Pens re-sign Conner

Hockey Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed forward Chris Conner to a one-year, two-way contract.

The deal is for $550,000 at the NHL level.

Conner, 26, has spent four seasons in the NHL, the first three with Dallas and last season with Pittsburgh.

Over 79 games, he has nine goals and 15 assists.

Wwindowsmedia Hockey Betting News

<< AL puts All-Star unbeaten streak on the line at Angel Stadium
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League will try to stretch its unbeaten streak to 14 games over the National League when the respective All-Star teams battle Tuesday in the 81st edition of the Mid-Summer Classic at Angel Stadium. This marks

<< Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner dies
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner died Tuesday morning. He was 80 years old. "It is with profound sadness that the family of George M. Steinbrenner III announces his passing," a statement from the

<< Report: Steinbrenner suffers heart attack
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has reportedly suffered a heart attack. According to the Tampa Tribune, emergency crews responded to Steinbrenner's home late Monday night and took him to a hospit

<< Twins stagger into All-Star break in 3rd place
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -With a payroll swelling to nearly $100 million and a spectacular new open-air ballpark, this was supposed to be the season the Minnesota Twins took hold of the AL Central from the start and challenged the New York Yankees for the A

<< AP source: Yankees' George Steinbrenner dies at 80
NEW YORK (AP) -A person close to George Steinbrenner tells The Associated Press that the New York Yankees' owner died Tuesday morning.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet made the announcement.Copyright © 2005

Taylor pleads not guilty to rape charges >>
New City, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor has pleaded not guilty to rape charges that were brought against him this past May. He pleaded not guilty at a Rockland County courthouse on Tuesday as he was

Steinbrenner's death casts pall over All-Star festivities >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If there was ever a baseball story that could steal the spotlight from the All-Star Game, this was it. George Steinbrenner passed away early Tuesday morning following a massive heart attack in his Tampa home. The longtime

AL West: Lee deal shakes up AL West >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - We know this much is true about the Texas Rangers: on paper, they are a better ballclub than they were before Friday. When the Rangers traded for Seattle Mariners' ace Cliff Lee, they effectively complemented their potent

Habs sign Lapierre, two others >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens signed forward Maxim Lapierre to a one-year contract on Tuesday, and also signed defenseman Mathieu Carle and forward J.T. Wyman to one-year, two-way contracts. Lapierre finished his

Nets-Warriors make sign-and-trade deal for Morrow >>
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -The New Jersey Nets have acquired guard Anthony Morrow in a sign and trade deal with the Golden State Warriors.The Nets say the deal was completed on Tuesday, just a day after they handed Morrow an offer sheet on a three-

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.