05/14/2008 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David West had career playoff-highs of 38 points and 14 rebounds, and the New Orleans Hornets continued their success at home with a 101-79 win over San Antonio, pushing ahead after five games of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Chris Paul added 22 points and 14 assists for the Hornets, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday in San Antonio.
West, who shot 16-of-25 from the field, also had five assists and five blocked shots. The Hornets are one win away from advancing past second round for first time in franchise history.
Morris Peterson tallied 12 points and Jannero Pargo 10 for New Orleans, which had just six turnovers. The Hornets are 6-0 at home in the playoffs this year.
Hornets center Tyson Chandler had to be helped to the bench with 8:47 left in the fourth quarter after hurting his left foot. He didn't return.
Manu Ginobili scored 20 points and dished out seven assists for the Spurs. Tim Duncan finished with 10 points and 23 rebounds, but was hurt by a 5-for-18 performance from the field. Tony Parker scored 18 and Bruce Bowen 10 in defeat.
The home team has won every game in this series, and Tuesday brought a carbon copy of the first two games, when the Hornets won by 19 and 18 points, respectively.
The Spurs were ahead 47-44 at the half, but fell apart in the third quarter. New Orleans outscored the defending NBA champions 28-11 in the period and maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the fourth. The closest the Spurs got was eight points, at 85-77 with barely under five minutes left on a bucket by Ime Udoka.
However, the Hornets scored the next 13 points with seven coming from Pargo. Paul started the burst with a driving layup, and after Parker missed two free throws, the third-year guard drove in for another layup with 3:24 remaining for an 89-77 difference.
A layup from Duncan moved the Spurs to a 51-50 lead with 8:57 left in the third, but the Hornets scored the ensuing 14 points. Paul scored seven in a row, and his pass to Chandler resulted in an alley-oop jam for a 61-51 margin with 5:24 left. Peterson followed with a three-pointer to cap the rally.
San Antonio led 23-21 after the opening quarter and was ahead by as many as seven in the second, the last time at 43-36 with 1:49 remaining on a Ginobili three-point play. However, the Hornets scored the ensuing seven points, started by a Peterson three.
Game Notes
West finished the game one point shy of a Hornets playoff record. Glen Rice had 39 on April 26, 1997 at New York, when the Hornets were located in Charlotte...The home team is 17-1 in this round of this year's NBA playoffs...The Spurs have never won a playoff series when they lost the first two games of the set. Conversely, the Hornets are 0-4 in the second round of the playoffs, having lost to New York (1993), Chicago (1998), Milwaukee (2001) and New Jersey (2002)...San Antonio forward Robert Horry played in his 238th playoff game, moving past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most all-time in league history...The Spurs shot 37.7 percent from the field...Peja Stojakovic scored nine and had 11 rebounds for New Orleans.
<< Litsch gets fifth win as Toronto beats Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jesse Litsch notched his fifth win and the
Toronto Blue Jays got their offense going with 10 hits to defeat the Minnesota
Twins, 5-3, in the opener of a three-game series at the Metrodome.
Litsch (5-1) wen
<< Rays climb to first in AL East; top Yankees in 11
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gabe Gross had the game-winning single
off Mariano Rivera in the 11th inning to lead the Tampa Bay Rays past the New
York Yankees, 2-1, and into first place in the AL East.
Akinori Iwamura went 2-fo
<< Pirates' Doumit leaves with thumb injury
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit left after one
inning of Tuesday's game against the Cardinals with a left thumb injury.
A pitch from Pittsburgh starter Phil Dumatrait hit the catcher on the thumb of
his glove
<< Laird propels Rangers over Mariners
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Laird went 2-for-3 with an RBI and
three runs scored as the Texas Rangers upended the Seattle Mariners, 5-2, in
the second test of a three-game series at Rangers Ballpark.
Texas starter Kason Ga
Cain does it all as Giants nip Astros >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Cain allowed just two runs over
eight innings and hit his second home run of the year as the San Francisco
Giants edged the Houston Astros, 4-2, in the second of a four-game set at AT&T
Par
Weaver flirts with no-no as Halos edge ChiSox >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jered Weaver threw seven innings of one-hit
ball, and Mike Napoli's sacrifice fly drove in the winning run, as the Los
Angeles Angels earned a 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Weaver actually had a no-hitte
Hornets' Chandler hurts toe >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Hornets center Tyson Chandler
hurt a toe on his left foot in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's 101-79 playoff
win over San Antonio.
The Hornets, who grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven W
Report: Henin to retire >>
Brussels, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Belgian Justine Henin, the world's top-
ranked women's tennis player, will reportedly announce her retirement on
Wednesday.
The newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reported that the 25-year-old Henin, who has a
16-
It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.
American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies
It's that time of year folks. Betting on American Idol Season 9. And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below. With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.
No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.
Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.
Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.
Odds to Win
There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.
All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.
A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.
Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.
Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol.
Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.
If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.
Elimination Props
Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.
Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.
Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups
The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.
Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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