10/11/2008 - Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Burton won Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. The No.31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driver led the final 57 laps and held off Kasey Kahne at the finish by one second.
The victory was Burton's second of the season and the 21st of his Sprint Cup Series career. He moved from fourth to second in the championship "Chase" standings, 69 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray completed the top-five. Johnson finished sixth.
More details to follow.
<< Clark, PSU rout Wisconsin
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daryll Clark threw for 244 yards and one
touchdown, and ran for two more scores, as sixth-ranked Penn State dominated
Wisconsin, 48-7, at Camp Randall Stadium.
Clark completed 16-of-25 passes and was
<< Belanger lifts Wild over Bruins
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Belanger scored twice to lead Minnesota
over Boston, 4-3, at Xcel Energy Center.
Marc-Andre Bergeron and Antti Miettinen also scored for the Wild, who
withstood a brief Boston rally in the
<< Boise State batters Southern Miss
Hattiesburg, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kellen Moore garnered 170 yards on 21-of-30
passing with three touchdowns and an interception, as No. 15 Boise State
crushed Southern Mississippi, 24-7.
Austin Pettis had four catches for 30 yards,
<< Arnott leads Nashville over Dallas
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Arnott recorded two power-play goals
and added an assist, while Dan Ellis picked up his first win in a Predators
sweater in Nashville's 3-1 decision over the Dallas Stars in its home opener.
Ellis
Cowboys lasso No. 3 Tigers in Missouri >>
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zac Robinson threw two touchdown passes and
ran for a score as the No. 17 Oklahoma State Cowboys knocked off third-ranked
Missouri, 28-23, in a pivotal cross-divisional clash with both Big 12 and
nationa
Goats deal Earthquakes' playoff hopes a crushing blow >>
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes' chances of
earning a spot in the 2008 Major League Soccer Cup playoffs suffered a
crushing blow with a 1-0 defeat vs. Chivas USA at Buck Shaw Stadium on
Saturda
Coyotes top Blue Jackets in season opener >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olli Jokinen had a goal and an assist to lead
the Phoenix Coyotes to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at
Jobing.com Arena.
Peter Mueller and Keith Yandle also lit the lamp for Phoenix, whi
Upton's sac fly lifts Rays over Sox in 11th >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Perez raced home on B.J.
Upton's sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, giving Tampa Bay a dramatic 9-8 win
over the Boston Red Sox to cap a wild Game 2 of the American League
Champio
Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship
(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.
One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.
MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts US credit cards needs.
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 sportsbook 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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