Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/18/2010 - Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Bettencourt captured his first PGA Tour win Sunday at the Reno-Tahoe Open, closing with a four-under 68 in the final round to beat Bob Heintz by one shot.
Heintz missed a three-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole with a chance to force a playoff.
Bettencourt, playing in the same group with Heintz, hit two bunkers and made a closing bogey at No. 18 -- among the easiest holes on the Montreux course.
Moments later, television cameras showed Bettencourt barely reacting as he watched Heintz's putt dip into the left side of the cup and spin out, giving him the win.
Bettencourt finished with an 11-under 277 to earn his first victory since he won twice on the developmental Nationwide Tour in 2008.
The 35-year-old from California missed the cut in 13 of his 21 starts coming into the week, but reversed his fortunes Sunday by earning a two-year tour exemption.
Heintz, who is not a tour member, shot a three-under 69 and took second place alone at 10-under 278.
John Merrick and Sweden's Mathias Gronberg both carded 69s to share third place at nine-under 279.
Tournament host and 54-hole leader Scott McCarron had a nine-over 81 and dropped into a tie for 35th place -- 10 shots behind Bettencourt.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
<< McCutchen suffers shoulder sprain in Sunday's game
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen
left Sunday's game against Houston with a mild sprain of his right AC joint.
He sustained the injury to the top of his shoulder after making a diving catch
on a
<< Holliday caps Cards' comeback in ninth for sweep of Dodgers
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Holliday's two-out, game-winning RBI
single capped a five-run rally in the final two innings, lifting the St.
Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a four-game
sweep a
<< Astros designate Daigle, bring up Majewski
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have designated
pitcher Casey Daigle for assignment and purchased the contract of pitcher Gary
Majewski from Triple-A Round Rock.
Daigle posted a 1-1 record with an 11.32 ea
<< Joh wins playoff for first Duramed Futures title
Bloomfield, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiffany Joh birdied the fourth playoff hole
Sunday to defeat Gerina Mendoza and win the ING New England Golf Classic on
the Duramed Futures Tour.
Joh sank an eight-foot birdie putt on the fourth ext
Mets avoid sweep, top Giants in 10 on Davis double >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ike Davis hit an RBI double with two outs
in the top of the 10th inning, and the New York Mets beat San Francisco, 4-3,
to salvage the finale of a four-game series at AT&T Park.
The Giants erased a
Denorfia powers Padres past Diamondbacks >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Denorfia matched a career-high with
four hits, homering twice and scoring three times to power San Diego past
Arizona, 6-4, and help the Padres complete a three-game sweep at Petco Park.
Denorf
Angels place Kazmir on DL >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Angels placed pitcher Scott Kazmir on the
15-day disabled list following Sunday's 2-1, 10-inning loss to the Mariners.
Kazmir lands on the DL with left shoulder fatigue. The left-hander is 7-9 with
a 6.92 E
Yankees' Pettitte suffers groin strain >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte was
removed from his start Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays with a strained left
groin.
He was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital and underwent an MRI. Resul
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.
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting