Well, if things remain as they currently are, betting on the NFL Rookie of the Year is going to be pretty easy at your favorite sportsbooks – just put your money down on the Cowboys’ Dez Bryant and get set to collect the cash. This of course, is because Bryant is the part of a pretty lonely group – he’s the only member of the Class of 2010’s first rounders who has signed and in training camp.

The Cowboys came to terms with their first-round wide receiver out of Oklahoma Sate (which is amazing considering Bryant is good friends with San Francisco 49ers wideout Michael Crabtree, who held out until Halloween last season).

Bryant has been anything but a wallflower since arriving at camp.

Early reports are that he was “electrifying” with a number of “one-handed catches” during the weekend workouts…and oh yeah, there was that whole “Screw you, I’m not carrying anyone’s pads” rookie hazing incident with fellow wideout Roy Williams.

Don’t fret if your favorite team as yet to wrestle their first-rounder into a contract as a good percentage will sign before the regular season kicks off. But missing even a portion of camp makes things more difficult.

The fact Dez Bryant will have a full camp under his belt should bode well for the upcoming season, as he will be ahead of the curve compared to his counterparts.

Bettors have picked up on this and are getting some action down on him to be the “NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year” at online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.COM.

They currently have Bryant listed as the odds-on favorite at +200. Said Sportsbetting.com sportsbook manager Brian Taylor, “Bryant had some heat on him before camp started, but with him being the first guy to put the pads on and then have all the media attention on him the last few days due to that rookie hazing incident, we have seen a bit of a spike in wagering volume on him.”

 - Another top contender for the award will have his work cut out for him in St. Louis. The Rams selected Heisman trophy-winning QB Sam Bradford first-overall and it sounds like they’re getting close to a deal, one that would be, according to ESPN,  the richest contract in NFL history.

The question obviously is, does he have a shot at winning the offensive rookie award? He’s playing for the Rams after all.

Bradford’s NFL odds are currently listed at +500 to take this year’s honor.

All NFL training camps will be in full swing soon, some before others, and the stragglers should start to roll in, albeit late.

Dez Bryant has a leg up on them; will it make the difference for bettors backing him?

Keep an eye on the camps.

Check out all the NFL odds

It took all of 10 minutes for the first two maximum wager bets to come in at online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com after they posted up the prop “Which NFL running back will lead the league in rushing this year”.

And who was it that attracted the money right off the top? Not surprisingly it was the Tennessee Titans’ Chris Johnson.

Said sportsbook manager Brian Taylor, “we put up a bunch of betting options for the upcoming season focused on specific positions such as QB and running back and the “most yards” ones have been very popular. Bettors are tipping Johnson for another big season, with Adrian Peterson as the second most popular choice so far.”

The Titans’ Johnson was the king of the NFL’s rushing hill last season, becoming only the sixth player in NFL history to crack the 2,000 yard mark in NFL history (he ran for 2,006).

After that performance, a raise was in order. Johnson has only been around two years and was still earning rookie wages, but he’ll be making a tidy sum more this season.

Will the boost in salary lead to a repeat of Johnson’s 2009 performance?

The last repeat rushing champ was LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 and 2007.

Suffice to say, it’s tough to lead the league in back-to-back years. Bring over-worked is one of the issues and Johnson was certainly used a lot last season, rushing the ball 358 times with 14 TDs; he also had 50 receptions for 503 yards.

Online sportsbooks have him listed at +250 to capture the rushing crown again this season.

In the last 10 years, the defending rushing champ hasn’t fared well the following season.

Not counting Tomlinson, Ricky Williams, Jamal Lewis, Shaun Alexander and Adrian Peterson are the last four backs to capture the NFL’s rushing title.

After rushing for a league-high 1,853 yards in 2002 for the Miami Dolphins, Ricky Williams still had a good season in 2003 but didn’t come close to matching his stats from the year before, with only 1,372 yards rushing.

Like Chris Johnson in 2009, Jamal Lewis also cracked the 2,000 yard mark in 2003 as a member of the Baltimore Ravens and followed that up rushing for 1,000 yards less (1,066) in 2004 in only 12 regular season games.

Strap on the helmets boys, the NFL offseason has come to an end and pigskins are about to fly again.

Training camp draws near for a number of teams, including the defending champion New Orleans Saints, who begin prepping for the regular season on July 29 in Metarie, Louisiana.

It’s been a good offseason for many of the returning Saints, especially quarterback Drew Brees.

Brees has done the talk show circuit after leading his team to the Super Bowl back in February and more recently, he took home a number of ESPY awards.

On top of that, he was selected to be on the cover of the Madden 2011…queue the scary music…as we all know this honor can be more of a curse than anything else.

Will the “Madden Curse” strike Brees?
Online sportsbooks are weighing in on that exact question. SPORTSBETTING.com posted up a “Madden Curse” prop. Bettors can wager on whether Brees will start all 16 games this season. Currently they have Brees listed at -150 not to be the Saints’ starting QB in all 16 regular season games and on the other side, he is +120 to start each one.

Last season the New Orleans Saints’ pivot completed 70.6 percent of his passes (NFL record) for 4,388 yards with 34 TDs and a league-high 109.6 QB rating.

Brees is also a popular choice in a couple of other NFL Future betting related categories. The sports betting public have been betting that he will lead the league in passing yards this season. Last year he ranked sixth overall amongst all quarterbacks. He is listed at +400 to toss for the most yards in 2010-2011.

He is also getting action in the MVP category. Brees has odds of +1400 to be the MVP of the league. So far, he is right in the mix with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in terms of wagering volume. Manning has the most action, but Brees is second with 15% of all MVP betting on him.

As for the actual team, the Saints went 13-3 during the last regular season, jumping out to a 13-0 record before losing their final three games and would regain that winning form in the playoffs en route to a Lombardi Trophy.

What about this season?

The Saints are listed at +450 and +900 to repeat as NFC and Super Bowl champions respectively.

Saints Season Win Totals:
As for the regular season, the Over/Under on New Orleans’ regular season wins is set at 10.5.

Are the defending champs headed for another 13-win regular season?

The Saints haven’t done well against teams from within their own division, going 5-6 straight up and 3-8 against the spread in their last 11 overall vs. NFC Southerners.

The AFC division that New Orleans will be playing this season is the North and the Saints are once again on the losing end of things as they are 3-5 SU and 2-5-1 ATS in eight games against the likes of the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens  dating back to 2002.

Regardless, as you’d expect, the Saints are still the odds-on favorites to take the NFC South division, currently listed at -175.

It was a magical season for New Orleans last year, but the party is over as they start the defense of their championship.

You can check online sportsbooks for all the updated NFL Future Odds.

With a tip of the hat to Dennis Green…”don’t crown their asses just yet”.

We speak of the Miami Heat of course, as fans, commentators and of course, the sports betting public have been weighing in with their thoughts on the 2010-11 NBA Championship since the Lebron decided to “take his talents” to South Beach. Joining him down there is, of course, Chris Bosh and with D-Wade re-signing Miami has become the center of the NBA universe for the time being.

The big question is can they close the deal?

After the big announcement, online sportsbook Sportsbetting.com had the Heat listed as the odds-on favorite to take next season’s NBA title with odds of at +175. Sportsbook manager Brian Taylor said, “not surprisingly, we’ve seen more interest in our NBA Future betting options than any other off-season I can remember. And also not surprisingly, the Miami Heat are seeing lots of the volume, but we are seeing a reasonable amount of money coming in on the Orlando Magic in the East and the LA Lakers”

But until Miami actually wins a fourth game in the 2011 NBA Final, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are the defending NBA champions.

Though a Lakers and Heat matchup in the next NBA Final is far from certain (despite what will undoubtedly be obsessive meddling by David Stern and co.), LA got an early punch in against Miami.

The Heat were said to be heavily courting Derek Fisher but the guard decided against joining LeBron, Bosh and Wade and opted to re-sign with his old team.

“I have decided to continue with Kobe, continue with our teammates and the fans of Los Angeles. While this may not be the most lucrative contract I’ve been offered this off season, it is the most valuable,” Fisher said on his website.

“I am confident I will continue to lead this team on and off the court. Let the hunt for six begin…”

The team also brought back the Zen Master, head coach Phil Jackson, who has been bench boss for the Lakers’ last five NBA titles.

Besides Fisher, the Lakers probably won’t be adding any big-name talent – the team is four players away from the association’s roster minimum of 13 players.

The Lakers are listed at +300 to repeat as NBA champs at the sportsbooks.

If the Miami Heat do become the power in the Eastern Conference, which team will present the biggest challenge?

The Boston Celtics, who are listed at +1000 to win the 2011 title, have re-signed Paul Pierce and Ray Allen and added Jermaine O’Neal and should pack some punch.

But the intra-state rivals, the Orlando Magic could be the major hurdle for the Heat.
The Magic have re-signed backup shooting guard J.J. Redick and have added point guard Chris Duhon from the New York Knicks and shooting guard Quentin Richardson from the Miami Heat and they already have the likes of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson.

The Magic are listed at +200 to win the Eastern Conference title and +1600 to take the NBA championship during the 2010/11 campaign.

The Miami Heat have struck gold so far this off-season…but there are several teams who are ready to step up and keep the big prize out of South Beach.

You can check out all the NBA Future Odds.

We’ll keep an eye on the NBA Championship betting throughout the summer.

Have a great week.

MLB All-Star Game: Miami Heat Betting Props?

While the pomp and circumstance surrounding LeBron James’ future team probably took 59-minutes too long (did he really need to do an ESPN special?) the world finally found out that he would play the 2010/11 NBA season with the Miami Heat.

Hoops fans in South Beach rejoiced while fans in Cleveland began constructing Lebron effigies to promptly set ablaze.

And what did online sportsbooks do? They started setting odds on betting options for the Miami Heat. SPORTSBETTING.com wasted no time, being the first ones out the door with their Heat related prop bets.

Allow me to state the obvious: With the additions of James and Bosh and the re-signing of Wade, the Miami Heat’s chances of a title next year have increased significantly. But what about the number of championships this team can run off while they have King James wrapped up?

One of the props that SPORTSBETTING put up is this:

You can bet the Over/Under of the number of NBA championships Miami will win between now and 2015 (when James’ deal with the Heat expires). The number is set at 1.5.

So if you think they can win two championships or more between next season and 2015, get a bet in now. Or will they run into trouble and struggle to get even one?

How about Eastern Conference titles?

The O/U for the number of Eastern Conference titles won between July 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015 is also 1.5. No this one has me looking at the “Over”, as I do think they have a good chance of tearing up the East for a few years…getting by the Western rep is a different story.

MVP City?

LeBron James is the two-time defending NBA regular season MVP and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have the potential to be MVPs as well. So you can put your money up on how much hardware this trio will win as well.

The Total for the number of regular season MVP awards that go the Miami Heat’s way between July 1 of 2010 to 2015 is set at 1.5. This might be tough to get to, as you now have three players who will be relied on for offense, meaning they’ll spread around the points. This will make it more difficult for one of the group to shine enough for an MVP award.

Other Miami Heat Props:

 - The Over/Under on the most regular season wins the Miami Heat rack up while the trio of James. Wade and Bosh is under contract is 66.5.

 - One of the signs that you’re a marquee team in the NBA is whether you play on Christmas Day or not and to that end, the Total on the number of Christmas games the Miami Heat play between July 1, 2010 to 2015 is 4.5.

MLB All-Star Game:

While there are only future and prop action for NBA bettors, there is more relevant betting available for baseball fans with the MLB All-Star game on July 13 in Anaheim, California.

Currently, online sportsbooks have the American League favored at -120 and the National League paying out at Even money for the Midsummer Classic with the Over/Under at 9.

Along with the All-Star game line betting are proposition bets as well.

Will there be a ground rule double during the 2010 All-Star game? +175 for Yes and -350 for No.

Will there be a run scored in the first inning of 2010 All-Star game play? +105 for Yes and -155 for No.

Better yet, will there be a homer in inning one of the All-Star game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim? +187 for Yes and -275 for No.

With all the heavy hitters on both the AL and NL lineups, will someone hit a grand slam? +380 if a player hits a grand salami and -800 if no one does.

Will there be back to back homers (in the same inning)? +310 if there are two-consecutive dingers in the same inning and -600 if there isn’t.

Here’s a prop with big odds.

Will there be a triple play? +1100 if one All-Star squad turns a triple play and -5000 if there isn’t.

Miami’s NBA team may have taken two of the “hot” players in free agency but the MLB All-Star game is the next big betting event of the summer – talk about hot fun in the summer time.

Have a good week.

Sports fans all over the world are less than 96 hours away from dealing with a painful withdrawal as World Cup 2010 wraps up. But there is one thing left to do – crown a champion!

All eyes will be on that championship game in Soccer City Stadium on Sunday, featuring the all European matchup between the Netherlands and Spain.

The Dutch earned a berth by defeating Uruguay in a 3-2 thriller in the semifinal, while the Spanish played their best game of the tourney in defeating the Germans 1-0.

Online sportsbooks have released odds for the title game. SPORTSBETTING.com have the Dutch at +198, while the Spaniards have been established as -111 favorites.

Over/Under bettors note that the Total has been set at 2.5.

Spain is no stranger to championship games recently, as they are the defending Euro champion, having taken the 2008 tournament in Vienna. In fact, looking at the World Cup odds heading into the 2010 tournament, Spain was the favorite to win it all at odds of +400.

The Spanish, however, have been slightly one-dimensional on their offensive attack.

The team has only netted seven goals through six games in South Africa, but five of them have come from forward David Villa.

On the other hand, goalkeeper Iker Casillas has been brilliant, allowing only two goals and making 12 saves thus far.

Spain has amassed 5 wins, 0 draws and 1 loss during its 2010 campaign and with that, 1 Over and 5 Unders as well.

Despite being listed as underdogs by sportsbooks, the Netherlands have come through to the final game boasting a nicely balanced attack.

The Dutch have scored 12 goals, which is good enough for second amongst all the teams in this World Cup (Germany currently is the highest scoring team with 13).

Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder leads the squad with five goals, like Villa, but has had more support.

Fellow midfielder Arjen Robben has a pair of goals followed by four players with a goal each.

But while the Netherlands has scored more goals than Spain, they have also allowed more as well – goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg has watched five balls go by him.

The Dutch have had the honor of going through South Africa 2010 without conceding a loss thus far (6-0-0 SU) but then the question is, will they finish with a perfect record or are they due for a loss?

They have 4 Overs and 2 Unders to go with the six wins.

SPORTSBETTING.com manager Brian Taylor gave us some insight into the World Cup betting for the final, “it’s been pretty even action so far, with 41% on Spain, 36% on the Netherland and 23% on the “Draw after regulation” option.”

Total bettors have 61% on the “Over” 2.5 goals heading into Friday betting action.

As a side note, Uruguay and Germany will play the third-place game on Saturday and sportsbooks have the Uruguayans listed as heavy +410 underdogs and the Germans as -188 faves with a Total of 2.5.

It’s been a fun month filled with great goals and some really bad officiating (we won’t dwell on the negative though).

Enjoy the World Cup final.

The Netherlands booked their spot in the World Cup final game with a 3-2 victory over Uruguay on Tuesday. Now we see who slots into the other spot when Germany faces Spain in the other Semi-Final game on Wednesday.

Spain began the tournament as the favorites, but the 2008 European Champions have failed to impress, despite finding themselves one game away from the final.

On the side, not much was expected of the German team, but their performance to this point has their fans reminiscing of 1990 when West Germany beat Argentina 1-0 to be crowned champs.

The Germans have been an offensive machine this tournament, netting 13 goals so far. Miroslav Klose and Thomas Mueller both have 4 goals apiece, Lukas Podolski has 2 goals and Cacau, Mesut Ozil and Arne Friedrich all have a goal.

Online sportsbooks have Germany listed at +108 going into the semifinal match with Spain.

The Spaniards are going into the semis with an identical 4-0-1 mark as the Germans. Unlike the Germans however, Spain has received a bulk of its scoring from David Villa, with the forward popping in five of the Spanish’s six goals.

The Spaniards are listed at +147 vs. Germany.

There has also been plenty of action on the World Cup prop betting options. One of the more popular is the “Man of the Match” prop bets.

SPORTSBETTING.com has are the favourites for those odds:

Man of the Match Odds and Betting

Fernando Torres 5/1
Mesut Ozil 9/2
Bastian Schweinsteiger 9/2
David Villa 11/4
Miroslav Klose 5/2

Manager Brian Taylor stated, “It’s all Klose and David Villa money so far, with those two making up about 80% of all the volume”

Also, Taylor said the “First Goal Scorer” has been popular with SPORTSBETTING.com’s players.

Here are the favorites for those odds:

First Goal Scorer
No Goalscorer 6/1
Fernando Torres 11/2
Miroslav Klose 5/1
David Villa 10/3

It should be a very entertaining Semi-Final, with the potential to be an epic battle.

Good luck.

And then there were four…the World Cup tournament is down to the last few games, with the big ones, the Semi-Finals, kicking off on Tuesday.

It has been a thrilling tournament thus far, with plenty of drama, upsets and controversy.

Uruguay is looking to score their second World Cup championship…a scant 80 years after booking their first. Uruguay actually won the first-ever World Cup when they hosted the inaugural tournament some eight decades ago, but they are longshots out of the four remaining teams. Online sportsbooks have them listed at +1100 to be crowned champs.

Their path to the 2010 World Cup title game wasn’t going to be easy no matter what happened in the quarter final between Brazil and the Netherlands. But the men in Orange pulled off an upset to send Brazil home and move through to play Uruguay.

This is a very tough task for the South American side. Sportsbooks have the Dutch as the odds on favorite at +160 to take the title.

World Cup Odds:
Going into their semifinal matchup, the Uruguayans are seeing the odds stacked against them, listed as +400 underdogs; they are 3-2-0 through the tournament.

Thus far, Uruguay has scored seven goals with both Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez leading the team with three goals apiece.

The Dutch are riding high after that big win over Brazil and are also big faves going into the semifinal against the Uruguyans, listed at -303.

The Netherlands have netted eight goals this World Cup and are a little more balanced offensively than their opponents; they are also perfect at 5-0-0 in South Africa 2010.

While Midfielder Wesley Sneijder leads the team with 4 goals, the Dutch have spread the rest of the scoring out with five players – Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt, Robin Van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – tied with one goal each.

SPORTSBETTING.com manager Brian Taylor reported that “68% of all the betting volume on this match has come in on the Netherlands.”

You can watch the game live at 2:30 PM ET on Tuesday.

We’ll have a full breakdown of the Germany vs. Spain match Tuesday evening.

The two-time defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies won’t be three-timers if they keep piling up bodies on their disabled list – they are currently 3.5 back of the Atlanta Braves for the division lead.

Already with five bodies in the sick bay, the Phillies recently added starting infielders Placido Polanco (elbow) and Chase Utley (right thumb) to the walking wounded.

Worse yet, according to reports, the ball club doesn’t know exactly when the two will return – MLB.com has Utley and Polanco both set to return “possibly in mid-July.”

The Phillies aren’t far behind the Atlanta Braves in terms of NL East futures betting, currently listed by sportsbooks at +125 to take the division and are both +330 and +750 to win the NL pennant and World Series respectively.

The Philadelphia Phillies are in Pittsburgh to play the Pirates currently, with Game 2 of 4 set to go on Friday.

The ageless one, Jamie Moyer takes the mound and in his last 10 starts, there have been 3 Overs and 7 Unders.

Keep an eye on the injury situation for these contenders as you look for your daily baseball bets.

There’s been a bit of an injury outbreak the past few days on the baseball diamond. So the sports betting public is going to want to keep an eye on rosters as we head toward the All-Star break.

Atlanta Braves:

Atlanta Braves right fielder Jason Heyward was having quite a season before he suffered a left thumb injury.

He knicked it up about six weeks ago, but tried to play through the injury before being placed on the 15-day disabled list (DL) on Monday. The rookie RF was batting .251 with 11 homers and 45 RBIs through 71 games – tops amongst rooks in the National League (NL).

Heyward’s stint on the DL is estimated to end around the All-Star break, but don’t bet on seeing him at the Midsummer Classic despite being the second-highest vote-getter in All-Star balloting for NL outfielders

Heyward doesn’t seem to mind though, telling reporters that the Braves are “doing the best thing” by holding him out and he’s probably right.

The Atlanta Braves currently sit in top spot in the NL East, 1.5-games up on the New York Mets and at the moment, online sportsbooks have them as the odds-on favorite to win the division at +100.

You can check all the baseball betting odds

Weekend Baseball Betting Action:

So how will the Braves fare without Heyward?

Heading into the weekend, the Braves begin a three-game home set against the division rival Florida Marlins and seeing as their opponents are in the lower part of the NL East standings (second-last) Atlanta has a chance to distance themselves from the Mets.

However, the Braves haven’t been all that sharp in their last nine home games against the Marlins, going only 3-6 straight up.

Over/Under Alert: In the last eight overall matchups between these two, there have been 7 Overs and 1 Under, in fact the last five overall games between the Braves and the Mets have all gone Over the total.

And then there were eight!

The Round of 16 has come and gone and eight teams remain – Uruguay, Ghana, Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Paraguay and Spain.

The Brazilians have a big challenge in front of them this Friday when they meet the Netherlands, but many in the sports betting community feel they have the easier route to the World Cup title game on July 11. If they get by the Dutch they play the winner of Uruguay-Ghana in the semifinals.

Looking at the World Cup odds, Brazil is the favorite at online sportsbook to win it all. Currently they have odds of +250 to be crowned champs.

For this match on Friday, Brazil is a -158 favorite, while the Dutch are +241and the Total is set at 2.5.

The Samba Boys landed atop this tournament’s Group of Death, aka Group G, finishing with 2 wins, a draw and 0 losses for seven points. Throughout the 2010 World Cup, they have netted eight goals with Luis Fabiano scoring a team-high three – Brazil has had 3 Overs and 1 Under so far in the tournament.

Despite being underdogs for this match, the Netherlands have been strong in opening round play going 4-0 straight up so far in the tournament with 2 Overs and 2 Unders.

The Dutch grabbed top spot in Group E. Looking at their World Cup odds to win the championship, they are listed at +650 to win.

Argentina vs. Germany Preview:
Argentina is one of the favorites to win the World Cup, with odds of +350, but they have a tougher route than Brazil at first glance.

It will be a case of deja vu for the Argentinians as they will face the same team that eliminated them from the 2006 World Cup, Germany. Last time, the Germans eliminated Argentina in a penalty shootout. Going into Saturday’s matchup, Argentina is listed as a -111 favorite while the Germans are +195 underdogs.

Germany and Argentina have met a number of times in past World Cups, sometimes in the championship game.

Argentina took the 1986 World Cup in a 3-2 win over Germany and the Germans returned the favor in 1990, beating the Argentinians 1-0.

Both Argentina and Germany cruised through their Round of 16 matchups with the Argentinians beating Mexico 3-1 and the Germans hammering the English 4-1.

The winner takes on the victor of the Paraguay vs. Spain match in the semifinal of South Africa 2010.

We’ll look at the other two matchups in tomorrow’s article.

Enjoy the games.