Free agency a bust so far for Kings

Hockey Betting Lines

07/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles area is home to Venice Beach, Hollywood and the famous 90210 zip code. The Fresh Prince once called it home (on television at least), and former Yankee icon Joe Torre made the jump from the Big Apple to the City of Angels.

There is no doubt that Los Angeles has a certain appeal that draws in the masses.

Unless you play in the NHL.

Despite being considered a franchise back on the rise, the Los Angeles Kings have yet to make a splash in free agency. Apparently, a team coming off a 12- win, 22-point improvement isn't very enticing for those skaters looking to relocate.

Not that the Kings haven't been in the headlines since free agency began on July 1. Los Angeles had been linked to the top unemployed prize, Ilya Kovalchuk, but was unable to convince the Russian sniper to lower his asking price and come out west, leading general manager Dean Lombardi to announce on Monday that his team was pulling out of the bidding war.

(The Los Angeles Times did report on Wednesday that the Kings were back in the hunt for Kovalchuk's services, but followed up on Thursday that they were again backing away from the high-priced winger.)

While the Kings were wasting their time courting Kovalchuk, they failed to add scoring help alongside lamp-lighter Anze Kopitar, the hard-working Dustin Brown and veteran leader Ryan Smyth, while Norris Trophy nominee Drew Doughty and fellow young blueliner Jack Johnson have yet to receive any new help at the back end.

Off the market are forward Ray Whitney and defensemen Anton Volchenkov, Dan Hamhuis and Paul Martin, leaving the Kings staring at a free agency list that now includes a host of players that come with questions, including hot-and- cold forwards Lee Stempniak and Alexei Ponikarovsky and injury-plagued defenders Willie Mitchell and Kim Johnsson.

That's not what you want to see when you are a club that is coming off its first playoff appearance since 2002 and resides in a tough Pacific Division.

In fact, free agency has so far only seen the losses of enforcer Raitis Ivanans (whose toughness has yet to be replaced) and defenseman Sean O'Donnell. It also appears as if the Kings aren't interested in bringing back their own free agent Alexander Frolov, a talented forward with questionable work ethic who could end up jumping ship to the KHL.

Cap space isn't an issue for the Kings, but appeal apparently is. The good news for Los Angeles is that years of stockpiling top-end draft picks, in addition to a logjam in net, gives the team depth to make some trades.

Reports have linked Philadelphia Flyers forward Simon Gagne, a two-time 40-goal scorer, to the Kings, and Ducks forward Bobby Ryan's name has popped up as well. Gagne comes with some risk as he has dealt with injuries in two of his last three seasons (including the dreaded concussion), and a move for the unhappy Ryan out in Anaheim will likely deal quite a blow to Los Angeles' prospects pool.

The Kings say they passed on Kovalchuk, a two-time 50-goal scorer, because his cost wouldn't allow them to keep together their young core. Doughty, Johnson and Wayne Simmonds are set for restricted free agency following 2010-11, and the philosophy based on keeping them around also smartly kept them from overpaying for some of this year's free agency group (think six years for Volchenkov by New Jersey or four years, $6.5 million by the Rangers for Derek Boogaard).

Still, for a club that hasn't been a fixture in the playoffs for the good part of this century, not making any type of moves has Los Angeles on the brink of losing the momentum captured with an excellent 2009-10 campaign.

Perhaps the Kings had too many eggs in the Kovalchuk basket or maybe the west coast just doesn't appeal to those who skate on a frozen pond, but hey, it was good enough for Wayne Gretzky.

And if Gretzky can't make some calls on the Kings behalf, maybe Jed Clampett can.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.