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
11/15/2008 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Allen finished with 27 points and made four key free throws late in overtime, as the Boston Celtics pulled out a 102-97 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Paul Pierce led Boston with 28 points -- including a 14-for-15 effort from the free-throw line. Kevin Garnett scored 15 before fouling out as the Celtics rebounded from a loss Friday to Denver. They have won seven of eight overall.
Andrew Bogut led Milwaukee with 20 points despite not playing in the final four minutes of regulation and overtime. He was ejected with 3:58 left after receiving his second technical foul.
Luke Ridnour finished with 19 points, which included the game-tying layup with 1.4 seconds in regulation, before also fouling out. The Bucks were coming off an overtime win over Memphis on Friday.
Neither team scored in overtime until Luc Richard Mbah a Moute went to the free throw line with half the time gone. He made both for a 95-93 Bucks edge. Pierce answered with a three-pointer from the top of the arc, but Garnett fouled out on the other end.
After the teams traded possessions, Dan Gadzuric took a dish from Ridnour for an emphatic dunk and a 97-96 Milwaukee lead with 1:07 left. On the play, Rajon Rondo ran directly into Pierce and the two players were shaken up but still were able to play.
Each team was unsuccessful on its next touch, but with 24.9 seconds on the clock Allen was fouled on a pass into the lane. He made both free throws for a 98-97 Celtics lead.
Richard Jefferson's shot rimmed out, then Allen grabbed the board and was fouled with 10.4 left. He made both shots again to put the Celtics up three. Milwaukee's ensuing touch did not go well, as Gadzuric attempted a mid-range shot that missed. Pierce went to the line with 3.6 on the clock and made two to seal the game.
The contest went to the extra session following a tight end of regulation. With Boston maintaining a slim lead, Ridnour canned a three-pointer to get the Bucks within two. Mbah a Moute then managed to hoist in a layup from the left side with several players dangled on his arms. He was fouled on the play and made the foul shot to give Milwaukee an 89-88 lead with just under three minutes left.
But Pierce put Boston back ahead, 93-89, with two free throws and a shot from behind the arc. Jefferson answered with a jumper, and after a few misses on the teams' next possessions, Milwaukee got the ball and a timeout with 45.7 ticks left.
Coming back into play, Jefferson drove into the lane but was called for pushing off to set up a jumper, keeping the Bucks down two. However, Pierce missed on the Celtics' turn downcourt, and Rondo knocked the ball out of bounds with 8.5 seconds left, giving Milwaukee one last chance.
Ridnour dribbled on the right side of the court, drove past Allen and put in an underhanded layup with 1.4 ticks left to knot the game at 93-93. The Celtics' last-gasp attempt was unsuccessful to send the contest to overtime.
A back-and-forth first quarter ended in a pair of Ramon Sessions free throws that brought the Bucks within 21-20. Boston stretched out its lead in the second quarter, and led 50-38 at halftime.
The game went back-and-forth again in the third quarter, and Boston led 71-59 going into the final stanza. But the Bucks got back into the contest on the strength of an eight-point burst. Mbah a Moute had a tip-in followed by a layup, and Jefferson made a pair of free throws and jumper to pull Milwaukee within 78-76 with 6:45 left in regulation.
Game Notes
Garnett was also assessed a technical foul with 3:58 left in the game, as he and Bogut both seemingly made vague swipes at each others' faces...Mbah a Moute, Jefferson and Sessions all ended with 14 points each for the Bucks...The game featured 10 lead changes and nine technical fouls.
<< Cavs' Wallace plays against Jazz despite left knee contusion
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers forward/center Ben
Wallace underwent an MRI exam on Friday and the results came back negative,
and he played in Saturday's 105-93 victory against Utah despite a left knee
contusi
<< Arenas leads Alabama past Mississippi State
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javier Arenas' exploits on special teams,
which included an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown, helped top-ranked
Alabama overcome a rather anemic offensive effort in the Crimson Tide's 32-7
victory
<< Evans, Memphis rout Fairfield in season-opener
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyreke Evans scored 19 points and had five
rebounds, as the 13th-ranked Memphis Tigers opened their 2008-09 season with a
90-63 rout of Fairfield.
Shawn Taggart recorded a double-double with 14 points and
<< Report: Yanks deal P Rasner to Japanese team
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees have sold the contract of
pitcher Darrell Rasner to a team in Japan's Central League, according to a
report by ESPN.
The report states that the contract was sold to the Tohoku Rak
Robinson lifts No. 11 Oklahoma State past Colorado >>
Boulder, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zac Robinson threw a 29-yard touchdown to Dez
Bryant and ran for another, as 11th-ranked Oklahoma State slipped past
Colorado, 30-17, at Folsom Field.
Kendall Hunter collected 102 yards rushing and a
Eriksson, Stars edge Coyotes >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Loui Eriksson scored two goals and Mike Ribeiro
collected three assists, as the Dallas Stars defeated the Phoenix Coyotes,
3-2.
Mark Parrish found the back of the net for Dallas, which won for just the
BC edges No.20 FSU >>
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montel Harris ran for 121 yards and one
touchdown on 25 carries, as Boston College notched a 27-17 win over 20th-
ranked Florida State.
Marcellus Bowman returned an interception 87 yards for a
Keenum throws six TDs as Houston rips Tulsa >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Case Keenum threw for a career-high six
touchdowns to lead the Houston Cougars in a 70-30 rout of No. 25 Tulsa.
Keenum threw for 402 yards on 24-of-37 passing and also rushed for 43 yards
and anothe
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.
MySportsbook.com is the best at processing US credit cards for deposits. Welcome to the most player friendly online sportsbook on the planet!
The principals behind MySportsbook are obviously a management group that understands the players needs as evidenced by their commitment to provide easy depositing with their high credit card acceptance rate and free weekly $10 bets they offer to clients with active betting accounts.
The perks don't end there! MySportsbook offers casino, poker and horses as well. Twice named Best Sportsbook by eGaming Review, this place is rock solid financially so you don't ever have to sweat the payout as you may with some other online bookies operating with less betting volume and client base.
Sign up today and grab your share of a 10% bonus that is added instantly to your betting account. Enjoy 52 risk free bets throughout the year as well!
Reasons to Play There: You have to see their no hitter, cycle hitter and slaughter rule promos for baseball. Worth a laugh and probably a few bucks throughout the MLB season. They offer supersized bonuses of 15% if you up your minimum deposit to $500 or more. Lay -105 on Friday NBA! Contests during the NFL football season!
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