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07/02/2010 - Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Alejandro Canizares fired his second straight five-under 66 on Friday to take a one-shot lead over defending champion Martin Kaymer at the Open de France.
Canizares birdied his last three holes and finished two rounds at Le Golf National with a 10-under 132, two strokes shy of Seve Ballesteros' 36-hole tournament scoring record.
Kaymer, who defeated Lee Westwood in a playoff last year, shot a 67 on Friday to sit one stroke off the lead at nine-under 133.
First-round leader Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands had a 71 -- eight shots worse than his Thursday score -- and dropped into third place at eight- under 134.
Steve Webster (66) was another stroke further back at seven-under 135.
Derksen played in a morning threesome and was still in the lead when he finished his round. Afterward, he settled in to watch the Netherlands knock of World Cup favorite Brazil, 2-1, in South Africa.
But his lead did not survive the day.
Canizares and Kaymer waited out a rain delay of two hours and 25 minutes, then caught Derksen with birdies near the end of their rounds.
Kaymer was first, making a birdie at the 14th to tie the Dutchman for the lead. He later birdied the 17th to move on shot ahead.
Canizares, meanwhile, collected four birdies in his last five holes, including three in a row at the end of the round to take his one-shot lead.
The son of four-time Ryder Cup player Jose Maria Canizares, Alejandro captured his only European Tour win at the 2006 Russian Open. He made it through qualifying school last year to earn his playing privileges for 2010.
"I was a little negative in my play last year. I wasn't into it very much and had a couple of problems, personal problems," said Canizares, who is ranked 205th in the world. "But this year I came out, I got my card again, so it was like a new start and I knew what I lost and I learned to appreciate it a little more."
Kaymer is chasing his sixth European Tour win and second of the season. He is beginning a unique two-week stretch that will also see him defend his title next week at the Scottish Open.
Derksen has two career wins, the last coming in 2005.
NOTES: The cut line fell at one-over 143 and European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie led the list of the departed...Jose Maria Olazabal, who was playing for the first time since last October, shot a respectable 70 but still finished at 10-over 152 to miss the cut...Robert Karlsson withdrew from the tournament because of a strained wrist but said he would be ready for the British Open in two weeks...Westwood was seven shots back after a 69.
<< Coyotes re-sign D Lepisto
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes re-signed defenseman Sami
Lepisto to a one-year contract on Friday.
Lepisto, 25, played in a career-high 66 games last season with Phoenix and
recorded a goal and 10 assists.
Over
<< Blackhawks ink D Scott
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks signed free agent
defenseman John Scott to a two-year contract on Friday.
Scott is a two-year veteran and over 71 games in the NHL, all with Minnesota,
he has one goal and two ass
<< Toronto's Marcum lands on DL
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays placed starter Shaun
Marcum on the 15-day disabled list Friday with inflammation in his throwing
elbow.
Marcum is scheduled to miss only one start with the All-Star break on t
<< Panthers sign F Higgins
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers signed free agent left
winger Chris Higgins to a one-year contract on Friday.
Higgins split last season with the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames after a
five-year stint with the M
Rangers welcome back Prust >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers agreed to terms on a new
contract for left winger Brandon Prust on Friday.
The Rangers acquired the 5-foot-11, 195-pound forward in a trade with the
Calgary Flames back in February.
Blue Jays down Yanks in extras >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Hill tied the game with an RBI single in
the eighth inning, and Alex Gonzalez brought in the go-ahead run in a five-run
11th, as the Blue Jays outlasted the Yankees, 6-1, to snap a five-game slide
in the
Ebbett joins Coyotes >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes signed center Andrew
Ebbett to a one-year contract on Friday.
Ebbett, 27, scored nine goals and assisted on six others in 61 games last
season during stints with the Ducks, Black
Reds clobber Cubs >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bronson Arroyo worked six innings and
Cincinnati used a nine-run seventh to help take a dominant 12-0 win over the
Chicago Cubs in the second of a four-game set.
Arroyo (8-4) gave up just two hit
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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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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