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03/21/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami-Ohio, Denver, Wisconsin and Boston College have been selected as the top seeds for the 2010 NCAA hockey tournament.
Miami-Ohio will be the top seed in the Midwest Region and will open play on Saturday, March 27 against Alabama-Huntsville in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Bemidji State and Michigan will play in the other Midwest game on Saturday.
Denver is the top seed in the East and will play its opener on Friday, March 26 against RIT in Albany, New York. Cornell and New Hampshire will square off in the other East game on Friday.
The top seed in the West Region is Wisconsin and the Badgers will play Vermont on Friday in St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Cloud State and Northern Michigan meet in the other West contest.
Boston College will be the top seed in the Northeast Region and will tangle with Alaska-Fairbanks in the first game on Saturday in Worcester, Massachusetts. North Dakota and Yale will face each other in the second game.
The first-round winners will advance to regional championship games the following day, and those winners will play in the Frozen Four, scheduled for April 8 at Ford Field in Detroit. The championship game is slated for April 10 in Detroit.
<< Ducks battle Avs in Anaheim
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to continue heading in the right
direction when they host the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Honda Center.
The Ducks have won three straight, giving the club its longest winning streak
since a sea
<< Thrashers try for home-and-home sweep in Philly
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers will try to punctuate their newfound
success against the Flyers by sweeping the season series in tonight's finale
of a home-and-home set at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center.
The Thrashers were swept in
<< Coyotes visit Dallas with shot at ninth straight win
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will try to match another franchise
record tonight and also take a shot at first place in the Pacific Division
when they visit the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
The Coyotes have already set
<< Streaking Preds make a stop in St. Louis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Nashville Predators will aim for a sixth
straight victory when they visit the rival St. Louis Blues for tonight's
Central Division battle at Scottrade Center.
The recent hot streak has helped solidify Nashville
Davies tops Oosthuizen in Morocco >>
Rabat, Morocco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rhys Davies fired a seven-under 66 Sunday to
come from behind and win the Hassan II Golf Trophy.
Davies, who led after the second round, completed his first European Tour
victory at 25-under-par 266.
The
Rooney, Park lead United over Liverpool >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wayne Rooney scored his 26th EPL goal,
Ji-Sung Park added the match-winner, and Manchester United edged Liverpool 2-1
at Old Trafford on Sunday to move back into first place.
United regained the lead
Johnson, Syracuse have little trouble downing Gonzaga >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wes Johnson poured in a career-high 31 points
and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading Syracuse to an 87-65 victory over Gonzaga in
the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Andy Rautins scored 24 for Syracuse (30-4
Bruins edge Rangers in key battle for East playoff spot >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuuka Rask stopped 23 shots as the Boston Bruins
got a big win with a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.
Both teams are struggling for their playoff lives, but it was the Bruins that
came away with the tw
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.
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