Ducks welcome rival Sharks to Honda Center
Hockey Betting Lines
04/04/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try for their fourth consecutive victory tonight, when they welcome the rival San Jose Sharks to the Honda Center.
The Ducks, Sharks and Dallas Stars have already clinched a playoff berth, but are still battling for the Pacific Division crown. Anaheim leads the division with 106 points and Dallas and San Jose are each four points back. All three teams have three games left in the regular season, but the Stars are idle tonight.
The Ducks, who have already set club records this year for points and wins, are trying for their first division title.
Anaheim's latest win came in dramatic fashion Saturday in St. Louis. Andy McDonald scored twice, including the game-winner 25 seconds into overtime, and the Ducks notched the 3-2 triumph over the Blues.
Scott Niedermayer also had a goal and assist and Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 20 shots for the Ducks, including stoning the Blues on two breakaways late in regulation to give his team a chance to win it in overtime.
The Ducks are also still in the mix for the top seed in the Western Conference and the Presidents' Trophy. Anaheim trails idle Detroit by four points for both and will use its game in hand over the Red Wings tonight.
Tonight is the final regular season game at home for the Ducks, who are an excellent 26-6-8 as the host team this year. Anaheim will close out its campaign with stops in Dallas and Columbus.
The Sharks have also won three straight tilts and are coming off Sunday's decisive victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Cheechoo recorded his third hat trick of the season as San Jose routed LA, 6-2, at HP Pavilion.
Joe Thornton added four assists and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 18 shots for the Sharks, who have also won five of their last six contests.
The Sharks, who are a solid 25-14-1 as the visiting team this year, are playing their final road test of the regular season tonight. San Jose still has home tests left against Calgary and Vancouver.
The Ducks have won two straight over the Sharks, and four of their last five to lead the season series 5-2-0. Anaheim has won nine of the last 14 meetings overall, while San Jose has lost three of its last four in Anaheim.
Dustin Penner (six goals, two assists) Chris Pronger (two goals, five assists) and Ryan Getzlaf (thee goals, four assists) lead the Ducks in scoring against the Sharks this season, while Teemu Selanne has collected 31 goals and 26 assists for 57 points in 42 games played against the Sharks as a member of the Ducks.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Rams were extremely active in free agency, signing arguably the top wide receiver on the market (Drew Bennett), a very good tight end (Randy McMichael), serviceable linebacker (Chris Draft), two players with potential to
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seahawks surrendered their first-round draft pick to
New England when they obtained Deion Branch via trade last September, and
expecting the team to add a potential starter at the No. 55 spot is probably a
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<< Pirates target sweep in Houston
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control in the NL Central when they go for a series sweep of the Houston
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The career coaching record of Eddie Robinson of Grambling.Yr W L T Pct1941 3 5 0 .3751942 8 0 0 1.0001945 10 2 0 .8331946 7 5 0 .5831947 10 2 0 .8331948 8 2 0 .8001949 7 3 2 .6671950 5 3 1 .611195
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Chicago Bears 2007 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Bears front seven was pushed around a fair amount in
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Falcons have multiple needs on defense, and with the
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Ahman Green now a Houston Texan, the Packers have a
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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.