Anderson ices the game at the line as Bobcats top Hornets
Basketball Betting Lines
02/21/2007 -
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raymond Felton scored 21 points and doled out
11 assists, and the Charlotte Bobcats topped the New Orleans/Oklahoma City
Hornets, 104-100.
Gerald Wallace also tallied 21 points, and grabbed seven rebounds for the
Bobcats, who won their second in a row. Emeka Okafor was a force, finishing
with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocked shots. Adam Morrison added 18
points off the bench, and Derek Anderson scored 12, including two clutch free
throws with 6.4 seconds left to ice the game.
Chris Paul scored 20 points and tallied seven assists for the Hornets, who had
won 9 of 12 entering the game. Tyson Chandler finished with 16 points and 20
boards, Desmond Mason scored 17 points and grabbed six boards, and David West
scored 16 points and racked in seven boards for the Hornets.
A Jannero Pargo three pulled the Hornets to within 102-100 with 31.5 seconds
left, and Felton gave the Hornets a golden opportunity by missing a jumper
from the lane with seven seconds left. Okafor tipped the rebound up in the
air, though, and Anderson drew a loose ball foul from Devin Brown. Anderson
sank both free throws, clinching the win.
Paul opened the second half with a three, spurring a 10-0 Hornets run that
nudged them on top of the Bobcats, 54-53. The teams battled neck-and-neck for
the rest of the quarter, almost coming to blows at on point.
Charlotte's Jake Voskuhl fouled Paul as the Hornets guard drove the lane,
drawing a referee's whistle with 5:14 left in the third. Voskuhl did not let
go of Paul's left arm, though, and the second-year guard spiked the ball off
of Voskuhl's arm, causing a commotion under the basket, with players from both
teams shoving each other.
When the dust settled the referees handed out five technicals, including fouls
to Voskuhl and Paul.
The Hornets led 78-77 entering the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats led 25-24 after the first quarter, and 53-44 at the half.
Game Notes
Brevin Knight was a late scratch for the Bobcats with a sore right
groin...Charlotte is now 11-9 when scoring 100-plus points...The Hornets
outrebounded the Bobcats, 47-36.
<< Thomas, Bruins blank Maple Leafs
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Thomas stopped 44 shots to record his
third shutout of the season, helping the Boston Bruins to a 3-0 win over the
Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre.
Stanislav Chistov, P.J. Axelsson, and
<< Thrashers storm past Hurricanes
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Hedberg made 33 saves to lead the Atlanta
Thrashers to a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in a big Southeast
Division battle at RBC Center.
Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist and Ilya
<< Providence knocks off No. 22 West Virginia
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Alexander missed a wide open three for a
tie with 14.5 seconds left then Herbert Hill iced the tournament resume-
building victory with a breakaway slam, as Providence downed No. 22 West
Virgini
<< Oh, what a Neitzel: MSU upsets No. 1 Wisconsin
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Neitzel scored 11 of his 28 points
during a game-clinching run in the final minutes, as Michigan State downed
top-ranked Wisconsin, 64-55, at the Breslin Center.
Neitzel, who hit 10-of-17 shot
<< Horna upsets Nalbandian in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peru's Luis Horna, who came into
this week ranked 50th in the world, picked off top seed David Nalbandian in
his home country at the $445,000 Copa Telmex tennis event.
Horna scored a 6-4, 6-3
Sabres double up Flyers >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Briere posted a goal and two assists
as the first-place Buffalo Sabres crushed the last-place Philadelphia Flyers,
6-3.
Chris Drury, Jason Pominville and Derek Roy each had a goal and an assist for
Arenas leads Wizards over T'Wolves >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilbert Arenas poured in 38 points, and
Washington never trailed in a 112-100 triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Arenas was a miserable 1-of-8 from three-point range, but made up for the
shor
Rutgers women rout Providence >>
Piscataway, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matee Ajavon scored 23 points and Epiphanny
Prince added 14 to lead 21st-ranked Rutgers to a 69-34 pounding of Providence.
Heather Zurich tallied 10 points for the Scarlet Knights (18-7, 11-3 Big
East
No. 18 Bowling Green rolls over Kent State >>
Kent, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amber Flynn poured in 21 points and led six
players in double figures, as 18th-ranked Bowling Green defeated Kent State,
89-66, at the M.A.C. Center.
Kate Achter scored 14 points, Carin Horne chipped
Crawford, Curry propel Knicks over Magic >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry each scored 20
points to lead the New York Knicks over the Orlando Magic, 100-94, at Madison
Square Garden.
Quentin Richardson added 15 points and David Lee had 14 points and
Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup
September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com. The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans.
Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to name a few. Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR. They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.
The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer. Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your golf sportsbook needs.
Ryder Cup Odds
Europe
Tie
USA |
4-5
10-1
6-5 |
Ryder Cup Top US point scorer
Tiger Woods
Jim Furyk
Phil Mickelson
Chris DiMarco
David Toms
Stewart Cink
Chad Campbell
Scott Verplank
Zach Johnson
Vaughan Taylor
JJ Henry
Brett Wetterich |
9-4
4-1
5-1
7-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
25-1
30-1
30-1
50-1 |
Ryder Cup Top European scorer
Sergio Garcia
Luke Donald
Padraig Harrington
Colin Montgomerie
Darren Clarke
David Howell
Lee Westwood
Paul Casey
Henrik Stenson
Jose Maria Olazabal
Paul McGinley
Robert Karlsson |
5-1
5-1
6-1
13-2
8-1
9-1
9-1
11-1
12-1
12-1
20-1
25-1 |
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com
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.
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