Arroyo returns to Heat, will vie to be starter

Basketball Betting Lines

07/22/2010 -

MIAMI (AP) -Carlos Arroyo has finalized his deal to return to the Miami Heat.

Arroyo appeared in 72 games and made 35 starts at point guard for Miami last season, then decided to return to the club after a brief stint as a free agent. He averaged 6.1 points and 3.1 assists, plus had a stellar 4.17 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The team announced his signing on Thursday, giving Arroyo the chance to vie for a championship alongside Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

Arroyo, who turns 31 later this month, played college basketball in Miami at Florida International.

He becomes the 13th player under contract with Miami for the 2010-11 season and just the second true point guard, joining fellow returnee Mario Chalmers.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Lotteruamerica Basketball Betting News

<< Pirates place C Doumit on DL, recall Jaramillo
PITTSBURGH (AP) -The Pirates placed catcher Ryan Doumit on the 15-day disabled list with a concussion and recalled Jason Jaramillo from Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.Doumit, tied for second on the team in home runs with eight and RBIs with 32, l

<< Jankovic withdraws in Slovenia
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic withdrew in the third set of her match Thursday to provide a surprise conclusion to the second round at the Slovenia Open. Jankovic won the first set in her matchup with

<< MLB to test for HGH in minors
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball announced Thursday that it will immediately implement a plan to test for human growth hormone in the minor leagues. MLB becomes the first United States professional sports league

<< Hudson, Braves blank Padres to take series
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Hudson tossed seven strong innings and Alex Gonzalez continued to swing a hot bat with a four-hit, two-RBI afternoon, as the Braves blanked San Diego, 8-0, to conclude a three-game set at Turner Field.

<< Hernandez pitches Nats over Reds for series split
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Livan Hernandez threw his second complete game of the season and Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer to power Washington's offense, as the Nationals topped the Cincinnati Reds, 7-1, in the finale of a four-ga

AP source: Hornets schedule meeting with Paul >>
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -A person familiar with the meeting says the Hornets have scheduled a face-to-face discussion with Chris Paul on Monday to talk about the team's plans for the future.The star guard will sit down with new head coach Monty Williams, n

Blackhawks acquire Taffe from Florida for Reasoner >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks acquired forward Jeff Taffe from the Florida Panthers in exchange for forward Marty Reasoner. Taffe recorded two points in 21 regular season games for the Panthers last season. In

Phillies avoid sweep, snap Cardinals' eight-game win streak >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Placido Polanco's leadoff homer in the 11th inning provided the game-winning run, and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided a four-game sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-0 victory. Polanco

Heat re-sign G Arroyo >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat re-signed guard Carlos Arroyo on Thursday. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not released. Arroyo started 35 of the 72 games he appeared in with the Heat last season, averaging 6.1 point

Top seed Davydenko latest to fall in Hamburg >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko was the latest to fall in an upset-minded German Open Tennis Championships, as third- round play concluded Thursday. Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev dethroned the defending

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.

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.