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<< Henin, Hingis land in Doha quarters
Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Justine Henin and Martina Hingis were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the $1.34 million Qatar Open. The top-seeded Henin, fresh off her title in Dubai, snuck past hard-servin

<< Buck-ing the trend
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks finally put the brakes on a season-long losing streak and have a healthy dose of home games on the horizon. The Bucks were mired in a seven-game skid and the return of star guard Michael Redd w

<< Hawks fail to hang with the big boys
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The only saving grace for the Hawks' recent string of games was that they came into them well rested after the All-Star break. Otherwise, it could have been a lot worse. Atlanta recently wrapped a string of five games ove

<< Breaking down a busy deadline day
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keeping track of all the activity at the NHL's trade deadline is kind of like trying to follow a tennis match on fast forward. When the dust finally cleared, there were 25 trades on Tuesday and those deal

Nationwide Tour adds new event >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nationwide Tour has announced a new event for this season, adding the Children's Hospital Invitational to the schedule. The event will be played July 9-15 on the Scarlet Course of the Ohio State Unive

Sharks load up for playoffs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doug Wilson must quickly be moving up Joe Thornton's Christmas card list. Not only did San Jose's executive vice president and general manager rescue Thornton from hockey purgatory last season, also known as Boston, but W

Durant, Oden among Oscar Robertson Trophy finalists >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freshmen Kevin Durant of Texas and Greg Oden of Ohio State are among five finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, presented annually to the nation's player of the year by the United States Basketb

Lions release Ross Verba >>
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions have released guard Ross Verba. Verba played just one season with Detroit. He started seven games and was inactive for eight with hamstring and groin injuries. The Iowa product s

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.

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