LeBron propels Cavs past Pacers
Basketball Betting Lines
11/07/2008 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James filled up the stat sheet with 27 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and four blocked shots, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 111-107 win over the Indiana Pacers.
James' great all-around night, capped by an incredible block of a T.J. Ford layup in the final minutes, was enough to help the Cavs edge Indiana, which got a 33-point effort from Danny Granger.
Mo Williams scored 21 points and Anderson Varejao added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Cavs, who won their third straight. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 17 points for Cleveland.
Marquis Daniels scored 17 points and grabbed 11 boards for the Pacers, who have dropped three of four to start the season. Ford added 13 points for Indiana.
James tied the back-and-forth affair at 84-84 with a jumper with nine minutes to play in regulation, and the Cavs soon carved out a nine-point lead. The Pacers cut back to within 108-104 on two Granger free throws with 1:36 left, but James drained a long three from the wing to put Cleveland back up by seven.
Granger answered with a trey of his own, though, and a missed James three was tipped out into an easy layup try for Ford. James sprinted back across the court and leapt from behind Ford, though, slapping the ball just as it left Ford's hands.
The block prevented Indiana from pulling to within two points, and Granger missed a three from the corner in the final seconds as Cleveland held on.
The Pacers opened with an 18-8 push, and led 29-20 after one quarter. The Cavs opened the second frame with a 13-0 run, but the Pacers were able to take a 48-43 lead into the intermission.
Indiana led by 10 early in the third quarter, but the Cavs were able to pull within 74-71 entering the final 12 minutes.
Game Notes
The Pacers made all 11 free throws they attempted, while the Cavaliers made 24-of-28 from the charity stripe...The Cavs won all four meetings last season, and have won eight straight over Indiana...Wally Szczerbiak scored 11 points off the bench for Cleveland.
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Williams' power-play goal 48 seconds into overtime lifted the Atlanta Thrashers to a 5-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the HSBC Arena. Derek Roy was called for tripping at the 36-second mark of ov
<< Hawks down Raptors, but lose Smith
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Bibby led a balanced attack with 19 points
and the Atlanta Hawks stayed unbeaten on the young season with a 110-92
victory over the Toronto Raptors at Philips Arena.
Bibby scored all of his point
<< Harvick wins at Phoenix, while Benson, Hornaday crash
Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Harvick survived a wild night of racing
Friday to win the Lucas Oil 150 Craftsman Truck Series race at the Phoenix
International Raceway. The No.2 Chevrolet driver grabbed the lead with 51 laps
to go a
<< Pierce leads Celtics past Bucks
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds
and seven assists to lead the streaking Boston Celtics to a 101-89 win over
the Milwaukee Bucks.
Kevin Garnett added 16 points and nine boards for the Celti
<< Blue Jackets top Habs in SO
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kristian Huselius scored the game-winner in
the shootout, as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3,
at Nationwide Arena.
Huselius was the first shooter and his quick wrister beat Ja
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raymond Felton had 20 points, including two huge free throws late in the game, to help the Bobcats edge the Hornets, 92-89, in a thriller from Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Jason Richardson also had 20 p
Harris' big night helps Nets upend Detroit in Iverson's debut >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Devin Harris tallied a career-high 38
points to lead New Jersey past Detroit, 103-96, spoiling the debut of Allen
Iverson in a Pistons uniform.
Iverson, who had 24 points and six assists in defeat,
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San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade poured in a game-high 33
points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out nine assists in Miami's 99-83
triumph over San Antonio.
Wade was 14-of-25 from the floor and logged three steals
Gordon, Rose lead Bulls in rout of Suns >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Gordon scored 23 points, and rookie point
guard Derrick Rose had 18 points as the Chicago Bulls ran away with a
surprising 100-83 win over the Phoenix Suns.
Gordon sank 8-of-13 from the field -
Report: Goodell rescinds fine on Tuck >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck will
apparently not be out $7,500 after all.
Hours after the New York Times reported that Tuck was fined $7,500 by the NFL
for a hit against Dallas quarterback Bro
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.
Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009
Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.
MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.
Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.
Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.
After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.
Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.
Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.
If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.
Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.
Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards