Chuck Liddell is a one-dimensional fighter who is obviously past his prime. If it was anyone else who had lost two of their last three fights they would be looking to get on a card at King of the Cage or some other minor league promotion. But it’s the UFC poster boy, so he gets some extra chances to get the title back.

Chuck Liddell is likely to lose his next two fights. Rashad Evans needs only to take Chuck to the ground to dominate him, and unless Liddell can land a big punch, which no one has been able to do to Evans yet, he will most likely lose a decision or get submitted out. After that he’s going to get knocked out by Anderson Silva, who is looking for a fight against him after all the dust settles from the Evans fight.

Hang up the gloves, Chuck.

While the Boston Red Sox try to drive the last nail in the New York Yankees’ coffin, the Tampa Bay Rays host the Toronto Blue Jays in an equally important three-game series. The Rays started the series at 79-50, 4.5 games up on Boston in the American League East. The 67-63 Jays were eight games behind the Red Sox for the AL Wild Card.

Toronto took Tuesday’s series opener 6-2; Roy Halladay only went six innings this time, but the Jays bullpen held Tampa Bay scoreless to secure the win. The Rays will be looking forward to facing David Purcey (6.55 ERA, 5.52 xFIP) instead in Wednesday’s second game. Tampa is a –200 favorite on the MLB betting odds; Matt Garza (3.71 ERA, 4.43 xFIP) starts for the division leaders.

Thursday’s Game 3 features Jesse Litsch (4.01 ERA, 4.33 xFIP) for Toronto against Edwin Jackson (3.93 ERA, 5.14 xFIP) for the Rays. Both games begin at 7:10 p.m. Eastern.

Nashville’s Dan Ellis had the best save percentage last season. Who knew?

If it’s the middle of August, we must be talking hockey. NHL training camps start next month; so do preseason games, then the regular season opens in Prague and Stockholm on Oct. 4. This is your window of opportunity as a handicapper to get caught up with the league, its 30 teams and its hundreds of players.

Unless you’re a professional handicapper able to devote several hours a day to your craft, you probably won’t be able to study every single NHL player. But even a recreational bettor can make a profit on hockey – the lines are soft and prone to bigger swings because of the smaller marketplace. The trick is to manage your time and study efficiently.

Start by looking at the top goaltenders on each team. Advanced metrics are fairly new to the sport, but save percentage is a reliable rough guide for evaluating goaltender performance. Yes, that’s Dan Ellis in the top spot for 2007-08.

Those Tampa Bay Rays sure are persistent. Despite a low payroll, a young roster and tough competition in the American League East, the Rays are in strong contention for the playoffs at 71-46, four games ahead in the division race at press time. Tampa Bay looks like a steal at 7-1 odds to win the World Series, compared to 6-1 for the Boston Red Sox.

Hold the phone. The Rays have a new obstacle to overcome: Injuries to Evan Longoria (.885 OPS) and Carl Crawford (+17 FRAR) have left the team without two of its best players. Longoria should be back in September. Crawford, on the other hand, is looking at the possibility of season-ending surgery.

If Tampa Bay is going to go all the way, Gabe Gross will have to start cashing in some of that potential. Sure enough, Gross has risen to the occasion with a 1.050 OPS in the month of August. What’s next, Rocco Baldelli?

The final nine players have been decided in the main event of the WSOP. The top two stacks belong to Dennis Phillips with 26,295,000 chips, and Ivan Demidov with 24,400,000 chips. Both players are relatively inexperienced in major tournament play. Phillips has only cashed twice before, winning just over four grand in a couple of events at the 2007 Grand Casino Tunica Poker Tournament. Demidov also has only two cashes, just over $3500 at the Korona Russian Poker Championship, and a $39,000 cash out in event #44 at this year’s WSOP.

It’s hard to choose one over the other, as they seem to be closely matched. If I had to choose one I would go with the Russian. He seems to have more experience. But it will only take one bad beat to change the fate of one or both of these players.

We’re nearing the end of the second Bush administration, which means it’s time for convicted felons to line up and get their pardons while they can. That list includes Marion Jones, who has asked the president to commute her six-month term for lying to federal agents in the BALCO investigation.

Jones was also sentenced to two months for perjury in a check fraud case involving fellow sprinter Tim Montgomery, her former boyfriend and the father of her first child. She was allowed to serve those two sentences concurrently.

The former darling of the American sports scene has already fallen into debt and was forced to return her five medals from the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Unmoved by Jones’ plight, USA Track and Field CEO Doug Logan has asked President Bush not to commute her sentence, saying it would send the wrong message to children. Finally, someone is thinking of the children.

Get all your U.S. presidential odds here!

The next big MMA card is chock full of talent. UFC 87: Seek and Destroy is headlined by Georges St. Pierre versus Jon Fitch for the Welterweight title; we’ll also get to see Minnesota native Brock Lesnar fighting in front of what should be a packed partisan crowd at the Target Center. Here’s the full card:

Main
Welterweight: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch
Lightweight: Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta
Heavyweight: Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring
Lightweight: Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson
Middleweight: Jason MacDonald vs. Demian Maia

Preliminary
Heavyweight: Cheick Kongo vs. Dan Evensen
Welterweight: Chris Wilson vs. Steve Bruno
Welterweight: Ben Saunders vs. Jared Rollins
Welterweight: Luke Cummo vs. Tamdan McCrory
Light Heavyweight: Andre Gusmao vs. Razak Al-Hussan

You know you’ve got something special when a fighter like Kongo (11-4 in MMA) can only get a spot on the prelim card. Apparently beating Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic doesn’t carry the same cachet it used to.

This used to be one of the greatest summer sporting events in the world. But the Tour de France has been kicked to the betting curb – for now. The combination of doping scandals and a lack of starpower has kept the venerable cycling race off the board for 2008.

That could change as we get closer to the end stages. We’re about halfway through the three-week event; Tuesday was a day of rest following the grueling 10th stage up the Pyrenees from Pau to Hautacam. Cadel Evans of Australia held the yellow jersey after nearly crashing out of the race on Sunday.

Evans finished a close second to Alberto Contador last year, but Contador is not competing in the 2008 event because the Astana Team for which he now rides was barred from competition after their involvement in the 2007 doping scandals. Evans should have a smooth ride from here on in.

This could turn out to be one of the biggest debacles in sports history. The Olympic Summer Games in Beijing are a month away, and we’re still wondering whether we’ll get full television coverage, let alone a proper environment for the athletes to participate in.

China is throwing serious money at all these problems. If you’re betting on the Olympics this year, you’ll find that the host nation has also poured considerable resources into its athletes. China is a 4-5 favorite to win the most medals at the Games, and 2-5 to take home the most gold. Of course, being the host nation allows China to field entries into every single competition, which helps add to the medal count.

Track and field used to be the marquee attraction, but the men’s basketball tournament is now the centerpiece for sports betting. Team USA is a heavy 2-7 favorite to reclaim the gold after Argentina (15-2) took it away in 2004.

The easiest poker tells to pick up in a live game are the reactions that players make when the community cards hit the board. Many players will look at their chip stack when a good hand hits them. They intend to bet, and can’t help but look at their chips to prepare the best-sized bet for the situation.

Others will look around like they’re trying to appear disinterested. They will scope out the room, suddenly unconcerned with what the other players are doing. This player also has a good hand, and should be given respect.

Actual disinterested players will look at their cards quickly and usually start to pay attention to something else that’s going on at the time. If you know when a player has decided to stay out of a hand, you can play like they’re not there if you decide to bet or call some action.