12/01/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will aim for their third win in four games when they welcome the Nashville Predators for this evening's contest at HSBC Arena.
The Sabres ended a five-game losing streak with consecutive victories over Boston and Pittsburgh, but were back in the loss column after dropping Saturday's contest in Montreal.
Buffalo was handed a 3-2 regulation loss by the Canadiens as Andrei Markov netted the eventual game-winner in the second period to lead Montreal.
Thomas Vanek continued his hot start to the season with two goals for Buffalo and is back in the NHL lead with 17 tallies on the year. Philadelphia's Jeff Carter, who has 16 goals, had recently taken over the goal lead, but Vanek regained it with his strong performance on Saturday.
Patrick Lalime, in his sixth start of the season, stopped 31-of-34 shots in a losing effort for Buffalo. Tonight, the Sabres will likely start No. 1 netminder Ryan Miller, who is 10-5-2 on the season.
The Sabres are 7-5-1 as the host this year and have won their last two tests in western New York. After tonight's tilt Buffalo will embark on a three-game road trip, beginning with Thursday's matchup with the Florida Panthers.
Nashville has won just twice in its last six games (2-3-1) and is coming off Saturday's blowout loss to visiting Minnesota. Mikko Koivu registered two goals and an assist, as the Wild matched a team record with five power-play goals in a 6-2 thrashing of the Predators at Sommet Center.
Jason Arnott and David Legwand scored for the Predators, while Dan Ellis allowed all six goals on 29 shots in defeat.
The Predators tied a dubious franchise record by allowing the five power-play goals on Minnesota's 11 chances with the man advantage. Nashville had killed off 20 straight power plays heading into Saturday's contest. For the season, the Preds have the 24th-ranked penalty kill in the league, stopping opponents from scoring 79.8-percent of the time.
Nashville is just 6-7-1 away from the Music City this year, but has won two straight on the road.
The Sabres have won two in a row against the Predators, but Nashville had been 3-0 with a tie in the previous four meetings.
<< Leonardi admits crisis at Udinese
Udine, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Udinese's general director Pietro Leonardi has
admitted that the club have slumped into a mini crisis, having lost their last
four games in Serie A.
A 1-0 home defeat by Chievo added to the pressure at the
<< Hoffenheim's Teber welcomes Bayern showdown
Sinsheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim's club captain Selim Teber is
confident that his teammates will not be overawed by the prospect of a
Bundesliga title showdown at Bayern Munich.
The top two teams in Germany clash
<< Strachan promised transfer boost from Celtic board
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has
confirmed that the club's board will do all they can to back manager Gordon
Strachan in the January transfer window.
The Bhoys currently lead the SPL title
<< Pampling to No. 59 in world rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rod Pampling beat Marcus Fraser in a
playoff Sunday to win the Australian Masters, and that victory that gave the
Aussie a 12-spot bump in the world rankings to No. 59.
Nothing changed at the top o
Recent Cup winners clash as Red Wings host Ducks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A matchup between the last two Stanley Cup champions is on
tap tonight in the Motor City, as the Detroit Red Wings welcome the Anaheim
Ducks to Joe Louis Arena.
The Ducks won it all in 2007 and defeated Detroit in the West
Avs aim to end Minnesota drought >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to halt a five-game losing
streak in Minnesota, where they play the Wild tonight at Xcel Energy Center.
The Avalanche haven't won in Minnesota since a 2-1 shootout victory on January
6, 2007
Maple Leafs begin western swing in LA >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It didn't take long for Brian Burke to make Toronto a
winning team. The Maple Leafs will try for their second straight win with
Burke as their general manager in tonight's test against the Los Angeles Kings
at the Staples Cen
Red Bull announces 2009 driver, crew chief lineup >>
Mooresville, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull Racing set its 2009 Sprint Cup
Series roster Monday with Ryan Pemberton serving as Brian Vickers' new crew
chief and Jimmy Elledge guiding Scott Speed as he runs for rookie of the year
honors.
MySportsbook.com offers Blackjack contest and $10,000.00 in Free Prize money!
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- All you have to do is play at least 10
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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 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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