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
02/28/2009 - Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 22nd-ranked UCLA Bruins and California Golden Bears will both try to remain in the Pac-10 title race tonight, as they lock horns in a pivotal matchup at Haas Pavilion.
UCLA and Cal, along with Arizona State, are all tied for second place in the Pac-10 at 10-5 and they each trail Washington, which sits at 12-4. The Bruins remained in the hunt for their fourth straight Pac-10 championship on Thursday, recording a 76-71 win at Stanford. It was a nice rebound for UCLA, which was coming off a shocking and critical home loss to Washington State last weekend. Winners of two of their last three games, the Bruins are now 21-7 overall on the season.
As for Cal, it put itself back in title contention on the strength of a five- game winning streak. Most recently, the team hosted USC on Thursday and nipped the Trojans, 81-78, in overtime. It was the 16th win in 17 home outings for the Bears, who improved to 21-7 overall.
California though, trails the all-time series with UCLA, which holds a 130-94 advantage, including an 81-66 victory in the first meeting of the season.
Josh Shipp sparked the Bruins on Thursday, as he dropped in 24 points and grabbed seven caroms in a win at Stanford. Alfred Aboya tallied 16 points and Nikola Dragovic finished with 10 and four boards. The Bruins shot an efficient 51.8 percent from the floor, including an 8-of-16 showing from three-point land. The sound shooting performance is nothing new though, as UCLA is hitting on 50.3 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from beyond the arc this season. Darren Collison, who was held to just seven points on Thursday, currently leads UCLA in scoring at 14.8 ppg and he is also dishing out a team- high 4.9 apg. Shipp, a 43.4 percent three-point shooter, adds 13.5 ppg, while Aboya contributes 10.1 ppg and a team-high 5.9 rpg.
Patrick Christopher turned in a career-high 29 points to power to the Bears past USC in overtime of a crucial bout on Thursday. Jerome Randle got involved with 15 points and eight helpers, while Theo Robertson had 10 points and six boards. Cal connected on 54.2 percent of its total shots and also went 5-of-11 from downtown and 24-of-27 at the foul line. The Bears have had great success making shots from all over this season, knocking down 49.1 percent from the field, 44.2 percent from long distance and 75.8 percent at the stripe. Randle tops the roster in scoring at 17.7 ppg and he is also distributing a team-high 5.0 apg. Christopher follows with 15.0 ppg and Robertson chips in with 12.2 ppg on an impressive 53.4 percent shooting from three-point range. Jamal Boykin rounds out the double-figure scorers with 12.2 ppg and he is also pulling down a team-best 6.5 rpg.
<< Tigers go in search of 20th straight win
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Memphis Tigers put the
nation's longest winning streak on the line today, as they entertain the
Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in Conference USA play at the FedExForum.
Since losing to Syra
<< Big Ten brawl pits Buckeyes against Boilermakers
West Lafayette, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 16th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers will
try to avenge an earlier loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes, as the two Big Ten
programs clash at Mackey Arena today.
Purdue leads the all-time series with OSU, 79-7
<< Top-ranked Panthers in Newark to tangle with Pirates
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers still have
some work to do if they are to be crowned Big East champions and that work
begins this evening in Newark, as the Panthers take on the Seton Hall Pirates
at the Prudenti
<< Sooners visit Red Raiders in Big 12 action
Lubbock, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners have endured
back-to-back defeats, and they will attempt to get back to their winning ways
in today's Big 12 Conference clash with the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
On Monday night,
Sharks make a stop in Montreal >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks will shoot for their sixth win in seven
games when they visit the Montreal Canadiens for tonight's battle at Bell
Centre.
The Sharks are leading the Western Conference with 93 points and are just
three
Leafs streak into Ottawa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Riding their longest winning streak of the season, the
Toronto Maple Leafs head into Ottawa's Scotiabank Place tonight for a
divisional showdown with the rival Senators.
After sweeping a home-and-home set with the reeling
Sabres limp into road test against Isles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres are going through tough times right now,
while the New York Islanders have endured their share of hardships all season
long.
The injury-plagued Sabres will try for a much-needed victory over the
Islande
Struggling Rangers host Avs at MSG >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A recent head coaching change was designed to shake the New
York Rangers out of a lengthy funk, but so far the switch hasn't produced
improving results.
The badly-slumping Blueshirts will attempt to snap a four-game losing
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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.
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