Rooney fires United into first

Soccer Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wayne Rooney scored two more goals to increase his Premier League-leading total to 25 and Manchester United defeated Fulham 3-0 on Sunday at Old Trafford to reclaim first place.

Arsenal and Chelsea passed United with wins on Saturday, but Rooney scored one minute after halftime and added his 32 in all competitions in the 84th.

Dimitar Berbatov, who assisted on Rooney's second goal, added his 10th Premier League goal in the 89th to seal United's 21st win of the season.

"The start to the second half was crucial and we got a good one to put us in a good position. After that our confidence grew," United coach Sir Alex Ferguson told MUTV.

Rooney handed United the lead less than one minute into the second half after a great give-and-go with Nani. Rooney had the ball in the middle and passed to the left to Nani, who threaded a pass through four Fulham players to get the ball back to Rooney for an easy finish to the bottom right.

Berbatov set up the second goal after he drove into the area from the right to slip a pass through three Fulham players to Rooney, who slotted to the left to beat Mark Schwarzer for the second time.

"The second was the star goal really," Ferguson said. "The work by Berbatov was fantastic football and he just laid it on a plate for Wayne, who took it well."

Substitute Ji-Sung Park delivered a cross to Berbatov in the 89th, and he dove to head the ball inside the right post from five yards for the third goal.

Fulham lost for just the second time in its last seven matches, but still sits in the top half of the standings in 10th. American Clint Dempsey, who returned in Thursday's Europa League match, made his first start since suffering a knee injury earlier this year.

Adam Johnson scored in the 91st minute as Manchester City escaped the Stadium of Light with a 1-1 draw against Sunderland.

Johnson latched onto a corner kick on the far side of the area in injury time, and lofted a perfect shot into the upper-left corner.

Kenwyne Jones scored in the ninth minute for Sunderland, and Craig Gordon made seven saves before Johnson left him no chance in the final seconds.

City is in fifth place, two points behind Tottenham for fourth and a berth in the Champions League. Sunderland is seven points clear of relegation in 14th.

Wwwpharoahscasino Soccer Betting News

<< Duke claims record 18th ACC title
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Scheyer hit a clutch three-pointer with 18 seconds left to make it a four-point game and Kyle Singler got 14 of his 20 points at the line, as fourth-ranked Duke captured a record 18th ACC Tournam

<< Power wins bizarre IndyCar season-opener in Brazil
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power survived a spectacular opening-lap crash and then endured heavy rain before making a winning pass on Ryan Hunter-Reay in the closing minutes to win the season-opening Sao Paulo Indy 30

<< Pacers-Bucks, Box
INDIANA (94)Granger 8-18 11-11 29, Murphy 4-11 5-6 14, Hibbert 1-5 4-4 6, Watson 5-11 2-2 15, Rush 5-14 2-3 13, McRoberts 0-0 0-0 0, D.Jones 0-2 2-2 2, Price 1-7 4-4 6, S.Jones 3-4 3-4 9. Totals 27-72 33-36 94.MILWAUKEE (98)Delfino 1-4 2-2 5, Mbah

<< O's Roberts to see back specialist
Sarasota, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts was scheduled to fly back to Baltimore Sunday to have his ailing back examined. Roberts developed a herniated disc in his back while working out in the offseas

<< Capitals-Blackhawks Sum
Washington 0 0 3 1-4Chicago 2 1 0 0-3First Period-1, Chicago, Toews 21 (Hjalmarsson, P.Kane), 7:00. 2, Chicago, Toews 22 (Sharp, P.Kane), 16:54 (pp).Second Period-3, Chicago, Madden 10 (Keith), 6:54.Third Period-4, Washington, Laich 22 (Gre

Kentucky survives Mississippi State in OT for 26th SEC crown >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeMarcus Cousins beat the buzzer to force overtime and John Wall nailed a critical three-pointer late in the extra session, as second-ranked Kentucky edged Mississippi State, 75-74, to claim its rec

Temple tops Richmond to win A-10 crown, gets NCAA bid >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Fernandez led all scorers with 18 points, as 17th-ranked Temple held on to claim its third straight Atlantic 10 Conference title with a 56-52 win over Richmond at Boardwalk Hall and earn an automat

Bucks edge Pacers to complete season sweep >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerry Stackhouse finished with a team-high 20 points off the bench, as the Milwaukee Bucks escaped with a 98-94 win over the Indiana Pacers at the Bradley Center. Andrew Bogut donated a double-double with

Caps lose Ovechkin but beat Blackhawks with furious four-goal rally >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicklas Backstrom scored twice, including the winning goal at 3:10 of overtime, as the Washington Capitals rallied to beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3, at United Center. Backstrom, Brooks Laich and Eric Feh

Kiessling leads Leverkusen over Hamburg >>
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stefan Kiessling scored twice and Bayer Leverkusen rebounded from its first loss of the season to beat Hamburg 4-2 on Sunday at the BayArena. Leverkusen opened the season unbeaten in 24 straight before

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.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.