to join second-round leader K.J. Choi in first place after the 54 holes of the Scandinavian Masters. Johnson and Choi, who had a one-u

<< Parra tries to get on track against Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Manny Parra can end a personal two-start losing streak while giving Milwaukee a second straight win tonight when the Brewers host the Washington Nationals in the middle game of a three-game series at Miller Park. On

<< Red Sox shoot for third straight win against battling M's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox try to make it three straight wins this evening when they continue their four-game set against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. The Red Sox will turn to Jon Lester to keep them in the win column, as

<< Twins send Baker to hill in Baltimore
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Struggling to keep pace with the White Sox and Tigers in the AL Central, the Twins will try to solve their road woes when Minnesota battles the Baltimore Orioles in the third installment of a four-game set this evening at Cam

Buchholz returns for Rockies >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies have activated pitcher Taylor Buchholz off the 60-day disabled list. Buchholz has not pitched in the majors since September 9, 2008. He sat out all of last season because of e

Yankees activate Mitre; Gardner hospitalized >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees have activated pitcher Sergio Mitre off the 15-day disabled list to start Saturday's game against the Kansas City Royals. Mitre had been sidelined since early June with a strained

Melzer to face Golubev for Hamburg crown >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer of Austria and Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev will square off for the title at the German Open after both won semifinal matches on Saturday. The third-seeded Melzer blitzed Italy's Andreas Se

Montoya grabs pole for Brickyard 400 >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Pablo Montoya captured the pole for the Brickyard 400 after posting the quickest lap in Saturday's qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Montoya edged defending race winner Jimmie Johnson fo

Langer builds 3-shot lead at Senior British >>
Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer built a three-shot lead at the Senior British Open on Saturday after carding a two-under 69 in the third round. Chasing his first major on the Champions Tour, Langer finished

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.