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04/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee seems to be back on track after back-to-back losses to start the season. He will try to prove it tonight against the Kansas City Royals at Jacobs Field.
Lee, who went 22-3 with a 2.54 earned run average in 31 starts a year ago, opened the 2009 campaign with consecutive losses to Texas and Toronto before rebounding against the New York Yankees on Thursday. He only gave up one run at the new Yankee Stadium after allowing 11 over the previous two starts, and scattered seven hits in six innings of a 10-2 win.
The veteran left-hander has pitched at least five innings in each outing this season and has owned the Royals throughout his career. Lee is 12-4 with a 4.47 ERA in 19 career starts against them.
The Tribe got their nine-game homestand off to a good start by handing the Royals an 8-7 loss in the series opener on Tuesday. Grady Sizemore hit a three-run homer and Victor Martinez went 4-for-5 with a two-run blast for the Indians, who have won four of their last six games.
Indians starter Aaron Laffey had a solid outing on the mound and earned the win after he gave up just one run on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts over seven innings of work. Kerry Wood recorded his second save of the season despite allowing a pair of runs in the ninth inning.
Cleveland will also host Minnesota and Boston for three games on this residency.
David DeJesus ended with two hits, including a home run, and knocked in three runs for the Royals, who got three hits and an RBI out of Mike Jacobs. Mark Teahen collected two hits and two RBI in defeat, while starter Sidney Ponson was saddled with the loss for allowing six runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Brian Bannister was recalled by the Royals from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday, when Doug Waechter was placed on the disabled list with a strained elbow and will start tonight's game. Bannister made 32 starts a year ago and went 9-16 with a 5.76 earned run average. The righty out of the University of Southern California has pitched well against the Indians in his career, going 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA in five starts.
Bannister is expected to take Horacio Ramirez's spot in the rotation.
Kansas City took two of three games from Cleveland last week at Kauffman Stadium and has won five of the last seven matchups between the teams.
<< Philadelphia Eagles 2009 Draft Preview (Revised)
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Eagles took care of a major offseason need last week,
when they acquired Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters from the Bills in a
package that sent the team's No. 28 overall pick to Buffalo. With that need
out of the way, Ph
<< Nats aim for sweep of Braves in DC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals will try to continue their sudden
surge this evening, as they aim for a sweep of a three-game series with the
Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park.
The Nationals began the season just 1-10, a star
<< Phils, Brewers resume set in South Philly
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time Joe Blanton faced the Brewers, he pitched the
Phillies into the NLDS. Getting the Phillies over .500 tonight would be a nice
encore.
Philadelphia sends Blanton to the hill tonight in the second game of a thr
<< Cubs' Lilly takes hill vs. Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago's Ted Lilly will try for a rare win over Cincinnati
tonight, when the Cubs resume their three-game set with the Reds at Wrigley
Field.
Lilly is just 1-5 with a 5.24 earned run average in nine career starts vers
Dodgers aim to get back rolling in second test with Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers will try to start a new winning
streak when they resume a three-game series against the Houston Astros tonight
at Minute Maid Park.
Los Angeles entered Tuesday's series opener riding an eight-game t
Cards try to best Mets once again >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Pineiro tries to stay perfect on the season when he
toes the rubber for the St. Louis Cardinals tonight in the middle test of a
three-game series versus the New York Mets at Busch Stadium.
Pineiro opened the season on
Buffalo Bills 2009 Draft Preview (Revised) >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Bills picked up an extra first-round pick (No. 28
overall) as well as a 2009 fourth-rounder when they dealt Pro Bowl left tackle
Jason Peters to the Eagles last week, but also created a glaring need at
Peters' vacated spo
Miami Dolphins 2009 Draft Preview (Revised) >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The metamorphosis continues for Bill Parcells, Tony Sparano
and company, and as we found out last year, defense is at the heart of the
organization's transition. With cornerback Andre' Goodman and safety Renaldo
Hill now wear
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.
Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.
MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.
Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.
Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.
After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.
Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.
Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.
If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.
Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.
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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