World Cup Betting – One Favorite, One Darkhorse In South African Final

When placing a World Cup bet, it’s good to spread your wings and not put all your eggs in one basketball. This list of five teams to watch at the World Cup in South Africa when the tournament starts on June 11th includes a few favorites, and a couple of darkhorses who will be looking to make it interesting.

Spain (+425): The underachieving Spanish come into this tournament as the favorites after their 2008 win in the European championships, but they have a few injuries to worry about, like Fernando Torres, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas. Spain will hope to have Torres healthy, because with David Villa, the Spanish could have the best strike pairing in the tournament. But injuries could be their downfall, so beware of Spain.

Brazil (+450): Everyone is saying how Brazil isn’t an exciting attacking threat anymore, and maybe they’re not. But Dunga has the Brazilians playing excellent counterattacking soccer, and if it brings them a sixth World Cup, there will be few complaints. Kaka will be counted on to play better than he did in his first year at Real Madrid, while Luis Fabiano is their most dangerous striker.

Argentina (+675): The Argentineans struggled during qualification, and some of the decisions made by manager Diego Maradona haven’t been as sound as the decisions he made when he was leading Argentina to the World Cup in 1986. But he has a wealth of talent at his disposal, especially up front as Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Milito are the deepest group of strikers in the tournament. They are the World Cup Group B betting
favorites to get to the second round, and Argentina could ride the wave all the way to the final.

Germany (+1400): The Germans have made it to the quarterfinals in each World Cup since 1978, but they were dealt a couple of severe blows as captain Michael Ballack and No.1 keeper Rene Adler will miss the tournament through injury. Now, the pressure is on Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger to carry the flag, as they were supposed to lead the country when Ballack retired after this tournament. Germany is still a serious threat when you bet soccer online.

Portugal (+2600): The odds are long, and like Argentina they struggled in qualification, but Portugal has as much talent as anyone in the World Cup, led by captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who had a brilliant debut at Real Madrid. The man who replaced him at Manchester United, Nani, is another player who will be counted on in South Africa along with Simao, while Portugal’s defense is underrated. They’re in the “Group of Death” with Brazil and the Ivory Coast, but that will only strengthen them for a long World Cup run.

Online betting picks: Argentina +675, Portugal +2600

Castroneves Attempts To Four-Peat

The top sports betting IndyCar racing teams in the world have converged on Indianapolis this week in anticipation of the upcoming Indianapolis 500, as the field was established for the 94th installment of the epic race. The 500-mile race is scheduled for May 30th, but there has been significant build up to the event since practice runs opened at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past Saturday, with last year’s winner Helio Castroneves the first to make his way on to the track just weeks before the World Cup betting.

Castroneves drove his Team Penske car to a 226.603 mile per hour finish in his opening practice run, setting the pace for the day with the best time, a feat that he would repeat on Sunday driving to a 227.046 time. The 35-year old opened in the inside position in the front row a year ago and was able to convert it in to a trip to victory lane. A three-time Indy 500 winner, Castroneves can put himself in excellent position to win in consecutive years for the second time in his career, and be just the fourth racer to become a four-time champion at Indianapolis, if he can finish the time trial week strong.

The Brazilian soccer betting fan will need to out-wheel one of the most competitive projected classes in the history of the race in order to win, with five different teams represented in the top five in the speed chart as of Wednesday. The top 21 drivers were separated by just .5755 of a second, and after the 2009 Indy 500 was the closest finishing field of all-time, this year may be the quickest turnover between the record ever.

A big part of that competition will be from five female racers, who will look to establish the largest starting field of female racers in the history of the Indy 500. Rookies Brazilian Ana Beatriz and Switzerland’s Simona De Silvestro, Milka Duno, the first female to secure the pole position at an Indy Car Sarah Fisher, and the first female to ever win an Indy Car race, Danica Patrick. Never before have women played such a prominent role in race-car driving, and with the influx of new talent and the level of competition at which they are able to drive, this race could make its mark in history for its diversity.

Scott Dixon has followed up his outstanding performance at the IZOD IndyCar Series at Kansas with excellent lap times in the opening Indy 500 betting practice sessions. Dixon finished ninth a year ago, despite leading for 73 laps. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver finished with a top time trial run of 226.549 MPH during Tuesday’s run. Will Power finished twelfth at Kansas, the first time this season that he has failed to either finish first or clinch the pole position in any of the first five races. The number-12 car will need a much better performance to have any chance of clinching a victory at Indianapolis, especially after another top performer, Dario Franchitti, captured the third spot pole position at Kansas, and ended up placing second in an excellent lead up to this weekend’s race.

Dover Next Destination For Sprint Cup Series

If there is one driver that deserves the title of being the most dominant so far since NASCAR betting made the move from using the rear wing on the back of its car back to the traditional spoiler, it would be Denny Hamlin. Following Jimmie Johnson’s three wins in four races to close out the rear wing era, Hamlin has won three of six races to move all the way up to sixth in the Sprint Cup Series standings. Wins at Martinsville, Texas, and Darlington have lifted the 11-car to within 14 points of the top five, right on the tail of Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth.

Kenseth will need to be better heading in to this weekend’s online betting race at Dover International Speedway if he is going to have any chance of maintaining or improving his position in the SCS standings. Kenseth hasn’t placed in the top-ten in any of his past four starts, with a sixth place finish at the Subway Fresh Fit 600 the last of his six top-tens this season. While Hamlin has excelled since the move to the spoiler, the 17-car’s numbers before and after the move are the most clear indication of his struggles since the adjustment was made. Consider that each of Kenseth’s top-ten finishes came in six of the first seven races of the season, and that consecutive 13^th place results are his best finishes since, and it becomes clear that he and crew chief Drew Blickensderfer will need to make adjustments to the new feel of the car.

One driver who can’t seem to figure out what adjustments must be made in order to elevate him to his first win of the 2010 season is Jeff Gordon. Gordon has finished in the top-five in the SCS standings in consecutive weeks, and five times overall, but has failed to capture the checkered flag in any of the first 11 races. One year after finishing third in the standings, Gordon finds himself in a similar situation early on in the season, and will need to get over the hump of finishing good and not great at the NASCAR Dover betting race in order to avoid being a runner-up again in 2010.

One of the men that Gordon is chasing is the same one he has chased for nearly half a decade in the points standings, in Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson. The four-time defending SCS champion is another driver that has struggled since the move to the rear spoiler, but remains in second only to points leader Kevin Harvick. Harvick holds a 110-point lead over Johnson atop the standings after four straight top-five finishes, including an outstanding effort at Darlington most recently, in which he came all the way from his starting position in 35^th place to finish sixth overall. Harvick has undoubtedly been the most consistent driver this season, finishing in the top-ten in eight of 11 starts, and will look to continue his dominance this weekend at Dover, ahead of the World Cup predictions.