Toms, Villegas share lead in California

Golf Betting Lines

01/19/2012 - La Quinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Toms and Camilo Villegas carded matching rounds of nine-under 63 Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Humana Challenge.

The leaders played two different courses on Thursday. Toms was at La Quinta Country Club, while Villegas played on the Nicklaus Private course at PGA West. Those two courses, along with the Palmer Private course at PGA West, will host the opening three rounds, before the final round is contested on the Palmer course.

Brandt Snedeker headlines a group of four players tied for third place at minus-eight. He stands alongside Bob Estes, Ted Potter, Jr. and Sang-Moon Bae.

Ben Crane is among seven players that share seventh place at seven-under 65.

This is the first time since 1964 that Bob Hope's name isn't associated with the tournament, though his name remains on the trophy. Former President Bill Clinton has added his name to the tournament and brought in a few big names to re-invigorate the event.

Greg Norman and two-time winner Phil Mickelson answered Clinton's call to play this week. Norman managed an even-par 72 at La Quinta, while Mickelson stumbled to a two-over 74, also at La Quinta.

Clinton will play alongside Norman in the pro-am portion of the event on Saturday.

Toms played the front nine first and opened with four straight pars. He turned it on from there as he birdied the next four holes to jump up the leaderboard.

The 45-year-old Toms birdied the 10th, then dropped in back-to-back birdie chances from the 12th to move to minus-seven.

Toms converted birdied chances at 16 and 18 to grab a piece of the lead.

"I struck the ball pretty well all day. I didn't make any putts the first few holes and I had some great looks, then all of a sudden I made a long one, and then I made a couple after that," Toms said in a televised interview. "Then, for the most part, just played solid golf.

"I was never really in trouble off the tee. I hit a lot of greens, had a lot of looks and putted well."

Villegas played the back nine of the Nicklaus course first, and opened with birdies on each of his first two holes. After a pair of pars, he drained three straight birdie chances from the 14th.

The Colombian made the turn at five-under. He birdied three of the first four holes on the front nine. Villegas parred the next three holes, then birdied the par-five eighth to end at minus-nine.

"A great day out there. Obviously, the weather is beautiful, golf course conditions are perfect and I had a great group," Villegas said. "We had some laughs out there and felt pretty relaxed. It's a really nice way to start the year. I kept the ball in play, made a lot of great putts and then again had a lot of fun out there."

Johnson Wagner, last week's winner at the Sony Open, carded a four-under 68 on the Palmer course and is tied for 31st. Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas is tied for 80th at minus-two after a round with five birdies and three bogeys.

NOTES: There 12 former champions in the field including Vegas and Mickelson...Tops among that group is Pat Perez, who opened with a five-under 67 at La Quinta...Toms, who played alongside Mickelson, will shift to the Nicklaus course on Friday, while Villegas will play the Palmer course.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.