09/05/2008 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox activated starting pitcher Josh Beckett and infielders Sean Casey and Mike Lowell from the 15-day disabled list Friday.
Beckett is scheduled to take the mound tonight against the Texas Rangers. It will be his first start since August 17, when he was tagged for eight hits and eight runs in only 2 1/3 innings in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
He was subsequently place on the DL with right elbow inflammation. The 28- year-old is 11-9 this season with a 4.34 earned run average in 23 starts.
Casey has been on the mend since August 20 with neck stiffness, while Lowell strained his oblique before hitting the DL August 12.
Casey has made the occasional spot-start for Boston, hitting .345 with 12 RBI in 59 games, while Lowell is hitting .270 with 14 home runs and 67 RBI in 101 games this season.
To make room on the roster, the Sox assigned pitcher Eric Hull outright to Triple-A Pawtucket.
<< Jankovic reaches U.S. Open final
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Serb Jelena
Jankovic secured a berth in Saturday night's U.S. Open women's final.
The second-seeded Jankovic handled fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4,
6-4 in Friday's firs
<< Stuttgart's Gomez considering options
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez admitted on
Friday he is keen to play in one of Europe's other top leagues.
The 23-year-old Germany international was the subject of a failed approach from
Manchester City
<< Ferdinand ruled out of England's Cup qualifier
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was
ruled out of England's opening World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday
with a back injury Friday.
Ferdinand, 29, missed training before England fle
<< Struggling Wizards need result against Dynamo
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City midfielder Davy Arnaud didn't waste
time reflecting on last week's 2-1 loss to San Jose, instead looking ahead to
Sunday's game at two-time defending Major League Soccer champion Houston.
"We wan
NASCAR postpones Richmond races until Sunday >>
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Due to heavy rains and winds expected from
Tropical Storm Hanna, NASCAR has postponed all track activities at the
Richmond International Raceway until Sunday.
The outer bands of the storm reached t
Villegas leads BMW Championship >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Camilo Villegas fired a five-under 65 on
Friday to finally take the first-round lead of the BMW Championship, the third
FedEx Cup Playoff event.
Newly selected United States Ryder Cupper Steve Stric
U.S. Open contingency plans in place for Hanna >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open officials made contingency
plans due to the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Hanna this weekend, and it
could push the women's final to Sunday night and the men's championship match
to late
Im still in front at Canadian Tour Championship >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Im posted a four-under 68 on Friday to
stay atop the leaderboard after the second round of the Canadian Tour
Championship.
Im finished 36 holes at 12-under 132 and is one ahead at National P
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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