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<< Habs get Gomez from Blueshirts
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just one day before the start of free agency, the Montreal Canadiens acquired forward Scott Gomez and two other players from the New York Rangers in exchange for forward Christopher Higgins and three defense

<< New Motherwell boss ready to make changes
Motherwell, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Gannon hopes to bring up to six new players to Fir Park after being confirmed as Mark McGhee's successor as manager of Motherwell. The 40-year-old takes on the post just two months after being axed

<< Grafite extends Wolves contract
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg's Brazilian striker Grafite has signed a new one-year contract extension with the Bundesliga champions. The 30-year-old struck up a deadly partnership with Edin Dzeko last term and new coac

<< Sol's Marta wins WPS Player of Week
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles forward Marta was selected Women's Professional Soccer Player of the Week for Week 14 on Tuesday after scoring three goals to lead the WPS-leading Sol to wins over the Saint Louis Athletica and

More Booze in Utah: All-Star forward exercises option >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Boozer announced on Tuesday he will exercise his player option and remain with the Utah Jazz for the 2009-10 campaign. Boozer missed a majority of the 2008-09 season after undergoing arthros

Blackhawks give Bolland five-year deal >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks re-signed center Dave Bolland to a five-year deal on Tuesday. Bolland, Chicago's 32nd overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, appeared in 81 of the Blackhawks' 82 games last season,

Lions acquire WR Northcutt from Jags >>
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions acquired wide receiver Dennis Northcutt from the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for safety Gerald Alexander on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Northcutt, who spent the last two seasons

Bruins buy out Schaefer >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins announced Tuesday that they have bought out the final year of forward Peter Schaefer's contract. Schaefer, 31, did not see the ice in Boston last season, spending the entire campaign in Pr

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.