12/03/2008 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlie Villanueva scored 23 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks in a 97-90 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Richard Jefferson added 21 points for the Bucks, who snapped a season-long four-game skid. Luke Ridnour chipped in 12 points and 10 assists in the win. Dan Gadzuric logged 11 points and 14 boards.
Ben Gordon scored 22 points and Luol Deng 21 for the Bulls, who have dropped three of their last four games. Derrick Rose ended with 18 points, nine helpers and four steals.
Jefferson, Luc Mbah a Moute and Villanueva all drained buckets to open the fourth quarter to give the Bucks an 82-72 lead with 9:15 left.
Rose interjected with a three-point play, but Villanueva rattled off seven straight points to make it 89-75 just prior to the midway point of the fourth.
"We fought our way back but if there was a big play or a big basket it wasn't from us," said Deng.
Rose's two free throws capped an 11-2 Bulls run that brought the visitors within 93-88 with 1:56 showing on the clock, but the Bulls were unable to get any closer than five points down the stretch.
The Bulls led 20-19 after the first quarter but fell behind, 54-42, at the intermission.
Down by 15 midway through the third stanza, the Bulls used a 14-2 run to get back into the contest. Deng's three-pointer sparked the run and Gordon scored the rest of the points to make it 71-68 with just under two minutes left in the frame.
"Obviously we had a very good first half," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. "We came out in the third and we were a little flat again, especially on the defensive end."
Chicago trailed 76-72 heading into the final 12 minutes.
Game Notes
Gadzuric had three blocks (373) to pass Paul Pressey (372) for eighth place on Milwaukee's all-time list...Gordon scored the final 15 points of the third quarter for Chicago...The Bucks are .500 (4-4) at home this year...The Bulls had dominated the Bucks recently, winning four straight and eight of the last nine meetings coming in.
<< No. 15 Wake Forest routs Indiana
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Johnson scored 21 points and
grabbed five rebounds, leading the 15th-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons to an
83-58 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Johnson shot
<< Smith returns for Hawks
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, who had
missed the previous 12 games due to a high left ankle sprain, returned to
action by starting Wednesday's 105-95 win against Memphis.
Smith played just 11 min
<< Backstrom, power play fuel Wild win over Blues
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a career-worst performance in his
last outing, Niklas Backstrom turned aside all 22 shots he faced to record his
third shutout of the season, as the Minnesota Wild blanked the St. Louis
Blues,
<< Okafor lifts Bobcats to rare win streak, Thunder fall again
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emeka Okafor had a season-high 25 points to
go with 13 rebounds to lead Charlotte to a 103-97 win over the Oklahoma City
Thunder.
Gerald Wallace added 21 points and Jason Richardson posted 18 points, mo
Hansbrough leads No. 1 UNC in rout of Michigan State >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Hansbrough scored 25 points and pulled
down 11 rebounds to pace top-ranked North Carolina to a 98-63 blowout of No.
13 Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
By the way the Tar Heels (8-0) are
BC Lions release Clermont >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The British Columbia Lions released slotback
Jason Clermont Wednesday night.
A first-round draft pick by the Lions in 2002, Clermont has 428 career catches
for 5,917 yards, placing him sixth on the club'
Cards pick up Greene from Padres >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have reportedly
acquired shortstop Khalil Greene from the San Diego Padres.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that two minor league relievers will be
heading the other way i
Spurs battle Nuggets at Pepsi Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs arrive in the Rocky Mountains
Thursday to take on the streaking Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.
The Spurs dropped their second straight game on Tuesday in San Antonio when
Detroit's Al
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.
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