Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
06/25/2010 - Loudon, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Pablo Montoya edged Kasey Kahne in Friday's qualifying for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 to claim his second consecutive pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Montoya, who won the pole last September at New Hampshire, turned a lap of 132.337 m.p.h. around the flat one-mile oval for his third career Sprint Cup Series pole. The 34-year-old Colombian qualified for the 2009 championship Chase, but currently sits 20th in points.
"I think the position we are in points, we definitely need to have good results," Montoya said. "We got a good race car, and right now we're running really good. Last time we were here, we ran really well, so I'm hoping for the same thing."
New Hampshire begins the 10-race stretch before the Chase begins here on September 18. In last year's fall race at New Hampshire, Montoya finished third after leading the most laps with 105. His first and only Cup victory so far came three years ago on the Sonoma, CA road course.
Montoya topped the charts in the first Cup practice earlier in the day.
"I was surprised we're on the pole," he said. "The first lap was good, but the second lap, I went for it. In [turn] three, I got really loose. I think I lost a bunch of time there, but I think I came off the corner good enough to maintain it."
Kahne qualified 0.04 seconds behind Montoya to capture the outside pole. Kahne will start on the front row for the third time since the May 16 race at Dover.
"I thought it was a pretty decent lap, and I felt really good," Kahne said.
Kurt Busch took the third spot, followed by Mark Martin, who won the most recent race at New Hampshire, and Ryan Newman.
"The car stuck well, even though the track conditions were warmer," said Busch, a three-time race winner at New Hampshire. "I knew I couldn't overdrive the car and expect anymore than what we did in practice."
David Reutimann, Joe Nemechek, Sam Hornish Jr., Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson completed the top-10.
Joey Logano, the defending race winner, qualified 11th. Logano became the youngest driver to win a Cup race when he took last year's rain-shortened event here.
Points leader Kevin Harvick will start 24th. Harvick currently holds a 140- point lead over Johnson.
Travis Kvapil and Mike Bliss failed to qualify.
Sunday's race at New Hampshire is scheduled to start just after 1:00 p.m. (et).
<< Chivas USA signs midfielder Nagamura
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA signed midfielder Paulo Nagamura, who
had eight goals and seven assists in 73 matches with the team from 2007-2009,
on Friday.
Nagamura spent the last six months playing with Mexican First Divisio
<< Tubert versus McCloskey at U.S. Women's Publinx
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emily Tubert and Lisa McCloskey both won
their semifinal matches on Friday to set up the 36-hole final of the U.S.
Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
The first 18 of the championship match
<< Bobcats make qualifying offer to Tyrus Thomas
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats have extended a
qualifying offer to forward Tyrus Thomas, making him a restricted free agent.
The move allows the Bobcats to match any offer Thomas receives from another
team.
<< NL Central: Holliday heating up in Cardinals' new-look lineup
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Holliday's insertion into the middle of the St. Louis'
Cardinals batting order last season helped result in a National League Central
title. The heavy-hitting outfielder has provided a spark once again for the
reigning d
Eagles looking into shooting outside Vick's birthday party >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles released a
statement Friday regarding a reported shooting incident that occurred outside
a Virginia Beach restaurant celebrating Michael Vick's 30th birthday.
The Virginia
Bucknell announces recruiting class >>
Lewisburg, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three quarterbacks are part of head coach Joe
Susan's first recruiting class at Bucknell.
The 29-member class includes quarterbacks Derek-London Dierkes (6-foot-3,
185 pounds) of Woodsfield, Ohio; Austin
Baylor, Rojoas named managers for Futures Game >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Don Baylor and Cookie Rojas have been
named managers for the Futures Game, which will be a part of the All-Star Game
festivities in Anaheim.
The contest will take place on Sunday, July 11 at An
White Sox down Cubs, win 10th straight game >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Quentin's three-run homer in the first
inning sent Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano into a frenzy, while Jake Peavy and
the White Sox continued to roll with a 6-0 decision to reach 10 straight wins
for the
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.
Chicago, IL - New Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and star linebacker Brian Urlacher shot down reports of a rift, saying they're simply not true.
"There's nothing between us," Cutler said Thursday, when he reported to training camp. "I just want to put that to rest. There never has been anything between us."
Urlacher added: "I never said what I was quoted as saying and that's it. I have a lot of respect for Jay. I think Jay knows that."
Former Bears receiver Bobby Wade caused a stir when he told Minneapolis radio station KFAN-AM that Urlacher used a profanity while questioning Cutler's manhood during a conversation in Las Vegas last weekend. Wade, who now plays for the Vikings, said Urlacher used a profane version of the word "wimp" during the interview that had to be edited out.
go radio station WSCR-AM also reported that Urlacher had to be restrained from confronting Cutler during organized team activities.
"I wouldn't go face-to-face with Brian, anyway," Cutler said. "No, that's never happened. I've hung out with Brian away from the facility numerous times and we've always gotten along."
Urlacher, noting he was limited by a groin injury, denied the reports in an interview with the Chicago Tribune and did it again when he reported to camp.
"I didn't practice this summer, so I don't know how I would fight the guy if I didn't practice," Urlacher said. "We have no problems. I'm excited about football starting. I'm excited to have him as our quarterback."
Why would Wade say that?
"I don't know," Urlacher said. "Maybe he's jealous because we have a good quarterback now."
Cutler said the first he heard of any friction was when he got a call from Urlacher to clear the air. Urlacher, however, said he had already taken several calls from teammates wondering if the reports were true when Cutler phoned.
"He called me and I said, What's up (expletive), what are you doing?'" a grinning Urlacher said, uttering the same word he allegedly used with Wade. "It's so dumb to me that this even got to this point, but it did and then here we are."
better place after going 9-7 and missing the playoffs for the second straight year. They have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades after acquiring Cutler in an offseason trade with Denver. But there are questions about his attitude following a fallout with Broncos management and new coach Josh McDaniels.
His critics include former Bears coach Mike Ditka and former Indianapolis and Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy, one of Smith's mentors. Smith, however, said Cutler has been a model teammate so far while denying any animosity with Urlacher.
"There's no issue with Jay and Brian, except Brian and Jay are both excited about being teammates for our club this year," coach Lovie Smith said. "No more than that. We can't spend a whole lot of time on something that isn't true. I have talked to the players. Whenever something comes out, you have to address it, but it's a non-issue."
In some ways, Cutler is getting a second chance in Chicago, an opportunity to repair his reputation.
Smith said another quarterback - Michael Vick - deserves one, although he doesn't see it happening with the Bears, who lack an experienced backup. The former Atlanta Falcons star, who served a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring, said Thursday he is getting close to signing with a pro football team.
"A second chance, like everyone in society who has paid their debt to society," Smith said. "He deserves a second chance. As far as we're concerned, we like this team that we have right now."
Particularly the new quarterback.
"Me and Brian have been on a good relationship since I've been here, and I expect it to continue that way," Cutler said.
Mysportsbook.com online online sportsbook accepts Visa & Mastercard
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting