Sports Gambling Blog

A fairly large slate of NFL games awaits bettors today, as nine games are on the schedule. A number of teams will be putting a little more effort out there to try and win today, in part so they can rest their starters a bit more next week.

In baseball, there are fewer large favorites than there have been in days past, with just three favorites of -200 or more, including the Cubs, who went off at a whopping -350.

Today's plays are up and can be found at Free Sports Betting Picks located in the Sports Gambling 101 section of the site.

Photo: Dan Orlovsky and the Detroit Lions look to remain unbeaten today when they host the Cleveland Browns. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Of all the different football handicapping contests offered this season, none will carry more prestige than the Las Vegas Hilton's SuperContest. Ever since the old Castaways contest ceased to be many years ago, the Hilton SuperContest has been "the" football handicapping contest in existence. With a payout of roughly $300,000 to the winner, it's easy to see why.

The one problem that kept a number of wishful contestants out of the contest was that weekly entries have to be turned into the Hilton, but that is no longer an issue, as sports bettors from all over the world now have a method of participating.

But even if you don't participate in the contest, you can still profit from it. Find out more in Hilton NFL SuperContest in the NFL section of the site.

Photo: The Las Vegas Hilton holds the ultimate football handicapping contest every fall. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The Dog Days of Summer have turned into the Chalk Days of August, as favorites have been winning at an alarming rate the past eight days. Entering Wednesday's action, baseball favorites were on an incredible 112-35 run, which has been making life miserable for bookmakers everywhere. While many bettors are anxiously awaiting the start of the football season, it goes without saying that nobody will be happier to see the start of the NFL season than the bookies.

Things weren't any different in early action on Wednesday, as the three favorites all came through for their backers. Remember, large favorites tend to cover more this time of year, so while there are a number of juicy prices on some good-looking dogs, it's best to tread lightly.

Today's baseball play is up and can be found at Free Sports Betting Picks located in the Sports Gambling 101 section of the site.

Photo: The Dodgers' Nomar Garciaparra watches a fourth-inning base hit in Tuesday's game with Colorado. The Dodgers are a 2-1 favorite to win on Wednesday. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

A relatively new sportsbook is getting plenty of attention from sports bettors, and that's creditwagering.com. As the name suggests, creditwagering.com is a sportsbook that operates on the honor system, letting gamblers place bets before making a deposit.

The concept has been around for years, with bookies allowing bettors to bet on credit, but it is still relatively new to the online world and many people are curious or skeptical about creditwagering.com's ability to survive longterm.

Find out more about creditwagering.com and the premise behind the company in Credit Wagering located in the Online Sportsbook section of the site.

You know it's the second week on the NFL Preseason when the sports services start releasing their various Preseason Games of the Year. So far, I've managed to find at least five of them by different services, all of them fairly well known in the sports tout industry. I'll post the games in the forum under Picks and Selections.

The preseason cane be a good time to wager, but there is nothing guaranteed in the world of sports betting, so make your wagers accordingly.

There has been some serious line movement in several NFL games, with Seattle opening as a 3-point favorite and now the Bears are favored by 2.5; the Rams went from 1-point favorites to 3-point favorites and the line may hit 3.5 or 4 before game time; and Atlanta went from Even to -3. The Atlanta total is the only one that has changed by more than a point, climbing 1.5 points to 37.

In baseball, there have been several significant line changes from the early overnight lines, with the Cardinals moving from +114 to -113; Washington going from -129 to -147; and the Angels jumping from -129 to -165. (The Boston line moved dramatically, but that was due to the pitching change and really can't be considered.)

Today's free plays are up and can be found at Free Sports Betting Picks located in the Sports Gambling 101 section of the site.

Photo: Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb fires a pass in the Eagles' game against Carolina. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

When it comes to sports, there is no shortage of available statistics for the bettor to consider prior to placing a wager. While baseball may be the most statistic-oriented sport of them all, football is a close second. Different football bettors have such stats as turnover differential, third down efficiency, time of possession, and the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, with so many statistics available, bettors are often bewildered as to which ones are meaningful and which ones can safely be ignored. There is one statistic that football bettors have used for a number of years and that is Yards Per Point. Yards Per Point is a quick method that lets bettors see the offensive and defensive abilities of teams in an easy to use format.

In this article, we'll look at Yards Per Point, how to calculate the numbers in a matter of seconds, as well as one common use for the figures. To learn more about Yards Per Point, read Football Betting With Yards Per Point in the NFL section of the site.

Photo: Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers were one of the best teams in terms of Yards Per Point for the 2007 NFL season. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

It isn't unusual for a number of sportsbooks to have lines that are quite similar, although there are generally a few that will have some lines that are slightly different than the majority of their counterparts. Sports gamblers who track these differences and how well they do can have a nice little advantage over their sports betting counterparts who do not.

Sure, it can be time consuming, but gaining every little advantage possible is key for sports bettors and is the foundation of this article. Read Tracking the Sportsbooks in the Experienced Bettors Only section of the site.

Photo: John Lackey and Chone Figgins celebrate the Angels' win over the Yankees on Sunday. If you live outside the United States and wagered on the game, favorable odds were available from Pinnacle. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

Three of Major League Baseball's divisional leaders are in front by one game or less heading into the final quarter of the season, which should make several exciting finishes. Despite making the big trade that landed Manny Ramirez and a four-game losing streak by Arizona, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been unable to pass the Diamondbacks, while the Mets are pushing the Phillies and Minnesota and Chicago are nearly neck-and-neck.

The number of teams still with a shot at the playoffs is a good thing for bettors, who can be assured of teams giving their best effort, something that doesn't always happen when you have teams knocked out of contention.

Today's baseball plays are up and can be found at Free Sports Betting Picks located in the Sports Gambling 101 section of the site.

Photo: Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers are still chasing the Diamondbacks. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Brett Favre is now a member of the New York Jets and some sportsbooks have already taken down Super Bowl odds and regular season win totals to make some adjustments. While Favre doesn't guarantee the Jets a playoff berth, he is a solid upgrade over Kellen Clemens or Chad Pennington. Still, it appears that anybody betting the Jets to win the Super Bowl because of the Favre factor, is taking quite a risk.

From a betting standpoint, Favre's influence should make itself known much earlier. The Jets play the Browns tonight and it will be interesting to see how his addition affects the other quarterbacks. Obviously, jobs are now in jeopardy, especially for the third- and fourth-string quarterbacks.

Today's free football play is in the New York Jets game and can be found at Free Sports Betting Picks located in the Sports Gambling 101 section of the site.

Photo:Brett Favre is on his way to Broadway to quarterback the Jets. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

For a number of sports bettors, tonight's Hall of Fame Game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Redskins is a lot like the Super Bowl. They're going to place a bet on the game regardless if they believe it's a good wager or not.

The first thing you'll notice about the point spread, is that the line is high and the total is low. The Redskins are favored by 4.5 or 5 points and the line is 31 or 31.5 depending on which sportsbook you use. The Colts have already said they will not play Payton Manning and Marvin Harrsion may not play at all, as well.

The Redskins should be the favorites in this game, as new head coach Jim Zorn is likely to want to start things off with a victory, but it's still difficult to lay so many points in the preseason. But you have to wonder how much effort the Colts are going to put forth.

Today's free play is in the Hall of Fame Game and can be found at Free Sports Betting Picks located in the Sports Gambling 101 section of the site.

Photo: Art Monk makes his induction speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)