Cubs win another on the road
Baseball Betting Lines
06/04/2008 -
Chicago has built the best record in the majors mostly by winning at Wrigley Field.
After taking the first two games in San Diego, the Cubs are showing they can win on the road, too.
Alfonso Soriano hit a three-run homer and Mark DeRosa added a two-run shot to lead the Cubs to a 9-6 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, their ninth straight victory.
``We are finding ways to win,'' DeRosa said. ``We have guys who are swinging hot bats. We never feel like we're ever out of the game.''
The Cubs' streak is their best since winning 12 straight games from May 19-June 2, 2001. By taking the first two games of the three-game set, Chicago won a road series for the first time since sweeping three games at Pittsburgh April 7-10. The Cubs had failed to win in seven road series since.
``Right now, it's fun to play with the way things have been going for us,'' Reed Johnson said. ``We are playing with a lot of confidence and it shows.''
The Cubs have their best record after 59 games since the 1977 team was 39-20.
In other NL games, it was: Milwaukee 7, Arizona 1; Atlanta 5, Florida 4; Philadelphia 3, Cincinnati 2; Houston 2, Pittsburgh 0; Colorado 3, Los Angeles 0; New York 9, San Francisco 6; and St. Louis 6, Washington 1.
Jason Marquis (3-3) won for just the second time in eight starts, although he didn't get past the sixth inning for the seventh straight time. Kerry Wood pitched the ninth for his 16th save.
Corey allowed three runs on four hits in 1 1-3 innings.
Adrian Gonzalez, the NL leader in RBIs with 55, drove in a run for the Padres, who lost their third straight.
``The biggest thing about that lineup is that they really forced us to come to them,'' Padres catcher Michael Barrett said. ``You don't see them making too many quick outs.''Brewers 7, Diamondbacks 1
At Milwaukee, Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer to ruin a memorable night for Arizona's Randy Johnson.
Johnson (4-2) broke a tie with Roger Clemens to take sole possession of second place on baseball's career strikeout list in the first inning when he fanned Mike Cameron. That gave the Big Unit 4,673 strikeouts, still far behind Nolan Ryan's 5,714.
Johnson struck out eight in five innings.
Brewers starter Seth McClung (3-2) gave up a run and six hits over six innings in his third start of the season.Braves 5, Marlins 4
At Atlanta, Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer and Greg Norton came through with a two-run double in the eighth inning that gave the Atlanta another come-from-behind victory.
The Braves actually won a one-run game, improving their mark in those contests to 3-16, despite two more homers by Florida's slugging second baseman, Dan Uggla.
Will Ohman (3-0) won for the second night in a row with a scoreless inning. Rafael Soriano worked the ninth for his second save.
Matt Lindstrom (1-1) took the loss.Phillies 3, Reds 2
At Philadelphia, Pat Burrell hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, Adam Eaton pitched 6 2-3 impressive innings and the Phillies beat the Reds.
Ken Griffey Jr. walked as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning to remain one shy of 600 home runs. Griffey wasn't in the Reds' lineup for the second straight game because of general soreness. He's been bothered by a sore left knee, though he could return Wednesday.
Edwin Encarnacion hit a solo homer and tripled for two of Cincinnati's four hits.
Eaton (2-3) allowed one run and three hits, outpitching Aaron Harang (2-8). Brad Lidge finished for his 15th save.Astros 2, Pirates 0
At Pittsburgh, Lance Berkman and Miguel Tejada doubled in runs, Wandy Rodriguez pitched six shutout innings in his second start after coming off the disabled list, and Houston ended a five-game losing streak.
Chris Sampson, Doug Brocail and Jose Valverde finished up the five-hitter with an inning each, with Valverde getting his 16th save. Kaz Matsui went 4-for-4 with a sacrifice and scored both Astros runs.
Rodriguez (2-1) was out for five weeks with a strained left groin before returning to lose to St. Louis 6-1 last Wednesday.
Pirates left-hander Phil Dumatrait (2-3) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings.Rockies 3, Dodgers 0
At Los Angeles, Jeff Francis outpitched longtime Rockies nemesis Brad Penny and Colorado snapped an eight-game losing streak, beating the Dodgers in a game that was punctuated by a bench-clearing brawl.
Francis (2-5) gave up four hits in seven innings. Penny (5-7) lost his fifth consecutive decision over six starts.Mets 9, Giants 6
At San Francisco, Pedro Martinez came off the disabled list and got a win over the Giants, more than two months after leaving his first start of the year April 1 with a hamstring injury.
Martinez (1-0) even hit a pair of singles and drove in a run to help his cause and boost his line, which read: six innings, seven hits, three runs, three walks and three strikeouts on 109 pitches.
Barry Zito (1-9), who began the season 0-8, lost for the first time in his three career starts versus New York.Cardinals 6, Nationals 1
At Washington, The St. Louis Cardinals faced more resistance from Mother Nature than from the Washington Nationals, enduring more than 2 1/2 hours of delays before finishing off a victory.
A miscue-filled, four-run first-inning, highlighted by Yadier Molina's three-run homer, was all the Cardinals needed.
The game's two delays totaled 2 hours, 40 minutes, but Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse (6-2) returned both times to pitch the required five innings for the victory.
Odalis Perez (2-5) took the loss.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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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.
Super Bowl XLIV Odds
Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.
Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.
Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds
With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.
That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.
Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.
After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.
The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).
To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.
NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV
New England Patriots 8/1
Dallas Cowboys 9/1
New York Giants 10/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1
Indianapolis Colts 12/1
San Diego Chargers 12/1
Baltimore Ravens 14/1
Tennessee Titans 16/1
Carolina Panthers 18/1
Philadelphia Eagles 18/1
New Orleans Saints 20/1
Atlanta Falcons 25/1
Denver Broncos 25/1
Green Bay Packers 25/1
Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1
Minnesota Vikings 25/1
New York Jets 25/1
Arizona Cardinals 30/1
Chicago BearS 30/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1
Buffalo Bills 35/1
Houston TexaNS 35/1
Miami Dolphins 35/1
Washington Redskins 35/1
Seattle SeahawkS 50/1
Cleveland Browns 55/1
Cincinnati Bengals 60/1
San Francisco 49ers 60/1
Oakland Raiders 75/1
St. Louis Rams 75/1
Detroit Lions 100/1
Kansas City Chiefs 100/1
Odds as of: 2/2/09
Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds
To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.