Phillies, Pence agree for $10.4 million

Baseball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies avoided arbitration with outfielder Hunter Pence on Friday, signing him to a one-year deal worth $10.4 million.

Pence, who was acquired from the Houston Astros on July 29, hit .324 with 11 home runs, 12 doubles and knocked in 35 runs in 54 games for the NL East- champion Phillies.

He led the club with a .394 on-base mark and .560 slugging percentage following the deal.

All told, the 28-year-old Pence batted .314 and collected 22 homers, 38 doubles and 97 RBI in 154 games.

In a five-game playoff loss to St. Louis, his first postseason venture, Pence hit a paltry .211 and knocked in four runs over 19 at-bats.

Lasvegs Baseball Betting News

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St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays signed veteran infielder Jeff Keppinger to a one-year deal on Friday. The 31-year-old hit .277 with six home runs and 35 runs batted in over 99 games as he split time w

<< Report: Browns hire Childress as OC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns have hired Brad Childress as offensive coordinator, according to a report. Childress will become the first offensive coordinator under Browns head coach Pat Shurmer, NFL.com reported Friday. The f

<< Giants sign infielder Theriot
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants signed infielder Ryan Theriot to a one-year, non-guaranteed major league contract. The deal, announced Friday, is pending a physical. Theriot, 32, played in 132 games for the W

<< AC Milan signs Lopez from Catania
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan announced Friday that it has signed striker Maxi Lopez from Catania, possibly signaling the end of the Rossoneri's pursuit of Carlos Tevez. Milan appeared to be in the mix to land the want-away Manc

<< Bayern hopes to start new run against Wolfsburg
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich opened the second half of the Bundesliga season the way it opened the first half, with a loss. But after the setback to Monchengladbach in August, Bayern became invincible. Well, at least for

PSV Eindhoven claims top spot in Eredivisie >>
Eindhoven, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dries Mertens scored his 14th goal as PSV Eindhoven defeated Vitesse, 3-1, on Friday to move into first place in the Dutch Eredivisie. Tim Matavz and Stanislav Manolev also scored for PSV, which c

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Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut will miss the next 8-to-12 weeks with a fractured left ankle. Bucks general manager John Hammond made the announcement on Friday through the club's Twitter account.

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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A year ago, Sterling Moore was taking in the Super Bowl as a spectator, perched way up in the rafters of spacious Cowboys Stadium as a college senior at nearby Southern Methodist University. The rookie cornerback will have

Hannover gets first Bundesliga win since October >>
Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mohammed Abdellaoue scored his 10th goal of the season and Hannover edged Nurnberg, 1-0, on Friday at AWD Arena for its first Bundesliga win since October. Hannover had six draws and two losses in its l

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Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets signed free agent infielder Matt Tuiasosopo on Friday. Tuiasosopo, 25, played sparingly in three major league seasons for the Seattle Mariners between 2008-10 and hit .176 with 15 runs batte

Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.


College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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