Bucks pull away to beat Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six Bucks scored in double figures, including Carlos Delfino's season-high 25 points, as Milwaukee knocked off the Toronto Raptors, 105-99, at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.

Linas Kleiza's free throws with 7:12 remaining gave Toronto a one-point lead, but a double technical foul on Kleiza and the Bucks' Larry Sanders set off a 12-2 Milwaukee run to seal the game.

Drew Gooden had his fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and 14 rebounds in the victory. Mike Dunleavy added 18 points, Stephen Jackson had 17, Brandon Jennings scored 11 and Luc Mbah a Moute netted 10 for the Bucks.

DeMar DeRozan paced the Raptors with 25 points, including 4-of-6 three-point shooting. James Johnson contributed 15 points and Kleiza and Leandro Barbosa added 12 and 11, respectively, off the bench for Toronto, which fell to 3-7 at home this season.

Wtravelocity Basketball Betting News

<< Parker, Spurs get past 76ers
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Parker exploded for 37 points to go with eight assists as the Spurs held off the 76ers, 100-90, at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday. Gary Neal added 18 points and Tim Duncan recorded a doubl

<< Boeheim passes Dean as Syracuse edges Georgetown
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kris Joseph scored a career-high 29 points and hit the game-winning shot in overtime, as No. 2 Syracuse downed No. 12 Georgetown, 64-61, on Wednesday. The Orange (24-1, 11-1 Big East) have won four st

<< Virginia rolls over Wake Forest
Charlottesville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Scott led a balanced attack with 19 points and five rebounds as the 19th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers dominated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 68-44. Joe Harris added 11 points for the Cavaliers

<< No. 11 Michigan State hangs on vs. PSU
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Draymond Green had 23 points and 12 rebounds and No. 11 Michigan State led wire-to-wire to beat Penn State, 77-57, at Breslin Center on Wednesday. Penn State cut the Spartans' advantage, as large

<< Cavs G Irving out with a concussion
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard Kyrie Irving has been ruled out of Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers due to a concussion. He is listed as day-to-day. Irving suffered the concussion aft

Lin shines again as Knicks down Wizards >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Lin's amazing debut continued Wednesday as the undrafted point guard recorded 23 points and 10 rebounds as the New York Knicks downed the Washington Wizards, 107-93. Lin made his second car

Cavaliers hang on to down Clippers >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In his first start of the season in place of the concussed Kyrie Irving, Ramon Sessions outplayed Chris Paul, scoring 24 points to go with 13 assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers took down the Los Angeles

Howard, Anderson lead Magic over Heat >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Anderson scored 27 points, Dwight Howard added 25 and both players had double-doubles to lead the Orlando Magic to a 102-89 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday. The Magic made 17 three-pointers and

Monroe leads Pistons over Nets >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Monroe had 20 points to go with 12 rebounds and four assists as the Detroit Pistons earned their second road win of the season with a 99-92 win over the New Jersey Nets. Jonas Jerebko scored 16 points to

Hurricanes roll past Tar Heels >>
Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shenise Johnson scored 19 points and Riquna Williams netted 17 to pace No. 6 Miami-Florida as it defeated No. 22 North Carolina, 61-37, at BankUnited Center on Wednesday. The Hurricanes (21-3, 10

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.