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03/16/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Mueller continued his hot play for his new team, tallying two goals and an assist to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Blues.
Mueller has tallied at least a point in each of his seven games with the Avs after being acquired from Phoenix and eight straight overall as Colorado swept the four-game season series with St. Louis. Paul Stastny also has an eight-game point streak after he had a goal and two assists, and Chris Stewart added a goal and an assist in the win.
Milan Hejduk contributed with a goal, while Peter Budaj made 36 saves in Colorado's third straight win.
Alexander Steen, Patrik Berglund and David Perron scored for the Blues, who have lost two straight and were coming off a 4-2-0 road trip. Erik Johnson registered two assists, and Chris Mason stopped only 21-of-26 shots in defeat.
Steen scored just eight seconds into the game, tying a St. Louis franchise record. Barret Jackson raced down the left side of the ice and flicked the puck toward the net. Steen was there to slam home the rebound.
Mueller was able to equalize the game with a power play goal at the 14:19 mark, and Hejduk gave Colorado its first lead with his 19th goal of the season three minutes later.
The Blues struck quickly in the second period, as well, as Berglund took a feed out in front and sent it into an open net for a power play tally 34 seconds into the frame.
Like St. Louis' first goal, the Avs responded with two. Stastny put the visitors ahead with a wrister at the 7:14 mark, and Mueller scored again 89 seconds later for a 4-2 advantage.
Perron brought the Blues to within 4-3 with 8:54 remaining in the middle frame, but scoring cooled down from there. Budaj made a total of 14 saves in the second period, then stopped all 14 in the third to preserve the victory.
Stewart's snap shot after a nifty backhand-to-forehand move with 2:46 left in the third extended the Colorado lead to two and essentially sealed the win.
Game Notes
The Blues, who are 20-11-4 on the road, are just 12-17-5 at home...Colorado is 18-13-4 on the road...The Avs were without Cody McLeod and Stephane Yelle, both of whom sat out with leg injuries...The Blues sit seven points behind Detroit for the final playoff spot in the West...Mason has given up 18 goals in four games against Colorado this season.
<< Predators edge Flyers in shootout
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Erat's goal in the shootout lifted the
Nashville Predators to a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at
Bridgestone Arena.
Erat also scored in regulation along with Steve Sullivan and J
<< James' triple-double helps Cavs down Pistons
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mo Williams backed LeBron James' 28th
career triple-double with 20 points, as Cleveland turned it on in the fourth
quarter to post a 113-101 victory over Detroit.
James ended with 29 points, 12 a
<< Red-hot Spurs notch road win over Heat
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manu Ginobili scored 22 points to lead the Spurs
in an 88-76 road win over the Heat.
George Hill added 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Richard Jefferson had 15
points and eight rebounds for San Antonio, w
<< Slater's third-period tally lifts Atlanta over Buffalo
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Slater scored with 6:44 to play to give the
Atlanta Thrashers a much-needed 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Philips
Arena.
It was a desperately needed two points for Atlanta as the team snapped an il
Arkansas-Pine Bluff routs Winthrop in NCAA opener >>
Dayton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Allen Smith scored a team-high 14 points and
grabbed six rebounds, leading Arkansas-Pine Bluff to a convincing 61-44 win
over Winthrop in the opening-round contest of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The win ea
Wozniacki, Dementieva, Jankovic reach Indian Wells QFs >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark,
fourth-seeded Russian star Elena Dementieva and No. 6 seed Jelena Jankovic of
Serbia were each victorious in fourth-round play Tuesday at the $4.5 million
BNP Par
Stars crush Sharks in Dallas >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow each scored a
pair of goals, as the Dallas Stars demolished the Western Conference-leading
San Jose Sharks, 8-2, at American Airlines Center.
Brad Richards had a goal and tw
Anthony, Nuggets hand Wizards ninth straight defeat >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and grabbed 12
rebounds, as the Denver Nuggets battled back to upend the Washington Wizards,
97-87, at the Pepsi Center.
J.R. Smith added 17 points off the bench and Nene
Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards
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.
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