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<< Boston calls up Kalish; designates Hermida for assignment
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox designated outfielder Jeremy Hermida for assignment to make room on the 25-man roster for outfield prospect Ryan Kalish, who was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket. Kalish was immediately ins

<< Couples joins Langer in lead at U.S. Senior Open
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hometown favorite Fred Couples fired a five- under 65 Saturday to grab a share of the lead after three rounds of the U.S. Senior Open. Second-round leader Bernhard Langer birdied the 18th hole to card a t

<< Yanks, Phils set themselves up for a rematch
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I guess the Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians really enjoyed last year's World Series. After the Astros paid the Philadelphia Phillies to basically take Roy Oswalt off their hands, Houston general manager Ed Wade

<< Burrell blasts Giants over Dodgers
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pat Burrell smacked a two-out, two-run homer off Jonathan Broxton in the eighth inning to help the Giants steal a 2-1 decision over the Dodgers in the second meeting of a three-game series. Hong-Chih

Mainz signs striker Allagui >>
Mainz, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mainz signed striker Sami Allagui from SpVgg Greuther Furth of the Bundesliga 2 on Saturday. Allagui, 24, signed a three-year contract through the 2012-13 season, with an option for a fourth year. "Sami

Giants sign top two picks >>
Albany, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants have signed defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, their first round draft choice, and defensive tackle Linval Joseph, their second round choice. No terms of the deals were announced. Pierre-

Butler's late homer lifts Royals over O's >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Billy Butler's go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth proved to be the difference, lifting the Kansas City Royals to a 4-3 win over the lowly Baltimore Orioles. Butler's 10th home run of the season ga

Oilers come to terms with Deslauriers >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers has come to terms on a one-year contract to remain with the Edmonton Oilers. The 26-year-old Deslauriers went 16-28-4 with a 3.26 goals against average in 48 games last season. H

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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