Today's tennis match was a stalemate for the ages. Kind of like getting drunk and playing risk. I could have been cooler.

Here’s the thing.  I watched more of this match today than I would rightfully admit and other than watching the game count tick upwards towards the absurd the tennis itself wasn’t exactly breathless.  One guy would serve, win his game easily and then get drubbed when the other guy would serve.  There was a sense of inevitability and an odd momentum to the proceedings.  This match was never going to end and the participants almost seemed resigned to it.   Sure John Isner tried to come to the net before his legs quit working and Nicolas Mahut skipped around like a jitterbug even following the 58-58 toidy break.  Neither tried to force the action on the other’s serve either because the other guy was on fire serving or they were under hypnosis. 

Just how much of a tug-of-war was it?  This monstrosity of a fifth set saw a total of four match points by Isner, the third and the fourth separated by three hours.  Mahut on the otherhand was able to muster two break points in game 101.  It took 50 games to get ONE break point!!!!!  At what point do you just say screw it and start charging the net every point, if for no other reason than to drive this to a conclusion?  Didn’t either of them want to quit?  Or just take a leak?  Or eat a sandwich? 

In the end this was far from the best tennis match ever played.  This was more of a Festivus feat of strength along the lines of the hot-dog eating contest or a Patrick Kane post-Cup bender than a moment of tennis beauty.  Either way, I will be watching when it resumes tomorrow.  Hopefully Isner can move any part of his body.

Joao Moutinho of Portugal is challenged by Behrang Safari of Sweden. In two weeks your other coworkers will pretend to know players like this.

Let’s start with the why: Well according to British bookmaker Ladbrokes, the largest bookmaking operation in the world, legal markets alone will see almost $1.5 billion in wagers on the World Cup.  In 2006 for the WC they had the biggest numbers they had ever seen $1.3 billion. Factor in the recession is “ending” and South Africa being in the same time as European markets it is safe to say this year’s tournament will be the most bet-upon sporting event ever.

Great that is Europe but we live in the United States?  Vegas might beg to differ. Granted in 2000 hardly any books on the strip offered wagering on soccer. In 2006 in the month long period it outdid baseball. Nevada doesn’t separate out soccer-specific betting (it tracks football, basketball, baseball, and others), but in 2005 “others“  had a total of $100.2 million wagered jump to $131 million wagered in 2006.

Ok but let’s get to the wagers. For every match there is the standard “who will win wager”.  Then there is also a variety of options for the final score. Like USA vs. England 3-2 USA (66-1). There are on average 25 different score variations per match.  Each match has a ton of prop bets too: the first red card, the amount of corners taken, first throw in after half-time, it goes on and on. The opener with South Africa vs. Mexico has 109 bets on it alone. Most matches have around 90.

You can also wager on the overall tournament.  Most of them are prop bets, such as: Which team will win each group? Who will score the first goal in a game? And which continent will the winner come from (Europe 2-5)? You can even take a flier on whether or not the leading goal scorer for the tournament will play for the winning team. (At Ladbrokes, they call it “doing the double.”) The current odds leader on that wager is Spain’s David Villa.

The big one of course is who will win it all. This wager accounts for nearly 25% of WC gambling globally. The safe bets usually end up being the so-called public teams Brazil, Argentina, and England. The equivalent of let’s say the Lakers in the NBA or Duke for NCAA hoops. Those three sit heavy along with Spain (4/1) this year. Currently the US sits at 80/1.

Even with all these options most bettors stay simple and wager on which team will win.  It is the easiest one to make. Plus it gives you more options and time to pick up subtleties throughout the tournament.  And if you like you like prop bets then by god man just go to town. The majority of the time the favorite will win the matches in the group stage, and when the knockout stage rolls around go with momentum.

This is just a little insight of what to look forward to come this Friday when the rest of the world takes a month off. Spain is a solid bet, and for the most part Brazil. Really shy away from England, they bet heavy on their own and they are not that good.  My pick for overall well I’m putting money down on Portugal at 25 to 1. With whom some consider the best player in the world on their side and a good supporting cast I’ll take those odds.

And of course I’m taking the Yanks over England in the opening weekend. Let’s hope I’m sober enough to know how the match ends.