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<< Gaming: SEC - Number one ATS since 2007
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeastern Conference has not only produced the national champion the last four years, but the league has also finished above .500 against the spread in non-league games every season as well. In additi

<< Raptors stuck with Calderon
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In trying to trade Jose Calderon earlier this offseason, the message sent by Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo was clear; Calderon was no longer in the future plans of the organization. A deal that wo

<< Rachel Alexandra highlights Personal Ensign Stakes
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, gets back into action Sunday in the $300,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. The four-year-old filly will take on four female challen

<< AC Milan, Real in Group G of Champions League
Monaco, Monaco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan and Real Madrid, who have combined for 16 European championships, were drawn into Group G of the Champions League on Thursday. Real Madrid was the biggest club not among the top eight-seeded teams,

Knicks sign second-round pick Fields >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks have signed guard/forward Landry Fields, the 39th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. As per team policy, terms of the deal were not released. The 22-year-old Fields averaged 22 points, good for

Hockey "Cold War" rages on >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cold War may be a thing of the past in a political sense, but the battle between Russia and the West is still alive and well in the hockey world. This week, representatives of the NHL and KHL, among nu

Another loss for USC after investigation, sanctions >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Southern California has been stripped of the 2004 Grantland Rice Trophy it received in recognition for winning the national football title. The award was revoked by the Football Write

Finch leads by one at Gleneagles >>
Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Finch opened with a six-under 66 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. Four of Finch's fellow Englishmen are tied f

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.