Clwvelandbrowns Baseball Betting News

<< Chelsea bested by Napoli in Italy
Naples, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea's Champions League aspirations took a major hit on Tuesday as it suffered a 3-1 loss to Napoli in the first leg at the Stadio San Paolo. The Blues opened the scoring through Juan Mata in the

<< Avs, Wings, Bolts deal; Downie, Quincey change locales
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche brought in some skill and toughness on Tuesday, acquiring forward Steve Downie from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman Kyle Quincey. The Bolts then turned around a

<< Tevez apologizes to Manchester City
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez apologized Tuesday and withdrew his appeal against the Premier League club's claim of gross misconduct, opening the door for his return from a five-month absence

<< Dulgheru exits Monterrey
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth seed Alexandra Dulgheru came up an opening-round loser Tuesday at the $220,000 Monterrey Open. Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa erased the Romanian Dulgheru 6-3, 6-3 on the hardcourts at Sierra Mad

Lightning acquire F Segal from Chicago >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday acquired forward Brandon Segal from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forward Matt Fornataro. Segal, 28, has 11 goals and 22 points in 92 games over three NHL season

Almagro stays hot in Buenos Aires >>
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off his title in Sao Paulo last week, reigning Buenos Aires champion Nicolas Almagro continued his winning ways Tuesday with a first-round victory at the Copa Claro tennis event. The seco

Dundee United thumps 10-man Kilmarnock >>
Dundee, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Daly converted a penalty for his 13th goal following the sending off of Liam Kelly and Dundee United rolled to a 4-0 win over short-handed Kilmarnock on Tuesday in the Scottish Premier League. Daly's

Former Fiesta Bowl director pleads guilty >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The former longtime executive director of the Fiesta Bowl has pled guilty to a felony count of solicitation to commit fraud schemes. John Junker, who was fired in March 2001 after a probe uncovered a schem

Betting Football

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.