Duke holds on down the stretch to edge Maryland

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/05/2010 - Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jasmine Thomas scored a game-high 21 points, and ninth-ranked Duke survived down the stretch to beat Maryland, 66-64, and advance to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.

Joy Cheek added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Blue Devils (25-5), who advanced to play Georgia Tech on Saturday. Karima Christmas contributed with 11 points in the win.

Lynetta Kizer tallied 16 points and six boards for the Terps (19-12), who had beaten North Carolina in the first round of the tourney. Anjale Barrett posted 15 points, while Lori Bjork had 14 in defeat.

A pair of free throws from Bjork put Maryland in front, 63-62, with 2:29 to play, but Bridgette Mitchell answered with two crucial shots from the line 10 seconds later to put the Blue Devils back ahead.

The Terrapins quickly turned the ball over, leading to Cheek's layup for a three-point Duke lead with 1:38 to go. Maryland proceeded to miss its last four shots, including a potential game-winning three-pointer from Jackie Nared as time expired.

Wwwhotbar NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Jets release Thomas Jones, Strickland
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets announced the release of veteran running back Thomas Jones on Friday. The team also released cornerback Donald Strickland. Jones, 31, ran for a career-high 1,402 ya

<< Report: Wilfork signs long-term deal with Pats
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots and defensive tackle Vince Wilfork have reportedly agreed to a five-year contract worth $40 million. According to Boston.com, which cites Wilfork's agent, the deal has $25 mil

<< Roethlisberger accused of sexual assault
Milledgeville, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been accused of sexual assault at a Georgia nightclub, according to several media reports. The alleged incident took place Thursday night at a club ca

<< Ravens acquire WR Boldin from Arizona for picks
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens have added the big- name receiver they have long been after, acquiring wide receiver Anquan Boldin from Arizona. The Ravens sent their 2010 third- and fourth-round picks to Arizona w

<< Dolphins release LBs Porter, Ayodele
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins on Friday terminated the contracts of linebackers Akin Ayodele and Joey Porter along with safety Gibril Wilson. Miami attempted to release Porter, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, back

Broncos sign RB Arrington >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos have brought back running back J.J. Arrington. Arrington originally signed a four-year deal worth a reported $10 million with Denver last offseason, but was subsequently

Redskins re-sign DE Daniels, OL Williams >>
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins on Friday re-signed defensive end Phillip Daniels and offensive lineman Mike Williams. Daniels started all 16 games for the Redskins last year, recording 46 tackles, one sack, and

Trio on top at Toshiba Classic >>
Newport Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former PGA Champion Bob Tway, Mark Wiebe and Chien-Soon Lu each fired six-under 65s on Friday to share the first-round lead of the Toshiba Classic. Fred Couples, already a winner after two Champions Tou

Earnhardt Jr. tops in qualifying at Atlanta >>
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for the Kobalt Tools 500 with a blazing lap in Friday's qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Earnhardt Jr.'s lap of 192.761 m.p.h. set a record for the fastest qualifying spee

Report: Texans retain Walter with multi-year deal >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Texans wide receiver Kevin Walter has reportedly re-signed with the team after becoming an unrestricted free agent earlier in the day. The Houston Chronicle reports the pact is for multiple years.

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.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.