Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
04/11/2009 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Red Bulls and Houston Dynamo entered Week 4 of the Major League Soccer season with identical 0-2-1 records despite playing each other in the 2008 MLS Cup semifinals.
After battling to a physical 0-0 draw that saw the two teams combine for eight cards, including two red-card ejections, they leave Week 4 with identical 0-2-2 records.
New York goalkeeper Danny Cepero was forced to leave the game just eight minutes in after a collision with Dynamo forward Kei Kamara, forcing rookie Alec Dufty, out of University of Evansville, into his first career MLS appearance.
Dufty did well in his debut, making three saves while controlling his box well to earn the clean sheet.
Houston was given hope of earning the full points at home when New York defender Carlos Johnson was shown a straight red in the 78th minute for a hard tackle on Geoff Cameron, but the Dynamo couldn't take advantage before earning their own red in stoppage time. Mike Chabala given the red for a hard tackle on Danleigh Borman as the teams finished the game 10-v-10.
The Dynamo will aim for their first win of the season when they are back in action on April 19 vs. Colorado, while New York hosts Real Salt Lake a day earlier in its next league fixture.
<< Sabathia gets first win as a Yankee in win over Royals
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia dazzled on the mound to get his
first win as a Yankee, as New York made short work of the Kansas City Royals,
6-1, in the second installment of a three-game set from Kauffman Stadium.
Sabathia
<< Reyes, Mets deal Marlins first loss
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Reyes finished 2-for-5 with a two-run homer
and three RBI as the New York Mets doubled up Florida, 8-4, in the middle test
of a three-game set from Dolphin Stadium.
Carlos Delgado collected three hits and
<< Kawakami effective in debut as Braves down Nats
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenshin Kawakami tossed six solid innings in
his major league debut, as the Atlanta Braves downed Washington, 5-3, to keep
the Nationals winless so far this season.
Kawakami (1-0), the first Japanese-born
<< Guthrie, O's bullpen silences Rays
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Guthrie threw six shutout innings
while Melvin Mora had a grand slam as the Baltimore Orioles downed the Tampa
Bay Rays, 6-0, in the second of a three-game set at Camden Yards.
Guthrie (2-0) gav
Soriano's two-run homer lifts Cubs over Brewers >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the
top of the ninth inning and the Chicago Cubs held on to edge the Milwaukee
Brewers, 6-5, in the second of a three-game series at Miller Park.
Soriano finishe
Hill and Suns down Timberwolves >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Grant Hill scored 19 points to lead the
Phoenix Suns past the Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-97, at the Target Center.
Leandro Barbosa and Jared Dudley added 16 points apiece for the Suns, who have
won fou
Bucks silence Thunder >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Jefferson matched a season high with
35 points to go with nine rebounds, leading Milwaukee to a relatively easy
115-98 drubbing of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Luke Ridnour donated 18 points an
Carter leads Nets past Magic >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter led the Nets with 27
points and nine assists, as New Jersey topped an uninspired Orlando Magic
club, 103-93.
"I just kind of wanted to set the tone of how we wanted to play t
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting