Boston College, Wisconsin to meet NCAA men's ice hockey final

Chockey Betting Lines

04/08/2010 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Smith notched a pair of goals and one assist, as Boston College dominated Miami-Ohio, 7-1, in a Frozen Four matchup from Ford Field.

Joe Whitney added a goal and two helpers for the Eagles (28-10-3), who downed Alaska-Fairbanks and Yale to reach the semifinals for the ninth time in 12 years. BC will take on Wisconsin for the national championship on Saturday.

John Muse made 17 stops for Boston College, which advances to the NCAA title contest for the fourth time in five seasons. Saturday's contest will be a rematch of the 2006 championship contest, which the Badgers won by a 2-1 score.

Joe Hartman picked up the lone score for the RedHawks (29-8-7), who topped Alabama-Huntsville and Michigan to gain the semis.

Connor Knapp was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots over 23-plus minutes in defeat for Miami-Ohio, which was bidding to reach the title game for the second consecutive campaign. Cody Reichard finished the game allowing four scores on 21 shots.

Smith gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead on the advantage with 1:28 to play in the first period, when he redirected Whitney's slap-pass in the slot.

BC doubled its advantage at 2:06 of the second period when Jimmy Hayes was left alone in the slot to one-time a feed from Pat Mullane to convert a power- play chance.

Whitney roofed a shot from the slot at 3:08, and the Eagles led by three after two periods.

Hartman's seeing-eye shot got the RedHawks on the board at 5:19 of the third, but BC struck back for three tallies in a span of 1:35 to wrap up the game.

First, Cam Atkinson's backhander made it 4-1 at 10:10, then Patch Alber provided a four-goal bulge with 9:12 remaining, wristing his first career tally inside the left post 34 seconds later. Paul Carey finished the burst at 11:45.

Smith finished off the scoring with 3:39 remaining.

In the earlier semifinal matchup, Derek Stepan posted two goals and two assists as Wisconsin routed RIT, 8-1.

Justin Schultz and Hobey Baker Award finalist Blake Geoffrion posted a goal and one assist each for the Badgers (28-10-4), who are looking for their seventh national crown.

Tyler Brenner provided the lone goal for the Tigers (28-12-1), the Atlantic Hockey champions who knocked off perennial powers Denver and New Hampshire to reach the semifinals for the first time in school history.

Casinos--online Chockey Betting News

<< Modano plays hero amidst fan adulation as Stars clip Ducks in SO
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If this was Mike Modano's final home game in a Stars uniform, it sure was a storybook ending. Modano scored the tying goal with 1:47 left in regulation and netted the winner in the shootout as Dallas o

<< Crosby powers Pens over Isles to tie for division lead
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sidney Crosby posted a goal and three assists, as Pittsburgh recorded a spirited 7-3 victory over the New York Islanders in the final regular-season game at Mellon Arena. Crosby, the 22-year-ol

<< Bulls beat LeBron-less Cavs to help playoff chances
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joakim Noah's tip-in with 1:21 left ended up being the game-winner after a wild final minute of misses and miscues, as Chicago inched past Cleveland, 109-108, at the United Center. With LeBron James sit

<< Orioles hold off Rays to avoid sweep
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Atkins went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, and the Baltimore Orioles hung on for a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays to salvage a game in this season-opening three-game set. Nolan Reim

<< Bolts nip playoff-bound Sens in shootout
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teddy Purcell scored the lone goal in the shootout, lifting the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. Purcell was Tampa Bay's third shooter and used a forehand-to-backhand mov

Clippers-Kings, Box >>
L.A. CLIPPERS (94)Butler 3-10 0-0 6, Gooden 8-13 1-1 17, Kaman 10-16 3-3 23, Davis 4-12 1-2 11, Gordon 7-14 3-4 21, Collins 2-5 0-0 4, Jordan 3-4 0-0 6, Blake 1-5 0-0 3, Skinner 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 1-2 1-1 3, Novak 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 39-82 9-11 94.SA

Canucks-Sharks Sum >>
Vancouver 0 0 2-2San Jose 1 3 0-4First Period-1, San Jose, Pavelski 25 (Clowe, Setoguchi), 18:35.Second Period-2, San Jose, Couture 5 (Vlasic, T.Mitchell), 1:57. 3, San Jose, Thornton 20 (Heatley, Marleau), 5:16. 4, San Jose, Malhotra 14 (T.M

Cabrera drives Indians past White Sox in 11 innings >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Asdrubal Cabrera drove in the game-winning run with two outs in the 11th, and the Cleveland Indians notched a 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox in the rubber match of a season-opening three-game set.

Gonzo, Hewitt win, but Isner ousted in Houston >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seed Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt moved into the quarterfinals at the $500,000 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship, but second-seeded American John Isner was upset on Thur

Wild take SO win at Calgary >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brent Burns had the deciding goal in the shootout as Wade Dubielewicz was perfect in place of an injured Niklas Backstrom, as the Minnesota Wild took a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames. Backstrom

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.