Serena leads U.S. past Belarus; Venus returns

Tennis Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams recorded a singles victory on Sunday to move the United States into the Fed Cup World Group Playoffs.

The 2011 U.S. Open runner-up Williams improved to 2-0 this week by overcoming Anastasiya Yakimova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 at DCU Center in Worcester. The victory gave the host Americans an insurmountable 3-0 lead in their best-of-five World Group II battle against Belarus, which was forced to play without world No. 1 star and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who is nursing a back injury after beating Maria Sharapova in last week's Aussie Open finale.

Williams blew a 4-1 lead against Yakimova in the opening set on Sunday, but cruised after dropping the opening stanza by winning 12 of the next 14 games.

The former No. 1 and 13-time Grand Slam champion Williams and Christina McHale were a pair of singles winners on Saturday, as McHale beat Yakimova and Williams topped Olga Govortsova, in straight sets. McHale improved to 2-0 for the week on Sunday with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of Belarus' Darya Kustova to give the U.S. a laughable 4-0 margin.

The festivities in Worcester wrapped up with a dead doubles rubber, which the U.S. won 6-1, 6-2 with Venus Williams and Liezel Huber blasting Kustova and Yakimova to polish off a 5-0 win. It marked Venus' first tennis since pulling out of last year's U.S. Open in the second round as she battled Sjogren's syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain.

Venus, like her young sister Serena, is a former world No. 1 and owns seven major singles titles.

This was the first-ever Fed Cup meeting between the 17-time champion U.S. and Belarus.

Team USA advanced to the World Group playoffs where it will meet a World Group first-round loser in April and needs to win in order to have a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title next year.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

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