Today, Prime Wagers has launched our own Sports Betting Forum where our subscribers can now discuss sports betting topics and sports tips.

Our first Prime Wagers Hot Topic is a forum about the Hottest Female Athletes. Click on Prime Wagers Hot Topics on the forums page and you will see it. Feel free to post who you think is the absolute hottest female in the world of sports.

Some of the latest additions to the "Hot Female Athletes" topic are Beach Volleyball star Sara Hughes, Race Car Driver Danica Driver, WWE star Stacy Keibler and Tiger Woods' Skiing Hottie Lindsey Vonn. Who else should be there?

It was a day cast in bronze for the U.S. competing in the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in Porto, Portugal, as the teams of Sara Hughes/Kelly Claes and TJ DeFalco/Lucas Yoder both walked away with third-place finishes. 

Ninth-seeded DeFalco (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Yoder (San Clemente, Calif.) lost a close semifinal match to No. 5 Moritz Reichert and Clemens Wickler of Germany, 21-19, 21-19. The tough setback had them playing in the
bronze-medal match against Lukas Kazdailis and Arnas Rumsevicius of Lithuania, seeded No. 21. In what was tied for the longest match of the tournament at 48 minutes, DeFalco and Yoder earned a 22-24, 21-18, 15-8 victory to claim bronze.


After not being able to close out the first set, DeFalco and Yoder secured
the second and got a big lead in the tiebreaker. After Yoder scored his eighth
big block of the match at 14-7, DeFalco grabbed the bronze with a shot down the
line.

The bronze medal is the first U.S. medal in the boys’ U19 World Championships
since 2008 and the third medal overall.

“I am pretty stoked,” DeFalco said right after the final point in an FIVB
press release. “It means a lot to me to win this medal since this is my first
FIVB beach volleyball event.”

Reichert and Wickler won the top spot, and Norway’s Bjarne Nikolai Huus and
Christian Sandlie Sorum netted silver.

After two upset victories on Saturday, No. 7 Hughes (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and
Claes (Valencia, Calif.) dropped their semifinal match to third-seeded Eduarda
Santos Lisboa and Taina Silva Bigi of Brazil, 21-18, 21-17. Moving into the
bronze-medal final, Hughes and Claes faced off against No. 4 Sarah Schneider and
Lara Schreiber of Germany, who had defeated the other U.S. duo of Skylar Caputo
(Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Delaney Knudsen (Santa Clarita, Calif.) 2-0 in
pool play. Hughes and Claes battled to a 21-18, 19-21, 15-12 victory to earn the
bronze medal.

Also fighting from behind, Hughes and Claes tied the second set at 19-19 before
winning it and forcing a tiebreaking third set.

“I feel amazing," said Hughes, who finished fourth at the FIVB Beach
Volleyball U21 World Championships last year with Summer Ross. “This is an
awesome experience. It’s my first time on the medal stand. My partner helped me
out a lot, this was a real team effort.”

This is not a joke: Ex-MLB outfielder Danny Tartabull, who once had a memorable appearance on 'Seinfeld', currently is one of the top deadbeat dads in LA, owing more than a quarter of a million.

Former Major League outfielder and DH Danny Tartabull earned nearly $33 million over the course of a 14-year professional career, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

And according to the L.A. County Child Support Services Department, Tartabull, who last played with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1997, owes about a quarter-million dollars in unpaid child support for his two sons, making him the most wanted deadbeat dad in Los Angeles.

Tartabull’s oldest son, Zach, was a two-star wide receiver recruit in the
class of 2010 and is now a model. His younger son, Quentin, is a three-star
defensive back recruit in the class of 2014 and has verbally committed to
Cal.

Per the poster below, Tartabull entered a no contest plea on Jan. 24, 2011,
to a violation of Penal Code Section 166(a)(4), which is "willful disobedience
of the terms as written of any process or court order or out-of-state court
order, lawfully issued by a court, including orders pending trial."

Tartabull then failed to meet the terms of his probation and didn’t show up
to serve a 180-day jail sentence last year. There has been a warrant out for his
arrest since May 2, 2012.

The $276,204.93 Tartabull owes in child support payments represents less than
one percent of the 1991 All-Star's career earnings, so one would think his
delinquency is a matter of laziness or indifference, not lack of funds.

But then again, this wouldn’t be the first time a professional athlete burned
through an absurd amount of money, either.

So will Danny Tartabull pay what he owes in child support? Don't bet on it! 
Or maybe he’s just waiting on his latest Seinfeld and Married With Children royalty
checks to cash.

There could be a somewhat surprising pitching duel Friday night when Bruce Chen and the Kansas City Royals (43-46, 21-24 away) pay a visit to Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians (48-44, 27-19 home) in the first game of a weekend three-game series from Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH at 7:05 ET, a series that leads right into the All-Star Break.

The posted total at Prime Wagers is 8½ for this contest with the current odds on the ‘under’ set at -105.


The Indians simple refuse to go away in the American League Central race, as they
are in second place and only 2½ games behind the Detroit Tigers, who were expected to run
away with things before the season, after taking two out of three from the Toronto Blue Jays,
beating R.A. Dickey 4-2 in the series finale on Thursday afternoon.

Winning that series from the Blue Jays was important because it showed that the Indians
did not get down on themselves after losing three out of four games to those Tigers here at home
last weekend when the Tribe had a chance to make a statement. One encouraging sign to come
out of that Tiger series was the performance of tonight’s starter Kluber, who got back on track after
two sub-par performances.

Kluber may not be a household name nationally, but he had allowed three earned runs or less
in 11 of his first 13 games this season before getting touched up for seven runs
(six earned) on 11 hits in 4.2 innings by the Baltimore Orioles on June 27th and then
following that up by allowing four earned runs, albeit on only four hits, in 5.1 innings
vs. these Royals on July 2nd.

Kluber managed to right the ship vs. probably the best offense in the American League though,
limiting the potent Tigers to two runs on five hits with an impressive 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings
on Sunday in the only Cleveland victory of that series.

That leaves Kluber 6-5 with a 4.23 ERA overall, but he has an excellent ratio of 86 strikeouts vs.
19 walks in 87.1 innings, and believe it or not he is actually ninth in the Major Leagues
among pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched with an xFIP of 3.04! He also
pitched well the first time he faced the Royals this year allowing two runs in
seven innings with six strikeouts and not a single walk, so we will forgive his
July 2nd outing against them in lieu of Sunday’s nice start.

The Royals are coming off of a four-game split vs. the New York Yankees, although they are
probably disappointed as they lost on Wednesday and Thursday after
winning the first two games of the series. Kansas City is now turning to the southpaw veteran
Chen, who was considered the ace of the Royals’ staff a couple of years ago but is now making
his first start of the year after 19 relief appearances, taking the rotation spot of an ineffective Luis Mendoza.


Then again Chen seems like a logical choice to fill that rotation spot.
After all, he is a veteran of 203 Major League starts and he earned this
opportunity by pitching well out of the pen this year, going 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA
over 33.2 innings. It was Chen that took over for the struggling Mendoza on
Sunday vs. the Oakland Athletics, tossing 3.1 effective innings, and his first
start comes vs. a Cleveland offense batting just .237 vs. left-handed pitchers
at home this season.

Look for Chen to prove serviceable in his first start of 2013 and for Kluber to return to
the fine form he had early in the year following his very good outing vs. the Tigers, resulting
in an ‘under’ on Friday.

With baseball season now in full swing, it's interesting to see how many 
people are trying to get in on the sports betting action that is available to 
the general public. The average fan might not know how to bet on baseball, but 
with a little bit of pre-planning, anyone can start making money with the game. 
Before we get into some easy steps to get started, it's important to understand 
that all gambling has risks. Some are greater risks than others, which is why 
it's important to take a few moments to understand when to walk away. Once 
you've established that you are in control, and are an existing baseball fan, 
look at the following 3 steps to get you started.

Step 1 - Be A Baseball Fan

If you're not a sports fan, and more specifically a fan of the major leagues,
  you will not go far with betting. You can't learn to bet if you're not
regularly  watching games, or at least have a favorite team. If you're a novice,
or a  casual fan, this is the time to start changing into a diehard. If you have
a  hard time understanding how to do this, simply watch more games, subscribe to
  newsletters and start writing on forums and meet others. The more you engage 
others in conversation, the more you'll learn about the odds and ends of sports 
gambling. The game will also spark further interest for you when you're 
watching, because you'll have money on the line.

Step 2 - Read Betting Odds

The second step to take is to start reading betting odds. Make sure you're 
reading expert commentary from sports handicappers, as well as any experts that 
are involved with the major leagues. The more time you invest to learn about the
  game, the more evident certain storylines will play out. Read odds that are 
placed by sports books, and make sure that your research lines up with what 
others are thinking, and if they are polar opposites, consider rethinking your 
strategy. There's no guarantee that you'll make money using other people's 
opinion, but they will at least help you move towards a good betting 
strategy.

Step 3 - Place Your Bets

The last step is to find a location where you can place legal bets. You will have
to find the place that works for you best, playing on games that you've studied for,
and watch the money start rolling in. Prime Wagers is the #1 Most Trusted Online 
Sportsbook for all Sports Betting including Baseball Betting. Just click Join Now 
and get your Betting Bonus for signing up.


The above 3 steps are just basic ways to get into sports betting. Learning 
how to bet on baseball is best done when you are a fan; start reading about 
gambling, and then simply getting into the action. The more you bet, the more 
you'll learn, so get out there and give it a shot.

Los Angeles Angels travel to Chicago for inter-league play on Wednesday, hoping to
secure a victory over the Cubs.

Los Angeles puts its faith in starter C.J. Wilson to earn a win and boost his personal mark of 8-6. Getting the ball for the Cubs is Jeff Samardzija, who owns a 5-8 record on the season with a 3.54 ERA.

Power Rankings:
This game puts the Cubs, most recently No. 8 in the National League Odds Shark MLB Power Rankings, up against the Angels, who rate an American League No. 7 in the latest survey. 

How They Match Up:
Scoring stats point to some edges in this matchup. The game features Chicago's National League No. 6-ranked scoring average of 4.1 runs per game, against a Angels offense rated No. 7 and scoring 4.6 runs per game in the league. The Cubs have averaged 8.3 hits per game to date this season, less than the Angels hitters have managed (9.2 per nine innings).

Chicago owns the National League's No. 8 defense, allowing 4.1 men per game to cross the plate. That contrasts with Los Angeles' American League No. 12-rated defense.

The Angels were a 7-2 loser in their most recent outing on the road against the Cubs. That made winners of bettors who got Chicago at +125 on the moneyline, while the total score (9) was good news for UNDER bettors. Los Angeles suffered a 7-2 loss against Chicago on Tuesday, as Joe Blanton wasn't able to lead his team to victory at Wrigley Field.

Los Angeles Angels Trends:
When playing on Wednesday are 5-5
Before playing Seattle are 5-5
After playing Chicago Cubs are 4-4
After a loss are 6-4

Chicago Cubs Trends:
When playing on Wednesday are 4-6
Before playing St. Louis are 5-5
After playing LA Angels are 5-3
After a win are 5-5

A few Angels at Cubs trends to consider:
LA Angels are 7-1 SU in their last 8 games on the road
LA Angels are 10-3 SU in their last 13 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of LA Angels' last 8 games when playing Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games
Chicago Cubs are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Chicago Cubs' last 8 games when playing LA Angels
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Chicago Cubs' last 15 games

Next up for the Los Angeles Angeles:
LA Angels at Seattle, Friday, July 12

Fenerbahçe have made an inquiry for out-of-favor Chelsea striker Demba Ba as part of the clubs efforts to sign an additional forward.

The Yellow Canaries are willing to offer €8m for the 28-year-old
striker.

Fenerbahçe have also been in talks with Benfica's Oscar Cardoza however, talks have recently stalled due to a disagreement over the Paraguayan internationals transfer fee.

Ba has been deemed surplus to requirements in Jose Mourinho's preferred squad make-up and has been transfer listed by Chelsea.

The Senegalese international striker joined the Blues last January on an €8.5 million move from Newcastle United scoring twice in 14 appearances for Chelsea.

The Canaries have strong ties with the board at Chelsea and brought in Raul Meireles on a €10 million move from the Premier League club last season.

Ba is a close friend of Fenerbahçe striker and fellow compatriote Moussa Sow however, the Canaries are facing increasing pressure over foreign player spaces.

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) will only permit 10 foreign players per-club in the 2013-14 season and
allow six foreign players on the field at any one time.

Fenerbahçe currently have 11 non-Turkish players on their books.

Two days after UFC 162 and I still don’t know what to make of Anderson Silva’s
loss to Chris Weidman. We’ve seen Anderson Silva clown around in the ring, taunting
his opponent throughout contests. We’ve  seen him take more post-fight criticism
than punishment in fights where  he seemed disinterested in finishing as he danced
to somewhat easy  decisions. On the one hand it’s fitting that the style that has both 
amazed and infuriated fight fans since Silva secured the title in  October 2006 is also
the one that saw him lose the title as Chris  Weidman’s fists finally took the smile off
his face. On the other hand  it does feel somewhat cheap, as if Silva didn’t care as
much about the  fight as the fans or his opponent.

It's possibly the Silva might have become over-confident. Silva’s clowning act
was never  this dangerous before, and I don’t know if he knew the difference
before it was too late. When Silva had done the dance and mug act prior, it 
was in fights where he was already landing shots with ease. Forrest  Griffin and
Stephan Bonner come to mind. In those fights it seemed Silva could just decide
what he wanted to throw at his opponent and hit his  target to devastating results.
Saturday night was different.

Silva was into the full taunting act before he’d landed even one  meaningful
shot against Chris Weidman. Silva had landed some decent leg  kicks and far be
it for me to discount those, but he hadn’t demoralized  his opponent. Weidman
didn’t buy into the act, but he did look a little  confused at times trying to
figure out what he should do to a fighter  that’s dancing and dropping his hands
continually. Much like other  fighters who’ve tried to maintain their composure,
Weidman continued to  stand in and deliver shots. Unlike those other fights,
Silva wasn’t  landing devastating counter-shots to complete the
embarrassment.

So in the end, rather than embarrassing the next Forrest Griffin,  Silva got
embarrassed. Except that you don’t get the sense that he’s  capable of
embarrassment.

As he talked to the audience in his post-fight interview with Joe  Rogan,
Silva was praising the new champ, but it all felt kind of  sarcastic to me.
Maybe he meant it, but if a guy who didn’t put up his  best effort praises the
new champ as being the best isn’t he  playing  the audience for fools? I guess
it’s more gracious than to discount the  new champ, but these are the problems
of perception when a fight has  such a strange ending. We’re not used to title
fights ending when one of the fighters gets caught because he wasn’t paying
attention to the  fundamentals of fighting – namely keep your damn hands up.

But Silva was never an orthodox champ. For what was going on seven  years,
Silva had defeated anyone the UFC could throw at him. Maybe this  was the only
way it could have ended. Even if the last fight feels a  little bit cheap,
there’s no denying how excellent the run has been. You just don’t get the sense
that the UFC’s other long-reigning champ,  George St-Pierre could ever put any
doubt around his belt in victory or  defeat.

So, what’s next? Despite Silva’s in-ring claim that he didn’t want a  rematch
it appears that is where we’re headed. A guy who held the belt  that long
certainly deserves an instant rematch, and UFC President Dana  White’s thoughts
on it are instructive as to what happened in this fight where Anderson Silva was
heavily favored.

“The next one’s going to be very interesting, White said. “I think I
would have the odds pretty much the same this one for the last one, 2-1 for
Silva. I think he’ll be 2-1 again.”

And that’s ultimately the problem I think I had with the fight Saturday night.
You want your title fights to leave no doubt about who the best  fighter is, and
because of the way Anderson Silva went about his  business, that wasn’t the
case.

Men’s Final — Andy Murray def. Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets on Sunday, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

After expertly breaking Djokovic several times throughout the match, Murray set himself up for the win in the third set. Djokovic battled back in the epic final game, forcing four separate championship points. Murray claimed the title
after Djokovic netted a forehand follow-up shot.

Women’s Final — Marion Bartoli def. Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-4
 
Marion Bartoli of France used a quirky assortment of shots to beat Sabine
Lisicki of Germany, 6-1, 6-4, and win the women’s title at Wimbledon in London
on Saturday. The 15th-seeded Bartoli cruised to her first major title in just 1
hour and 21 minutes, thoroughly dominating a hesitant Lisicki.

The duo made for an unlikely final match having each navigated a fortnight
punctuated by upsets of favorites Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.