New species of Shark discovered in '10 playoffs

Hockey Betting Lines

05/05/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It really shouldn't be surprising when a No. 1 seed emerges as a favorite for the Stanley Cup, but in the case of the 2010 San Jose Sharks, it has caught some of us doubters a little bit off guard.

But, here we are in the conference semifinal round of the playoffs and San Jose is up three games to none on the Detroit Red Wings, the two-time defending Western Conference champions and winners of the Stanley Cup two years ago.

Since reaching the conference finals as a second seed in 2004, the Sharks have averaged nearly 109 points per season, only to bow out in the second round or earlier in each of those years.

San Jose is just one game away from finally getting back to the conference finals and, with the way they've played against the Red Wings, the Sharks now have to be considered serious contenders to win it all.

Even though the Sharks are the top seed in the West, many folks, including yours truly, picked the Red Wings to win this series. Detroit, after all, has pretty much been the antithesis of playoff-collapsing San Jose, winning four of the last 12 Stanley Cup titles.

The Red Wings have players we've grown accustomed to trusting in the postseason, superstars like Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, etc. Meanwhile, San Jose has players like Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Nabokov that have all been derided for being playoff no-shows in the past.

At first, this postseason seemed to begin the way last year's ended for San Jose, with the Sharks getting outplayed by an inferior opponent. The Sharks hit rock-bottom in 2009, when they were also No. 1 heading into the playoffs before losing in six games to eighth-seeded Anaheim in the opening round.

This year, San Jose lost Game 1 to Colorado and was down 2-1 in the series after Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle handed the eighth-seeded Avalanche a 1-0 overtime victory in Game 3. Boyle scored the game's only goal, unfortunately he beat his own goaltender, backhanding the puck past Nabokov while trying to send the disc off the end boards.

But, just when it seemed like Sharks fans would have to wait another year for a deep playoff run, something clicked in the San Jose locker room. Since Boyle's blunder, the Sharks have rattled off six straight wins by ending the series against Colorado and taking the surprising 3-0 lead over the Red Wings.

Perhaps the clearest sign that San Jose is for real came in Tuesday's victory over the Red Wings. The Sharks trailed 3-1 heading into the third period, but instead of resting on their 2-0 series' lead, San Jose scored twice in the final 20 minutes of regulation and then won the game on Marleau's tally just over seven minutes into overtime.

It was the first career playoff OT winner for Marleau, who was stripped of his captaincy after his club's embarrassing first-round exit last spring. Marleau, along with his linemates Thornton and Dany Heatley are just starting to heat up after the top line struggled to a sub-par performance in Round 1.

The top line's slow start to the postseason didn't hurt San Jose that much thanks to the play of winger Joe Pavelski, who entering Wednesday's action is tops in the NHL with nine goals and second only to Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby with 15 points. If Marleau, Heatley and Thornton can keep moving in the right direction and Pavelski stays hot, that makes the Sharks an even scarier opponent.

Possibly the biggest difference from last year to 2010 has to be Nabokov's improved play in net. The Russian is 7-2 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .920 save percentage this year. He was just 2-4 with a 2.82 GAA and .890 save percentage in the ill-fated series against the Ducks last year.

Now, all that is left for San Jose to do in Round 2 is to avoid matching the biggest collapse in NHL postseason history. In order to reach the conference finals for the fourth straight year, Detroit will have to become just the third team in league annals to win a series after trailing three games to none. The last time it happened was in 1975, when the New York Islanders charged back to defeat Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals.

Of course, if that happens, the Sharks will be right back where they started this postseason, as the poster children for playoff choking.

But, that was the old San Jose and this year's edition has exorcised its playoff demons. And the rest of the league has been put on notice.

Online-betting-sportsbook Hockey Betting News

<< Georgia Southern to visit Alabama in 2011
Statesboro, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former FCS power Georgia Southern is hoping to gets its program back on track in 2010. Clearly, it will need to raise its play by the end of the 2011 season, when it plays the University of Alabama for the firs

<< Querrey, Wawrinka land in Belgrade quarters
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded American Sam Querrey and fourth-seeded Swiss Stanislas were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the Serbian Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up. The 6-foot-6 Querrey topped

<< Super Saver takes to track as Derby champ
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver went to the racetrack at Churchill Downs Wednesday morning for the first time since capturing the 136th Run for the Roses. The three-year-old colt is being prepare

<< Saints agree to big deal with G Evans
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have reportedly agreed to a seven-year contract extension worth $56.7 million with guard Jahri Evans. The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reported the news Wednesday, citing a leag

<< 2013 Senior Women's Am awarded to CordeValle
Far Hills, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States Golf Association announced on Wednesday that CordeValle in San Martin, Calif., has been selected to host the 2013 USGA Senior Women's Amateur Championship. Situated on 1,700 acres of rollin

Jays rally past Tribe thanks to error, timely hits >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Lind hit a two-out two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning, as the Toronto Blue Jays game back to stun the Cleveland Indians, 5-4, and complete the three-game sweep. Travis Snider and Jose

Cabrera's homer in 10th lifts Reds over Mets >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orlando Cabrera's solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-4 win over the New York Mets in the rubber match at Great American Ball Park. The Mets tied the gam

Johnson, Teixeira help Yankees complete sweep of Orioles >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Johnson clubbed a solo home run and walked twice to spark New York to a 7-5 win over Baltimore in the finale of a three- game series at Yankee Stadium. Johnson finished 3-for-3 at the plate, and Mark Teix

Serena, Venus reach Rome quarters >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning world No. 1 Serena Williams and her former top-ranked big sister Venus were a pair of third-round victors Wednesday at the $2 million Italian Masters, a clay-court French Open tune-up

Temple's Golden, Dunphy get new contract extensions >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Temple University head football coach Al Golden and head men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy received lengthy contract extensions on Wednesday. For Golden, it is a five-year extension, while D

With all the style and sex appeal of Las Vegas, MySportsbook.com is without a doubt the coolest online sportsbook on the Internet.

At MySportsbook.com, players get to enjoy the luxury of a five star sportsbook, a racebook that's second to none, a casino with all the bells and whistles, and a swanky new poker room!

MySportsbook also has a unique games room where players can go head-to-head for cash playing such things as sports trivia and fantasy games, popular arcade games, word and memory games, and more.

Throughout MySportsbook, visitors and members are treated to informative sports news and sports betting stats Sports matchup reports and sports betting trends as well as entertaining columns written by colorful personalities.

The management at MySportsbook has been in the online gaming business since 1997. As a result of this success, management has earned a coveted spot on eGaming Review's "Power 50" list, which recognizes leaders in online gaming.

With MySportsbook.com , management's goal is to provide players with an exciting place to experience the thrill of gaming in a safe and trustworthy environment.

Thus, players at MySportsbook are assured of getting top notch customer service while having a wickedly good time.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.


Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Why Sports Betting is so much fun?

Betting Sports

The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)

But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)

Points (or Runs) Scored

Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.

The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.

Future Bets

Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.

Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)

Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:

Types of Bets

Straight Bet

Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.

Sports Betting Parlays

A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.

Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.

Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.

Round Robin Betting

Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.

Betting Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.

These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.