No spending spree yet in free agency

Football Betting Lines

03/05/2010 -

NEW YORK (AP) -With the salary cap gone the way of the drop kick, NFL teams began the free agency period Friday with lots of moves.

The only thing missing was the megadeal, although the Chicago Bears appeared to be closing in on one with defensive end Julius Peppers.

Otherwise, it was business as usual on a busy day generally lacking in drama, but involving several key players.

Linebacker Gary Brackett, the leader of the Indianapolis defense, re-signed with the Colts. All-Pro fullback Leonard Weaver re-signed with Philadelphia for three years.

Cornerback Antonio Cromartie, a former All-Pro who struggled in coverage last season, was traded to the New York Jets by San Diego.

Detroit, coming off two wins in the last two seasons, upgraded its defense by trading with Cleveland for tackle Corey Williams and agreeing to a four-year deal with end Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Carolina waived longtime starting quarterback Jake Delhomme - in teary fashion.

A year after the Panthers gave Delhomme a lucrative contract extension, the only quarterback to lead them to the Super Bowl was released to make way for new starter Matt Moore. A career-high 18 interceptions in 2009 and 23 in his final 12 games did in Delhomme.

``Six of my seven years playing here have been outstanding. It's been a great run,'' Delhomme said in between sniffles. ``I'm leaving with no animosity whatsoever.''

Nor do the Panthers have any bitterness.

``It's really hard to describe how hard this was,'' a red-faced general manager Marty Hurney said. ``It's hard not to get emotional when you talk about it because he epitomizes everything we want. He's been an excellent player for us.''

Coach John Fox twice welled up with tears in explaining the decision, which came despite the fact Carolina still owes Delhomme more than $12.5 million in guaranteed money.

``He's done some great things for this team. Two (NFC) championship games, a Super Bowl, all those comeback victories,'' Fox said. ``I'm not sure I've had any more respect for an NFL football player than Jake Delhomme.''

Brackett wasn't going anywhere, nor did he want to. The defensive captain signed a five-year deal hours after he officially became an unrestricted free agent. Brackett's new deal is likely to keep the 29-year-old in a Colts uniform the rest of his career.

``Obviously, this is a great place to play and when you get a chance to stay a Colt for life, you usually jump at it,'' Brackett said. ``That's why I wanted to do everything within my power to make this my home.''

Weaver certainly found a home in Philadelphia after playing four years for Seattle. Weaver had a career-high 323 yards rushing, 140 yards receiving and four touchdowns in his first season with the Eagles.

Vanden Bosch was made to feel right at home by Lions coach Jim Schwartz, who previously worked with the defensive end in Tennessee as the Titans' coordinator. Schwartz waited outside Vanden Bosch's Nashville home when free agency began at midnight, and in a few hours they had struck a deal.

A nine-year veteran, Vanden Bosch spent the past five seasons with the Titans, getting all of his 43 1/2 career sacks.

Cromartie should become a starter opposite All-Pro Darelle Revis in the Jets' secondary. New York gave up a conditional draft pick for a former All-Pro who has had off-field issues.

But Jets coach Rex Ryan is known for getting production from such players.

Also Friday:

-Atlanta said it will keep backup quarterback Chris Redman with a contract extension. Redman joined the Falcons in 2007 and went 0-2 as a starter last year filling in for 2008 Offensive Rookie of the Year Matt Ryan. Redman is 4-8 in his career.

-Denver agreed to terms with two veterans, offensive lineman Russ Hochstein and wide receiver Brandon Lloyd. Hochstein played in 15 games, starting 10, in his first season with the Broncos after being acquired from New England in a trade last August.

Lloyd played in two games for Denver in 2009, including a start in the regular season finale.

-Washington, a team expected to make a big splash in the uncapped free agency waters, did little. The Redskins re-signed defensive lineman Phillip Daniels, versatile backup DL Lorenzo Alexander, who could be moved to linebacker, and offensive lineman Mike Williams.

-Carolina, in addition to releasing Delhomme, also released defensive tackles Damione Lewis and Maake Kemoeatu and linebackers Na'il Diggs and Landon Johnson in the start of a youth movement.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Why Sports Betting is so much fun?

Betting Sports

The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)

But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)

Points (or Runs) Scored

Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.

The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.

Future Bets

Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.

Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)

Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:

Types of Bets

Straight Bet

Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.

Sports Betting Parlays

A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.

Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.

Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.

Round Robin Betting

Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.

Betting Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.

These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.