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03/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks didn't open their current road trip the way they had planned this past weekend, but seem to have a good shot at bouncing back Monday night against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Atlanta had its four-game winning streak cut short with Saturday's 100-94 loss at Miami in the opener of a three-game trek. Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jamal Crawford scored 24 points off the bench to lead Atlanta, which dropped to 15-15 as the visitor this season.
Joe Johnson netted 20 points and Josh Smith had 17 in the tough loss.
"We were controlling the game, and we had the tempo where we wanted it," said Hawks head coach Mike Woodson. "Teams are going to make runs. [The Heat] made a great run. They stayed with the zone."
The Hawks are fourth in the Eastern Conference and three games back of Orlando for the lead in the Southeast Division, and will also visit Washington on the trek. They had a chance to stay within striking distance of the Magic for the top spot, but Orlando fended off the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday to extend its lead.
New York is coming off a disturbing loss to the worst team in the NBA, the New Jersey Nets, and has dropped two straight and four of five games. In Saturday's 113-93 setback to the Nets in the opener of a short homestand, David Lee recorded 23 points and six boards in losing fashion.
Wilson Chandler registered a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards for New York, which blew a 16-point lead in the first half to fall to 13-21 in the Big Apple this season. The Knicks also set an NBA record by going 0-for-18 from three-point range. The last time they did not make a three-pointer in a game was on March 29, 2006, when they went 0-of-6 from downtown versus Boston.
"We gave them confidence," said Knicks newcomer Tracy McGrady, who posted two points and seven assists. "And once that happened, all hell froze over."
After tonight's game versus the Hawks, New York will kick off a five-game road trip through San Antonio, Memphis, Dallas, Philadelphia and Boston. McGrady, meanwhile, is questionable for Monday with body soreness.
The Knicks have won two of the first three meetings of the season with Atlanta, and 15 of the last 19 meetings between the teams at the Garden.
<< Hornets aim to stop skid vs. Warriors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets are in danger of recording their
longest losing streak in three years. Fortunately for the struggling club,
it'll be facing one of the NBA's poorest road teams when the Golden State
Warrior
<< Anthony leads Nuggets past Blazers
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony posted 30 points to lead Denver
to a 118-106 victory over Portland in a Northwest Division battle.
J.R. Smith chipped in 22 points, and Chauncey Billups ended with 21, as the
Nuggets shot 58.
<< Blazers C Przybilla to undergo surgery again
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers announced center
Joel Przybilla will undergo surgery on his right patella tendon after he
slipped in the shower at his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Przybilla first ruptur
<< WTA renews partnership with Sony
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The WTA Tour and Sony Ericsson announced
a two-year extension of their existing partnership on Sunday.
The deal will now keep Sony as the lead global sponsor for the tour through to
the end of 2012.
"
Grizzlies, Nets collide in Memphis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies will attempt to put their current
home woes behind in this evening's clash with a New Jersey Nets squad that
enters FedEx Forum off a rare positive result.
Memphis has lost eight consecutive c
Tribe take on Monarchs for CAA title >>
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The William & Mary Tribe are one win away from
claiming their first-ever Colonial Athletic Association Tournament title, but
for that to happen they will have to get past the Old Dominion Monarchs this
evenin
Gaels and Zags duke it out for West Coast Conference crown >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As expected, the top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs
and the second-seeded Saint Mary's-CA Gaels will meet this evening in the
championship game of the 2010 West Coast Conference Tournament.
This game is a rematch of
Stags and Saints meet in MAAC championship game >>
Albany, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Siena Saints make their fourth straight
appearance in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament championship
game as they clash with the Fairfield Stags tonight in familiar surroundings
at Times Union C
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.
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. 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