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
06/04/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Georgia State football program continues to stockpile FBS transfers, adding former Georgia Tech offensive linemen Joseph Gilbert and Clyde Yandell, and former Auburn tight end Bailey Woods, GSU head coach Bill Curry announced Friday.
One day earlier, the first-year program announced the transfer of quarterback Star Jackson from 2009 FBS champion Alabama.
All of the transfers are eligible to play immediately. Georgia State is unclassified for its first season, and NCAA transfer rules do not yet apply.
Gilbert, Yandell and Woods each has two seasons to play for the Panthers.
Gilbert, 6-foot-2, 280 pounds, started 26 of the last 27 games for Georgia Tech at right guard, helping the Yellow Jackets rank in the top five in the nation in rushing both years. He played in a pair of bowl games and helped Tech to the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference title.
Yandell is a 6-5, 287-pounder who has been a backup tackle the last two seasons at Georgia Tech.
Woods played in 11 games on special teams last fall at Auburn, including the Outback Bowl versus Northwestern.
<< Cavaliers GM Ferry resigns
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny
Ferry has resigned, the team announced.
Ferry had been the team's GM since June 2005, and the Cavaliers, led by LeBron
James, made the playoffs in every season durin
<< NL West: There's no need to freak out on Lincecum
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum loses back-to-back starts and the entire city
of San Francisco goes into a panic.
Oh my word, the two-time defending National League Cy Young honoree is mired
in a slump and may need Life Alert for the rest
<< Manhattan's Pickett going pro overseas
Riverdale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manhattan guard Rico Pickett will leave the
school to pursue a professional career overseas, the school announced Friday.
Pickett was an All-MAAC selection last season as a junior, leading the
confe
<< Belmont Stakes - Bet on one of the "Dudes"
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Zito's Ice Box is the 3-1 morning
line favorite for this Saturday's Belmont Stakes, but his come-from-the-clouds
style might not be well-suited to the 1 1/2-mile race.
Only one horse since 1998
Braves aim for 10th straight win in clash with Dodgers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves winless starter Kenshin Kawakami will try to
get in on the action when he takes the mound for Friday's second portion of a
four-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.
Kawakami hasn't won
Houston heads across the country to take on L.A. >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three days after suffering a heart wrenching
last-second loss to Red Bull New York in Harrison, NJ, the Houston Dynamo
travel across the country to take on the undefeated Los Angeles Galaxy at The
Home
Giants bring up Burrell >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants recalled outfielder
Pat Burrell from Fresno on Friday and optioned outfielder John Bowker to their
Triple-A affiliate.
Burrell, 33, was previously released by the Tampa Bay Rays aft
Mass. gov raising funds with Lakers' Magic Johnson >>
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval (deh-VAL') Patrick is taking advantage of the NBA Finals being played in Boston to hold a re-election campaign fundraiser featuring Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson.The hoops legend and
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.
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