Devils take on Habs in Jersey
Hockey Betting Lines
02/02/2012 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Devils opened up their second half by picking up a big
two points over one of the top teams in the conference. The Canadiens,
meanwhile, failed to build off their win against the top team in the NHL right
before the All-Star break.
New Jersey looks to wrap a lengthy homestand this evening and deny Montreal a
fifth straight victory in the Garden State.
The Devils began a six-game residency with a win over Winnipeg back on Jan.
17, but dropped the next tests of the stay, including a shootout loss to
Buffalo on Jan. 24. After the extended break, New Jersey hosted the Eastern
Conference-leading New York Rangers on Tuesday and battled back all night for
a 4-3 shootout win.
The Devils erased three one-goal deficits in the game and then picked up the
extra point when Ilya Kovalchuk scored the lone goal of the shootout in the
first round. Martin Brodeur, who made 23 saves through overtime, came up with
stops on Derek Stepan, Brad Richards and All-Star Game MVP Marian Gaborik.
"It was an emotional win. We've had our share of issues against the Rangers so
to come back the way we (did was great)," said Brodeur after New Jersey moved
to 9-2 in shootouts this year.
David Clarkson tied the game on a goal with 48 ticks left in regulation, while
Kovalchuk and Zach Parise also scored in the game.
New Jersey sits eighth overall in the Eastern Conference, 12 points behind the
Rangers.
"It's a big one for sure," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said of the win over New
York. "We're at a time when obviously they're all big, but we really needed a
win against obviously a really good team, the best in our conference right
now. During a critical homestand here, it's a big two points."
DeBoer would love to see his team end the homestand with two straight wins,
but he must find a way to solve the Canadiens. Though the Devils have won 10
of the past 14 encounters overall, the Habs have come out on top in each of
their last four visits to New Jersey by a 13-4 margin. That includes a 2-1 win
on Dec. 10 in which Montreal netminder Carey Price denied Parise on a penalty
shot in the game's final minute.
Price was in solid form again on Tuesday, but didn't get enough offensive
support in a 3-1 loss against the visiting Sabres. Price ended with 37 saves
on 39 shots faced as Montreal failed to secure a third straight win and
instead lost for the 13th time in 19 contests.
"That's a shame because he played great," said defenseman Hal Gill of Price.
"He tried to steal one for us and we didn't let it happen."
Max Pacioretty scored at the 4:09 mark of the first period, but the next three
goals came off the sticks of Buffalo players.
"I think at the end of the first, we lost a little momentum. They came hard
and we didn't do the things that we need to do," said Gill. "We turned it over
in the neutral zone, we gave them too many chances outside, we didn't attack
them enough."
Montreal had knocked off NHL-leading Detroit by a 7-2 margin in its last game
before the break and will seek to avoid its eight loss in its last 10 road
games.
<< Bulls resume long trek in MSG against Knicks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have been struggling with consistency
lately and look to gain a measure of balance tonight in a showdown with the
New York Knicks from Madison Square Garden.
The Bulls, who are in the midst of a nine-game
<< Jazz and Warriors meet in the Bay Area
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golden State hopes to wrap up a six-game homestand in
winning fashion tonight when it plays host to a Utah Jazz team aiming to
bounce back from a tough loss.
After losing the first two games of their current residency, the
<< Furman to visit Clemson, host five games in 2012
Greenville, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A visit to Clemson and a Homecoming game
against Georgia Southern highlight the 2012 Furman football schedule announced
on Thursday.
Furman will play at Clemson on Sept. 15. The Paladins are Clemson's oldest
<< Bruins try to solve visiting Hurricanes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Try as they may, the Boston Bruins haven't been able to
solve the Carolina Hurricanes this season. They'll get one more chance tonight
as the two teams clash in Boston.
The Bruins and Hurricanes sit at opposite ends of the
<< Improved Clippers aim for another win over Nuggets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers seem to grow more imposing by the
day and will aim get the best of Denver for the second time in less than a
week when the two teams square off at Staples Center.
The Pacific Division-leading Clips
Red-hot Preds visit Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Nashville Predators should feel pretty good
about their matchup tonight with the Philadelphia Flyers, especially if the
game goes into a shootout.
The Predators aim to win six straight for the first time this
St. Louis, Bolts try to stay hot vs. Jets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Martin St. Louis heating up to serve as a scoring
compliment to Steven Stamkos, the Lightning seem poised to make a run at a
playoff spot.
Tampa Bay continues that quest tonight and looks to reestablish its dominance
Western Conference powerhouses collide in Vancouver >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two seeds in the Western Conference will collide
tonight in British Columbia, as the Vancouver Canucks welcome the Detroit Red
Wings for a battle at Rogers Arena.
The Red Wings are tied with the New York Rangers fo
Baffert holds the aces in Robert B. Lewis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not only does Bob Baffert have the favorite in this
Saturday's Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita, but the silver-haired trainer also
has what could be the future Kentucky Derby champion entered in the Grade II
event.
Spurs entertain Hornets in Alamo City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will resume a three-game homestand
tonight versus the New Orleans Hornets at the AT&T Center.
The Spurs have been nearly unstoppable at home and have opened 11-1 in the
Alamo City for the sixth ti
What Is the Point Spread?
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
How to Read Point Spreads
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
read more
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