09/21/2008 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Skinner won Saturday night's Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 Craftsman Truck Series race in thrilling fashion at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The No.5 Toyota driver grabbed the lead from Erik Darnell on the penultimate lap and then beat Darnell to the finish line by 0.02 seconds.
The victory was Skinner's first of the season and the 25th of his career.
Matt Crafton, John Andretti and Ron Hornaday, Jr. completed the top-five.
More details to follow.
<< Stafford, Georgia rout ASU
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matthew Stafford completed 16-of-28 passes for a
career-high 285 yards and one touchdown, as the third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs
defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils, 27-10.
Knowshon Moreno carried the ball for
<< Anderson leads Angels past Rangers
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garret Anderson hit a two-run homer, knocked
in three and scored two as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim beat the Texas
Rangers, 7-3, in the middle contest of a three-game series.
Anderson finished 3-f
<< Eskandarian tally helps Goats hand RSL first home loss of season
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA jumped into second place in
Major League Soccer's Western Conference table with a 1-0 win over Real Salt
Lake in the last league match at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.
Alecko Esk
<< Drew's HR in ninth lifts D-Backs past Rockies
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Drew hit the go-ahead two-run homer in
the top of the ninth to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to an all-important 5-3
win over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Drew finished the game 2-for-5 with
Donovan, Galaxy finally end skid with 5-2 win over D.C. >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Galaxy finally broke their
frustrating winless streak by topping D.C. United, 5-2, at The Home Depot
Center in Major League Soccer action on Saturday night.
Landon Donovan scored his
Fresno St. holds off Toledo in second overtime >>
Toledo, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Brandstater threw for 231 yards and four
touchdowns on 22-of-28 passing, and rushed for another score, to lead No.
25 Fresno State past Toledo, 55-54, in double overtime.
Both teams scored in the
McCallum's leg carries Lions over Riders >>
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul McCallum kicked six field goals to lead the
British Columbia Lions past Saskatchewan, 27-21, on the night the Roughriders
honored Canadian football Hall of Famer Ron Lancaster.
Lancaster, inducted into t
Walks help Dodgers hold off Giants >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Ramirez clubbed two homers and
drove in five runs, as the Los Angeles Dodgers crept closer to a division
crown with a 10-7 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the middle test of
a three
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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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