Bruins go Duck hunting in Eugene
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
01/04/2009 - Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - McArthur Court in Eugene is the site of today's Pac-10 Conference clash between the UCLA Bruins and the Oregon Ducks.
UCLA opened Pac-10 play on Friday against Oregon State, and the result of that tilt was a 69-46 road victory. That win was the seventh in a row for the Bruins, who are now 11-2 overall. The schedule has been fairly soft for UCLA, which lost to Michigan and Texas, the two best teams that the club has faced thus far.
Oregon also opened the Pac-10 portion of its schedule on Friday, falling to USC in an 83-62 final in front of a disappointed home crowd. That loss halted a modest two-game win streak for the Ducks, who are a disappointing 6-7 overall. They have lost by double digits to the only three ranked teams that they have faced thus far and are considered underdogs today.
UCLA has won its last three meetings with Oregon and owns a commanding 79-25 advantage in the all-time series between the teams.
Heading into Friday's game against Oregon State, UCLA was averaging 77.2 ppg on 50.1 percent shooting from the floor while limiting opponents to 57.9 ppg on 42.5 percent shooting. Darren Collison was scoring 14.3 ppg and dishing out 5.3 apg through the first 12 outings of the campaign, and he came through with a 16-point effort against Oregon State. Michael Roll also tallied 16 points in the contest, as he nailed all four of his three-point attempts off the bench. The third and final double-digit scorer in the win was Drew Gordon, as he hit all four of his shots from the floor en route to 11 points. UCLA led 37-16 at intermission after holding the Beavers to seven field goals in the first half. The second half was much more competitive, but the large halftime lead proved to be more than enough to earn the Bruins a win. They forced 20 turnovers in the clash and finished with a 12-4 edge on the offensive boards.
Oregon is scoring a respectable 73.8 ppg this season, but the club's output would certainly be higher if not for 41.4 percent shooting from the floor. Defensively, the Ducks are permitting 76.9 ppg to the opposition. Tajuan Porter is the leading scorer for Oregon with 14.2 ppg, but his 37.9 percent shooting is clearly disappointing. Michael Dunigan checks in with 11.2 ppg and 6.0 rpg, while Garrett Sim provides 10.6 ppg. The fourth and final double- digit scorer for the Ducks is LeKendric Longmire with 10.2 ppg. In the ugly loss to USC on Friday, Oregon connected on only 37.1 percent of its field goal attempts, including an 8-of-28 showing from three-point range. The Ducks were also outscored 17-8 from the foul line and outrebounded by a 44-33 margin. Porter scored 12 points in the setback, while Sim and Kamyron Brown netted 10 points apiece.
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Non-conference rivals will collide at Freedom Hall this afternoon, as the 18th-ranked Louisville Cardinals battle the Kentucky Wildcats. Expect Kentucky to play with a wealth of confidence this afternoon, as
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Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 17th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils and
California Golden Bears will try to make it two Pac-10 wins in a row tonight,
as they clash at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.
ASU kicked off its Pac-10 slate in a domin
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Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels
finally open up ACC play this evening, as they welcome the Boston College
Eagles to Chapel Hill for a showdown from the Smith Center.
Roy Williams' Tar Heels have def
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Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Ten foes will collide in Ann Arbor on
Sunday afternoon, as the 23rd-ranked Michigan Wolverines play host to the
Illinois Fighting Illini.
Illinois carries a stellar 13-1 record into this clash, and the cl
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Brisbane, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli
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Seventh-seeded Russian Maria Kirile
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils will play host to the Virginia Tech Hokies in the ACC opener for both squads this evening. Virginia Tech has won its last four games to improve to 9-4 overall, and the club is c
Raptors finish homestand vs. Magic >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors conclude a three-game homestand Sunday
by welcoming the Southeast Division-leading Orlando Magic to Air Canada
Centre.
The Raptors improved to 1-1 on the residency Friday when Andrea Bargnani
finished
Lakers aim for 15th straight home win vs. Blazers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers aim to remain perfect on their five-
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The Lakers improved to 3-0 on the residency Friday when Kobe Bryant scored 4
Celtics invade MSG to take on Knicks >>
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world champion Boston Celtics invade Madison Square Garden to take on the New
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Mavs hope to continue dominance over Grizzlies >>
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Sunday when they arrive in Memphis to take on the Grizzlies at FedEx Forum.
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Sportsbooks to bet on football
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.