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<< Pachuca wins CONCACAF Champions League
Pachuca, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pachuca topped fellow Mexican club Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League final on Wednesday night with a stoppage-time goal, 1-0. Edgar Benitez scored in the third minute of stoppage time

<< Cardinals send Braves to eighth straight loss
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaime Garcia pitched seven shutout innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals extended Atlanta's losing streak with a 6-0 win over the Braves at Busch Stadium. Garcia (2-1) allowed only four hits and a wal

<< Fear the Deer: Bucks steal Game 5 in Atlanta to take series lead
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Salmons scored eight of his 19 points during a huge fourth-quarter run as the Bucks rallied for a 91-87 win over Atlanta to grab the lead after five games of their Eastern Conference quarter

<< Leake pitches Reds past Astros
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Rolen drove in two runs and Mike Leake tossed seven solid innings as the Cincinnati Reds took the second game of a three-game set from the Houston Astros, 6-4, at Minute Maid Park. Drew Stubbs adde

Orioles minor leaguer Tillman tosses no-hitter >>
Lawrenceville, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orioles minor leaguer Chris Tillman tossed a no-hitter for Norfolk Wednesday night in a 6-0 Triple-A win over the Gwinnett Braves. Tillman walked one batter and had six strikeouts, throwing 63

Sharp-shooting Nuggets topple Jazz to stave off elimination >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, as the hot-shooting Denver Nuggets beat Utah, 116-102, to force a sixth game in their Western Conference quarterfinal series. Chauncey Billu

Sabres retain coach Ruff for 1 more season >>
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -The Buffalo Sabres have picked up the one-year option on head coach Lindy Ruff's contract, which means he will be back for a 13th season.Sabres minority owner Larry Quinn announced the move during a news conference Thursday, thre

Yanks to face highly-touted Matusz in finale with O's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie left-hander Brian Matusz can pitch the Baltimore Orioles to their first series win of the season this evening, when they play the rubber match of their three-game series with the New York Yankees at Camden Yards. A

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.

MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

About MySportsbook.com MySportsbook.com  is the largest sportsbook and casino on the planet, where millions of adult Americans bet on sports, play poker and enjoy blackjack and other casino games online in a regulated and licensed jurisdiction. Named the "Best US Sports Book" by the industry's top magazine, eGaming Review, MySportsbook.com has been leading the online gaming industry since 1996. Dwarfing its nearest competitors in the US, MySportsbook.com has been the first to achieve every significant industry milestone, from record turnover to active users to number of bets--achieving a peak of fifteen bets per second. As the US online gaming leader, the firm and it's products have been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, ESPN, Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Financial Times, USA Today and in every major newspaper in the US.