 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Hawks try and cure road woes in Auburn Hills vs. PistonsBasketball Betting Lines04/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks have been stumbling as the visitor lately and will try to stop a five-game road losing streak tonight against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Atlanta continued to struggle on enemy territory and suffered a 109-100 loss at Charlotte last night. With Joe Johnson (sprained right thumb) and Mike Bibby (ingrown toenail) on the bench due to injury, Maurice Evans tallied a team-high 20 points and Al Horford added 16 and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, who are third in the Eastern Conference, just a game ahead of Boston. "It was tough. You just have to play with what you've got," Horford said. "Everybody goes through adversity, and we're going through it right now, but we'll bounce back from it." Jamal Crawford and Josh Smith each had 18 points in defeat. Due to the Hawks' loss, the Orlando Magic clinched their third straight Southeast Division title. On the injury front for Atlanta, Johnson and Bibby are questionable for this evening's bout in the Motor City. Detroit finally put the brakes on an 11-game slide with last night's convincing 124-103 triumph at Philadelphia. Charlie Villanueva and Rodney Stuckey scored 25 and 24 points, respectively, for the Pistons, who also ended an 11-game losing streak on the road. "I thought Charlie played the way I know he is capable of," Pistons head coach John Kuester said. "Rodney Stuckey had some gutsy performances. Rodney Stuckey again, Will Bynum, Ben Wallace and Jonas (Jerebko) all played pretty much the entire game because they are all so valuable to us. Even though DaJuan Summers didn't play a lot of minutes, I still like what I saw." Ben Wallace added a season-high 18 points, while Tayshaun Prince finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Ben Gordon chipped in 13 points off the bench in a winning effort. The Pistons will now try to put the clamps on a five-game home losing streak. Pistons guard Richard Hamilton (ankle) and center Jason Maxiell (back) both missed Tuesday's win and are questionable for this evening. Atlanta has won two of three meetings with Detroit this season, but the Pistons are 13-7 in the previous 20 matchups between the clubs. The Hawks have lost eight of nine and 18 of their past 21 visits to The Palace.
<< Orlando welcomes Wizards to Magic Kingdom
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeast Division-champion Orlando Magic will continue a three-game homestand Wednesday versus the Washington Wizards at Amway Arena. The Magic clinched their third consecutive Southeast title after the Atlanta Hawks
<< Bosh-less Raptors host Celtics
<< Navratilova diagnosed with breast cancer
<< Bruins' Seidenberg sidelined after surgery
<< Ellis lifts A's to 10th-inning win over Seattle
Scorching Heat host lowly Sixers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Miami Heat are back at home and back in the playoffs, and will try to extend their season-high winning streak to nine games when the Philadelphia 76ers pay a visit to south Florida tonight. The Heat are headed
Thunder host Nuggets in key Northwest matchup >>
Forse, Greisen and Swanson earn weekly honors >>
Davis hopes to give Brewers series win over Rockies >>
Cards send Wainwright to hill in Cincinnati >>
Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently 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. MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2. Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season. Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money.
For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com. |
|
