09/27/2008 - Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Harvick won the pole for Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 Nationwide Series race at the Kansas Speedway. The No.33 Chevrolet driver circled the 1.5-mile oval in 31.354 seconds (172.227 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Harvick's first pole of the season and the 17th of his Nationwide career.
Starting alongside Harvick will be fellow Sprint Cup regular Mark Martin, who posted the second fastest qualifying time of 31.433.
David Stremme (31.472) and defending series champion Carl Edwards (31.499) will start on the second row.
Other notable drivers and their starting positions include: Clint Bowyer (17th), Kyle Busch (18th) and Brad Keselowski (28th).
The battle for the series championship between Bowyer and Edwards continues at Kansas.
Edwards' fifth-place finish coupled with a 10th-place run for Bowyer last Saturday at Dover allowed Edwards to move within 186 points of Bowyer with six races remaining in the season.
Bowyer has yet to win a Nationwide race at Kansas but has finished fourth and fifth in the last two races there.
Edwards hopes his track record will improve at Kansas, where he has scored just one top-10 finish in three races there. He finished sixth at Kansas in 2006 but has finished 27th and 38th in his two other races there.
Keselowski, currently 248 points behind Bowyer, has finished 26th and 36th in his first two races at Kansas.
Busch is the defending race winner. He won at Dover after leading 157 of 207 laps.
The green flag is scheduled to drop around 3:30 p.m. (et).
<< Bayern stumbles again; Bremen wins a thriller
Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champions Bayern Munich
suffered a second straight defeat on Saturday as Szabolcs Huszti scored in the
23rd minute to give Hannover a 1-0 win.
Werder Bremen, which beat Bayern last w
<< Jankovic, Kuznetsova to meet in Beijing final
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Serbian Jelena
Jankovic and fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova both posted semifinal
victories Saturday at the $600,000 China Open.
Jankovic, who was last year's Bei
<< AL East-champion Rays continue set at Detroit
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With their first AL East title in team history secured, the
Tampa Bay Rays continue to tune up for the postseason with the third of four
games against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
Even though Tampa lost on Frid
<< Dodgers send Maddux to hill against Giants
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Maddux will shoot for another milestone in his Hall of
Fame career when he leads the NL West-champion Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in
the second test of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at
AT&
Three tied at fog-delayed British Masters >>
West Midlands, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former U.S. Open champion Michael
Campbell was four-under through 15 holes Saturday and is one of three players
tied for the lead when the third round of the British Masters suspended due to
darknes
Racing world mourns the death of Paul Newman >>
Westport, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Legendary actor, entrepreneur philanthropist
and racer Paul Newman died Friday night at his home in Westport, CT after a
long battle with cancer. He was 83.
Mostly known for his roles in such American fil
Pryor and Buckeyes handle Gophers >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Terrelle Pryor threw for one touchdown and ran
for two others, as 14th-ranked Ohio State toppled Minnesota, 34-21, in the Big
Ten opener for both teams at Ohio Stadium.
Pryor finished with 97 yards rushing
Golden State signs C Williams >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors signed center Justin
Williams on Saturday.
Williams, 24, has played in 49 games over the past two seasons with the Kings
and Rockets averaging 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds over 9.3
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.
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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