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Blue Devils host Demon Deacons in ACC actionNCAA Basketball Betting Lines01/17/2010 - Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eighth-ranked Duke Blue Devils go for their 13th straight home win tonight, as they host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in ACC play at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils have won 12 straight and 42 of their last 44 games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, including a 79-59 trouncing of Boston College on Wednesday. It was a nice bounce back for Duke, which was coming off a 71-67 loss at Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils are now 14-2 overall, as they have won eight of their past nine outings. As for the Demon Deacons, three of their last four games have gone to overtime, including an 85-83 nipping of Maryland on Tuesday. Wake won all three of those overtime games and it has won eight of nine games overall. Now at 12-3 overall, the Demon Deacons return to the road, where they have gone a respectable 4-2 thus far. With regard to the all-time series, Duke holds a 156-77 advantage over Wake Forest and the Blue Devils have won the last 11 meetings at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Ishmael Smith's floater with 20 seconds left in overtime gave Wake an 85-83 lead and the Deacons would survive a pair of late three-point attempts by Maryland for the victory on Tuesday. Smith finished the game with 16 points and eight assists, while Al-Farouq Aminu notched a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. It was the 10th double-double of the campaign for Aminu, who tops the roster in scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (11.7 rpg) on the season. Smith adds 13.0 ppg and he has been in charge of setting up Aminu and company, dishing out a team-high 6.0 apg. C.J. Harris chips in with 12.1 ppg for Wake, which is netting 77.3 ppg and outrebounding foes by 6.9 rpg. Duke open the second half with a 16-2 run, as it ran away from Boston College for a 79-59 win on Wednesday. The Blue Devils, who led just 38-35 at the half, converted 22-of-27 free-throw attempts and dominated the boards, 40-27. Nolan Smith led the way with 24 points and three steals, while Kyle Singler registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jon Scheyer tacked on 12 points and four assists and he continues to lead the team in both departments for the season, averaging 19.6 ppg and 6.0 apg. Smith is another scoring threat at 18.2 ppg, and Singler adds 15.4 ppg and a team-best 7.3 rpg to the mix. As a team, Duke is scoring a hardy 84.3 ppg, while outrebounding opponents by 7.3 rpg.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Red Wings have won eight straight Central Division titles, but the Blackhawks are doing their best to make sure that run comes to an end. Chicago will try to extend its scoreless streak over Detroit this afternoon at
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Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently 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. MySportsbook.com is the Internet’s largest online sportsbook site serving customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. Founded in 1997, MySportsbook.com was the first sports book to introduce reduced margin wagering, using a -105 pricing model that gives bettors up to 50% better value on wagers than traditional bookmakers. With low minimum bet requirements and the highest maximum limits on the Web, MySportsbook.com has earned an industry leading reputation for providing consistent value to the player, professional customer service and the quickest payouts online. Fully licensed and regulated in Antigua and the UK, the company offers a secure environment for sports betting, horse racing and online casino games. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts credit cards needs. |
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