Again without Ovechkin, Capitals visit Hurricanes

Hockey Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals hardly seemed to miss Alex Ovechkin on Tuesday night and the Southeast Division champs will shoot for another win this evening without the Russian superstar.

Ovechkin will complete a two-game suspension tonight while his Capitals visit the Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center.

Despite Ovechkin's absence from Tuesday's contest at Florida, the Capitals slammed the host Panthers by a 7-3 score. Brooks Laich led the way for Washington with two goals and an assist.

Ovechkin is serving a two-game suspension for shoving Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell into the boards from behind in Sunday's 4-3 overtime win.

Campbell is out for 7-to-8 weeks with a fracture to his clavicle and ribs as Ovechkin, who was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for the hit, was suspended for the second time this season.

"We tried harder because the game's No. 1 player wasn't there," Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said of his team's response to Ovechkin's absence. "When he's not there, we don't rely on big brother."

Brendan Morrison had a goal and two assists while Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin each added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won two of their last three.

Jose Theodore stopped 34 shots in the win for Washington, which sealed up its third straight division title last week and holds a commanding 16-point lead over New Jersey and Pittsburgh for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Tonight marks the third stop on a four-game road trip for the Caps, who are 21-10-5 as the guest this year. Washington will complete the swing Saturday with Ovechkin in tow against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Hurricanes made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals last spring, but it appears they will miss the playoffs for the third time in four seasons this year. Carolina is 14th in the East and 10 points behind Boston for the eighth and final postseason berth.

Carolina has lost two straight and three of its last four games and was slammed Tuesday by visiting Boston. Mark Recchi was one of three Bruins to record a goal and an assist, leading Boston to the 5-2 win at RBC Center.

Eric Cole scored both goals for the Hurricanes, while Manny Legace allowed all five goals on 37 shots in the loss.

"I was awful. I have to make some saves," Legace said. "It's as simple as that. There's no one else to blame but me."

The Hurricanes are 18-14-3 as the host this year and are completing a four-game homestand tonight.

Washington has won three of four meetings with the Hurricanes this year and the Caps have a superb 16-3-0 record against the Southeast Division as a whole this year.

The Capitals have taken eight of 12 overall in the series, but have dropped seven out of 10 in Raleigh.

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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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.