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08/10/2008 - Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amanda Blumenherst grabbed her first lead on the 31st hole and held off Azahara Munoz for a 2 & 1 win at the 108th U.S. Women's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.
Blumenherst, last year's runner-up, got up and down for par on the 35th hole to seal the match after Munoz missed an eight-foot birdie putt.
The 21-year-old Blumenherst is the first collegian to win this trophy since Virada Nirapathpongporn in 2003.
"I never got frustrated. I just kept with it," Blumenherst said. "Azahara didn't really make any mistakes and I was playing well. My putting kind of started off a little shaky, but I stayed strong and stayed patient with it. My coach told me to stay patient all day and it'll win it for you and it did."
Munoz had a 2-up lead twice on the first 18 holes and they both came on the front nine. Blumenherst rallied to square the match as she rolled in a 14-foot birdie putt on the par-four 15th.
The 20-year-old Munoz made par at the last to take a 1-up lead into the afternoon 18. Blumenherst was unable to get up and down for par on the 19th to fall 2-down for the third time.
Blumenherst kicked in a short birdie putt on the 21st, but Munoz chipped in for birdie on the 23rd to take a 2-up lead for the fourth and final time.
Munoz, the 2008 NCAA Individual champion, missed a four-foot par putt at the next as her lead dropped to 1-up. The duo halved the next three holes, before Blumenherst made her move.
The three-time All-American from Duke sank a seven-foot birdie putt on the 28th hole to square the match. Blumenherst got up and down for par on the par- five 31st and that was enough for the win as Munoz made a mess of the hole, walking off with a bogey.
Blumenherst two-putted for birdie on the par-five 34th to push her advantage to 2-up after Munoz missed a 20-foot birdie try. On the 35th, Blumenherst got up and down for par from a greenside bunker to seal the win.
"Last year I played great the whole tournament, I just rushed the last match. I pushed where I didn't need to," explained Blumenherst. "This year, I was just patient and was able to give it my best. I definitely got nervous late in the match. But I'm really confident in my sand game and I took a deep breath and got it done."
<< Aybar powers Rays past Seattle
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Willy Aybar homered twice and drove in four
runs as Tampa crushed Seattle, 11-3, in the finale of a four-game series from
Safeco Field.
Shawn Riggans added a three-run blast for the Rays, who won the fi
<< Harrington wins second major in a row
Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Padraig Harrington holed a
gutsy 12-foot par save on the 72nd hole to win his second major in a row at
the PGA Championship.
Harrington finished with his second four-under 66 in as m
<< Giles leads San Diego slugfest in win over Rockies
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Giles and Luke Carlin each drove in four
runs and each hit one of San Diego's four homers as the Padres trumped
the Colorado Rockies, 16-7, in the rubber match of a three-game set.
Giles finishe
<< Angel, Red Bulls earn important win over D.C.
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Red Bulls earned their
most important win so far this season, topping Eastern Conference rivals D.C.
United 4-1 at Giants Stadium in Major League Soccer action on Sunday
afterno
Webb wins MLB-leading 17th as D'Backs upend Braves >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Webb became the first pitcher in the
majors to get to 17 wins by leading the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta
Braves, 6-1, and avoid a four-game sweep at Chase Field.
Webb (17-4) has won four
Giants register another comeback win over Dodgers >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eugenio Velez's infield single plated
Aaron Rowand, and the Giants scored twice in their last at-bat for the second
straight game to down the Dodgers, 5-4, in the finale of a three-game set.
Rowand
Angels' Figgins drives in game-winner to finish off sweep of Yanks >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chone Figgins' single in the bottom of the
ninth plated the game-winning run, as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim edged
New York, 4-3, to complete a three-game sweep of the Yankees.
With the game tied
Piercy earns first win in Wichita >>
Wichita, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Piercy managed just an even-par 71 in the
final round Sunday, but it was enough for a two-stroke win at the Wichita
Open.
Piercy and five other players completed their third rounds earlier in the da
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.
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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