Roger Federer as once-again cruised into the semi finals of Wimbledon, and only one-time doubles partner Marat Safin stands between him and a 6th consecutive Wimbledon final.  Last years champion is odds-on to meet last years finalist Rafael Nadal, whom Roger beat in 5 sets, 12 months ago.

Marat Safin beat Italy's Fabio Fognini in ronud 1 6-1 6-2 7-6, before knocking out the #3 seed Novak Djokovic in round 2 6-4 7-6 6-2  He dropped his first set beating up-and-coming Italian Andreas Seppi 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-4 in round 3.  In round 4 he defeated Swiss talent Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-1 and coming from behind to beat Feliciano Lopez 3-6 7-5 7-6 6-3 in the quarter finals.  He may have beaten some big names so far, but the road really does end here for Marat Safin.  Federer is above everybodies league in this sport and hasn't lost here for 6 years.  Safin is no match for Roger.

Roger Federer has yet to drop a set in this years competition, with only Robin Soderling and Lleyton Hewitt taking him to tie breaks (once each).  We don't expect those statistics to change tomorrow.

These 2 have met 10 times in the past with Roger Federer leading the head-to-head 8-2, winning both games that were on grass (Halle 2005, Wimbledon 2007).  Roger Federer beat Marat Safin in straight sets last year and is likely to do the same again this year.

PaddyPower are offering 1/16 on Roger Federer to win, which is like printing money.  Put as much as you can afford on this is you want to make a profit.  We've only got £130 in our bank (we had a starting limit of £100 starting from yesterday) and have ALL of it on this result.   We wouldn't be able to afford to continue this blog if the result doesn't come in, but let's face it, we know it will!

For those with less to stake, PaddyPower are offering 4/11 on Federer winning 3-0 which we are pretty certain will happen. PaddyPower are also offering Free £20 bets to new customers so join now!

In a display of rare patience, more than three years after the first future book was posted, 16 months since the start of the campaign, and 54 primaries and caucuses later, some politically savvy Presidential election betting fans finally moved closer to cashing a ticket when Barack Obama secured the Democratic Party nomination to face Republican John McCain in the race for the White House in November.

Obama, a first-term Senator from Illinois who debuted on a February, 2005 future book as the 40th (yes, 40th) choice to be elected President at a price of 100/1, is poised to beat enormous odds if he is able to defeat McCain in November. McCain, who in 2000 ran unsuccessfully for the Republican Presidential nomination against George W. Bush, opened as the leading Republican and second choice overall in futures at odds of 7/1. The overall favorite in the future book was New York Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton, at odds of 6/1. Clinton battled Obama to the end of the primary season before finally losing the delegate fight on June 3.

Besides Clinton, future book ducats were discarded on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) (8/1); Senator George Allen (R) (15/1), whose Presidential aspirations were dashed when he lost his Virginia Senate seat to Democrat Jim Webb in 2006; former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) (20/1); former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) (20/1); New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) (20/1); Indiana Senator Evan Bayh (D) (20/1); former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) (25/1); and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) (25/1).

Even if you're not one of those astute (more likely, lucky) bettors holding a 100/1 future book bet on Obama or a much more modest 7/1 on McCain, it's not too late too wade into the Presidential wagering waters.

Obama opened as the -200 favorite (bet $200 to win $100) in his head-to-head matchup with McCain, the +160 underdog (bet $100 to win $160). Given an unpopular war, a sagging economy, President Bush's 28 percent approval rating, and the fact that 80 percent of those polled believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, as well as the general tarnishing of the Republican brand, and it's to see why the experienced McCain opened as the underdog.

But as Presidential betting devotees can attest, things can change rapidly in politics. Remember, George H. W. Bush enjoyed a 90 percent approval rating following the Gulf War but winding losing his 1996 re-election bid to Bill Clinton.

What's more, the race to become US President really is 51 individual races, the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In that regard, each candidate begins with a base of roughly 200 Electoral votes (it takes 270 to win), leaving a dozen or so of battleground states, including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, Missouri, Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, Wisconsin and Nevada as pivotal. It's possible that a candidate gaffe or an unforeseen event could tilt those states.

Now that the Presidential candidates have been chosen by the voters, the speculation-—and betting-turns to who will fill out the respective tickets. Hillary Clinton is 3/2 to be Obama's Vice President with Jim Webb 5/1 and John Edwards, himself a Presidential candidate this cycle, listed at 6/1. Bill Richardson is held at odds of 10/1 with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius offered at odds of 12/1. Showing that bookmakers have a sense of humor, the list also includes Oprah Winfrey, 100/1, and Bill Clinton, 150/1.

Mitt Romney is 4/1 to be McCain's top choice for Vice President, (especially if internal polls show he can deliver Michigan, where his father was Governor), while Tim Pawlenty, the Governor of Minnesota, is listed at 6/1. Florida Governor Charlie Crist, whose presence would lock up that important state, and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin each are held at odds of 8/1.

No one knows for sure who will shine or stumble in the debates and which global events will shape the tenor and substance of the campaign, two more unknown factors that make Presidential election betting both intriguing and potentially profitable.

This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering election betting, in addition to sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online.

Rafael Nadal goes into Friday's semi final with a 3-1 head-to-head lead over his opponent Rainer Schuettler.  More importantly than past results, Rafael also goes in a lot more fresh with Rainer taking over 5 hours to beat France's Arnaud Clement in the quarter final.

Rafael Nadal has looked on top of his game throughout the tournament, only dropping 1 set.  His serve is unreturnable, his determination is 2nd to none and his fitness is peak.  Rainer Schuettler has done extremely well to get to this stage, knocking out James Blake and Janko Tipsarevic in the process.  But he has spent significantly longer on the court throughout his 20 sets, compared to Rafael Nadal's 16.  Rafael Nadal hasn't had much of a problem in his previous 5 matches, whereas Rainer had to come from 2-1 down to see off James Blake and beat Arnaud Clement in 5 sets this evening.

These 2 have never met on Grass before but Nadal won the last meeting at Chennai 2-0 last year.

Odds on Rafael Nadal are extremely small but betfair offer the best at 3/100.  But to make anything significant from this you will need to stak a fair bit.

Our recommended bet is to take Rafael Nadal to beat Rainer Schuettler 3-0.  Unibet offer 1.18 odds on this which is pretty good considering Rafa will win this match with ease.

Il fenomeno del poker è ormai diventato nazionale e sono svariati milioni gli italiani che giornalmente giocano ai tornei dei poker forniti dai maggiori operatori internazionali.

Il poker sportivo che molti definiscono un gioco d'azzardo come gli altri è invece secondo noi una vera e propria attività sportiva,una disciplina che ha richiesto una petizione per diventare gioco olimpico.

Già,il poker sportivo non necessita che il giocatore sia ricco per partecipare ad un torneo,al poker possono giocare sia l'operaio che l'imprenditore,senza ranghi sociali o intellettuali.

Dalle prossime settimana il governo probabilmente emanerà un decreto legge che favorirà e consentirà la raccolta del gioco on line sul poker.Il business che è arrivato a 60 miliardi di euro è un bel bocconcino per lo stato Italiano che con questo sistema ricevera un notevole introito,che altrimente andrebbe nelle casse di operatori stranieri.

Da due anni il poker è di moda in Italia,grazie anche alla trasmissione World Series of Poker in onda su Italia 1 e si calcola che sono più di 20 milioni gli italiani che hanno giocato almeno una volta nella vita al poker e 5 milioni i giocatori abituali.

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Here's are today's MLB Baseball stats and trends for Thursday, July 3, 2008

Today's MLB Pick: L.A.Dodgers vs. Houston: UNDER 8.5 -130

• Who's Hot: Chicago White Sox 7 SU Wins, Tampa Bay 4 SU Wins
• Who's Not: Boston 5 SU Losses, Cleveland 5 SU Losses, Atlanta 4 SU Losses

When BALTIMORE team played as a Home team - Total is between 9.5 to 10.0 - Vs. Right handed pitchers - Coming off a Home win as a Favorite - Coming off a 2 game winning streak.

• SU Record: 19-4-0
• O/U/P Record: 8-15-0

When NY YANKEES team played as a Home team - Last 5 years - Total is between 9.5 to 10.0 - Coming off a series loss - Allowed 7 runs or more AGAINST in their last game.

• SU Record: 11-1-0
• O/U/P Record: 3-9-0

When NY YANKEES team Played as Home team as a Favorite - Vs Conference Opponent - Vs. Left handed pitchers - Coming off a 1 game win - Coming off a Win vs. AL WEST opponent.

• SU Record: 10-2-0
• O/U/P Record: 4-8-0

When BOSTON team played as a Road team - Vs. Left handed pitchers - 1st game of a series - Coming off a Road loss - Coming off a series loss.

• SU Record: 9-2-0
• O/U/P Record: 7-1-3

When NY METS team played as a Road team - Vs Conference Opponent - Playing on Thursday - Coming off a 1 game loss - Coming off a night game.

• SU Record: 9-1-0
• O/U/P Record: 2-6-2

When COLORADO team Played as Home team as a Favorite - During a night game - Total is between 9.5 to 10.0 - Coming off a Win vs. NL WEST opponent - Coming off a Home win.

• SU Record: 6-4-0
• O/U/P Record: 2-8-0

When BALTIMORE team Played as home team as a Favorite - During the 2008 season - During a night game.

• SU Record: 12-3-0
• O/U/P Record: 8-4-3

When BALTIMORE team Played as home team as a Favorite - During a night game - 4th game of a series.

• SU Record: 7-6-0
• O/U/P Record: 2-8-3

When KANSAS CITY team played as a 100 to 120 road Underdog - Total is between 9.5 to 10.0 - During the month of July.

• SU Record: 3-8-0
• O/U/P Record: 2-8-1

When NY YANKEES team Played as home team as a Favorite - During the month of July - Total is 9.5.

• SU Record: 32-8-0
• O/U/P Record: 13-27-0

Well for those of you who read last weeks edition of Winners Are Grinners you will allready understand this highly complex mathematical formula which is 22P+W=HDTP. For those of you who did not read it here is the simple explination, 22P (which means 22 players in a team) +W (which means win) = HDTP (which means high Dream Team Points). Basically it'sm saying that teams who win generally score higher dream team points. After an example? At the end of Round 13 Geelong averaged 1658 dream team points per game, Melbourne only averaged 1480. See, I'm right!

Okay so for this weekend's games, Adelaide vs Geelong and Sydney vs Colingwood, who's going to win? Who's does this give an opportunity to? Let's take a look. Read the rest of this page »

Jie Zheng has been the biggest surprise of this years Wimbledon, dispossessing of big-named opponents again and again, sometimes with ease. But her dream ends here. What reason do I have to say that? Jie Zheng has beaten an under-performing Ana Ivanovic and took 3 sets to beat Nicole Vaidisova. On the other hand, her opponent, Serena Williams is on top form eliminating opponents with seemingly no problem so far. She will not have a problem again on Thursday. She will be too powerful for Zheng.

Serena Williams beat Kaia Kanepi 7-5 6-3 in round 1, Urszula Radwanska 6-4 6-4 in round 2, convincingly beating 2006 Wimbledon Champion Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 6-1 in round 3, Bethanie Mattek in round 4 6-3 6-3 before thrashing promising Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-0 in the quarter final on Tuesday.

Jie Zheng beat Slovakia's youngster Dominika Cibulkova 6-4 6-3 in round 1, then knocked out Britains Elena Baltacha 6-2 7-5 in round 2, before the biggest upset of the tournament, defeating the tired-looking Number 1 seed Ana Ivanovic 6-1 6-4 in round 3. Zheng then went on to beat Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-3 6-4 in round 4 and Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 5-7 6-1 in the quarter finals on Tuesday.

Totesport is offering 1/7 on Serena Williams which may need a few £ to make a profit, but there is only one winner in this match. I have £70 on Serena. Others may prefer to take the 4/9 odds on Serena winning 2-0 at totesport with the free £25 bet totesport are offering to new customers.

Tennis betting - Bet Now with totesport!

Venus Williams has breezed through the rounds, and even in this semi final encounter with the 5th seed, Russian Elena Dementieva, I don't see Venus having too much of a struggle.  There doesn't seem to be much that can stop either of the Williams sisters this year, and Venus' power will be far too much for Elena, who herself has dropped a few sets so far in this championship.

Venus Williams beat Britains Naomi Cavaday 7-6 6-1 and Anne Keothvong 7-6 6-2 in rounds 1 and 2 respectively before going on to beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1 7-5, Maria Sharapova's eliminator, Alia Kleybanova 6-3, 6-4 in round 4 and Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4 6-3 in the quarter finals on Tuesday.

Elena Dementieva had a much tougher run to the semi finals, overcoming Italy's Maria Elena Camerin 6-3 6-7 6-3 in round 1, coming from a set down in round 2 to beat Timea Bacsinszky 4-6 6-3 6-3, beating Gisela Dulko 7-6 7-5 in round 3, Shahar Peer 6-2 6-1 in round 4 and Nadia Petrova in the quarter final 6-1 6-7 6-3 on Tuesday.

PaddyPower are offering 1/4 on Venus Williams which is very good considering Roger Federer is 1/16!  They are also offering 4/6 on Venus Williams winning 2-0 which I have £30 on myself. PaddyPower are offering £20 free bets to new customers so join now!

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China Super League Live Stream + Odds

Bookmaker:

Bet365 - - PaddyPower

China Super League July 2nd:

Live Streaming Partner bet365.com

Tianjin Teda v Beijing Guoan 2,00-3,30-3,75

ShenHua v Liaoning FC 1,16-6,00-21,00