Rays OF Upton to miss a few days

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays center fielder B.J. Upton was not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against Detroit and is expected to miss two-to-three days with a sprained left ankle.

He suffered the injury in Tuesday's game while he was trying to field a single hit by the Tigers' Will Rhymes.

Upton is batting .227 this season with eight home runs, 35 RBI and 27 stolen bases in 94 games.

Waskjeeves Baseball Betting News

<< Tribe send INF Peralta to Tigers
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers have acquired infielder Jhonny Peralta and cash considerations from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for left-handed pitcher Giovanni Soto. Peralta hit .246 with seven home runs a

<< Angels' Pineiro out 6-to-8 weeks
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Joel Pineiro will miss the next 6-to-8 weeks after straining a muscle. Pineiro suffered the injury to his left side while warming up for a start against the Boston Red Sox

<< Bills sign second-round pick Troup
Pittsford, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills have agreed to terms with rookie defensive tackle Torrell Troup. Troup was selected 41st overall out of Central Florida in April's draft. Last season, he recorded 35 tackles and two sack

<< Phillips' slam sends Reds to win over Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Phillips hit his fourth career grand slam while Joey Votto went 3-for-5 with a home run, powering the Cincinnati Reds to a 10-2 victory in the rubber match of a three-game series. Phillips, who

<< Blackhawks re-sign wingers Bickell and Skille
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks re-signed left wing Bryan Bickell to a three-year contract and right wing Jack Skille to a one- year contract on Wednesday. Bickell split the 2009-10 campaign between Chicago

Strasburg unsure if he'll make next start >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals rookie Stephen Strasburg said on Wednesday he's not sure if he'll make his scheduled start Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Strasburg was scratched from his sched

Scutaro's grand slam helps Red Sox complete sweep of Angels >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marco Scutaro's grand slam in the eighth inning helped the Boston Red Sox to a three-game sweep of the LA Angels of Anaheim with a 7-3 win in the finale. Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Beltre and Bill Hall each hi

Chargers ink Gates through 2015 season >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chargers and six-time Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates agreed to terms Wednesday on a contract that will keep him in San Diego through the 2015 season. Gates, who is one of the best at his position,

Chiefs sign second round picks >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs have signed second round draft choices Dexter McCluster and Javier Arenas. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. McCluster was the 36th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft out of

Rays' Zobrist leaves game >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist left Wednesday's game against Detroit with lower back stiffness. His availability is being listed as day-to-day. The five-year veteran, playing cen

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.

$12,000,000.00 MARCH MADNESS BRACKET CONTEST

2009 MARCH MADNESS BRACKET CONTEST

Offering $12 Million Dollars to whoever fills in the perfect March Madness Bracket. For the fifth year in a row MySportsbook.com is giving March Madness bettors a chance to never have to work another day in their lives. MySportsbook.com has been in business for 12 years and to celebrate this years March Madness they are offering $1 Million Dollars for every year they have been taking college basketball wagers along with every other sports wagering type imaginable.

The MySportsbook.com March Madness contest is simple just Sign-up for the March Madness bracket contest and come back after Selection Sunday to submit your March Madness picks. Then place $20.00 in wagers during each round of the March Madness tournament. Even if your bracket is not perfect you could potentially still win $10,000.00.

There is not an office pool on the planet that can offer this March Madness Grand Prize. Get together with your office, work as a team or keep the $12 Million and do it yourself and win the $12 Million. Also feel free to print out the Printable March Madness Brackets .

Get free 2009 March Madness Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online March Madness betting VISA Mastercard