Wolf Pack host Bulldogs in Reno

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/25/2007 - Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack try to bounce back from their first Western Athletic Conference loss of the season as they hit the floor of the Lawlor Events Center in Reno tonight versus the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

Nevada, which opened the 2006-07 campaign with seven straight wins before being halted by in-state rival UNLV, had won 10 games in a row prior to the meeting with a resurgent New Mexico State program on Saturday. The clash in Las Cruces resulted in an 80-73 win for the home team and also locked both NMSU and Nevada in a first-place tie in the WAC standings at 5-1.

Just below the pair is Louisiana Tech with a mark of 4-2 in conference, despite winning just two of 12 non-league outings early on. The Bulldogs managed to post their second set of back-to-back wins this month on Saturday when they slipped by Idaho on the road by a score of 73-72. Three nights earlier, Tech had to go to overtime to stun New Mexico State by a basket, 73-71.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Pack are now ahead by a count of 8-3 after dropping three of the first four meetings with LaTech. Nevada has now run off seven straight victories in the relationship thanks to a narrow 50-49 decision in Reno a season ago.

Ahead by as many as seven points with under two and a half minutes to play, the Bulldogs had to hold on for the one-point win against Idaho on Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum. Trey McDowell, who was recently named the WAC Player of the Week for the second time this season, finished with a team- high 25 points, followed by Jerome Richardson and Chad McKenzie with 15 and 12 points, respectively, with both clearing eight rebounds as well. McKenzie, who shot just 4-of-14 from the field, ended up fouling out, but not before he posted three assists and three steals. Harry Disy came up a point shy of a double-double as he grabbed 11 boards. McKenzie currently leads the team in scoring overall this season with his 12.8 ppg, but despite coming off the bench in eight of the 17 games in which he has appeared, McDowell is now right on his tail with 12.6 ppg. However, McDowell is far from a complete player because he has just 18 assists and is shooting a mere 50 percent at the free-throw line for a team that is currently converting only 63.9 percent at the stripe. Also working against the Bulldogs is their 40.5 percent accuracy from the field and 30.2 percent shooting out on the perimeter.

Back on the floor for the Wolf Pack in his second game after suffering an ankle injury, Nick Fazekas got a first-hand look at why the Aggies were expected to contend for the league title this season. Fazekas finished the contest with 21 points and seven rebounds but also found himself on the bench with foul trouble during key moments down the stretch. Ramon Sessions tallied a team-high 23 points, followed by Marcelus Kemp with 14 and a team- high eight boards in the setback as well. In previous years, Fazekas would try to impress people with his outside shooting, but this season he has opted to remain in the paint for the most part, resulting in team-highs of 20.4 ppg and 11.6 rpg, the latter placing among the nation's best. Kemp, who carried much of the load in the absence of Fazekas, checks in with 19.1 ppg and is shooting 42.1 percent from three-point range for a team that is knocking down an impressive 41.9 ppg. Combine that with shooting 48.8 percent from the field overall, and holding opponents to just 40 percent, and the Pack are clearly one of the top teams in the nation.

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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.