Basketball and women's soccer are the highlights of another busy day of Olympic action. Check inside for the best picks for Monday. Do sports bettors have an edge today. and how are the betting odds makers feeling about today's events?
Swimming may be over, but the track and field has more than
made up for that. We've already witnessed some great events, such as the 100
meter finals in which Usain Bolt was able to defend his gold medal.
Along with another action-packed day in athletics, here are
the top competitions to keep an eye out for.
Men's Basketball
Final group games today and a few that are sure to attract a
lot of interest from the sports betting public.
We'll get the Americans out of the way first, even though
their tipoff is the latest of the bunch. Right now USA is favored by 23.5
points over Argentina, quite a large number when you consider the Argentinians
have a number of NBA players, led of course by Manu Ginobili.
Am I the only one that thinks this is an incredibly high
spread? Argentina has looked good in the Olympics so far and only lost by six
to the USA in an exhibition game last month. Have the Americans done enough to
suggest they deserve such large chalk? You be the judge.
Two other group games look quite tasty: Russia against
Australia and Brazil versus Spain.
Current basketball odds have Andrei Kirilenko and the Russians favored by 7.5 points,
while the Spaniards, leaning on the Gasoll brothers in the post, are giving
away five points against a strong Brazil squad.
Women's Soccer
The USA team is one match away from the finals. First the
ladies will have to take care of a pesky Canadian side in the last four. The
odds of them doing so (-222 at sportsbooks) are looking good.
Abby Wambach has scored in every match thus far in the
tournament and the experience she's brought to the Americans can't really be
measured. The wins say it all.
In the other semi-finals, Japan face France and that one is
pretty much a tossup. The soccer lines have the Japanese women slightly
favored at +160, but the Canadians are right there are +192.
Track & Field
There's too many events to thoroughly cover today, but the
finals will be held in the women's pole vault, shot put and steeplechase.
For the men, we'll witness the finals in both the 400 meters
and 400 meter hurdles. Look for Kirani James of Grenada to win gold in the 400
meters after looking very strong in the semi-final round.
Gymnastics
More individual events have medals getting handed out,
including the rings and vault for the men and the uneven bars for the women.
Sam Mikulak is the sole American taking part in the action
today but faces tough competition from the rest of the field in the vault.
As for the uneven bars, we wonder who everyone will be
watching. Maybe Gabby Douglas? Yeah that sounds about right. After dominating
the individual overall competition last week, Douglas is likely to add another
gold to her collection today.
Beach Volleyball
Both women's teams are through to the semi-finals and today
it's time for the men to get their shot.
The USA team of Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal will play a
tough Latvian team in the quarters and the pair is priced at -365 to get the
victory.