92nd PGA Championship Preview

Golf Betting Lines

08/09/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This year's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits is historic.

Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time since 1997, it's impossible to realistically see Tiger Woods contending for a major championship.

You know how some people just unilaterally take Tiger whenever the prop bet is Tiger versus the field? I know one of them. Johnnie Pie is his name and so I asked if he would take Woods against the field for the PGA?

"No way," was the text reply.

There we have it. "No way."

Woods' game is in tatters the likes of which we've never seen. We have no clue where his ball is going, but worse, neither does Woods. Hank Haney is no longer a factor. He's off with Rush Limbaugh on the Golf Channel talking about clubhead speed and capital gains.

The true tale of Woods' woes manifested itself at last week's Bridgestone Invitational. He's won that championship seven times and what transpired had to be the most discouraging professional week of his career.

Woods' 78th-place finish was his worst as a professional since the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open. That was his first professional start, by the way. Woods' 18-over par was his worst score in relation to par as a pro.

This is a tournament he won seven times, remember.

What made the performance all the more troublesome was that Woods appeared to be uninterested at times. On Saturday, Woods hit some shots without taking so much as practice swing. He'd walk right into a bunker, hit it, hand the club to caddie Stevie Williams and move on to the green.

On Sunday, his tee shot barely sailed right en route to hitting a spectator in the mouth before Woods started walking after it. He tried to reach the 16th green in two, which Nick Faldo called on Sunday "a suicide shot." Woods never used to do that.

Yes, Woods has had to endure personal problems all year and constant questions from the media. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Woods brought everything on himself and he has to endure it.

No one knew exactly what to expect from Woods on the golf course, but no one could have reasonably suspected Woods would actually regress through the schedule.

Some, like The Sportsbook Betting Lines's own Roger Farrell, believed Woods would gain freedom by just playing golf now that his sordid secrets were out in the open. Golf could be the sanctuary, but that theory appears to have been debunked with prejudice.

Remember that Woods' 2010 season started with actual promise. He tied for fourth at the Masters and the U.S. Open. Sure, he had a missed cut and a withdrawal in between, but Woods had a pair of top-fives in majors, and that's nothing to sneeze at.

But, as colleague Gerard Gallagher pointed out, those scores appear to be the anomaly. Woods didn't break 70 at the AT&T National. He shot a 67 at St. Andrews, then didn't break 72. Woods is just nowhere with his game right now.

That has to terrify Woods a little. He's had some slowish periods in his career, but nothing remotely close to this. Woods has no swing coach to fix things and who knows what the status of his personal life is.

Woods is completely lost in the game of golf for the first time ever. Fixing it at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits is not a rosy proposition, so it's tough to think he has any reasonable chance.

At least Woods was able to hold on to the No. 1 world ranking, although through very little fault of his own. He tied for 78th. Had Phil Mickelson shown anything on Sunday, Lefty would be No. 1 this week.

With Woods already on a plane to Wisconsin, Mickelson needed a fourth or better to finally be recognized statistically as the game's best. He was tied for 10th at the start of the final round, but a front-nine 41 meant another week at No. 2.

Mickelson won this year's Masters and hasn't done much of anything else. He contended at the U.S. Open, but faltered on Sunday and hasn't really flirted with the top of the leaderboard since.

Ernie Els is in a great spot. He's a two-time winner this year on the PGA Tour and leads the FedEx Cup points list. Els' 64 on Saturday in Akron showed his mid-season mini-rut was a thing of the past.

Luke Donald has put together a season almost as good as anyone this year. Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk are both multiple winners on the PGA Tour in 2010. Justin Leonard is finally playing decent golf based on last week and was a runner-up to winner Vijay Singh at Whistling Straits in 2004.

As is the case with the PGA Championship, international teams are to be decided. Corey Pavin's automatic eight on the American Ryder Cup side will be finalized come Sunday.

Does Woods vault into the top eight and spare Pavin from the potentially embarrassing scenario where he asks Woods and Tiger says "no thank you?"

See, even the Ryder Cup questions revolve around Tiger.

This really is historic.

Myracetrack Golf Betting News

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.

Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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