Square Feet Adds Tiger Woods Into Television

Golf Betting Lines

• The Braeburn – 2,194 square feet, three bedooms/2-1/2 bathes, priced from $675,000.

 

• The Rosewood – 2,479 square feet, three bedrooms/3-1/2 bathes, priced from $750,000.

 

Large gourmet kitchens feature furniture-quality cabinets; built-in island cabinet; stone countertops; walk-in pantries; recessed lighting; stainless steel two-compartment sinks with designed faucets; built-in refrigerator with stainless panels; convection oven and separate microwave oven; gas burner cooktop; and heavy-duty dishwasher and garbage disposal.

 

An optional basement could include great rooms, state-of-the-art media/movie theatres, wine cellars, additional master and guest bedrooms, game room/virtual golf simulator, home offices and exercise rooms.

 

Over the course of the past 18 months, developers have made dramatic improvements to the private golf and residential property that was formerly a cherry orchard. Last October, LochenHeath unveiled its new 4,500- square-foot sales center and $1.2 million temporary member’s pavilion. The temporary clubhouse will serve LochenHeath members for the next “two or three years” until the full-service 25,000-square-foot permanent structure is constructed. When completed, the permanent clubhouse will house a golf shop, men’s and women’s lockerrooms, casual and formal dining rooms, and banquet and special event facilities. Additional plans call for a 6,000-square-foot fitness center.

 

Designed by Florida-based golf course architect Steve Smyers, The Club at LochenHeath’s 7,049- yard, par 71 championship golf course has been recognized as one of the state’s finest. The course provides golfers with “a thorough examination of their golfing talents and abilities providing a multitude of risk and reward options with a premium on club selection and course management skills.”

 

Golf, however, is not the only attraction this private golf and residential property has to offer. Members and residents have a wide array of recreational options at their disposal, including private beaches and access to Grand Traverse Bay; private boat slips and dry dock storage with concierge service; hiking, biking and jogging trails; and community lakes offering swimming, boating and fishing.

 

Contact: Tony Kingsbaker Tony K & Associates

 

Bodog.com has Tiger Woods as a 7/2 favorite to bury his competition, which includes Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els, who are listed at 17/2, 14/1 and 15/1, respectively. For all the odds on the 2006 British Open, see http://www.bodog.com/sports-betting/golf-pga.jsp

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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.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.