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Bautista homers again as Jays hammer RaysBaseball Betting Lines08/31/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista's 43rd home run of the season highlighted a 10-run sixth inning as Toronto hammered the Rays, 13-5, at Tropicana Field. Bautista leads the league in homers with his three-run blast giving him 102 RBI on the year, becoming the second player in the majors to reach the century mark. He later added an RBI single for a four-RBI night, but still trails the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera in the category. Aaron Hill had a two-run homer, John McDonald hit a solo home run and DeWayne Wise ended with three hits, knocked in two and scored twice in the rout that snapped a two-game skid and evened the three-game series at a game apiece. Meanwhile, Toronto starter Ricky Romero (11-8) pitched a three-hitter, leaving after 7 1/3 innings having allowed five runs -- four earned -- and five walks with as many strikeouts. Tampa Bay faltered a night after taking the series opener, 6-2, and saw the Yankees grab sole possession of first place in the AL East by a game with their 9-3 rout of Oakland on Tuesday. The Rays still lead Boston in the wild card standings by a healthy seven games. The hosts' undoing came by way of starter Jeff Niemann (10-5), who was roughed up for seven hits and seven runs in five-plus innings. He pitched to six batters in the fateful sixth frame without recording an out before Lance Cormier came on to allow four runs. After McDonald's home run in the third, Tampa Bay actually took the lead on a Ben Zobrist RBI single and Dan Johnson's two-run double in the fifth. It was all Toronto from there, starting with the marathon 10-run sixth as fourteen batters in all came to the plate. The barrage of runs started with Wise's base hit to center to score Fred Lewis. Vernon Wells doubled home two to begin a string of three consecutive two- baggers with Adam Lind and John Buck following suit to make it a 5-1 game and chase Niemann from the mound. Hill greeted Cormier with a two-run shot to left and Bautista later slugged his three-run blast out over the same wall for a commanding 11-3 lead. It was a 10-run game in the eighth as Wise scored a run with a groundout and Bautista added a run-scoring hit off Andy Sonnanstine. Reid Brignac chased home two runs with a single in the home eighth, but it was too little too late for the Rays. Game Notes Bautista also scored two runs and walked while McDonald scored three runs and was 2-for-4 with a walk...The Blue Jays accounted for 15 hits and went 7- for-12 with runners in scoring position...Romero has won four of his last five decisions...Niemann was coming off the worst performance of his career, having been battered for 10 runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings against Anaheim last Wednesday...The Rays had won three straight and seven of nine overall coming in.
<< Walker, Tabata help Pirates rout Cubs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Neil Walker finished 4-for-5 with a two-run homer and four RBI while Jose Tabata contributed three hits, two RBI and three runs scored, as the Pittsburgh Pirates scored early and often in a 14-7 drubbin
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Nadal wins in straight sets in New York >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal was a straight-set winner over Teymuraz Gabashvili in the opening round of the U.S. Open, while former runner-up Novak Djokovic and surging American Mardy Fish we
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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. |
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