10/21/2008 - Luxembourg, Luxembourg (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva highlighted Tuesday's opening-round winners at the Luxembourg Championships.
The top-seeded and two-time major runner-up Dementieva drove past German qualifier Tatjana Malek 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 on the indoor hardcourts at CK Sport Kockelscheuer. Dementieva will face scrappy Argentine Gisela Dulko in the second round.
Two other seeds reached the round of 16, as No. 4 Dane Caroline Wozniacki waltzed past Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-2, 6-3 and No. 8 Romanian Sorana Cirstea overcame Ukrainian qualifier Yuliana Fedak 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Additional first-round wins came for the aforementioned Dulko, Colombian qualifier Catalina Castano, Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva and Czech Iveta Benesova, who snuck past 14-year-old British wild card Laura Robson, making her WTA Tour debut, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. Dulko rubbed Italian Tathiana Garbin 6-4, 6-2.
In some second-round action here on Wednesday, Benesova will take on second- seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze and 2007 Luxembourg runner-up Daniela Hantuchova will meet German Sabine Lisicki. The Slovakian Hantuchova, seeded third this week, gave way to Serbian Ana Ivanovic in last year's final here.
The 2008 Luxembourg titlist will pocket $35,000.
<< 2008-09 Milwaukee Bucks Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New head coach Scott Skiles will try and guide a
new look Milwaukee Bucks team back from a dismal 26-56 record in the
2007-08 campaign.
Few teams in the NBA experienced as much turnover as the Bucks. Skiles h
<< Chattanooga's Allison done at end of season
Chattanooga, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chattanooga head football coach Rodney
Allison will not have his contract renewed at the end of the 2008 season,
the school announced on Tuesday.
Allison, who has been with the school for six year
<< 2008-09 Miami Heat Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Talk about the penthouse to the outhouse...three
seasons ago the Miami Heat were the NBA champions. Last year they finished
with a league-worst 15-67 record.
Yet, despite that woeful record, observers on South Beach are o
<< 2008-09 Memphis Grizzlies Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Grizzlies franchise hasn't had much success since its
inception in Vancouver in 1995. But the team on the Mississippi is in the
process of rebuilding and should enjoy a bit more success this season.
The team moved from
2008-09 New York Knicks Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel for the
New York Knicks, as Isiah Thomas' reign as head coach finally came to an end
after two tumultuous seasons.
Following a miserable 23-59 campaign, Thomas was relieved
2008-09 Oklahoma City Thunder Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the NBA's board of governors overwhelmingly voted
to approve the move of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City for the
2008-09 in April, the Thunder were born.
Reigning Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant and Jeff Gr
Petrova, Bartoli win Linz openers >>
Linz, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seeds Nadia Petrova of Russia and Marion
Bartoli of France were a pair of opening-round winners Tuesday at the
$600,000 Generali Ladies Linz tennis event.
The fifth-seeded Petrova came fro
2008-09 Orlando Magic Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orlando has become one of the top
teams in the Eastern Conference behind franchise player Dwight Howard and a
solid supporting cast that features the silky smooth Rashard Lewis and sharp-
shooter Hedo
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 sportsbook 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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