Hoffenheim downs Schalke to remain perfect

Soccer Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - Sinsheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim continued its perfect start to the new Bundesliga season on Friday with a 2-0 win over Schalke at Rhein Neckar Arena.

Isaac Vorsah's goal in the 37th minute put the hosts in front, while an own goal from Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on the final kick of the game secured the win.

Hoffenheim has now won its first three games to start the season, while Schalke has lost all three of its matches and must regroup for its Champions League opener on Tuesday at Lyon.

Hoffenheim missed two good chances to go in front when Demba Ba smashed a shot over the net from seven yards following a right-wing cross, while Vedad Ibisevic had a low shot from inside the penalty area saved by Neuer.

The opener arrived 12 minutes later from a short corner kick as Andreas Beck's cross was headed inside the right post by Vorsah from eight yards.

One of the few chances that Schalke created in the match came right before the hour mark when a header from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was tipped off the crossbar by goalkeeper Tom Starke, but the visitors were unable to threaten the net the rest of the way, and a free kick from Sejad Salihovic in the dying seconds struck the post and deflected off of Neuer before rolling into the net.

Bayern Munich will try to rebound from a stunning loss to Kaiserslautern when they face a Werder Bremen side without defender Per Mertesacker, who suffered a broken eye socket while playing for Germany.

Wolfsburg eyes its first win at Borussia Dortmund, Monchengladbach tries to stay unbeaten when Eintracht visits Borussia Park, Hamburg attempts to make it three wins from three games when the club hosts Nurnberg, Bayer Leverkusen visits Hannover and Stuttgart invades Freiburg.

Kaiserslautern hopes to continue its surprising start on Sunday when the club visits Mainz, while Cologne looks to bounce back from two successive losses with a win at home against St Pauli.

Wwwugameasia Soccer Betting News

<< Shanahan, McNabb lead Redskins into battle vs. hated Cowboys
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The premiere Sunday night matchup of the 2010 NFL season has everything one could ask for in a primetime Week 1 event -- a pair of high-profile teams and bitter rivals, plus plenty of star power and a dash of drama mixed in a

<< Presence of Tebow among headlines in Broncos-Jags tilt
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Had the 2010 NFL schedule not been released days before the Draft, you could have made a case that Roger Goodell's fingerprints were all over this. A moribund NFL franchise that's fallen off from playoff contention and fac

<< Lions, Bears try to get leg up in NFC North race
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions begin year No. 2 under head coach Jim Schwartz with high expectations and will waste no time renewing a storied rivalry with the NFC North-rival Chicago Bears this Sunday from Soldier Field. The Lions, tw

<< Kolb era in Philly kicks off with visit from Pack
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb needs any reassurance that replacing the face of an organization can go smoothly, he can look across the sidelines Sunday at Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl signal-caller Aaron Rodgers

<< Texans can make statement with win over Colts
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having made the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons, the Indianapolis Colts are a model franchise for other teams to follow. The Houston Texans feel they are on that level, at least offensively. The top two offenses from

Browns, Bucs try to get off mat with Week 1 win >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's a mantra of every NFL season. Regardless of how awful a team plays in the first three months of a given 16- game schedule, a strong finish in the final four of five weeks earns the label of "one to watch" the followin

Pats, Bengals meet in matchup of '09 division winners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals both finished atop their respective divisions in 2009, both teams enter Sunday's season-opening showdown at Gillette Stadium with their share of skeptics and an unfulfill

Giants officially open new building with visit from Panthers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants will officially christen their new stadium by hosting the same opponent the team closed out its old venue against. They'll be hoping for a vastly different outcome, however. New York gave a most imprope

Falcons hope to take advantage of Steelers' uncertainty >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Falcons enter the 2010 NFL season brimming with optimism, while uncertainty surrounds the Pittsburgh Steelers in the aftermath of an offseason filled with trials and tribulations. It's also a time for opportuni

New QBs look to put best foot forward in Rams-Cardinals tilt >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of new quarterback eras will begin at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday afternoon, when Sam Bradford leads the St. Louis Rams into battle against Derek Anderson and the Arizona Cardinals. To be sure, while Bradford ca

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.