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
03/02/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors aim to stop a four-game losing streak this evening when they battle the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Golden State has lost the first two games of its current five-game road swing, including a 113-83 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Kelenna Azubuike scored 23 points, Jason Richardson had 17 and Monta Ellis 16 for the Warriors, who have lost five straight as the visitor and are a dismal 6-23 on the road this season.
Injuries are starting to take their toll on the Warriors, who were without guard Stephen Jackson for the second straight game on Wednesday because of a small fracture in his left big toe.
The Warriors are already without leading scorer Baron Davis (arthroscopic left knee surgery), and in addition to Jackson, forward Matt Barnes (knee) and guard Josh Powell (head) are questionable for tonight's game.
Golden State will visit a pair of division leaders in Washington and Detroit to round out its swing.
New York is also still fighting for a playoff position and has an outside shot at a division title. The Knicks are currently just 2 1/2 games back of New Jersey for the eighth spot in the East, and the third-place squad is also 6 1/2 games behind Toronto for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Inconsistency has been hurting the Knicks lately, as the squad had alternated wins and losses over its past 10 games. On Wednesday, New York was bested by the lowly Boston Celtics, 102-94.
Quentin Richardson scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds, Stephon Marbury totaled 23 points and dished out six assists, while Jared Jeffries and Eddy Curry added 16 points apiece in the loss.
New York is another team that is seeing injuries begin to pile up. Guard Jamal Crawford is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a stress fracture in his right ankle, while forward David Lee has missed New York's last three games with a high right ankle sprain.
Also, guard Nate Robinson sat out Wednesday's game because of a stomach virus and is questionable for tonight. Guard Steve Francis (right knee tendinitis) is doubtful.
New York is 16-13 as the host this season.
Golden State has won four in a row over the Knicks and four of its last five at New York.
<< Pistons, Heat set for South Beach battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An Eastern Conference Finals rematch is on tap tonight at
AmericanAirlines Arena, as the defending world champion Miami Heat welcome the
Detroit Pistons.
Detroit has won five of six and seven of its last nine at Miami.
<< Red Wings begin homestand against hapless Blackhawks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings open a five-game homestand this
evening, when they welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings last played Tuesday evening against the Blackhawks and posted a
4-1 road vic
<< Surging Senators, struggling Thrashers set to face off
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Ottawa Senators will try for their ninth win in
10 games this evening, when they visit the Atlanta Thrashers at Philips Arena.
The Senators have gained a point in nine straight games (8-0-1) and are fourth
in
<< Magic pay a visit to San Antonio
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having temporarily fallen out of the playoff picture, the
Orlando Magic will try to rebound tonight when they visit the San Antonio
Spurs at AT&T Center.
The Magic have lost five of their last six and are now one
Salukis begin defense of MVC Tournament title >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and 11th-ranked Southern
Illinois Salukis begin defense of their Missouri Valley Conference
Tournament title today, as they take on the ninth-seeded Drake Bulldogs in the
quar
Big West: Lakers, Kings to battle in LA >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pacific Division rivals battle tonight, as the streaking
Los Angeles Lakers welcome the Sacramento Kings to the Staples Center.
This is the second of four meetings between the clubs this season. On January
4th, supers
Roma attempt to keep focus against Ascoli >>
Ascoli, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roma's chances of challenging Inter Milan
for the Serie A title all but vanished on Wednesday as the club failed to take
advantage of a rare Inter draw. Roma was held 2-2 on Wednesday by a bottom-
half Ch
Kobe, Lakers need to get their swagger back for stretch run >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers (33-25) are currently the sixth
seed in the Western Conference playoff race, 2 1/2 games behind No. 5 Houston
and four games ahead of the seventh-seeded Denver Nuggets.
After a six-game losin
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.
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting 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