Giants place Affeldt on disabled list

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have placed pitcher Jeremy Affeldt on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain.

The veteran left-hander has appeared in 37 games in relief this season and has posted a record of 2-3 with a 4.11 earned run average and three saves.

To fill the roster spot, the Giants have recalled right-hander Joe Martinez from Triple-A Fresno.

Martinez has appeared in three games, including one start, for San Francisco this season and is 0-1 with a 4.00 ERA in nine innings.

Worldcupbets Baseball Betting News

<< New York's Barajas leaves game
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mets catcher Rod Barajas left Saturday's game against Los Angeles in the sixth inning with a strained right oblique. The veteran receiver had singled in a run to cut the Dodgers' lead to 2-1 and was re

<< Rachel Alexandra garners Lady's Secret victory
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, used a stalking ride Saturday to win the $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park. The champion filly won the 1 1/8-mile race by three-lengths over Qu

<< Ludwick returns to Cardinals lineup
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals activated outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the 15-day disabled list in time for Saturday's game at Wrigley Field. He went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and walk in his return to the l

<< Report: Giants sign LB Bulluck
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants have reportedly signed veteran linebacker Keith Bulluck. The Star-Ledger, which cites Bulluck's agent, Gary Wichard, reports that the two sides have agreed terms on a one-year

<< Dallas draws Toronto to extend road unbeaten run
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milton Rodriguez scored his first Major League Soccer goal in the 77th minute and FC Dallas tied Toronto FC, 1-1, on Saturday at BMO Field to extend its road unbeaten streak to seven games. Maicon Santos score

Bayne claims Nationwide pole at ORP >>
Clermont, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Bayne won his second consecutive pole in the Nationwide Series by posting the fastest lap in Saturday's qualifying for the Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Bayne turned a lap of

Suzuki, Cust power A's past White Sox >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Suzuki had three hits, including a home run, to lead the Oakland Athletics in a 10-2 rout of the Chicago White Sox in the second of three games at Oakland Coliseum. Suzuki, who signed a contract extens

Phillies rough up Jimenez, Rockies for third straight win >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Rollins finished 3-for-5 with three RBI as Philadelphia sent Ubaldo Jimenez to the showers early in a rousing 10-2 victory over Colorado in the second edition of a four-game series. Ryan Howard als

Power edges teammate Castroneves for Edmonton pole >>
Edmonton, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power won the pole for Sunday's Honda Indy Edmonton, while his teammate, Helio Castroneves, qualified on the outside pole to give Team Penske another front row start in the IZOD IndyCar Series this se

Ordonez leaves with broken ankle >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers slugger Magglio Ordonez left Saturday's game against Toronto with a fractured right ankle. Ordonez was thrown out at home trying to score on a Miguel Cabrera double in the bottom of the thi

Sportsbooks to bet on football

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.