Bayern bounce back with win over Wolfsburg

Soccer Betting Lines

02/24/2007 - Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich got a much-needed win on Saturday against Wolfsburg at Allianz Arena as the home side built a two-goal lead and held on for a 2-1 win to move to within five points of second-placed Stuttgart.

Lukas Podolski converted a penalty kick in the 26th minute and Mark van Bommel doubled the lead 10 minutes after the restart. Cedric Makiadi pulled a goal back for the visitors 11 minutes from time, but Bayern were not to be denied three points on this day and keeper Oliver Kahn made sure the lead held up.

Kahn did well early on to keep Wolfsburg off the scoreboard, making a nice save on a Marcelinho free-kick and an even better stop on Alexander Madlung's effort from a corner kick.

Despite the positive start, the visitors found themselves trailing after 26 minutes as Madlung handed Bayern a penalty kick for pushing Claudio Pizarro inside the box. Podolski then stepped to the spot and sent keeper Simon Jentzsch the wrong way to put the hosts up 1-0.

Wolfsburg continued to pressure Kahn and nearly evened things before the break. Mike Hanke's shot beat Kahn but struck the inside of the post and was cleared away by defender Andreas Gorlitz.

After a strong 45 minutes, Wolfsburg had to feel unlucky to be down a goal, but soon went two down after the restart. Bastian Schweinsteiger slid a pass to Van Bommel at the top of box and the Dutchman drove his shot past a diving Jentzsch and inside the left post to double the lead.

Wolfsburg did not go away, however, and cut its deficit in half with 11 minutes to go. Substitute Isaac Boakye worked his way inside the box and fired a shot towards goal. Defender Philipp Lahm blocked the shot but the ball fell for Makiadi, who beat Kahn from close range to make it 2-1.

That was as close as the visitors would get on this day though, and Bayern held on to record its second league win in its last six tries.

In other Bundesliga play on Saturday, Energie scored two second-half goals to defeat Arminia Bielefeld 2-1, Hamburg recorded a big 3-1 win at AOL Arena against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hannover got a pair of goals from Arnold Bruggink to beat Dortmund 4-2. Mainz continued its winning ways as Mohamed Zidan scored twice in a surprise 2-1 win against Nurnberg and Matthias Lehmann scored in the second half to equalize for Aachen in a 2-2 affair with Bochum.

Sunday's action features league-leaders Schalke hosting Bayer Leverkusen and a struggling Werder Bremen side looking to get back on track at Monchengladbach.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.