Elliott Sadler is off to a hot start and will be gunning for his third win in five races on the NASCAR Nationwide Series when the green flag drops on the Royal Purple 500 on Saturday night (5:00 pm Eastern, ESPN) in auto-racing betting action at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
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Sadler, the 2011 Nationwide Series driver championship runner-up, has chalked up four Top 3 finishes in four starts in auto-racing betting results so far this year, including wins in the Ford Eco-Boost 300 last week at Bristol Motor Speedway and another victory on March 3 in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Those two wins by Sadler were sandwiched around a victory by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the defending Nationwide series driver champion, who took the checkered flag on March 10 in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in which Sadler crossed the finish line in third place behind runner-up Mark Martin.
James Buescher won the season-opening Drive4COPD 300 race at Daytona International Speedway, with Sadler also winding up third in that race behind Brad Keselowski in a crash-filled spectacle that saw Buescher claim his first career Nationwide Series victory under caution.
Not surprisingly it is Sadler who currently leads the Nationwide Series driver standings, with 178 points after four races and a 25-point lead on second-place Stenhouse. Trevor Bayne ranks third with 149 points, with Austin Dillon (148 points) and Cole Whitt (137 points) rounding out the Top 5 drivers heading into the Royal Purple 500.
Danica Patrick, who is also competing part-time on the Sprint Cup Series this year, currently sits just outside the Top 10 in the Nationwide Series driver standings with 87 points in 12th place.
Hernan Marquez (32-2) will put his WBA Flyweight title on the line for the third time in boxing betting action this Saturday night in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico. This latest challenge to Marquez in boxing betting odds comes from 30-year-old former WBC Light Flyweight champion Rodel Mayol (30-5-2), with both fighters coming off impressive knockout victories and promising to deliver more fireworks on Saturday night.
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Marquez has already fought the best in the division and captured a title at the tender age of 23. The champion will have an edge in front of a supportive hometown crowd with his speed and jab. He will try to control the action from the outside and wear down his opponent.
Mayol has won four-straight since dumping his WBC Light Flyweight title in the summer of 2010. He has not fought the elite level of opponents that Marquez has faced and will be stepping up in competition against the current champion this weekend. Mayol will look to close the distance and counterpunch to land heavy shots.
What fight fans are hoping for in this bout is that it does not turn into a head-butt match the way some of Mayol’s fights have in the past. We’ll all find out if Mayol will fight a clean fight if (or when) Marquez begins to gain the upper hand.
With two brawler-style fighters in the ring this fight has a very good chance of ending before the 12th round bell rings. Anything can happen with two sluggers that will be head-hunting the way these two go about their business in the ring, so upset odds could be a good option in this one if you think the price is right.
It’s no secret that the best days in the ring of multi-divisional world champion Erik Morales (52-7-0) are behind him. But a recent TKO win over Pablo Cesar in boxing betting results has made him the WBC Junior Welterweight champion and earned Morales a big-money bout on Saturday night in Houston, Texas for his first title defense against Danny Garcia (22-0).
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The undefeated Garcia will be looking to win his first world title only a few days after his 24th birthday. The Philadelphia native will be coming off a close split decision win over Kendall Holt, but will be a heavy favorite on the boxing betting odds to take the title away from the 35-year-old Morales. Garcia will look to use his fast hands to outwork the boxing legend for either a decision or late-round KO win.
What can one say about Morales that has not already been said? The man has eight championships in four weight classes to his name, and still brings a torrid pace and heavy hands to each of his fights. He will look to utilize his experience and power to teach the much younger Garcia that he’s still one of the best in the world.
Despite being the favorite, Garcia will have to overcome not only Morales’ experience but also a hostile Texas crowd at the Reliant Arena that will surely be cheering for the Mexican legend. If he can find a way to put all that out of his mind he should be able to dominate his older opponent.
This fight has a good chance of going the distance when one considers the toughness of both fighters. The element of Garcia over-respecting his legendary opponent does exist as a potential factor, but it’s tough to envision how Morales would pull off the upset.
Zab Judah (41-7-2) begins the long road back to regaining his IBF Light Welterweight title on Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York, when he steps into the ring against the undefeated Vernon Paris (26-0). They will fight in a title eliminator to determine who will be ranked No. 1 in the division and earn the next shot on the boxing betting odds at reigning champion Amir Khan.
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Judah will be coming off a fifth-round knockout loss to Khan that saw him snap a five-fight winning streak and lose his IBF Light Welterweight title. Paris will be a big test, and another loss could be the beginning of the end for the former five-time champion.
Paris does not have the fight resume that Judah boasts, but the 24-year-old up-and-comer is considered to be one of most promising young fighters in the sport. This will be his first fight against a boxer the calibre of Judah, but Paris’s youth and hunger will likely play a big role in this fight.
Keys to victory for Judah, 34, include keeping Paris off of him and using hand-speed to outpoint his younger opponent. Paris will need to close the distance and land as many body shots as possible to wear down his older opponent.
Judah will need to take more punishment than he’s shown the ability to absorb in recent fights. His punching is still there, but his chin has come into question over the last couple of years. If Paris starts to get the upper hand we could see Judah fold under the pressure.
Inspired Gaming Group, is an international server-based gaming specialist and leading supplier of VLTs in Italy and other nations. The Inspired Gaming Group is active in over 30 countries employing over 1,000 people in 10 offices around the world. The firm is leading the convergence of gaming channels from SBG land-based, to online and mobile, through a partnership with OpenBet. After a very successful year in the Italian gambling market Inspired’s Virtual Sports Betting is live in 33 countries worldwide and generates in excess of €5.4bn of revenue and €700m gross win every year. Inspired’s portfolio of virtual sports includes horse racing, trotting, football, tennis, motor racing, cycling, greyhounds, and speedway.
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He's had numerous injuries, been talked about in books by former friends and has fallen off the radar with PGA odds, but at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Tiger Woods finally got himself back into contention.
Of course, in Woods fashion, he downplayed the victory.
"It's not like winning a major championship or anything," Woods said. "But it certainly feels really good."
Woods had gone 923 days and 26 tour events since he last won an event, perhaps this is the win that finally gets him over the hump? It was also his first PGA Tour victory since a sex scandal at the end of 2009 led to one of the greatest downfalls in sports. Golf can be quite a mental game, perhaps this victory will finally get his mind focused on winning again.
Woods finished at 13-under 275 for his 72nd PGA Tour win, one short of Nicklaus for second place on the career list. With The Masters in two weeks one has to wonder if he's ready to get himself another green jacket. Woods has been listed at 7/2 odds to win the 2012 Masters.
This is just two weeks after an injury scare as well, but Woods looked dominant as ever at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. It may not be the PGA Championships but this was a PGA Tour event with a full field, one with all the heavy hitters. And Tiger put together a perfomance that didn't have the hiccups that has plagued his game of late.
Any was the subject of an investigation by the government department in relation to charges of running illegal internet gambling between 1998 and 2006.
The London-based company – which provides customers with poker through Paradise Poker, as well as sports betting, financial betting, casino games and backgammon – agreed to pay the DoJ $33 million to ensure that the online gambling firm remained out of the US courts following the introduction of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006.
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Bet on the Honda IndyCar Grand Prix (Flickr Creative Commons)
Motor racing betting will get an IndyCar Series option alongside the usual Sprint Cup Series offering this weekend as that circuit takes to the track down in Birmingham for the 2012 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
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Sunday afternoon will mark just the third running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, as it was added to the IndyCar calendar just prior to the 2010 season. The event will take place at the Barber Motorsports Park, which is a 2.3-mile road course.
Helio Castroneves won the inaugural race in 2010, holding off Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti to pay off on the IndyCar betting lines for his supporters. Will Power and Marco Andretti rounded out the top five drivers at that race, with Ryan Briscoe, Justin Wilson, Tony Kanaan, Mike Conway and Alex Tagliani making up the rest of the Top 10 on the day.
In 2011 it was then Power that won in Alabama, with Dixon finishing in second place, and Franchitti ending up in third place. Andretti, Oriol Servia, Kanaan, Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Simona de Silvestro and Charlie Kimball also turned in Top-10 results that race.
Castroneves also won the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg last weekend, beating Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay across the finish line to take an early lead in the driver standings. James Hinchcliffe and Briscoe were fourth and fifth last weekend.
Pagenaud, Power, E.J. Viso, Kimball and Wilson completed the Top 10 at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, while Franchitti ended up back in 13th place in the season opener.
On the IndyCar odds at Bovada Power is listed as the 3/2 favorite to win the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, with Franchitti and Dixon both at 5/1, Castroneves at 6/1 and Briscoe at 9/1. Hunter-Reay is then at 15/1, with Andretti and Kanaan each set at 30/1.
Reigning points champion Tony Stewart looks for this third win in the past four NASCAR Sprint Cup races on Sunday as the series moves to Martinsville for a little short-track racing at the Goody’s Fast Relief 500. Stewart (9/1) is among the favorites this week on Bovada’s auto racing odds.
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Stewart's fast start is somewhat surprising because he replaced Darian Grubb as crew chief despite winning last year’s title. But Stewart and current chief Steve Addington are clearly on the same page. Dating to last year’s Chase, “Smoke” now has seven wins in the past 15 races overall. And he won the last race at Martinsville back on Oct. 30, 2011 in the Tums Fast Relief 500. Stewart won by passing Jimmie Johnson on a restart with three laps to go. Overall, Stewart has three wins in his 26-race career at Martinsville.
Virginia native Denny Hamlin (the 4/1 favorite) loves his home-state track. He has four career wins at Martinsville, including three straight: the fall race of 2009 and sweeping both 2010 races. Hamlin, who already has a win this year at Phoenix, finished 12th in this race in 2011.
Jimmie Johnson has six career wins at Martinsville, with his last coming in this 2009 race. That actually ended a stretch where Johnson had won five of six races here. Johnson has an average finish of 5.4 at Martinsville and a whopping 14 Top-5 finishes.
But perhaps no driver loves Martinsville more than Jeff Gordon. The four-time Sprint Cup champion has struggled this year and is just 25th in the points standings. He hasn’t even finished in the Top 10 in the past three races. But Gordon leads all active drivers with seven wins at the flat 0.526-mile track. Gordon has also posted 17 top-10 finishes in the last 18 races there. He was fifth in this race a year ago.
Is this the week that Dale Earnhardt Jr. ends his 134-race winless streak? He almost did here last year but was overtaken with four laps remaining by Kevin Harvick, who went on to win at Martinsville for the first time in his career. Junior has never won at Martinsville.
A deal has reportedly been struck to partially fund a new stadium for the Vikings with electronic pull tabs.
According to MPR News, the state has offered to restructure the taxes levied on charitable gambling.
Charities initially had doubts with the electronic pull tab proposal, arguing too much of the money went to the stadium and not to gambling operations and charities.
The executive director of allied Charities of Minnesota says the new offer is fair and good for all.
The House Commerce Committee is expected to hear more about the stadium proposal on Monday night.
The gamble taken by online betting company Sky Bet, who offered odds for the first time ever on Sunday's WrestleMania XXVIII, paid off in style, with unprecedented levels of interest shown in the wrestling betting markets.
Sky Bet report bumper turnover on the 8-match card with WrestleMania their third most popular betting event of the day after the two live Premier League football matches between Newcastle United and Liverpool and Tottenham and Swansea City.
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Sky Bet's pro-wrestling expert, Ben Wright, said: "We were bowled over by the amount of interest and buzz around the odds and all in all, it was a very successful first foray into wrestling betting. We look forward to locking horns with the punters at next year's WrestleMania!"
Read more here: WrestleMania XXVIII Betting a Huge Hit, Reports Sky Bet - PR Newswire - The Sacramento Bee
Golf and gambling have been linked forever. Countless weekend foursomes begin their rounds with the familiar first-tee question: “So, what are we playing for today?” Lee Trevino even said that “real pressure is playing for $10 a hole when you don’t have a dime in your pocket.”
The unique annual magic and majesty of The Masters returns to Augusta National Golf Club this week with Tiger Woods looking to re-establish his prominence atop the pecking order of the PGA Tour golf betting odds with a victory at the first major championship of the 2012 season.
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With four victories at The Masters and 14 major championships overall, Woods is not surprisingly listed as the 4/1 favorite on the golf betting odds to win his fifth green jacket this year at Augusta in the wake of his dominating PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational two short weeks ago at Bay Hill.
Woods will have plenty of high-profile competition however, as young Irish star Rory McIlroy and veteran American rival Phil Mickelson have both proven their mettle in previous major championship events, while Englishmen Luke Donald – the current No. 1 player in the world – and Lee Westwood are both still looking for their first major title.
McIlroy, who shot 65-69-70 to lead after each of the first three rounds at the 2011 Masters before collapsing on Sunday with a final-round score of 80, is listed second behind Woods at 11/2 odds to win the second major championship of his young career.
Mickelson has already won three green jackets, including the 2010 Masters when he birdied the 13th hole with a memorable 6-iron shot from 207 yards off the pine straw to highlight his final round score of 67 and won by three strokes. Mickelson is listed at 11/1 odds and won earlier this season at Pebble Beach.
Donald, who posted a career-best T3 at the 2005 Masters, is listed at 16/1 odds, while Westwood finished alone in second place behind Mickelson in 2010 and offers significant value at 20/1 odds.
Hunter Mahan, who won the Shell Houston Open last week and also took the title at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in late February, could be poised to make a ton of noise this year at Augusta at 22/1 odds.
Live-in-play betting will be offered at Bovada for all four rounds at The Masters.
Because of Easter weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gets its first weekend off this week, so it’s a good time to take a look at the reconfigured Bovada motor sports odds to win the 2012 points title.
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Of course Tony Stewart won the championship last season and his late-season surge past Carl Edwards – Stewart won five of the 10 Chase races -- has carried over into 2012. Stewart won the non-points Gatorade Duel race No. 1 at Daytona and has followed that with victories at Las Vegas and Fontana. No other driver has multiple race wins. “Smoke” is currently third in the point standings, 12 points behind leader Greg Biffle. But Stewart is the 4/1 Bovada favorite to win the points crown again.
Jimmie Johnson, whose five-year point title run ended a year ago, is the second-favorite at 13/2. Johnson has gotten off to a bit of a rough start, although he did win a crucial appeal of a 25-point penalty at Daytona. He is currently 10th in the points, 37 behind Biffle, and has yet to visit Victory Lane, with two Top-5 finishes.
Edwards and Kyle Busch are each at 8/1. Edwards has yet to win this year, while Busch won the non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona to kick off the season. Edwards is 11th in points, 47 behind the leader. Busch is 16th, 75 points behind Biffle.
Perhaps one drive to keep an eye on is Ryan Newman, who won last week at Martinsville. Newman had not won a race since last July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. But combined with Stewart, that gives Stewart-Haas Racing eight wins in the past 16 races, a stunning .500 batting average. Newman (20/1 to win the title) is eighth in the points, 24 behind Biffle.
Biffle hasn’t won a race but is leading the points because he is tied with the most Top-5 (3) and Top-10 finishes (4). He is 12/1 to win the title, with second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 9/1.
Former pound-for-pound king Roy Jones Jr. is bringing boxing back to Mountaineer. The eight-time world champ, in association with TNT Promotions, is presenting "Live Championship Boxing from The Harv at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort" on Saturday, April 28. In the main event, former IBA titlist and currently world-ranked super featherweight Monty Meza-Clay (32-3, 21 KO) will be fighting an opponent as yet unknown.
Read More: Boxing back at Mountaineer - Throwing in the Towel by Paul Edgar - ReviewOnline-com | News, sports, jobs - The Review - East Liverpool
Luke Donald will try to quickly overcome the disappointment of finishing T32 last week at the Masters, as the No. 1 player in the official world golf rankings tees it up on the PGA Tour golf betting odds again beginning Thursday at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
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Donald, who rebounded from shooting three rounds in the 70s to fire a final round 68 on Sunday at the Masters - but still wound up three strokes over par at the season’s first major championship - is listed as a strong favorite on the golf betting odds to win the RBC Heritage at 6/1. And there’s good reason for his status as the chalk.
The Englishman finished as the runner-up to Brandt Snedeker at the RBC Heritage last year after bogeying the third extra playoff hole, he tied for third at this event in 2010 behind winner Jim Furyk, and he was also a second-place finisher at Harbour Town when Brian Gay won by a whopping ten strokes by shooting 20-under par in 2009.
Along with Snedeker (25/1 odds), Furyk (18/1), and Gay (80/1), there will be a considerable presence of former Heritage champions in the field this week to challenge Donald, including five-time winner Davis Love III (100/1), two-time winners Boo Weekley (66/1) and Stewart Cink (100/1), as well as solo champs Aaron Baddeley (30/1) and Justin Leonard (150/1).
Matt Kuchar is coming off a strong Sunday at Augusta in which he shot 69 to finish tied for third place and is listed second behind Donald at 14/1 odds to win the RBC Heritage. Other notables include Webb Simpson and Bo Van Pelt, both listed at 22/1, as well as Jason Dufner at 33/1.
The drivers of the Nationwide Series will hit the track under the lights on Friday night as they compete on the NASCAR betting lines at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
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Joey Logano (13/2 at Bovada to win this week) took the checkered flag in the last Nationwide Series race back on March 24 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, holding off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5/1) to win the Royal Purple 300. That was Logano's first win of the Nationwide Series season; he also has two Top-5 results and three Top-10 results in four starts on the circuit in 2012.
Brad Keselowski (5/1), Brian Scott, Austin Dillon (20/1), Brad Sweet, Kenny Wallace, Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler (17/2), and Brendan Gaughan also collected Top-10 finishes at the Royal Purple 300. Danica Patrick (50/1) ran into engine trouble and only finished 63 of the 150 laps at the race.
Sadler leads the Nationwide Series standings after five events with 214 points, 18 more than second-place Stenhouse Jr. (Sprint Cup Series regulars like Logano aren't eligible for the Nationwide points race). Sadler has two victories, four Top-5 results, and five Top-10 results so far on the season.
Stenhouse Jr. and James Buescher have the other two wins on the 2012 schedule, with Stenhouse Jr. winning in Las Vegas and Buescher visiting Victory Lane at Daytona. Sadler won at both Phoenix and Bristol.
Dillon, Trevor Bayne, and Sam Hornish Jr. round out the current Top 5 of the standings, with Dillon and Stenhouse Jr. each earning three Top-5 results this season. Keselowski, another Sprint Cup regular, has finished in the Top 5 in four of the five Nationwide events.
Denny Hamlin (7/2), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (11/2), Kurt Busch (9/1), Kasey Kahne (12/1), and Paul Menard (20/1) round out the listed drivers on the Nationwide Series odds this week.
One of the best boxers in the world will come at a cheap price this weekend when WBA Super World Middleweight champ Felix Sturm (36-2-2) defends his title against fellow countryman Sebastian Zbik (30-1). This fight will be closely handicapped and should be one of the best bouts of the year. Get your WBA odds for the tilt at Bovada.
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33-year-old Sturm is coming off two close decision wins and a draw in 2011, causing some boxing betting enthusiasts to wonder if father time has begun to slow down the dominant champion. In response Sturm has made some changes during this camp and expects to be improved in the speed and power departments by fight time.
Sturm will be in for a major test against Zbik, who will be coming off his first professional loss that saw him drop his new WBC Interim Middleweight title to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Zbik has also been making changes in his boxing style during this camp and reports have him looking stronger than ever in sparring sessions.
This fight is likely going to be technical battle because neither fighter possesses big power. There’s a very good chance that it goes the distance, and when it comes to decisions it’s tough to beat Sturm; his fighting style utilizes jabs and power blocking in a manner that makes it tough to win a decision over him.
Zbik will need to use his own jab to try and put the pressure on his opponent as much as possible. If he can sustain an attack for enough of the rounds Zbik could easily upset Sturm and walk out of the Lanxess-Arena in Cologne, Germany as the new champion on Friday night. If Zbik is unable to maintain the pressure he will likely lose via decision - the way so many of Sturm’s other opponents have.
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Sadler, the 2011 Nationwide Series driver championship runner-up, has chalked up four Top 3 finishes in four starts in auto-racing betting results so far this year, including wins in the Ford Eco-Boost 300 last week at Bristol Motor Speedway and another victory on March 3 in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Those two wins by Sadler were sandwiched around a victory by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the defending Nationwide series driver champion, who took the checkered flag on March 10 in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in which Sadler crossed the finish line in third place behind runner-up Mark Martin.
James Buescher won the season-opening Drive4COPD 300 race at Daytona International Speedway, with Sadler also winding up third in that race behind Brad Keselowski in a crash-filled spectacle that saw Buescher claim his first career Nationwide Series victory under caution.
Not surprisingly it is Sadler who currently leads the Nationwide Series driver standings, with 178 points after four races and a 25-point lead on second-place Stenhouse. Trevor Bayne ranks third with 149 points, with Austin Dillon (148 points) and Cole Whitt (137 points) rounding out the Top 5 drivers heading into the Royal Purple 500.
Danica Patrick, who is also competing part-time on the Sprint Cup Series this year, currently sits just outside the Top 10 in the Nationwide Series driver standings with 87 points in 12th place.