Ajaccio leaves it late to escape relegation zone

Soccer Betting Lines

01/29/2012 - Valenciennes, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Christian Kinkela scored 3 minutes into stoppage time as 10-man Ajaccio edged Valenciennes, 2-1, on Sunday at the Stade du Hainaut to climb out of the relegation zone in France's Ligue 1.

Ajaccio won its fourth straight during a five-game unbeaten streak as it moved up to 15th, two points clear of the bottom three. The promoted side opened the season with eight points from its first 16 games, but has 13 in its last five.

Valenciennes lost for the third time in its last four games, and slipped below Ajaccio to 16th.

Eduardo gave Ajaccio its first lead after just 6 minutes, as he was able to settle Paul-Bastien Lasne's right-wing pass and slot past Valenciennes goalie Nicolas Penneteau.

Valenciennes was level in the 48th when Vincent Aboubakar slipped a shot past Ajaccio goalie Guillermo Ochoa and into the top corner, but the tie was broken in the dying seconds.

Kinkela latched onto a pass from Eduardo and avoided a defender before scoring past Penneteau to extend newly-promoted Ajaccio's win streak and lift the club out of the relegation zone.

Ajaccio won for the second time on the road, while Valenciennes dropped a home game for just the second time this season.

Marseille 2, Rennes 1

Rennes, France - Benoit Cheyrou scored in the 77th minute as Marseille rallied from an early deficit to edge Rennes, 2-1, on Sunday at the Stade de la Route de Lorient in France's Ligue 1.

Tongo Hamed Doumbia put Rennes in front after 15 minutes, but Onyekachi Apam's own goal just before halftime leveled the score. Cheyrou added the winner with 13 minutes left in normal time, as Marseille continued its surge.

Marseille won for the sixth time in its last seventh, and overtook Rennes for fifth place in the standings. Rennes had won its last two matches, but dropped to sixth with the loss, two points behind Marseille.

Evian 0, Bordeaux 0

Annecy, France - Cedric Carrasso saved Yannick Sagbo's penalty midway through the second half as Bordeaux escaped the Parc des Sports with a 0-0 tie against Evian on Sunday in France's Ligue 1.

Neither side created much offensively, but Carrasso surrendered the penalty in the 68th when he brought down Sagbo in the area. But the Bordeaux goalkeeper made up for it wit a diving save to his right to deny Sagbo from the spot.

Bordeaux has just one loss in its last five, as it remained in the top half of the table in ninth place on 27 points from 21 matches. Evian has just one win in its last five and sits four behind Bordeaux in 12th.

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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.

(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977.  Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.

Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer.  In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season. 

MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite.  After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.

Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions.  They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals.  The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown. 

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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.

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