Bayne claims Nationwide pole at ORP

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - Clermont, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Bayne won his second consecutive pole in the Nationwide Series by posting the fastest lap in Saturday's qualifying for the Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Bayne turned a lap of 110.117 m.p.h. around the short 0.686-mile oval for his third career pole in the series. His first pole came one year ago at ORP.

Last Saturday at Gateway International Raceway, Bayne started on the pole and drove to a third-place finish in his No.99 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing.

"This is such a great experience to be able to sit on the pole two weeks in a row," Bayne said.

Steve Wallace will start alongside Bayne on the front row after a qualifying lap of 109.497 m.p.h.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified third, followed by Paul Menard and Kyle Busch.

Aric Almirola, Colin Braun, Brad Keselowski, the current points leader, Justin Allgaier and Matt DiBenedetto completed the top-10.

Carl Edwards, who won last year's race at ORP, qualified 13th. Edwards also won at Gateway after he nudged Keselowski from behind and spun him into the wall coming out of the final turn of the last lap.

Earlier this week, NASCAR penalized Edwards with a 60-point loss, fined him $25,000 and placed him on probation until December 31 for aggressive driving. NASCAR also placed Keselowski on probation for the remainder of the year for his actions on the track at Gateway.

All 43 drivers who attempted qualifying made the field.

The 200-lap race at ORP is scheduled to start around 8:00 p.m. (et).

Boxng Autoracing Betting News

<< Giants place Affeldt on disabled list
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have placed pitcher Jeremy Affeldt on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. The veteran left-hander has appeared in 37 games in relief this season and has posted a rec

<< New York's Barajas leaves game
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mets catcher Rod Barajas left Saturday's game against Los Angeles in the sixth inning with a strained right oblique. The veteran receiver had singled in a run to cut the Dodgers' lead to 2-1 and was re

<< Rachel Alexandra garners Lady's Secret victory
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, used a stalking ride Saturday to win the $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park. The champion filly won the 1 1/8-mile race by three-lengths over Qu

<< Ludwick returns to Cardinals lineup
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals activated outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the 15-day disabled list in time for Saturday's game at Wrigley Field. He went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and walk in his return to the l

<< Report: Giants sign LB Bulluck
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants have reportedly signed veteran linebacker Keith Bulluck. The Star-Ledger, which cites Bulluck's agent, Gary Wichard, reports that the two sides have agreed terms on a one-year

Suzuki, Cust power A's past White Sox >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Suzuki had three hits, including a home run, to lead the Oakland Athletics in a 10-2 rout of the Chicago White Sox in the second of three games at Oakland Coliseum. Suzuki, who signed a contract extens

Phillies rough up Jimenez, Rockies for third straight win >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Rollins finished 3-for-5 with three RBI as Philadelphia sent Ubaldo Jimenez to the showers early in a rousing 10-2 victory over Colorado in the second edition of a four-game series. Ryan Howard als

Power edges teammate Castroneves for Edmonton pole >>
Edmonton, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power won the pole for Sunday's Honda Indy Edmonton, while his teammate, Helio Castroneves, qualified on the outside pole to give Team Penske another front row start in the IZOD IndyCar Series this se

Ordonez leaves with broken ankle >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers slugger Magglio Ordonez left Saturday's game against Toronto with a fractured right ankle. Ordonez was thrown out at home trying to score on a Miguel Cabrera double in the bottom of the thi

Loney's HR in 13th gets Dodgers past reeling Mets >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 13th to lift Los Angeles to a 3-2 win over New York in the third meeting of a four-game set. George Sherrill (1-1) tossed a scoreless

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.