Nets sign Farmar, Outlaw and Petro
Basketball Betting Lines
07/14/2010 -
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have signed
guard Jordan Farmar, forward Travis Outlaw and center Johan Petro.
According to team policy, no terms of the deals were announced.
Farmar was a member of the Lakers' back-to-back NBA championship teams the
past two seasons as a valuable contributor off the bench.
In 82 regular-season games last season, Farmar averaged 7.2 points, 1.6
rebounds and 1.5 assists over 18 minutes per contest. The 23-year-old shot
37.6 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 86 three-pointers.
Farmar added 4.6 points per game and 20 total threes during LA's 23-game march
to its second straight title. The UCLA product has career per game averages of
6.9 points, 2.1 assists and 1.8 boards while shooting 35.9 percent on threes
over his four-year pro tenure. He's made two starts in 301 career games.
The Newark Star-Ledger has reported that Farmar's deal is for three years and
$12 million.
The 25-year-old Outlaw was taken with the 23rd overall pick in the 2003 draft
by Portland and played six-plus seasons with the Trail Blazers before getting
dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers in February.
In 34 games -- six starts -- with both teams in 2009-10, Outlaw combined to
average 9.1 points and 3.6 rebounds.
For his career, he has appeared in 400 contests, starting 32, and has averaged
9.5 points and 3.4 rebounds.
The 7-foot Petro is a five year NBA veteran with career averages of 5.1 points
and 4.2 rebounds in 306 games with Seattle/Oklahoma City and Denver. Last
season, he posted averages of 3.4 points and 3.6 rebounds for the Nuggets.
The Star-Ledger reports Petro's deal is for three years and worth $10 million.
<< Jermaine O'Neal officially headed to Boston
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics have signed center/forward
Jermaine O'Neal.
As per team policy, no terms of the deal were announced.
However, according to a report in last week's Boston Globe, O'Neal agreed to
the mi
<< Sixers sign top pick Turner
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers have signed guard
Evan Turner, the second overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft.
No terms of the deal were released.
As a junior last season, Turner scored 20.4 points per g
<< Caps bring in Willsie
Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals signed right wing
Brian Willsie to a one-year contract on Wednesday. Financial terms of the deal
were not disclosed.
Willsie, 32, appeared in just four games with Colorado last sea
<< Schiavone will skip Slovenian event
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open champion Francesca Schiavone
will miss next week's WTA Tour event in Slovenia, citing a left wrist injury.
The world No. 8 was slated to be the second seed at the $220,000 Slovenia
Open.
<< Pennetta eases into Palermo quarters
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion and top seed Flavia
Pennetta of Italy was an easy second-round winner Wednesday at the $220,000
Palermo International tennis tournament.
Pennetta handled Czech Renata Voracova 6-
Fisher officially returns to Lakers >>
El Segundo, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed free
agent guard Derek Fisher, the club announced Wednesday.
Per team policy, no details of the deal were released. However, according to a
report in Monday's Los An
Soderling, Ferrer land in Bastad quarters >>
Bastad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending champion Robin
Soderling of the host nation and former champ David Ferrer posted second-round
victories Wednesday at the Swedish Open.
The reigning two-time French Open runne
Turkoglu headed to Phoenix for Barbosa, Jones >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors have traded forward Hedo
Turkoglu to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for guard Leandro Barbosa and
forward/center Dwayne Jones.
Turkoglu signed a long-term contract with Toronto last season as
Titans agree to terms with Curran, Ryan >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms
on contracts with linebacker Rennie Curran and free agent tight end Sean Ryan.
Curran was the team's second third-round selection, 97th overall, in the 2010
NFL
Oilers bring back Jacques >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers have agreed to terms
with left-winger J.F. Jacques on a one-year contract.
Jacques tallied four goals and seven assists in 49 games, all career-bests,
last season before a back inj
NFL Football Betting Online
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “
What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?
There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).
Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
How the Opening Line Is Made
The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.
Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.
A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)
The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.
For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."
“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
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