Twin River owners are looking to expand their casino offerings by asking Rhode Island residents to approve additional gaming options. On Wednesday, lawmakers reviewed the reworked bill.
With the Sprint Cup Series’ All-Star festivities coming up on the NASCAR betting schedule this weekend five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson is not in first place in the driver standings.
However, he’s also not that far back of top spot.
After the first 11 races of the season it’s Carl Edwards who sits in first place in the Sprint Cup Series standings with one win, six Top-5 results, nine Top-10 results, and 416 total points.
Sitting 24 points back of Edwards is then Johnson, who also has one trip to Victory Lane this season to go along with four Top-5 results and seven Top-10 finishes. Johnson won six races in 2010; Edwards took the checkered flag twice.
The rest of the standings’ Top 10 heading into the All-Star Race at Charlotte this weekend: Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, and Tony Stewart.
Kyle Busch, Harvick, and Kenseth each have two victories on the season, while Kyle Busch is tied for the circuit lead in Top-5 results with Edwards at six.
Three drivers outside of the current Top 10 in the standings have also taken a checkered flag this season: Jeff Gordon won at Phoenix, Regan Smith won at Darlington, and Trevor Bayne pulled off a shocking win in the opener at Daytona.
Of those three, only Gordon is close to the standings leaders; he’s in 14th place, 117 points back of Edwards and 29 points behind 10th-place Stewart. Gordon has three Top-5 and three Top-10 results on the season.
On the Bodog NASCAR futures board, Johnson enters the All-Star break as the 3/1 favorite to win yet another Sprint Cup this season, with Edwards and Kyle Busch both at 7/2 odds. Harvick (7/1) and Earnhardt Jr. (9/1) follow next on that list.
Get all your NASCAR odds at Bodog.
The Dallas Mavericks finally have their opponent for the Western Conference Finals, and it’s the Oklahoma City Thunder that they’ll be battling in an NBA betting matchup.
The Thunder pulled out a Game 7 win at home over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon, winning 105-90 and covering Bodog’s posted 7-point spread. The combined score of the matchup also went OVER the posted total of 193 points.
Leading the way for Oklahoma City in that contest was Kevin Durant, who bounced back from a sub-par Game 6 performance with 39 points and nine boards in the clincher on Sunday. Russell Westbrook had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists in the win.
Heading into Sunday’s Game 7 the Thunder had been listed at 12/5 odds to win the Western Conference, with the Grizzlies at 9/1, and the Mavericks sitting as the heavy 4/9 favorites. Watch for Oklahoma City’s odds to get a boost on Monday as they prepare to try and take down Dirk Nowitzki and company.
The Thunder should also see some improvement on the NBA title futures line – they entered Sunday’s action at 6/1 on that list, with Dallas at 5/2.
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is set to tip off at 9:00pm ET on Tuesday night in Dallas.
The Mavericks have been idle since last Sunday, when they completed a sweep of the Lakers in a 122-86 blowout win in Game 4 of that series. Nowitzki had 17 points in that laugher, with Jason Terry scoring a team-high 32 points off the bench.
Game 2 of the set will be on Thursday night in Dallas, and the series then shifts to Oklahoma City for Game 3 on Saturday night.
Bet on the NBA playoffs now at Bodog!
The Boston Bruins entered the Eastern Conference final as the series favorites on the NHL betting lines, but a stumble in Game 1 on Saturday night now has them trailing in the set.
Tim Thomas and company were listed as the -135 favorites to win the Eastern Conference final prior to the opener on Saturday, with the Tampa Bay Lightning the series underdogs at +115. Tampa Bay, though, shrugged off that slight with an easy 5-2 road win over Boston.
The key to the Bolts’ victory was a three-goal blitz in just over a minute of action midway through the first period. Boston couldn’t recover.
Sean Bergenheim, Brett Clark and Teddy Purcell had the goals for Tampa Bay in the first period, with Marc-Andre Bergeron and Simon Gagne providing third-period markers for good measure. Bergenheim continues to do his John Druce impression in these playoffs – he now has eight postseason goals.
Dwayne Roloson stopped 31 of 33 shots for Tampa Bay in Game 1′s win, while Bruins counterpart Thomas made 29 saves on 33 shots. Thomas, the front-runner for the Vezina Trophy this season, gave up only seven goals in Boston’s four-game sweep of the Flyers last round.
Saturday’s result also flipped the teams’ Stanley Cup futures. Prior to the start of the Eastern Conference final the Bruins were sitting at 5/2 odds to win the Stanley Cup, with Tampa Bay back at 7/2 odds to win their second title in franchise history.
However, by Sunday morning it was Tampa Bay at 5/2 odds to claim the Cup this season, while Boston had fallen to 4/1 odds on that list. Boston gets a chance to turn around those numbers once again on Tuesday night when they host the Lightning in Game 2 of the series. Puck drop for that matchup is set for 8:00pm ET.
Bet on the Stanley Cup playoffs now at Bodog!
The US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is being urged to review the negative impact of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The head of the committee, Darrell Issa is seeking input on laws hindering growth.