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07/16/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew host Red Bull New York in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday night in Major League Soccer action.
The Crew are two points up on the Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference table. Columbus (8-3-4) could be at a disadvantage, even though it is the home team, because it just played on Wednesday, a 1-0 loss to Kansas City at Crew Stadium.
Red Bull (8-5-2) is also flying high after just announcing the signing of superstar striker Thierry Henry, although he is not expected to play Saturday.
"It's absolutely fantastic to get an absolutely top class player, still only 32 [years old], winning everything you can imagine," New York coach Hans Backe said. "Being captain for Arsenal and French national team, the character and personality he has is outstanding."
Henry is fit to play, but Backe will probably wait until the club's July 31 match at Houston to unveil his newest weapon in league play.
"He'll have a little getting used to the type of play that is in the MLS," New York midfielder Seth Stammler said. "It's physical and fast. But obviously he's a guy that has been around the block. I think he can easily adapt to the style of play. I think within a few practices and a game or two he will be fully enveloped in the team and won't miss a beat. He will contribute a great deal to what we are doing."
New York is currently on a five-game unbeaten run, and has been slowly chipping away at the lead Columbus built in the East after a fast start. The Crew have been faltering as of late, winning just two of seven league fixtures to open the door for the surging Red Bulls, but can close it slightly with a result on Saturday.
"We go into every game, even on the road looking to win," New York defender Tim Ream said after his team's most recent league fixture, a scoreless draw vs. D.C. United. "We don't go into the game looking for ties. We have to come out better than we did [vs. United] possession wise and just take it to [Columbus] and do what they did to us a couple weeks ago."
Even though Columbus is on short rest, it is relatively healthy heading into Saturday's match, while New York will be without midfielders Giorgi Chirgadze, Brian Nielsen and Carl Robinson, and defender Kevin Goldthwaite because of injuries. Forward Salou Ibrahim is also questionable with a foot sprain.
<< Stars sign veteran D Lukowich, three others
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars signed veteran defenseman Brad
Lukowich and two others to one-year, two-way contracts on Friday.
Lukowich, 33, has registered 23 goals and 90 assists in 653 regular season NHL
games with six
<< AL Central: Tribe's future will take shape in second half
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For Cleveland Indians fans, the hard part is over.
They've endured a first half of the season that saw their team finish 20 games
below .500 (34-54) and fall 15 1/2 games off the pace in the American League
Central. Grante
<< Roberts, Skelton under contract
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals will head into training
camp with their two FCS draft choices, quarterback John Skelton and wide
receiver Andre Roberts, signed to four-year contracts.
Skelton was the Cardinals' fifth-rou
<< Predators sign Lundmark
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators signed center Jamie
Lundmark to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday.
The 29-year-old appeared in 36 games between Calgary and Toronto in the
2009-10 season and tallied five
Bulls add another former Utah player in Brewer >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have reportedly agreed to a
three-year deal with guard Ronnie Brewer.
According to a report on the team's website, the Bulls made the move for
Brewer after the Magic matched the team
NFL suspends Packers' Jolly indefinitely >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League has suspended
Packers' defensive lineman Johnny Jolly indefinitely without pay for violating
the league's Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.
Jolly's suspension takes e
Galaxy aims to overcome "12th man" at United >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena
has plenty of fond memories from RFK Stadium, where he brings his team to face
D.C. United on Sunday.
Arena guided United to three successive MLS Cup final appear
Wizards want more magic against Rapids >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Wizards forward Teal Bunbury
called Wednesday's 1-0 victory at the Columbus Crew "huge," and hopes the team
can build on the result Saturday night at the Colorado Rapids.
K.C. (4-8-3) won for
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.
Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards
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