Kansas City holds on for draw at Colorado

Soccer Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Davy Arnaud scored in the 20th minute and the Kansas City Wizards held on for a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Kansas City earned its first road win in Major League Soccer on Wednesday, and Arnaud helped the Wizards (4-8-4) earn their second straight road result with his second goal of the season.

Conor Casey scored in the 74th for Colorado (6-4-5) and hit the post with just one minute remaining in normal time. The Rapids are winless in five straight.

Arnaud opened the scoring off an assist from Craig Rocastle, who put the K.C. captain through for a one-on-one chance against Colorado goalie Matt Pickens. Arnaud dribbled in alone and fired inside the right post from 12 yards.

Kei Kamara and Arnaud had back-to-back chances denied by Pickens late in the first half, then Teal Bunbury - who scored the lone goal on Wednesday in a 1-0 win at Columbus - hit a shot that bounced off the right post and then the left post and out.

Colorado finally showed life in the second half, and Casey responded with his seventh goal of the year to tie the game. Jamie Smith played the ball to Casey and Casey cut back to lose a defender and then slipped a shot past K.C. goalie Jimmy Nielsen.

Casey broke into the area alone in the 89th and rounded Nielsen but, with the net empty, hit the left post as the Rapids settled for a draw for the fourth time in their last five matches.

Colorado will try to end its winless run July 25 when it visits Seattle, while Kansas City returns home to host Toronto FC on July 31.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.