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
03/15/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amare Stoudemire scored 36 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and sank all 14 of his free throw attempts, as Phoenix ran past the New Orleans Hornets, 120-106, at US Airways Center.
Jason Richardson had 20 points, while Steve Nash tallied 13 points and 12 assists as the Suns won for the ninth time in 12 contests. They moved a half- game ahead of San Antonio, into sixth place in the Western Conference.
"We definitely wanted to set the tone early," Stoudemire said. "It was a very important game for us and we came out with the intensity from the start and we've just got to keep the momentum going and keep improving as a unit."
Jared Dudley also scored 13 and Robin Lopez had 10 for Phoenix, which is 2-2 on a season-long seven-game homestand.
Marcus Thornton scored 28 for the Hornets, who have lost three straight and seven of their last eight games. David West ended with 24 points and seven rebounds in defeat. Emeka Okafor chipped in 15 and 12, while Darren Collison contributed 13 points with 10 assists.
"It's tough. Amare took over the game in the third quarter," Thornton said. "We made some silly turnovers and that's like giving them two points every time. We just have to work through it and be professionals."
Phoenix, which shot 57.5 percent for the game, hit 15-of-22 field goal tries in the opening quarter, racing to a 34-22 lead after 12 minutes. Included in that was a 16-2 burst. Nash and Richardson hit three-pointers during the flurry, which ended on Stoudemire's jumper for a 27-11 cushion.
The Suns led by double digits for the majority of the second quarter until the Hornets whittled the margin to four, the last time at 50-46 on a West short jumper with 1:11 left. It was 55-49 in favor of the Suns at the half.
New Orleans took a brief 57-55 edge, but the Suns scored the next seven and didn't trail the rest of the way. Richardson's reverse layup extended the lead to 69-59 with 7:09 remaining in the quarter, and the difference stood at 83-71 moving to the fourth.
A dunk from Stoudemire extended the lead to 94-74 with 10:23 to go, and the double-digit margin remained until the final horn sounded.
Game Notes
The Suns have won four of the last five games against the Hornets following a six-game series losing streak. Phoenix (3-1) secured a win in the series for the first time since 2006-07...The Suns have won seven of their nine home games since the All-Star break...Nash played in his 1,000th career regular season game. He is the 10th active player to reach the mark...This was the start of a five-game road trip for the Hornets, who have lost their last seven away games...James Posey (flu) and Peja Stojakovic (lower abdominal strain) sat out for New Orleans.
<< Sedin twins lead Canucks past Flames
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Twin brothers of Daniel and Henrik Sedin each
registered a goal and an assist, as the Canucks scored three times in the
opening period and turned back the Calgary Flames, 3-1, for their sixth win in
eight g
<< Report: Blackhawks D Campbell out for regular season after Ovie hit
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell
will reportedly miss the remainder of the regular season after suffering a
broken collarbone when Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin hit him from behind
in Sund
<< Ducks' Selanne, Getzlaf injured
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anaheim Ducks forwards Teemu Selanne and Ryan
Getzlaf both suffered injuries on Sunday in a win against San Jose and will be
re-evaluated on Monday.
Selanne, who scored career goal No. 599 in the victory, suf
<< Blazers continue playoff push with win over Raptors
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Batum made 5-of-6 from three-point
land, en route to 22 points, leading Portland to a 109-98 win over Toronto.
LaMarcus Aldridge also provided 22 points to go with 12 rebounds and Brandon
Roy sc
Federer, Murray, Roddick victorious at BNP Paribas Open >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time champion Roger Federer
won his second-round match Sunday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an
ATP World Tour Masters event.
Federer captured his fifth lifetime matchup without a loss against
Seton Hall removes Mitchell from basketball team >>
South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seton Hall announced it has removed junior
forward Robert Mitchell from the basketball team for unspecified reasons.
Mitchell, a transfer from Duquesne, started in 15 of the 31 games this season
and averag
Wozniacki cruises, Sharapova bows out at Indian Wells >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark
rolled into the fourth round while former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was a
third-round loser Sunday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event.
Wozniacki
Top-ranked Jayhawks draws top overall NCAA seed >>
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -Look who's lurking deep in the Midwest bracket where Kansas proudly sits as overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.It's none other than Tennessee and Oklahoma State - the ``2'' in that glittering 32-2 record that the Jayhawks
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.
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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