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
06/17/2007 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Buehrle hurled eight innings of one-run ball to lead the Chicago White Sox over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-1, at PNC Park.
Buehrle (4-3) scattered nine hits, walked a batter and struck out four to earn the 101st victory of his career. The crafty left-hander threw 113 pitches - 75 for strikes - and has continued to fare well in interleague play since the start of the 2005 season, improving to 6-1 in nine starts against the National League. Ryan Bukvich worked a perfect ninth.
Josh Fields provided the majority of the offense, clubbing a two-run homer and adding a run-scoring double for the Sox, who snapped a six-game skid on the road, and a four-game losing streak overall.
John Van Benschoten (0-1), who made his first major league start in almost three years, yielded two runs on three hits, walked three and struck out four in 5 2/3 innings in the loss. The 2001 first-round draft pick is taking the spot of Shawn Chacon, who was recently moved to the bullpen.
The right-handed Benschoten has spent most of his time rehabbing from operations on both shoulders since going 1-3 with a 6.91 ERA in six games (five starts) for Pittsburgh in 2004.
Ryan Doumit had a pair of hits and knocked in the lone run for the Pirates, who have dropped two of three.
The White Sox jumped on Van Benschoten for a pair of runs in the second to grab the early lead. Jermaine Dye drew a one-out walk, Alex Cintron's single moved him to third, and Rob Mackowiak's groundout scored Dye. Fields followed with a double to left, plating Cintron to make it 2-0.
The Pirates got one back in the bottom of the frame, as Adam LaRoche doubled and scored on Doumit's two-out single.
Chicago added two more in the seventh, as Mackowiak legged out a bunt single and Fields slugged a two-run homer to left-center.
A.J. Pierzynski singled, Paul Konerko followed with a double, and after Cintron was intentionally walked with one out, Mackowiak's sac fly scored Pierzynski to make it a 5-1 margin in the eighth.
Tadahito Iguchi's RBI double in the ninth accounted for the final margin.
Game Notes
Buehrle has won both career starts against the Pirates, with the first one coming last June 27...The White Sox have not lost seven straight road games since dropping eight in a row from May 15-23, 2001...Pirates manager Jim Tracy missed the game and will also be absent for the series finale on Sunday to attend college graduation ceremonies for his son. Bench coach Jim Lett is the acting manager in his absence...Attendance was 36,610.
<< Shaughnessy captures inaugural Barcelona title
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded American Meghann Shaughnessy
captured the inaugural $145,000 Barcelona KIA tennis event after defeating
Romanian Edina Gallovits in Saturday's final.
The 28-year-old Shaughnessy breezed past
<< Angels' Anderson and Kotchman leave game
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angels left fielder Garret Anderson and first
baseman Casey Kotchman both left Saturday's game versus the Dodgers early with
injuries.
Anderson left the game in the second inning for a pinch-hitter
<< Baddeley leads Woods at U.S. Open
Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Baddeley will carry a two-shot lead over
Tiger Woods into the final round of the U.S. Open after shooting an even-par
70 Saturday at a tamer Oakmont.
Baddeley, an Australian transplant living in Ari
<< Angels blank Dodgers; Kotchman, Anderson hurt
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Weaver tossed 5 1/3 scoreless
innings to win his fifth consecutive decision as the Angels blanked the
Dodgers, 3-0, in the latest edition of the Freeway Series.
Orlando Cabrera had tw
Columbus rallies to tie New England >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alejandro Moreno scored on a diving header
in the 85th minute as Columbus rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-3 draw
with New England on Saturday.
Moreno's spectacular effort was off a cross from Gu
Griffey, Ross each go deep twice as Reds rip Rangers >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. and David Ross each belted
two homers, overshadowing Sammy Sosa's quest to 600, as the Cincinnati Reds
beat the Texas Rangers, 8-4, at Great American Ballpark.
Griffey hit a solo homer
Brewers top Twins to win fourth straight >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Corey Hart knocked in a pair of runs in
the seventh inning as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2, in
the middle contest of a three-game interleague set
Dave Bush (4-6) tossed 6 1/3 i
Oregon State, Arizona State post wins in CWS >>
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oregon State and Arizona State won their opening
games in the College World Series on Saturday.
The Beavers, the defending national champions, got a pair of hits and two RBI
from Scott Santschi and held off
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.
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your 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