Cubs activate Ramirez

Baseball Betting Lines

06/25/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez was activated off the 15-day disabled list Friday.

Ramirez had been sidelined since June 8 with a left thumb contusion. He made a pair of minor league rehab appearances with Single-A Peoria and was 1-for-6 with an RBI and two walks.

In 47 games this season entering Friday's contest against the White Sox, Ramirez is batting just .168 with five homers and 22 runs batted in.

The Cubs opened a roster spot by designating infielder Chad Tracy for assignment. He batted .250 with five runs batted in over 28 games in two stints with Chicago this season.

Americansportstake Baseball Betting News

<< U.S. hopes to start 'special' run against Ghana
Rustenburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Captain Carlos Bocanegra did not think any United States team had ever won its group at the World Cup, and when you have to look back 80 years to the inaugural tournament to prove him wrong, it is a

<< Nets trade Douglas-Roberts to Bucks
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have traded swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts to Milwaukee for a second-round draft pick in 2012. The trade, which was reported earlier this week, was announced Friday by Bucks general m

<< NBA Draft 2010: Top undrafted players
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back when I used to cover the NFL Draft, the seventh round was almost like a four-letter word to the various agents around the league. The odds of making a club when taken in the final round are slim, so most

<< South Korea hopes to start another run vs. Uruguay
Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Korea coach Huh Jung-Moo believes there's still a gap between Asian nations and the rest of the world, but his country is closing the deficit faster than any other. South Korea escaped G

<< Dredge leads Larrazabal by one in Germany
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bradley Dredge carded two eagles and shot a five-under 67 on Friday to take one-stroke lead over Pablo Larrazabal after two rounds of the BMW International Open. Dredge finished 36 nearly-flawless holes

In the FCS Huddle: Spoilers ready to step up >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are always teams that look like locks on paper. You know, like France and Italy advancing to the knockout phase of the World Cup. And that's the point. There are no sure things in sports. The o

Ghana carries the weight of a continent >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teams from the African continent have made steady progress on the sport's biggest stage starting since 1990, when Cameroon became the first team from Africa to reach the quarterfinals. Nigeria followed up by advancing to

NCAA upholds sanctions against former SEMO hoops coach >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An NCAA appeals committee has upheld the sanctions levied by the governing body against former Southeast Missouri men's basketball coach Scott Edgar. The NCAA penalized Southeast Missouri's men's and wo

Federer, Djokovic, Hewitt reach fourth round at Wimbledon >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Roger Federer, third-seeded Novak Djokovic and former champion Lleyton Hewitt were straight-set winners in third-round action Friday at Wimbledon. The six-time Wimbledon champion Federer

High Sierra golf is as good as it gets >>
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Twenty-five years and one wife ago, I first discovered the Reno-Lake Tahoe area and was taken by the beauty of the desert, mountains and pine trees. I was also impressed with the variety of golf courses in the region

MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds

With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.

Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season.  Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money. 

This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy.  A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.

Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:

Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame)
Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma)
Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State)
Michael Bush (RB, Louisville)
Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia)
Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville)
Chris Leak (QB, Florida)
Mike Hart (RB, Michigan)
Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State)
Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame)
Drew Tate (QB, Iowa)
Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)
Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn)
Chad Henne (QB, Michigan)
Kyle Wright (QB, Miami)
Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State)
Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama)
JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU)
Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State)
Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina)
Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech)		 5-2
7-2
7-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
18-1
18-1
20-1
30-1
35-1
35-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1

For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.

Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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