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Raptors welcome Heat to Air Canada CentreBasketball Betting Lines01/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors aim to maintain their strong recent play on their home court when the Miami Heat enter the Air Canada Centre tonight for a matchup between teams jockeying for position in the Eastern Conference. Toronto has won nine of its last 10 outings as the host, including the first two tests of its current three-game homestand. After besting Milwaukee by a 101-96 count on Friday, the Raptors came through with a 106-105 victory over the defending world champion Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday behind Hedo Turkoglu's two free throws with 1.2 seconds left. The Raptors trailed 105-101 with under two minutes to go, but a three-point play by Andrea Bargnani with 1:16 left pulled Toronto within one. After both teams failed to score on their next possessions, Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant misfired on a three-point shot with 15.3 seconds remaining and Turkoglu was fouled after knifing into the lane with time winding down. He hit both foul shots to give the Raptors a one-point edge. Following a Lakers' timeout, Bryant's desperation three-point attempt clanked off the rim as time expired. "We wanted to keep it close and play good defense," said Toronto's Chris Bosh. "We didn't get down at any time during the game. We went to work hard and made some shots late." Bosh finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds in the win, while Bargnani netted 22 points to help Toronto defeat the Lakers for only the third time in its last 16 tries. Miami starts up a key three-game road trip this evening and will attempt to bounce back from Monday's tough 92-91 home loss to Eastern Conference front- runner Cleveland. The Heat took a 91-90 lead on Udonis Haslem's layup with 1:05 remaining, and the score remained that way until the final seconds. Cavaliers superstar LeBron James had his potential go-ahead shot blocked by Dwyane Wade, but intercepted Wade's behind-the-back pass and was fouled while driving to the hoop with 4.1 seconds to go. The reigning league MVP sank both shots from the line to put Cleveland up by one. Wade then missed a jumper from near the top of the arc as time expired, preventing Miami from earning a third straight win. Wade amassed 32 points and 10 rebounds, matching James' point total in the head-to-head showdown between the two All-Stars, but scored just two points on 1-of-8 shooting in the second half. In addition to committing the crucial late turnover, the standout guard missed a pair of foul shots in the closing minute. "The competition is great," said Wade when asked about opposing James. "At the end of the day we understand it's a team game, and I think the second half proved that." Miami went just 1-of-6 from the free-throw line as a team in the fourth quarter. Wednesday's defeat reduced the Heat's lead over the Raptors for fifth place in the Eastern Conference to just one half-game, with Charlotte one game back of Miami in the seventh spot. These teams have met twice previously during the 2009-10 campaign, with each winning on its home floor. The Raptors dealt the Heat a 120-113 loss at the Air Canada Centre on November 20, Toronto's fifth victory in its last six home games against Miami. The Raptors have also won seven of the past nine overall matchups in this series.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams on the outside looking in at the Eastern Conference playoff picture meet in Brew City tonight as the Milwaukee Bucks play host the Philadelphia 76ers. The Bucks, who are coming off a tough loss in D
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Oudin will lead U.S. against France >>
White Plains, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Surprise 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin will lead the United States against host France in a Fed Cup quarterfinal matchup next week. The 18-year-old Oudin will be joined on the U.S
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Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently 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. Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana Should be in: Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it? Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel. Work left to do: Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third. Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim. Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either. Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim. For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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