Will cooler heads prevail at Michigan?

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/08/2010 - Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, June 13. Race: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. Site: Michigan International Speedway. Track: two-mile oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 400. 2009 winner: Mark Martin. Television: TNT. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

After a wild finish in last Sunday's race at Pocono, don't be surprised if the madness carries over to Michigan this weekend.

Denny Hamlin held off Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch, who is Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, after two late-race restarts to claim his fourth Pocono win.

Pocono concluded in dramatic fashion, with Kevin Harvick bumping Joey Logano out of the way for a top-five position with less than two laps to go. Then a nine-car pileup occurred on the last lap of the green-white checkered finish when Kasey Kahne was shoved down the track and into the grass by his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate A.J. Allmendinger. Kahne slammed hard into the wall and spun around on the track before taking out Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle and several others.

While Hamlin celebrated his series-high fourth win of the season, Logano parked his car next to Harvick's ride on pit road, as the two engaged in a shouting match.

Indeed, it was a wild day at Pocono.

Now it's on to Michigan, where Hamlin hopes his winning momentum will continue. Prior to his first win of the season in March at Martinsville, Hamlin sat 19th in points. Since then, he has climbed up to third in the standings (-136).

"I feel like we're one of four or five guys that really are legitimate, week in, week out, up-front guys," Hamlin said. "That's a good feeling right now. But it's very tough to stay on top of any sport for an entire year. Our sport is a roller coaster. It goes up and down. It has waves. Your performance always comes in waves."

Hamlin has yet to win at Michigan, but he did record his best finish there one year ago with a third-place run.

Harvick enters Michigan with just a 19-point lead over Busch.

Mark Martin is the defending race winner at Michigan. Last year, Martin won in a thrilling battle of fuel mileage. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson held the lead before running out of gas just short of crossing the line to start the final lap. Biffle then inherited the top position, but he too ran out of fuel on the backstretch. That allowed Martin to take over the lead and then claim his fourth of five victories during the 2009 season.

"We won at the first Michigan race last year because our car was so fast that I could slow down and still stay ahead of people," Martin said. "Therefore, I was able to save enough gas to make it all the way."

Martin leads all full-time, active drivers with five victories at Michigan.

Currently 11th in points, Martin has been winless so far this season.

Last August, Brian Vickers prevailed in another fuel-mileage battle at Michigan. Vickers, the pole sitter, grabbed the lead with two laps to go when Johnson ran out of fuel. He then held off Gordon, who also gambled on fuel, by 1.4 seconds for his second career Cup victory. His first win came in October 2006 at Talladega.

Vickers is expected to be out of his Red Bull Racing Toyota for the remainder of the season, due to his treatment for blood clots. Casey Mears has been driving the car since last month at Dover.

Up until last year, Roush Fenway Racing had been dominant at Michigan, winning a Cup race there for seven consecutive years. Team owner Jack Roush, who resides 60 miles away from the two-mile track in Northville, MI, recorded his 11th victory there in August 2008 when Carl Edwards held off Kyle Busch in a two-lap overtime finish. Roush moved into a tie with the Wood Brothers for most car owner wins at the track.

"All of our wins at [Michigan] have been special," Roush said. "It's in front of a home crowd, it's in front of my Roush industries affiliates and it's in front of Ford Motor Company and Chrysler and General Motors. Detroit is still the Motor City in spite of rumors otherwise, but it's good to race in front of the home crowd where all of our friends and the people that we'd like to have support are there paying attention."

Ford will use its new engine package -- FR9 -- in all of the Roush and Petty cars, as well as the sole entry for the Wood Brothers, this weekend at Michigan.

The automobile manufacturer debuted its FR9 in last year's fall race at Talladega, where Jamie McMurray won in a Roush Ford. McMurray has since moved over to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Ford has not won a Sprint Cup points race since McMurray's victory at Talladega.

Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400.

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American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

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

It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

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