NBA votes to keep Kings in Sacramento

The Kings will stay in Sacramento rather than move to Seattle after the NBA ruled that the team should remain where they are.

The decision brings to an end a saga which began in January when the family of George Maloof, which owns a majority interest in the team, looked at the possibility of moving the team to Seattle after failing to persuade the city of Sacramento to build a new arena.

The Maloofs reached a deal to sell the team to a local investment group led by Seattle hedge fund manager Chris Hansen. The city of Seattle has been without its own basketball team since the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.

However, the mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, vowed to start a campaign to keep the Kings in California’s capital and he put together a team that promised to match Hansen's bid. The group also persuaded the city council to back a proposal for a new $450million arena.

NBA Commissioner David Stern is pleased that a resolution has been found, saying to NBA betting news           reporters: "It's nice to see two great cities so interested in an NBA franchise, but the winner here is Sacramento.

“It is my expectation that we will now be able to reach a deal with the Maloofs.”

Last month, a committee of NBA owners voted that the team should stay in Sacramento, but Hansen vowed to fight on, raising his bid for a controlling interest in the Kings to $406million, which valued the team at $625million. Punters who bet on NBA  always favoured the status quo, which is how it has prevailed.

Meanwhile, Johnson believes the construction of a new arena will create jobs and provide more economic development opportunities for Sacramento but accepts that Seattle deserves a team of its own, saying: "They know what it feels like to lose a team. We just don't want that to happen to us."

Guest Runs Excellent Hunt Cup Trial

Excellent Guest finally got his head in front in a big handicap when coming fast and late to land the valuable Betfred Victoria Cup at Ascot at the weekend, in the process running the perfect trial for the Royal Hunt Cup, and delighting fans who placed a Royal Ascot bet.

Trained by George Margarson, the six-year-old had fallen to a mark of 93 after ending last term on a low note in finishing last of the 33 runners in the Cambridgeshire Handicap at Newmarket having run little better on his previous outing. 

Margarson had endured a series of near misses with the gelded son of Exceed and Excel in top handicaps over the last few seasons and had begun to wonder if he would ever land a decent prize.

Ridden in the 26-runner Victoria Cup by Tom Queally, Excellent Guest was held up for much of the straight seven-furlong contest before making good headway in the final quarter mile. Running on strongly well inside the final furlong, he burst through to hit the front and then stayed on well to hold another fast finisher, Bertiwhittle, by half-a-length.

Second in recent seasons in the Bunbury Cup, the Royal Hunt Cup, and the Buckingham Palace Handicap, Excellent Guest was certainly not winning out of turn and delighted his handler who is already looking forward to returning him to the fray at Royal Ascot next month for another crack at the Royal Hunt Cup over an extra furlong on the straight mile.

The 25/1 chance was landing his fourth win from 26 career starts and is a half-brother to the yard’s Imperial Guest who suffered a fatal injury at Kempton in January having proved a standard bearer for Margarson in recent seasons, including wining a valuable heritage handicap at Glorious Goodwood. 

In Excellent Guest, it appears that the Newmarket handler has a ready-made replacement for his much missed stalwart, a point that Betfair pundit, Jamie Lynch, has supported in recent days.

Djokovic return Game the key to Clay Success

Novak Djokovic has always been known for his ability to return even the world’s fastest serves with consummate ease and last weekend this gift proved the difference between winning and losing yet again.

Facing Rafael Nadal in the final of a tournament the Spaniard has won eight times before must be a daunting task but when you’ve got a return master at the other end of the court the balance of power evens somewhat.

This is what fans betting Betfair enjoyed on Sunday afternoon as Nadal and Djokovic clashed for the Monte Carlo Masters final and few of us expected the result we witnessed.

Djokovic was simply too dominant for the Spaniard and bounded to a 5-0 first-set lead before taking the opener 6-2. Although Nadal fought back hard to force a second-set tie-break, Djokovic’s dominance on single points proved the difference between the pair as he won the second and the championship on a 7-1 mini set.

What gave Djokovic the edge on Sunday was his ability to return serve and if he keeps this up he is the logical choice to win the French Open later next month.

Djokovic only made 62% of his first serves compared to Nadal’s 72%, yet the Serb won 63% of his first serve points, while Nadal only won 55% of his.

So, despite having a better serve Nadal failed to make it count, and this was because Djokovic is the master at retuning.

His reaction to serves is second to none and because he possesses at 6ft 2” frame he can stretch across the court in a flash and excavate those impossible balls. The 2013 Australian Open champion won 40/78 return points to Nadal’s 23/61 and that is where the pair differed.

If Nadal is to win the Roland Garros crown he must improve his return game or find an extra 10mph in his serves. That is unlikely to happen and so betting fans should back Djokovic to win the clay slam this summer.

Interested in tennis betting? Don't forget about the ATP Munich and Oeiras betting on Betfair. 

Burleson injury news great for Lions fans

Detroit Lions fans concerned their offense lacks the spark needed to succeed in the NFC North next season will be pleased to hear injured wide receiver Nate Burleson is way ahead of his scheduled recovery time.

Burleson broke his leg in late October during Detroit’s 13-7 defeat to the Chicago Bears and was immediately ruled out for the rest of the 2012 season. The Lions arguably suffered from his absence, winning just two games after that Chicago game, but now fans can look forward to his return.

"The great news is I'm healed up," Burleson told NFL AM. "I just got news from my doctors that the bone is good. I'm running and jumping three months ahead of schedule."

Indeed, to be three months ahead of the recovery date is great news for both Burleson and Lions fans who bet on NFL, for there is a real chance of healthy competition growing within the team over pre-season training.

Burleson will tussle with veteran receiver Calvin Johnson once more this year and there may even be a surprise draft pick hidden up Detroit’s sleeve come the 2013 Draft this week.

If the Lions can bring in a young WR to learn off Burleson then the 31-year-old’s job of keeping his place will be tough but nonetheless rewarding.

Detroit needs competition in offensive positions as 2012 demonstrated and the departure of Titus Young certainly hasn’t helped things. Despite making the 2011 playoffs the team crumpled to a 4-12 season last term, finishing bottom of the division, and head coach Jim Schwartz needs to get this pack going again if they are to defy the NFL betting odds that are tipping them for another year of struggle.

Hopefully Ryan Boyles can return from injury as good as ever and if Schwartz can add another WR before August Detroit should possess a dangerous forward threat.

Djokovic revels in surprise win

Novak Djokovic admits he did not expect to win the Monte Carlo Masters after going into the tournament with an injury cloud hanging over him. The Serbian was a major doubt after damaging his right ankle on Davis Cup duty just a week before the start of the event in Monaco. The world number one decided to play and was clearly not 100 per cent fit during the early rounds. However, his decision ultimately paid off as he worked his way through to Sunday's final, where he ended Rafael Nadal's incredible stranglehold on the Monte Carlo Masters with a 6-2 7-6 (7-1) victory. Nadal had held the title for eight years and entered the Masters 1000 showpiece protecting a 46-match unbeaten run. The clay-court king had no answer in the early stages as Djokovic took a firm grip on the contest. "The first six, seven or eight games were unbelievable. It's the best I can play on clay - well, it's the only way you can win against Rafa" said Djokovic, who lost finals in 2009 and 2012. The win will boost Djokovic's confidence as he prepares to avenge last year's French Open final defeat to Nadal at Roland Garros next month. He regards taking the risk to compete in Monaco as the "best decision of my life". "I cannot be happier than I am at this moment, knowing what I've been through the whole week – trying to recover and make my decision to play," added Djokovic. "If somebody had told me 10 days ago that I'd be winning the trophy, I wouldn't have thought it was realistic." The 25-year-old will continue his preparations for the second Grand Slam of the season at the Madrid Open in May. Don’t forget to head over to bet365 for all the latest tennis betting news odds, tips, advice and expert opinion, as well as their frequently updated promotions, including their latest in-play bet offer.

Higgins Picks up Early Defeat Once Again

Mark Davis took the biggest scalp of this year’s Betfair World Snooker Championship with a 10-6 victory over former four-time champion, John Higgins, much to the joy of fans who placed free bets online.

The pair also met in the UK Championship earlier in the season where Davis came out on top that day too, 6-5.

The man from Hastings was forced to qualify for the Crucible despite finishing inside the top 16 following the cut-off point for the World Championship. This was due to Ronnie O’Sullivan’s decision to defend his title even though he had not played one tournament on the circuit so far this season.

Davis led the opening session against the Scot 6-3, despite trailing 0-2 in the early exchanges. Breaks of 96, 85, 69 and 68 helped him to secure an advantage over night.

When the players returned on Monday afternoon, the world number 16 held his nerve to complete the upset 10-6. A break of 87 in the 16th frame was enough for him to progress into the second round where he will now face either Stuart Bingham or Sam Baird.

The 2012/13 season has been the best of Davis’ career so far. He reached his first ranking semi-final in the Wuxi Classic back in June. Wins over Ding Junhui, Jamie Burnett and Dott helped him into the last four. His run eventually came to an end in a final frame decider against Bingham.

Following his success in China, he continued his momentum into the Australian Goldfields Open where he went as far as the semi-final once again. He opening up with a 5-2 win over the talented youngster Jack Lisowski.

A victory over home favourite Neil Robertson followed as did success over Martin Gould. However, he was denied a spot in the final by the eventual winner Barry Hawkins.

Looking for snooker betting tips? Betfair expects Murphy to boss Dott in past champions battle.

Mickelson’s Masters Preparations hit Snag

Phil Mickelson’s hopes of landing a fourth Masters title were dealt a blow following after the 42-year old opted out of playing in a warm-up event ahead of the first major of the year.

Mickelson has always liked to play the week before a major, but the left-hander decided against playing the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio because the tournament did not offer the right conditions in which he could prepare for what he will come up against at Augusta.

Previously, the final event before Augusta was the Shell Houston Open at the Redstone GC Tournament Course, but a switch in the schedule saw that event moved forward by a week, throwing off Mickelson’s preparations for the Masters.

He was fourth in Houston before his impressive third place at Augusta last year and also played there the week before winning the 2010 Masters.

Before that, the pre-Masters event had been the BellSouth Classic at Sugarloaf - which was another tournament prepared with Augusta very much in mind - and Mickelson won there before his 2004 Masters success.

Mickelson has admitted to US Masters betting pundits that he is concerned by his lack of competitive action in the run-up to the season’s first major, especially taking into consideration the unforgiving nature of the course at Augusta.

"I find when I take a week off I come out just mentally not sharp. The more I play, the sharper I get, and usually the second or third tournament is when I play my best,” revealed Mickelson.

"So that's why I like to have a tournament before a major, because a major's penalty for a miss is so severe, you've got to be sharp on each shot right from the gate."

Keep up with the US Masters 2013 at Betfair.com.