Indians obtain Slowey from Rockies

Baseball Betting Lines

01/20/2012 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians acquired right-hander Kevin Slowey and cash considerations from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for pitcher Zach Putnam.

Slowey was dealt by Minnesota to Colorado last month and quickly agreed to a one-year contract with the Rockies to avoid arbitration.

The 27-year-old went 0-8 with a 6.67 ERA for the Twins last season and missed significant time with an abdominal strain. He won 13 games in 2010.

Slowey has compiled a 39-29 record with a 4.66 ERA in 100 career contests (90 starts) for Minnesota.

Putnam, 24, made his major league debut for the Indians in 2011, going 1-1 with a 6.14 ERA in eight relief appearances.

Horaeracing Baseball Betting News

<< Dallas swoops for Rodriguez
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas announced on Friday that the club has come to terms with defender Carlos Rodriguez, who will be added to the team pending receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate. The 21-yea

<< Nationals give 1B/OF Morse extension
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals agreed to a multi-year contract extension with first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse on Friday, avoiding salary arbitration. Morse, 29, batted .303 with 31 home runs and

<< Ravens S Reed probable for Sunday
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed is listed as probable for Sunday's AFC Championship at New England due to a left ankle injury. He was a full participant in Friday's practice after being limited the l

<< Gladbach downs Bayern to open second half
Monchengladbach, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monchengladbach pulled within one point of Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich on Friday, as Marco Reus notched his 11th goal and Patrick Herrmann added a brace in a 3-1 win at Borussia-Park. Reus sc

<< Brady's name removed from injury report
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was removed from Friday's injury report and was a full participant in practice for a second straight day. He sat out Wednesday's practice to rest a lingering

Anaheim Ducks sign D Beauchemin to extension >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Francois Beauchemin to a three-year contract extension Friday. Through 45 games for the Ducks this season, Beauchemin has six goals and 12 assists with a plus-1 rating

United acquires midfielder Cruz from Dynamo >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United acquired midfielder Danny Cruz from the Houston Dynamo on Friday in exchange for a partial allocation. Cruz, 22, was selected in the third round of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, and made 51 appearan

Celtic goes for 12th straight win vs. St. Mirren >>
Paisley, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There seems to be no stopping Celtic at the moment. The Hoops have won 11-straight league games to improve to 56 points on the season and overtake Rangers for first place in the Scottish Premier

Dempsey, Wambach win U.S. awards >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Soccer named forward Clint Dempsey as the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year on Friday, and forward Abby Wambach as the 2011 Female Athlete of the Year. Dempsey, who previously won the award in 2007, become

Rangers sign Hawpe to minor league deal >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers signed first baseman/outfielder Brad Hawpe to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to the team's spring training camp. Hawpe spent the 2011 campaign wit

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.

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Schedules
MySportsbook.com , leading online sportsbook, offers free NFL football office pool printable sheets! Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury -- Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.