Grizzlies are locked in the cellar
Basketball Betting Lines
12/27/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies three-year playoff run is in serious jeopardy. They are a league-worst 6-23 and are six games behind the fourth place New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in the Northwest Division.
The Grizzlies, who are 2-4 when they score more than 100 points this season, are 1-10 when their opponent reaches the century mark.
On Wednesday, the streaking Milwaukee Bucks play the middle contest of a three-game road trip when they stop off in Memphis to battle the Grizzlies at FedExForum. It is the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs. On December 8th, Ruben Patterson scored 30 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Bucks to a 100-94 win over the Grizzlies at the Bradley Center.
Milwaukee has lost four straight and five of its last six at the Grizzlies. The Bucks have won two of the last three contests in the series.
Memphis plays the first of a short two-game homestand against Milwaukee. On Tuesday, Gilbert Arenas poured in 31 points on 9-of-13 from the floor as the Washington Wizards knocked off the Grizzlies, 116-101, at the Verizon Center.
Alexander Johnson recorded his first career double-double with 23 points and 10 boards in the loss to Washington for the Grizzlies, who have lost four in a row and 10 of their last 11 games overall. Pau Gasol tallied 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Chucky Atkins finished with 15 points in defeat.
The Grizzlies are 4-8 at home this season. They will host T.J. Ford and the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Memphis will visit the Raptors on March 7, 2007 at Air Canada Centre in the second and final meeting of the campaign between the club.
Mike Miller leads the Grizzlies in scoring (15.2 ppg), rebounding (6.8 rpg) and assists (4.3 apg). Miller has scored in double-digits in 23 games and has collected four double-doubles this season.
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Numerologists would have a field day with the 2006-07 Chicago Wolves, who continue to put up offensive numbers rarely seen during the American Hockey Leagues 71-year history. Chicago wrote another headline
<< Redskins place Springs on IR
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins have placed cornerback
Shawn Springs on injured reserve because of a fractured shoulder blade.
Springs, who suffered through an injury-filled 2006, was hurt in the first
quarter of
<< Sacramento can get back on track at home
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings are just 11-14 and need to start
winning some games. They have made the playoffs eight straight years and that
streak could be in jeopardy if the Kings don't come around.
The Kings are in fourt
<< Celtic's Balde out with broken leg
Glascow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic
suffered a blow after Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Dundee United.
Starting defender Bobo Balde suffered a broken leg and will be out for several
months.
"Celtic Fo
<< White Sox, Cintron agree to one-year contract
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with
infielder Alex Cintron on a one-year contract worth $1.9 million, thus
avoiding arbitration.
Cintron, 28, batted .285 with five home runs and 41 RBI
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton leads all Western Conference players in fan balloting for the NHL All-Star Game. Thornton has received 614,753 votes and has a lead of more than 70,000 votes on Anaheim d
Stars' Morrow out indefinitely >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow will be out
of action indefinitely following successful surgery Tuesday night to repair
severed tendons in his right wrist, general manager Doug Armstrong said on
Wednesd
Jackson, Kampman and Gould earn NFC's weekly awards >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson,
Green Bay Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman and Chicago kicker Robbie Gould
have been selected as the NFC's top players for Week 16 of the season.
Jackson ear
Angels' Rivera has surgery for broken leg >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Juan
Rivera underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a broken left leg.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Michael Abrahams inserted a rod into Rivera's left
tibia and screws
Braham set to call it quits >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati Bengals center Rich Braham is
apparently ready to call it a career.
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis made the announcement at his Wednesday news
conference.
Braham suffered a knee injur
Sportsbooks to bet on football
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.