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Mavs send Warriors to ninth straight loss; Ellis hurts kneeBasketball Betting Lines02/09/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Terry made 6-of-9 three-point tries, finishing with a season-high 36 points, along with nine assists and six rebounds, as Dallas took control in the fourth quarter in a 127-117 victory over Golden State. It appeared as if the Warriors were on their way to snapping an eight-game losing streak, but the Mavericks outscored the hosts 37-19 in the final frame to earn just their second win in six games, which included a home setback to the lowly Timberwolves on Friday. Jason Kidd recorded 17 points and 12 assists, while Josh Howard and Drew Gooden added 25 and 24 points, respectively, for Dallas, which received a 15- point, eight-rebound effort from Dirk Nowitzki. Gooden also pulled down 10 caroms in a winning cause. Anthony Morrow paced the Warriors with 33 points and 11 rebounds, while Stephen Curry donated 25 points and nine assists in the loss. Golden State's leading scorer, Monta Ellis, netted 27 points but went to the ground hard after making a driving layup late in the fourth quarter. He stayed on the floor for a moment, favoring his left knee before gingerly walking under his own power to the bench. "I was just praying that he was alright, me coming off that knee injury and him having a knee injury like that earlier in his career it was just tough seeing that, so I just wanted to run down there and make sure he was alright," Morrow said. "I was glad he got up on his own, I just hope it's not as bad as it seemed like it was." Ellis has a sprained knee. He's scheduled to have an MRI Tuesday. Dallas, which trailed by as many as 14, took its first lead of the night, 108-106, on Nowitzki's three-point play with 6:40 left in regulation. The free throw capped a 14-4 spurt, and the Mavs continued to build momentum in front of a suddenly silent Oracle Arena crowd. A pair of Gooden makes at the stripe finished off eight straight Dallas points and resulted in a 116-110 game with 4:51 left. Ellis went down a minute later, and Golden State didn't have the fire power to match Dallas' hot streak from the field, making just one field goal over the final 5:55 to fall short yet again. The Mavericks missed their first six shots from the floor and found themselves down 12-3 after four minutes of action. Jose Barea's late three-pointer cut the deficit to 34-29 heading to the second, but the Warriors scored the first seven points of the stanza -- capped by a Curry three-pointer -- for a 12-point lead. Golden State continued to play front-runner until the fourth, taking a 70-61 lead into the locker room and upping the difference to 98-90 with 12 minutes to play. Game Notes Anthony Tolliver chipped in 14 points and 11 boards for the Warriors, who committed seven of their 15 turnovers in the fourth quarter...Ronny Turiaf also scored 14 points for Golden State...Dallas shot 52.1 percent from the field and made 12-of-22 from three-point range.
<< Gasol carries short-handed Lakers over Spurs
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pau Gasol had a spectacular all-around game with 21 points, 19 rebounds, a season-high eight assists and five blocked shots, pacing the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-89 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
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Berdych, Dent victorious in San Jose >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and unseeded American Taylor Dent were first-round winners Monday at the $600,000 SAP Open. Dent topped fellow countryman Alex Bogomolov Jr, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) on the indoor hardco
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Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently 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. |
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