Devils return home for battle with rival Rangers
Hockey Betting Lines
03/10/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three straight road games out west following the Olympic
break seemed to have caught up with the Devils in their most recent contest.
New Jersey now returns home for the first time in nearly a month this evening
when it plays host to a New York Rangers club that is struggling on offense
itself as of late.
The Devils return to the Prudential Center to play their first home game since
February 12 because of the Winter Olympics. They lost in Carolina in their
last game before the break, then went 1-2-0 on the swing's final three games.
The trip was capped on Sunday with a 2-0 loss to Edmonton.
Martin Brodeur made 33 saves, but New Jersey's offense failed to get any of
its 22 shots past the Oilers' Jeff Deslauriers.
"When you give up 35, 40 shots to a team and you get 20, you should be better
than that," Devils head coach Jacques Lemaire said.
Ilya Kovalchuk, who has three goals and five assists in nine games with the
Devils since being acquired in a trade with Atlanta, led the team with five
shots as New Jersey was shut out for the first time since February 2.
A return home could help. The Devils play two straight and four of their next
five at home, where they are 20-9-1 this season. New Jersey also needs to
rebound quickly as it has fallen five points back of first-place Pittsburgh in
the Atlantic Division.
New York, meanwhile, seemed to have put its season-long scoring troubles
behind them after posting a total of eight goals in its first two games after
the break. However, the Rangers were blanked, 2-0, by Washington on Saturday
before suffering a 2-0 overtime setback to Buffalo the following day.
The Rangers are three points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern
Conference after Sunday's loss. Brandon Dubinsky scored with 1:23 left to play
in overtime, his third goal in four games, snapping New York's goal drought at
149 minutes and 30 seconds. That goal also forced overtime, but Henrik
Lundqvist, who made 35 saves, allowed the game-winner 2:22 into overtime.
"We needed the two points, we got one," said Rangers head coach John
Tortorella, whose club is 0-1-2 following a three-game win streak. "We have to
keep on fighting. That is all we can do. There are a lot of questions about
offense."
The Rangers and Devils have split four meetings this year, though they haven't
met in the Garden State since a 3-2 New York win on October 5. The Devils then
took the next two in the series on the road before the Rangers rebounded with
a 3-1 home win on February 6.
Marian Gaborik scored his team-leading 35th goal in that game, but has zero
points in his last three games since that meeting. He has also missed a total
of four games since then due to injury.
Lundqvist made 41 saves for the Rangers, while Brodeur had 22.
<< Raptors make a stop in Sacramento
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reeling Toronto Raptors aim to right the ship tonight
as they resume a four-game western road trip against the Sacramento Kings.
The Raptors are now fighting for their playoff lives after dropping the opener
of thei
<< Thunder return home to face Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Oklahoma City Thunder seem to be well on their
way towards ending a playoff drought, the New Orleans Hornets enter tonight's
showdown between these teams in danger of missing out of the postseason fray.
The injur
<< Nuggets visit Wolves without Karl
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Without their head coach patrolling the sidelines, the
Denver Nuggets will start up a four-game road trip tonight against a Minnesota
Timberwolves team hoping to end a string of six straight losses when it takes
the Target Ce
<< Grizzlies take road winning streak to Boston
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies will attempt to keep the longest road
winning streak in franchise history intact when they visit a place they've
historically struggled over the years, Boston's TD Garden, for tonight's
matchup with the
<< Montana and Weber State duke it out for Big Sky title
Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A trip to the NCAA Tournament is on the line
tonight, as the Weber State Wildcats and the Montana Grizzlies do battle in
the championship game of the 35th annual Big Sky Conference Tournament at the
Dee Events Cente
Mavs aim to push win streak to 13 vs. Nets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's worst team takes on its hottest when the New
Jersey Nets meet the Dallas Mavericks in Big D tonight.
Despite playing short-handed the Mavs earned their 12th straight victory on
Monday in Minneapolis whe
Columbus ties Toluca in Champions League >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew earned a hard-fought 2-2
draw with Mexican power Toluca in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions
League quarterfinal series in Columbus on Tuesday night.
Steven Lenhart scored tw
Kings visit Blackhawks for clash between West powers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the Western Conference's best teams will meet
tonight in the Windy City as the Chicago Blackhawks host the Los Angeles Kings
at United Center.
The Blackhawks are first in the Central Division and second in the West
Pearce: Owen's England career not over >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The England door remains open to Michael
Owen despite his season-ending injury, according to Under-21 coach Stuart
Pearce.
Pearce has dismissed suggestions that the 30-year-old Manchester Uni
Bobcats hope to end road woes in Philadelphia >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" easily coincides
with how the Charlotte Bobcats have been playing this season. The road less
traveled would be the one headed towards Charlotte, and that's made all the
difference for
MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines
Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow. Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season. Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2008 season, the New Orleans Saints. These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order. As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS. The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens. The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.
MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:
Saints +6 @ Colts -6
Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)
Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)
Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5
Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1
Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3
Patriots -5 @ Jets +5
Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5
Steelers -4 @ Browns +4
Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6
Bears +6 @ Chargers -6
Lions +3 @ Raiders -3
Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5
Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4
Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3
Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3
Super Bowl line (2008)
NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5
MySportsbook is a large, publicly traded company with strong financial backing. You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
There is little doubt that the NFL is where the sportsbooks see the most action and also make the most loot. The NFL possesses betting friendly attributes that are unlike any of the other major sports. First off, there are relatively few teams to keep track of in comparison to college football betting or college basketball. And second, these teams play only once a week which makes staying on top of the results much easier than it is in the daily leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
These dynamics, along with the sheer excitement of watching and wagering on football, brings more square action to the table than any of the other sports. Almost every Tom, Dick and Harry in America is an NFL expert in their own mind and that is precisely what the oddsmakers prey upon.
Understanding who bets the games is just as important as understanding which teams are playing the games. The market at times will dictate price, which in the betting world means the oddsmakers cater to the public rather than reality.
Knowing the market inside and out is the basis of our NFL handicapping model. That is, our approach to NFL handicapping is of the contrarian or value seeking variety. We will at times place a higher premium on public sentiment than on the fundamentals. This strategy dictates playing dogs and/or lesser competent teams, or teams the public wants nothing to do with. Or better yet, fading the teams the oddsmakers want you to bet on.
Along these same lines, we carry a similar notion that the first week of the NFL season presents one of the ripest opportunities for the astute gambler. This conflicts with conventional wisdom and/or handicapping lore, as most would say it is better to watch a few games and assess each team before jumping in with both feet. That’s all fine and dandy, but there are some interesting trends to exploit in Week 1 and we’d be remiss to ignore them. Let us quickly explain.
Gone are the days of dynasties, where the same core players stay intact and dominate the league year after year. Free agency and player movements can completely transform teams from one season to the next. In today’s parity-driven NFL, poor teams typically don’t stay poor for all that long and excellent teams must constantly reinvent themselves to stay on top.
The temptation might be to assume prior year results are the best indicator of who is going to cover in Week 1. To Joe Public, playoff teams from the prior season, home teams, favorites, and so one, look even more enticing than usual since there is no current season performance to judge them against. But the question begs: are the oddsmakers setting a trap?
To find the answer, we culled five years worth of Week 1 NFL data. As always, all of our analysis is done from an ATS perspective. The purpose here is to share the most important angles we unearthed and try to explain the logic behind them. So strap on your helmet, throw on your shoulder pads, and follow our lead as we expose some rare holes in the oddsmakers’ line of defense.
Home vs. Away Teams
Over the past five seasons, NFL home teams in Week 1 are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). This of course implies that roadies are a 58 percent winning proposition during this time. The public at large has a tendency to overvalue home teams and this is especially true in Week 1 when there is no current season data to make predictions from. Consequently, the oddsmakers almost surely shade the home teams, by and large making road teams the choice for the value player.
Conclusion: Look long and hard at road teams first when handicapping the opening week.
Price ranges
Favorites are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent) in the opening week over the past five NFL seasons (Coincidentally, home teams hold the same ATS record as noted above). This means that underdogs bark at a 58 percent clip. Mid-range favorites performed the worst among our specified price ranges. In particular, favorites priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 are only 8-15 ATS (35 percent) during this time.
The same basic pattern holds true when looking at home favorites (road favorites gravitate towards a 50 percent mean). Home favorites indeed are just 21-32-3 ATS (40 percent) in the first week of NFL action since 1999. Again, mid-range favorites are similarly the poorest performers when we look at home teams. Consider that home teams priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 have stumbled to a 6-13 ATS (32 percent) mark in Week 1 games the past five seasons.
Conclusion: Like home teams, favorites and particularly mid-range favorites are generally overvalued in Week 1.
Playoff teams
It might surprise you to learn that playoff teams from the prior year versus non-playoff teams from the prior year are a mere 16-23-3 (41 percent) ATS in NFL Week 1 games over the past five seasons. Home teams which made the playoffs versus teams which did not make the playoffs from the prior season drop to a meager 7-14-1 ATS (33 percent) during this time.
Why are playoff teams, and in particular those at home, such bad bets the past five openers? Just as the case with home teams and with favorites, oddsmakers intentionally overprice playoff teams in the opening week to compensate for the public’s propensity to over bet them.
This theory holds true just looking at straight-up records from the past season as well. That is, home teams with winning records from the prior season vs. road teams with losing records from the prior season are just 8-13 ATS in Week 1 NFL games since 1999.
Conclusion: Playoff teams from the prior year and in particular, home playoff teams, are overvalued in Week 1 NFL games.
Scoring defense and scoring offense
Do good defenses and for that matter good offenses from the prior season fare better against the number the following year in Week 1 games? Well, sort of. Generally speaking, teams with a solid offense or defense from the prior season tend to do well in the opening week so long as they are on the road. As a host, however, the best offenses and best defenses from the prior year tend to be overvalued in Week 1.
Consider that the top five scoring defenses (i.e. points allowed) from the prior season are a nice 8-4 ATS (66 percent) on the road in NFL openers the past five seasons. Meanwhile, the top five scoring defenses from the prior season are just 3-8-2 ATS (27 percent) as a host in Week 1 during the same time period.
There is no discernable advantage or disadvantage for teams with a top five scoring offense (i.e. points scored) in Week 1 games. However, when we look at scoring offenses from the bottom up (isolating the five worst offenses from the prior season), the results are rather interesting. In particular, teams ranked in the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are 9-4-1 ATS (69 percent) when on the road in Week 1.
The logic is simply that the public perception is a poor scoring offensive unit from the year prior will have little chance of winning on the road in Week 1. In turn, the oddsmakers compensate for this perception and these poor offensive teams from the year prior carry extra line value on the Week 1 trail.
Conclusion: Teams with top-ranked defenses from the previous season are good bets when playing on the road, but poor bets when playing at home. Also, teams ranked among the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are generally a good value in their Week 1 openers, provided they are playing on the road.
Scoring margin
An exceedingly straightforward way of measuring scoring offense and scoring defense together as a whole is to look at a team's “margin." Margin is simply scoring offense minus scoring defense, which is a fairly clear-cut measure of how a team does on both sides of the ball. Typically, the higher the margin, the better the team.
In this regard, it might seem counterintuitive that teams carrying the higher margin from the prior season in week one matchups are merely 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). Furthermore, road teams with the higher margin are 14-20-6 ATS (41 percent), while home teams with the higher margin are 17-22-1 ATS (44 percent). Once again, these results line up with the theory that better teams from the prior year are overvalued come opening day of the following season.
Conclusion: “Better” teams, which often boast a higher margin than their opponent, are overvalued the following season in NFL openers.
In sum
Oddsmakers cater NFL betting lines to match public perception and also to bait the public into poor bets. The temptation to use the prior year’s success as a buy sign for how a team will perform against the spread in Week 1 of the following season is an enormous trap.
The fact is, isolating road teams, road dogs, non-playoff teams vs. playoff teams, teams with a losing record or low margin vs. playoff teams or ones with a high margin from the previous year is where the line value resides. Quite simply, taking the road less traveled is your surest path to NFL betting profits.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.
your source for online betting
As the web was just getting it's footing in the business world in 1997, My Sportsbook was breaking new
ground in the online sportsbook arena. Offering over 20 Las Vegas Games and backed by Sporting Bet UK,
the largest publicly traded Internet gaming company in the world today, My Sportsbook offers betting lines
on every major sporting event in the world, including Online MLB Baseball Betting. With a wide array of bonuses including a 10% Free Money bonus
to all new customers, My Sportsbook is a top online sportsbook, poker room, casino and racebook -- join today!For those that feel that a site like My Sportsbook is only a sportsbook we would like to introduce you to
a place where a single login allows you to not only bet on every major sporting event in the world but also
to bet on horses at over 90 different tracks or play at over 20 Las Vegas style table games in their top online
casino. My Sportsbook has won many awards for it's site design and ease of use as well as it's 24/7
customer support. Get all your gaming done in one spot - try My Sportsbook Today!
|
Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
read more
|
online sportsbook and casino
Since 2000, Best eCasino has maintained a 98.5% payout rate on all their more than 20 Las Vegas style games.
Each of their award winning games including, blackjack (and blackjack super 7s), Baccarat, Roulette and Craps are
available as either a downloadable program or as java programs that can be played directly within your browser. Don't
know how to play a certain game? Read the details and strategy here and start with their Play for Fun section which
allows you to practice a game before taking on the casino. Let's see any Vegas casino do that... Best eCasino doesn't stop there, they now offer horse wagering and sportsbook lines to round off all the online
gaming industry have to offer. They are consistently at the forefront of the industry with new innovations consistently
starting with their site. These guys are the entrepreneur's of the online gaming world and they set the standard for others
to follow. So bet with a leader that's backed by the largest online gaming company in the world with 24 hour customer support,
Best eCasino.
|
