Another Serie A crown for Inter

Soccer Betting Lines

05/16/2010 - Siena, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan claimed its fifth successive Serie A title on Sunday as Diego Milito's goal in the 57th minute was enough to give Inter a 1-0 win at Siena.

The Nerazzurri entered the final day of the season with a two-point lead on second-placed Roma, but for a while, it looked like Jose Mourinho's side was in danger of giving the title away.

Inter was being held to a 0-0 draw at halftime, while Roma led Chievo, 2-0, at the break with goals from Mirko Vucinic and Daniele de Rossi.

However, Milito scored the necessary goal to keep his team on top, clinching the 18th Serie A crown in club history for Inter.

Siena had already been assured of relegation prior to kickoff, but they survived a number of chances in the first half to make the champions a bit nervous.

Mario Balotelli sent his volley just wide of the far post from six yards before Milito had a close-range header kept out by goalkeeper Gianluca Curci, who reacted well to make the save.

Balotelli was at it again in the 38th minute with an overhead kick that struck the crossbar, but Inter continued to be frustrated.

Curci produced a good save on Milito shortly after halftime when he tipped a powerful shot from the Argentine over the crossbar, while Milito volleyed the ensuing corner kick over the net from inside the six-yard box.

However, the breakthrough finally arrived minutes later when Javier Zanetti weaved past two defenders and laid the ball off to Milito, who drove it into the bottom right corner from eight yards.

Dejan Stankovic tried to double the lead 15 minutes from time, but his shot hit the crossbar, while Inter survived a late scare from Aleandro Rosi, whose right-wing cross barely missed the far post in the 87th minute.

Sampdoria did enough on Sunday to secure fourth place as they got a goal from Giampaolo Pazzini early in the second half of a 1-0 win over Napoli, while Palermo has to settle for fifth despite beating Atalanta, 2-1, with a late penalty kick goal from Edison Cavani.

Bari doubled up on Fiorentina, 2-0, Cagliari and Bologna played to a 1-1 draw, Catania's Maxi Lopez scored the lone goal in his team's 1-0 win against Genoa and Davide Lanzafame tallied two goals in a 4-1 win for Parma over Livorno.

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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.

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