08/27/2008 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals placed outfielder Brian Barton on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday, retroactive to Monday, with a strained right oblique.
In 69 games this season, the rookie Barton is hitting .269 with two home runs and 13 RBI.
The Cardinals recalled outfielder Nick Stavinoha from Triple-A Memphis to take Barton's spot on the roster.
<< Lackey and Angels cruise past A's
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey recorded his 13th career complete
game to help the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim down the Oakland Athletics in a
5-1 victory in the second of a three-game set.
Lackey (11-2) scattered seven hits
<< Atkins, Hawpe lead streaking Rockies over Giants in SF
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Atkins drove in two runs and
Brad Hawpe finished 2-for-2 with a double, three walks and three runs scored,
as the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Francisco Giants, 7-2, in the middle
test of
<< Pads don't get sucked into Webb of lies, crush D'Backs
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Giles hit a three-run homer and Kevin
Kouzmanoff drove in three runs, as the San Diego Padres spoiled Brandon Webb's
bid for his 20th win with a 9-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the
continu
<< M's shock Twins
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Rowland-Smith threw seven strong innings
to help the Seattle Mariners to a 3-2 win in the second of three games at
Safeco Field against the Minnesota Twins.
Adrian Beltre went 3-for-4 with a run
Report: DE Harvey ends holdout, signs with Jaguars >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defensive end Derrick Harvey has
reportedly ended his 33-day holdout, and has agreed to a deal with the
Jacksonville Jaguars that could be worth more than $33 million. Harvey was the
last ro
Blue Jays try to solve Tampa's Garza >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto has had little luck offensively when facing Tampa
Bay's Matt Garza this year. The Blue Jays will try to plate some runs against
the Rays young gun tonight in the middle portion of three-game series at
Trop
Cubs shoot for sweep of Pirates >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs try to continue their season-long mastery
of the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon, as they go for a sweep in the finale
of their three-game series at PNC Park.
Chicago, which leads the majors with 8
Chiefs cut K Jay Feely >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chiefs have released kicker Jay Feely,
ending his stint with Kansas City after only two days of practice.
Feely was released by the Miami Dolphins earlier this month after losing his
job to rookie
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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