Kiessling leads Leverkusen over Hamburg
Soccer Betting Lines
03/14/2010 - Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stefan Kiessling scored twice and Bayer Leverkusen rebounded from its first loss of the season to beat Hamburg 4-2 on Sunday at the BayArena.
Leverkusen opened the season unbeaten in 24 straight before losing to Nurnberg 3-2 last weekend. Kiessling increased his season scoring total to 16 to retake the Bundesliga lead and helped move Leverkusen back within three points of the league lead.
Bayern Munich passed Bayer two weeks ago, and topped Freiburg 2-1 on Saturday to maintain first. Schalke is second after its 2-1 win Friday over Stuttgart.
Hamburg was passed by Borussia Dortmund for fourth place Saturday, and is now 13 points behind Bayern in fifth.
Kiessling scored in the 22nd minute off a long pass from Tranquillo Barnetta. Kiessling converted from just outside the penalty area to beat Hamburg goalie Frank Rost.
Ze Roberto answered for Hamburg in the 33rd to send the match into the break tied at 1, but Leverkusen responded with two goals early in the second half.
Eren Derdiyok handed Leverkusen the lead 10 minutes after half, then Kiessling was set up in the 62nd by Renato Augusto for easy finish from close range.
David Rozehnal scored in the 83rd to give Hamburg hope, but Gonzalo Castro had an answer just one minute later as Leverkusen held on for its 14th win.
Claudio Pizarro scored in the 80th as Werder Bremen closed within one point of Hamburg in sixth with a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim at Rhein-Neckar-Arena.
Hoffenheim its second straight home match and has dropped to 11th.
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicklas Backstrom scored twice, including the winning goal at 3:10 of overtime, as the Washington Capitals rallied to beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3, at United Center. Backstrom, Brooks Laich and Eric Feh
<< Bucks edge Pacers to complete season sweep
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerry Stackhouse finished with a team-high 20
points off the bench, as the Milwaukee Bucks escaped with a 98-94 win over the
Indiana Pacers at the Bradley Center.
Andrew Bogut donated a double-double with
<< Temple tops Richmond to win A-10 crown, gets NCAA bid
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Fernandez led all scorers with 18
points, as 17th-ranked Temple held on to claim its third straight Atlantic 10
Conference title with a 56-52 win over Richmond at Boardwalk Hall and earn an
automat
<< Kentucky survives Mississippi State in OT for 26th SEC crown
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeMarcus Cousins beat the buzzer to force
overtime and John Wall nailed a critical three-pointer late in the extra
session, as second-ranked Kentucky edged Mississippi State, 75-74, to claim
its rec
<< Rooney fires United into first
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wayne Rooney scored two more goals to
increase his Premier League-leading total to 25 and Manchester United defeated
Fulham 3-0 on Sunday at Old Trafford to reclaim first place.
Arsenal and Chelsea pa
MIAMI (AP) -Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley is sitting out his second game in a row because of a bruised left thigh.The Heat's second-leading scorer, Beasley tested his thigh in drills before their game Sunday against Philadelphia, but he was sti
Ajax hands PSV second straight loss >>
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Suarez scored his 27th goal and
Ajax handed PSV Eindhoven its second consecutive defeat following a 25-match
unbeaten streak, 4-1 Sunday at the Amsterdam ArenA.
Eindhoven started the season on
Avery, Rangers notch crucial win over Flyers >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sean Avery scored a pair of goals, as the New
York Rangers topped Philadelphia, 3-1, at Madison Square Garden.
Michal Rozsival notched the other goal, while Erik Christensen and Chris Drury
picked up two assi
Report: Browns send QB Quinn to Broncos >>
McLean, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback Brady Quinn is on the verge of a new
beginning that has been rumored since the Browns apparently inked Jake
Delhomme on Saturday, as Cleveland reportedly traded the former first-round
pick to
Stastny scores twice as Avalanche down Stars >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny scored twice and Craig Anderson
made 48 saves, as the Colorado Avalanche earned a 5-3 win over the Dallas
Stars at American Airlines Center.
Milan Hejduk and Darcy Tucker each had a go
Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.