Elliott returns to Ottawa as Blues visit Sens

Hockey Betting Lines

02/07/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators decided last season that they wanted to upgrade their goaltending position. Now the man that they dealt away reappears in town as an All-Star.

Brian Elliott makes his return to Scotiabank Place this evening as a member of the St. Louis Blues almost a year after the Sens shipped him out of town for their current goaltender.

Elliott was a ninth-round pick by Ottawa in 2003 and appeared in 130 games with the club. He went 59-45-15 in that span with a 2.81 goals-against average and .903 save percentage, winning a career-high 29 games in 2009-10 with five shutouts. Elliott also went 1-2 in four playoff games that season.

Ottawa dealt the 26-year-old to Colorado on Feb. 18 of last year for Craig Anderson and Elliott went 2-8-1 in 12 games before signing with the Blues this offseason to back up Jaroslav Halak.

Elliott, though, has made 22 starts to Halak's 29 and was a participant in this season's All-Star Game. Both Elliott and Halak are among the league leaders with five shutouts each, while the former leads the NHL with a 1.69 GAA and is second with a .938 save percentage.

St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock is expected to give Elliott his first career start versus his former team tonight after going with Halak in the first two games following the All-Star break. Halak notched a 22-save shutout versus the Kings on Friday and was then dented for two goals on 36 shots in a 3-1 loss to Pekka Rinne and the Predators the following night.

Rinne made 41 saves for Nashville and allowed just a goal by St. Louis' Chris Porter. For the Blues, it was the third loss in four games and dropped them a point behind the Preds for second place in the Central Division.

"Obviously, Rinne played extremely well and made some big saves, but I think the thing we seemed to do in stretches was to get away from our game and try to find some cute way of passing it around him and that's exactly what they want," Blues forward Jamie Langenbrunner said.

Halak fell to 12-2-3 in his past 17 starts, posting a 1.56 GAA and .940 save percentage in that span, and has four shutouts in his last eight starts.

St. Louis, which is 9-0-2 versus the Eastern Conference this year, played without Jason Arnott due to a shoulder injury and lost the opener of a three- game swing. The Blues have lost seven of their past nine on the road and will look to win in Ottawa for the first time since Jan. 26, 2000. St. Louis has lost five straight as the guest in this series and snapped a five-game overall losing streak to Ottawa with a 5-2 home win last season.

Elliott started that game for the Senators and allowed five goals on 33 shots.

Anderson and the Sens will try to snap their season-high six-game slide this evening. The skid is the club's longest since an 0-9-2 drought from Jan. 14- Feb. 9 of last year and has dropped it seven points behind Boston for first place in the Northeast Division. The Sens are also sitting eighth overall in the East, now one point back of the Maple Leafs and three ahead of the ninth- place Capitals.

Ottawa lost ground to Toronto on Saturday with a 5-0 setback to the club. Anderson made 35 saves in his 17th straight start as the Senators were held to one goal or less for the fourth time on their skid.

"This is definitely the worst loss. It's against a big rival for us, a team we're battling with," Senators center Jason Spezza said. "You hope this is the end of it."

Ottawa plays the third of a season-high five-game homestand tonight.

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MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines

New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.

"The World Series is the biggest baseball event in the sports betting world and MySportsbook.com is excited that we are first to market with betting lines on every team," says Tim Dalton, Marketing Director, MySportsbook.com. "We are getting things ready for a great baseball season and our members are looking forward to our Player Payback Bonuses, as well as Dime Lines, all season long."

Going in to this weekend, MySportsbook.com's favorites to win the World Series are the New York Yankees at 7-2 and last year’s winners the Chicago White Sox at 9-2.

"These betting lines are ripe for the picking," Dalton added, "baseball fans know that the season is long and many factors, including players staying healthy, will affect these Future odds as the baseball season progresses. Betting on your favorite team in the beginning of the season could prove quite lucrative. We are seeing examples of this right now in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament with a lucky few that placed pre-season bets on George Mason to win it all. Anything can happen."

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MySportsbook.com is the foremost online sportsbook offering Internet wagering to its worldwide customers. Fully licensed and regulated in St. John’s, Antigua since 1997, MySportsbook.com offers a complete range of online casino games, sports betting lines, poker tournaments and horse racing offtrack betting daily through its portfolio of companies and managed services. With over 7 years of experience, MySportsbook.com has become one of the most respected companies in the gaming industry by providing unparalleled 24/7 customer support and timely payouts. MySportsbook.com is part of the SportingBet PLC group of companies that is publicly-traded on the London Stock Exchange ( LSE ) under the symbol SBT.L. MySportsbook.com provides a secure environment for sports and casino wagering and has been featured in numerous media outlets, including MAXIM Magazine, Cigar Aficionado, and CNN’s Paula Zahn Now among others.

American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

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