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07/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The skidding St. Louis Cardinals can climb within a game of first place to end the season's unofficial first half today, when they visit Minute Maid Park for the finale of a three-game series with the Houston Astros.
The Cardinals fell, 4-1, to the Astros in Saturday's middle test and remained two games in back of the first-place Cincinnati Reds in the National League's Central Division. Cincinnati lost, 1-0, in 11 innings at Philadelphia - the third straight time they've lost to the Phillies in extra frames.
Houston's Jeff Keppinger had two hits, including a home run, to back another strong outing from Brett Myers in Houston's victory last night. Pedro Feliz chipped in with a two-run single for the Astros, who have won four of their last five.
Myers (6-6) went eight innings to grab the win, yielding just the lone run on five hits while fanning five. The right-hander is the only starting pitcher in the big leagues to have gone six innings or more in each of his starts (18) this year.
Houston closer Matt Lindstrom worked around a pair of walks in the ninth to register his 21st save of the season.
Jeff Suppan (0-5) took the loss in his 100th career start as a member of the Cardinals after giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings. St. Louis fell for a fourth time in their its five games.
Second-year righty Blake Hawksworth gets the start tonight for St. Louis, just the fifth time in his career he'll open a game on the mound.
The 27-year-old Canadian was used exclusively out of the bullpen last season, making 30 appearances, then began this season with 18 relief outings before a spot start June 7 at the Los Angeles Dodgers. He returned to the bullpen for three more stints before beginning a stretch of three starts with a win at Kansas City on June 26.
Hawksworth was touched for eight hits and two runs in five innings his last time out, getting a no-decision in the Cardinals' 12-9 loss at Colorado on Tuesday. He tossed an inning of scoreless relief against the Astros on May 12 and has allowed just one hit in four relief innings spanning four appearances versus Houston.
For Houston, lefty Wandy Rodriguez faces the Cardinals for the third time this season. The 31-year-old dropped a 5-0 decision on April 12 in St. Louis, then bounced back for a 9-6 win in a subsequent road matchup on May 12. In those outings, he's combined to give up 12 hits and eight earned runs in 10 1/3 innings.
Lifetime against St. Louis, Rodriguez is just 4-10 with a 4.29 earned run average in 17 appearances.
He's won three straight starts after beginning the season at 3-10, however, the most recent coming against Pittsburgh on Tuesday. In the three wins, Rodriguez has given up 15 hits and four runs in 20 innings.
With Saturday's win, the Astros have now taken five of eight matchups with St. Louis thus far this season.
<< Creamer still three in front after third round
Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paula Creamer rolled in a four-foot birdie putt
on the 18th hole Sunday to move three shots clear after the third round of the
U.S. Women's Open.
Creamer finished the third round Sunday morning and posted an im
<< Rays aim for series win over lowly Indians
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A four-game set and the first half of the season both come
to a close today at Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays host the
Cleveland Indians.
Tampa Bay enters its final test before the All-Star break two games behin
<< Phillies seeking sweep of hard-fought set with Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A terrific first half of the season is having an unwanted
ending for the Cincinnati Reds, who'll be out to avoid a four-game sweep at
the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies when the two postseason hopefuls square
off again th
<< Rookie Bumgarner tries to pitch Giants past Nationals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants got their first-ever look at
Washington Nationals rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg in Friday's opener of
this three-game series between the teams. Now they'll unveil their own top
pitching prospect
Red-hot Rockies attempt to draw even with sliding Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies appear to be putting together one of
those long winning stretches they've become known for during the past few
seasons, much to the chagrin of the rest of the National League West.
The resurgent Rockie
France completes whitewash of Spain >>
Clermont-Ferrand, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau
each won reverse singles matches for France on Sunday to complete a 5-0 rout
of Spain in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The Spaniards were the two-time defendin
Angels, A's hope to close out first half on high note >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
close out a three-game weekend set from the Coliseum this afternoon.
These teams have split the first two meetings of this series, with the
Athletics rebounding from
Sabathia gets call for Yanks' first-half finale with Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The final of four weekend games between the New York
Yankees and Seattle Mariners will take place at Safeco Field today.
Yankees' ace CC Sabathia will be on the mound for the finale, and that is
typically good news for his
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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