12/18/2006 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards' Gilbert Arenas and the Utah Jazz' Carlos Boozer were dubbed the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for the period ending December 17.
Arenas led the league in scoring with 40.3 points per game on .487 shooting in helping the Wizards to a 3-0 record. He also had 6.3 assists, six rebounds and three steals per game, and registered a franchise-record and NBA season-high 60 points against the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night.
Boozer averaged 22.8 points and 12 rebounds per game to lead the Jazz to a 3-1 week. He netted 31 points against Dallas on December 11, as Utah coach Jerry Sloan earned his 1,000th career victory.
Other nominees for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Chicago's Ben Wallace, Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Houston's Yao Ming, New Jersey's Jason Kidd, and Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire.
<< Mariners acquire Vidro from Nationals
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners have acquired second
baseman Jose Vidro from the Washington Nationals in exchange for outfielder
Chris Snelling and pitcher Emiliano Fruto.
"Jose is a professional hitter," Seattl
<< ACC again dominates top of women's poll
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Duke
continued as the top four teams in the latest Associated Press women's college
basketball poll.
The top 17 spots remained the same from last week and only Bowling
<< NFL
Fined Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens $35,000 for a spitting incident in Saturday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
<< FIFA names World Players of the Year
Zurich, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-time winners, Fabio Cannavaro,
of Italy and Brazilian Marta have earned the titles of FIFA World Player and
FIFA Women's World Player of the year, respectively for 2006. The announcement
came Mo
Bucs name Rattay starter >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden named
Tim Rattay the starting quarterback for Sunday's game at Cleveland.
The Bucs (3-11) suffered a 34-31 overtime loss at Chicago Sunday, but forced
the sudden-dea
Lemieux says deal with Balsillie to buy Penguins "is dead" >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux
said in a statement released Monday a deal to sell the team to Jim Balsillie,
chairman and co-CEO of Research in Motion, "is dead."
Lemieux said the Penguins a
Nutt gets contract extension at Arkansas >>
Fayetteville, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arkansas has extended the contract of head
football coach Houston Nutt through the 2012 season.
Nutt has led the Razorbacks to a 10-3 record this season and into the Capital
One Bowl against Wisconsin o
NFL Inactives (Monday, December 18, 2006) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of the players
placed on the inactive squad for this week's NFL games.
CINCINNATI BENGALS AT INDIANAPOLIS COLTS , 8:30 P.M. (ET)
Bengals -3RD QB Doug Johnson, S John Busing, LB Ah
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.
MySportsbook features easy-to-use online betting software that’s the most reliable in the industry. If you’re looking to bet underdogs, then this Sportsbook is the place - we have the best betting lines in the business. MySportsbook is your one-stop shop for all your betting needs - sports betting, poker, casino, and horse racing . MySportsbook offers every bet type with lightning fast settlement of wagers. Take advantage of free statistical analysis - including against-the-spread and straight-up trends - in MySportsbook’s game previews section. With MySportsbook there are unlimited free deposits and payouts - and no transaction fees!
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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