Seattle tries to build momentum against Rapids

Soccer Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following a successful first season in Major League Soccer, Seattle Sounders FC has fallen on hard times as they enter Sunday's contest with the Colorado Rapids at Qwest Field in seventh place in the Western Conference standings.

Seattle had won just once in its last seven games prior to a 1-0 win over D.C. United on July 15, with the lone goal coming in the 89th minute from Roger Levesque.

"The three points is everything - we're just so happy," Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller told mlssoccer.com. "We needed something to go our way. We've played well enough to win games, and we've given up late goals for draws, and it just felt good to keep that clean sheet, and to win 1-0, and for Roger to pop up at the end."

The Sounders will be hoping that the win can help turn around what has been a forgettable season to this point as the club owns just five wins from its first 17 games.

Seattle is 11 points back of second-place Real Salt Lake in the West, and with only the top two sides in each conference automatically qualifying for the playoffs, they have much work to do.

One player who could provide a boost is striker and designated player Blaise Nkufo, who was added to the team's active roster on July 15.

Nkufo played with Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this summer, and he could form a potent partnership up top with Fredy Montero, who leads Seattle with six goals this season.

The Rapids have lost only once in their last eight games, but they have been left frustrated by a string of draws that has left them tied for fourth place with the San Jose Earthquakes.

Colorado was held to a 1-1 draw by the Kansas City Wizards last time out, and although he was disappointed with the result, coach Gary Smith still felt good about where his team is going.

"Expectations get so high when a group's playing well, to then maybe come into a game and be below form creates huge disappointment for everyone," Smith told mlssoccer.com. "I went away and thought about it. It was the first time in 10 or 12 games when we haven't controlled proceedings and looked the better team."

Sunday will mark the first of three successive games against Western Conference foes for the Rapids, with matches against FC Dallas and San Jose to follow, so Smith's team will have a good chance to improve upon its current standing.

Bigno Soccer Betting News

<< RSL aims to start new streak vs. Chivas USA
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake will aim to start a new streak when it hosts Chivas USA in a Major League Soccer tilt on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL (9-4-3) is coming off a 2-0 loss at Dallas that snapped a 10

<< Wells, Cubs blank Cards to begin weekend series at Wrigley
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Randy Wells turned in seven scoreless innings, and three different players hit home runs, as Chicago downed St. Louis, 5-0 in the opener of a three-game set between these perennial rivals at Wrigley Field.

<< Melzer and Golubev advance to semis in Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer and Andrey Golubev were two of four quarterfinal winners at the German Open Tennis Championships on Friday. Melzer dispatched Potito Starace of Italy, 6-4, 6-1, in only 69 minu

<< Kings sign free agents Wright and Jeter
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings have signed forward/guard Antoine Wright and guard Pooh Jeter, the team announced Friday. Wright averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 67 contests for Toron

<< Timberwolves' Kahn fined for inappropriate remarks
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn has been fined $50,000 for his recent remarks about forward Michael Beasley, for whom the team recently traded. Kahn spoke about Beasl

Chakvetadze reaches semifinals in Slovenia >>
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anna Chakvetadze overcame a dropped set and saved two match points to beat fellow Russian Vera Dushevina on Friday in the quarterfinals at the Slovenia Open. The sixth-seeded Dushevina had a 5-3 le

Chen and Dambaugh in U.S. Girls' Junior final >>
Village of Pinehurst, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doris Chen and Katelyn Dambaugh won both of their matches on Friday to advance to the final of the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship. Chen first knocked off stroke-play medalist Danielle Ka

Orioles' Wigginton suspended, will appeal >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles infielder Ty Wigginton has been suspended by Major League Baseball for three games for his on-field argument and subsequent volatile reaction with an umpire in Thursday's game against

Coaches: Players also responsible for agent probe >>
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -Tennessee coach Derek Dooley and Auburn's Gene Chizik both say the onus isn't just on agents to follow the rules, college athletes know the difference between right and wrong.``A lot of this has got to go back to the young guy,''

Thomas and Liu in finals of U.S. Junior >>
Ada, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Thomas and Jim Liu both won twice on Friday to advance to Saturday's 36-hole final of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Thomas, 17, earned a 2 & 1 victory over Scott Wolfes


Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Why Sports Betting is so much fun?

Betting Sports

The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)

But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)

Points (or Runs) Scored

Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.

The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.

Future Bets

Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.

Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)

Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:

Types of Bets

Straight Bet

Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.

Sports Betting Parlays

A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.

Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.

Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.

Round Robin Betting

Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.

Betting Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.

These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.