Phillies put Victorino on DL, call up Domonic Brown

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have placed outfielder Shane Victorino on the 15-day disabled list and selected the contract of prized outfield prospect Domonic Brown from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Victorino left Tuesday's 9-5 victory over Arizona with an abdominal strain on his left side. He suffered the injury while diving back into first base during a pickoff attempt in the sixth inning, then departed in the top of the seventh.

In 98 games this season, Victorino is hitting .250 with a career-high 15 home runs, a team-leading 20 stolen bases and 53 runs batted in.

Brown, 22, split time between Double-A Reading and Lehigh Valley this season and hit .327 with 20 home runs and 68 RBI in 93 combined games.

Casinio Baseball Betting News

<< Surrey's Ellis chasing major league dream
Thunder Bay, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Ellis is like any other player on Canada's junior national baseball team - following his passion by playing the sport he loves. What's different about him and the rest of Team Canada's 18-and-under

<< Campbell joins Newcastle on one-year deal
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran defender Sol Campbell signed a one-year contract with Newcastle on Wednesday, the club confirmed. The 35-year-old Campbell made 14 appearances for Arsenal last season, but couldn't agree t

<< Talbot adds heat to Winter Classic
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thank goodness the NHL still has a few guys like Max Talbot. Today's athletes are generally so concerned with image that they are constantly guarding themselves against saying something controversial. If y

<< Royals demote Marte, call up Bullington
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals optioned reliever Victor Marte to and recalled pitcher Bryan Bullington from Triple-A Omaha Wednesday. This will be Bullington's second stint with the big league club this s

<< Raul completes Schalke switch
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid legend Raul has confirmed the new chapter in his career by joining Bundesliga side Schalke. The 33-year-old striker has agreed to a two-year contract with Schalke after officia

CFL East: Blue Bombers dominant with Jyles at the helm >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The East division took full advantage of home cooking last week, as Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg all won within their friendly confines. Hamilton was the lone East team to fall, as touchdowns in their match

PGA Championship Hole-By-Hole Preview >>
Haven, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - HOLE ONE - Par 4 - 408 yards: Bending from right to left, the opening hole on the Straits Course gives the player his first glimpse of mighty Lake Michigan, not to mention the myriad bunkers strewn across the cours

Sochaux adds Maiga from Le Mans >>
Montbeliard, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sochaux completed the signing of Mali international striker Modibo Maiga from Le Mans on Wednesday. Maiga scored seven goals in 32 appearances for Le Mans last season, but after the club was relega

Pironkova knocked out in Istanbul >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova was a second-round upset victim Wednesday at the $220,000 Istanbul Cup hardcourt tennis event. Russian-born Aussie Anastasia Rodionova upended the fi

Rams agree to terms with OL Saffold >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams and rookie offensive tackle Rodger Saffold have reportedly agreed to terms on a contract. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the two sides worked out a deal on Wednesday.

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

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.