TWIM: MLS playoff races & rivalries take center stage

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Forward To A Friend Ready for some rivalries? MLS INSIDER: The next generation of Homegrown heroes in MLS KEEPING UP WITH JONES: US star Jermaine Jones set for Revolution debut YOUTH IS SERVED: Seattle academy star called up to US national team SJ v RSL CSN BAY AREA Saturday 10:30 PM ET SKC v HOU NBCSN Friday 8:00 PM ET

DC v NY
NBCSN
Sunday 2:30 PM ET
CHV v LA

UDN
Sunday 8:00 PM ET
NE v SKC

UDN
Wednesday 7:30 PM ET

SEA v COL	Saturday 4:00 PM ET
TOR v NE	Saturday 5:00 PM ET
MTL v CLB	Saturday 7:30 PM ET
CHI v DAL	Saturday 8:30 PM ET
VAN v POR	Saturday 10:30 PM ET
PHI v TOR	Wednesday 7:00 PM ET
CHV v SEA	Wednesday 10:30 PM ET

Kick Off: A weekend of MLS rivalries | Union coaching search | USMNT call-up shocks

News  |  Videos  |  Schedule & Stats  |  Clubs  |  Fantasy  |  Shop Forward To A Friend Kick Off: A weekend of MLS rivalries | Union coaching search | USMNT call-up shocks Here are the top 15 stories being talked about today: 1. SPORTING KC EYE TOP SPOT Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo have met three years in a row in the playoffs. That won't happen again unless the last-placed Dynamo find a groove and get more from goalkeeper Tally Hall when they travel to Sporting Park on Friday night (8 pm ET, NBCSN in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada). SKC, meanwhile, need a better defensive display than the one they produced against D.C. United if they are going to  reclaim first place in the Eastern Conference.   2. CASCADIA IN CANADA A week after losing to Seattle, the Portland Timbers have another Cascadia Cup clash this Saturday, away to the Vancouver Whitecaps (10:30 pm ET, TSN2 in Canada, MLS LIVE in USA). The Timbers will be without Norberto Paparatto after he was suspended for one game. The Caps, meanwhile, have just tied down left back Jordan Harvey to a new long-term contract. 3. CONVEY OUT FOR DC-NY Nasal surgery will keep Bobby Convey out of the New York Red Bulls' crucial clash with rivals D.C. United (Sunday, 2:30pm ET, NBCSN in US, MLS LIVE in Canada), but the DC fans will still honor the 2004 MLS Cup-winning United side that included Convey and Red Bulls coach Mike Petke. Going the other way, former Red Bulls defender Jeff Parke, now with United, helps break down the game.  4. GORDO WINNING HEARTS & MINDS IN LA As Alan Gordon works hard to win back the support of the  LA Galaxy fans, what better way to do it than scoring in what could very well be the final game against rivals Chivas USA in their current form (Sunday, 8 pm ET, Univision Deportes). However, Goats coach Wilmer Cabrera will be hoping his new signings ensure that doesn't happen. 5. TFC WARY OF REVOLUTION'S NEW THREAT Jermaine Jones could potentially make his New England Revolution debut when his side visit Toronto FC (Saturday, 5 pm ET, MLSsoccer.com, MLS LIVE, ESPN3), but can the US international help save their season? Toronto FC's studious coach Ryan Nelsen will be wary of a re-energized Revs side, but he'll also most likely have stars Jermain Defoe and Gilberto together up top.  Is that a good thing? 6. ANOTHER TOUGH TEST FOR THE RAPIDS  The Seattle Sounders' Chad Barrett will be hoping for another opportunity to celebrate when his side host the ailing Colorado Rapids (Saturday, 4 pm ET, MLS LIVE). The Rapids will definitely be without Danny Mwanga as well, after the forward officially went out on loan. 7. LAGERWEY'S RSL TALKS POSTPONED Real Salt Lake visit the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday (10:30pm ET, MLS LIVE), and while RSL look to keep pace with Seattle and a resurgent LA Galaxy, talk about general manager Garth Lagerwey's future has apparently been tabled until after the season. 8. IMPACT STILL TRYING TO END SLIDE New defensive signing Gege Soriola should help the Montreal Impact's chances of bagging their fifth win of the season when they host the Columbus Crew on Saturday (7:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE). Having made a strong impression in his Crew debut last weekend, is youth international Romain Gall ready for more? 9. CHICAGO LOOK WITHIN Ahead of their clash against high-flying FC Dallas on Saturday (8:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE), the Chicago Fire have signed US youth international Collin Fernandez. Dallas are on a 10-game unbeaten streak and could be boosted even further by the return of Moises Hernandez, who finally cleared the air about the foot injury that has kept him out of three games. 10. THE UNION COACHING LIST The Philadelphia Union picked up a 3-2 win in a Thursday friendly vs. "baby brother" Harrisburg City Islanders, but the big news concerns the club's coaching search. While we already knew current interim Jim Curtin was on the short list for the fulltime gig, some other, high-profile names have emerged. 11. USMNT LOOK TO THE FUTURE US national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann named his squad for the upcoming friendly against the Czech Republic and with the start of a brand new cycle the coach has opted to go with youth, including a shock call-up for Seattle Sounders academy star Jordan Morris. 12. CANADIAN ROSTER Canada coach Benito Floro announced his roster for the September 9th friendly against Jamaica in Toronto. Unlike the USMNT's Europe-based youth movemnt, Canada's squad sees a number of veterans and MLS players called, including Dwayne De Rosario, as they continue their quest for a first win in almost two years. 13. COULD KAMARA RETURN TO MLS? Former Sporting Kansas City star Kei Kamara has parted ways with English second-division side Middlesbrough by mutual consent. Could the Sierra Leone international make his way back to MLS? 14. CLAVIJO BATTLING BACK This week we learned the news that FC Dallas technical director Fernando Clavijo is battling cancer. The former US international is not taking the news lying down and is reportedly responding well to his treatment. 15. YANKS IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Anderlecht's Sacha Kljestan and Bayern Munich's Julian Green learned their group opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Let's just say it's better to be with Bayern than Anderlecht. MLSsoccer.com Musts MLS Insider: The next generation of Homegrown heroes ExtraTime Radio: Jermaine Jones like you've never heard him before MLS Now: The US national teams best players are no longer in Europe

Why Knowing When NOT To Bet Is So Important...

It seems these days as if the whole world is imploring us to have a bet with more and more bookmaker adverts bombarding us everywhere we turn. Whether it's being told to 'Have a bang on that' or to 'Stick one on it"- everything is geared towards having as many bets as possible...Yet I want to turn that on its head today and discuss when you shouldn't place a bet. Any gambler worth their salt will tell you that knowing when not to bet is often just as important as knowing when to bet. Anything that can save you from backing losers or as today's article discusses - avoiding placing bets at bad value prices should always be worth your time. With this in mind, today I want to share with you an excerpt from our most recent Practical Punter Report, written by semi-pro gambler Rowan Day, which we publish every month for SBC members to read. His reports discuss the real-life experiences of actually following tipsters to make money betting and form part of the Practical Betting assistance we provide at SBC. So without further ado, let me hand over to Rowan... "Nowadays people know the prices of everything and the value of nothing"   Who'd have thought that Oscar Wilde was into sports betting? Despite the fact that deep down I knew that placing a bet at 1.7 that had been advised at 2.0 was a fool's game, I couldn't bear to face the prospect of letting a potential winner go unbacked.  So in I'd wade, regardless of the price, sticking down my cash with no proper thought.  It really did take me longer than it should have done to realise that my approach was all wrong, and that I needed to pay more heed to obtaining value in my bets. It wasn't until I started to read and hear things from people who were obviously more experienced and successful at betting than I was, that I accepted that securing value really is the be all and end all.  I finally came to realise (and it really was a case of being better late than never!) that without this skill, the long term outcome for my betting was not so rosy, no matter how skilled the tipsters within it were at finding winners. Of course what is an almost impossible task, at least if not using a statistical/mathematical modelling approach to betting, is identifying just how much value exists, if any, in a particular pick.  You need to remember this as you read on. It's impossible for any tipster to say there is X amount of value in one of his picks.  He can make a very good judgement as to whether a bet has value or not, and indeed go further and use his skill to identify when a bet has more value than another (which is reflected in his weight of staking), but whether a pick is at odds 5% better than they should be, or 10% or 20%, how precise can you be?  A skilled estimate is the best any tipster can do. So what we must assume therefore, is that our tipster has identified a solid level of value in each and every selection they advise, and that after the point of bet release, it is down to ourselves to secure as big a chunk of that value as possible.   The Hardest Thing To Do Is Sometimes The Most Simple. The best piece of betting advice I've ever been given is that you don't ever have to bet.  No-one forces us to strike any bet, although I do understand that we can feel compelled to do so. I would imagine that the following scenario is familiar to most, if not all of you… You're in the midst of a losing spell.  Last minute goals are turning winning bets into losing ones, your horses are always a nose behind in the photo finishes.  You're feeling more and more frustrated and it's getting harder to take as you see the balances in your bookmaker accounts falling lower and lower. It is in this context that you get your email from your tipster who is obviously very confident about a selection, but due to circumstances you're not able to get the bet on as soon as it was released.  Indeed, by the time you get to your laptop or PC, the price on the selection has crashed from 1.9 to 1.72.. Now, deep down, you know the value must have gone from that bet, right?  But reading the email again, the guy is so confident. It carries a bigger stake than most of his picks.  It must win.  And suddenly you're telling yourself that amongst all these losers, you just need a win.  Something to plug the leak, stop the rot.  Does it really matter that the price is only 80% of the price the tipster thought represented value?  After all, a winner is a winner.  And how are you going to feel if after backing all these losers, you walk away from a winning bet? Been there?  I know I have.  Many times.  And it was only relatively recently that I grew the cojones to do the simplest thing in the world…walk away and not bet.  If the price has gone too low, then as the yoof of today say, leave it, yeah?   Determining An Acceptable Price   OK, so we're determined to be disciplined enough to walk away from placing bets that we know no longer hold any value.  But where do we draw the line between what is an acceptable price to take on a pick, and what is not? This is a very inexact science and I'm sure there will be statisticians and experts on probabilities that disagree with what I'm about to say.  What I would say to them is that successful betting involves not just playing the numbers correctly, but includes successfully managing the psychological impact of what we're doing. It is just as important to get the non-mathematical aspect of running a betting portfolio correct if we are to be successful long term.  If we keep passing over bets because we're not getting what we deem to be a value price, then it won't be long before we become disillusioned.  For the sake of our own sanity, we do need to ensure that we are placing the majority of the bets that come through from our tipsters.  We mustn't be too pernickety, and deny ourselves the opportunities to make some money! It is on this basis that we have to make some assumptions, the biggest of which is that the tipster has identified a significant amount of value in each of his picks.  So as a general rule, I am looking to take no less than 90% of the officially advised odds on any of my sports bets.  That's my cut off point, my bare minimum, although I do still want my average odds taken to be much higher, more like 97/98% of the advised odds, and in fact I actually change my acceptable minimum price depending on the nature of the individual bet. So 90% is my minimum cut-off point for any bet that has moved odds...what do you think yours might be? You Must Learn To Deal With The Psychology. If you decide that you are going to implement similar strategies to those I've talked about here, then please do ready yourself mentally.  There WILL be times when you miss out on backing winning bets, but remember, there will also be times you don't place a bet that turns out to be a loser.  It's a certainty though that your mental aptitude will be tested at some point, and there will be times when you're left shaking your head and tearing your hair out (at the same time, if your hand/eye co-ordination is good enough!). Yet whatever you do - remember, you don't have to bet every time - regardless of what Ray Winstone or Robbie Savage tell you!   More Real-Life Help On Actually Making Tipsters Pay... This excerpt is taken from Rowans most recent Practical Punter Report, with the full article going on to reveal more on his own scientific approach as to how he decides to take a bet or not. Alongside this you can also read details on the tipsters that Rowan follows, his ongoing performance and exactly how he makes following tipsters pay for him. Providing inspiration for those of you looking to do the same! All Practical Punter Reports, including the full back catalogue are available to all Gold SBC members the instant you join our service. They have proven to be very popular amongst our members so why not sign-up now and take advantage of our risk-free money back guarantee. Sign-up For Instant Secret Betting Club Membership Right Now!   Best regards, Peter - SBC Editor www.secretbettingclub.com "Luckily with the help of SBC I seem to have found some kind of steady success at gambling which is making life interesting and more than bearable. In fact it's never been better! " Genuine Testimonial from SBC Member  Learn How SBC Can Help You Make Money Betting Recent SBC Reports & Magazines (click each image for full version)     Facebook Twitter Website