12/27/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings are just 11-14 and need to start winning some games. They have made the playoffs eight straight years and that streak could be in jeopardy if the Kings don't come around.
The Kings are in fourth place in the Pacific Division, 7 1/2 games behind the first place Phoenix Suns.
Sacramento is scheduled to play six of its next seven games on its homecourt. The Kings try to make it two wins in a row when they welcome the new-look Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday to ARCO Arena.
It is the first of two meetings between the Kings and Philadelphia this season. The Sixers are scheduled to host Sacramento on February 26, 2007 at the Wachovia Center.
Philadelphia has lost 14 of its last 16 at Sacramento. The 76ers have won two in a row in this series.
Sacramento picked up a win on the road on Friday. John Salmons recorded his first career triple-double to spoil Allen Iverson's Denver debut as the Kings stopped the Nuggets, 101-96, at the Pepsi Center.
Salmons, a former teammate of Iverson's in Philadelphia, finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory for Sacramento, while Brad Miller added 21 points and 14 boards for the Kings, who snapped a three- game skid.
On the injury front for Sacramento, defensive stopper Ron Artest (sore knees) is questionable for Wednesday's contest. He has missed the last two games. Artest is averaging 16.4 points and 7.2 rebounds in 19 contests this season.
The Kings are 7-7 at home this season. They will visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday at the Staples Center. After Sacramento visits the Clippers, it returns home to host Golden State, New York, the Lakers, Portland and Cleveland during a five-game homestand.
Salmons, who left Philadelphia and signed with the Kings as a free agent last offseason, is averaging 10.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He has scored more than 20 points in two straight games, and is averaging 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.5 rebounds in those contests.
Sacramento is 6-5 when it scores over 100 points this season. The Kings have scored over 100 points in two straight games.
<< White Sox, Cintron agree to one-year contract
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with
infielder Alex Cintron on a one-year contract worth $1.9 million, thus
avoiding arbitration.
Cintron, 28, batted .285 with five home runs and 41 RBI
<< QB squeeze: Lemon to start for Dolphins
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins will reportedly start Cleo
Lemon at quarterback for Sunday's season-finale against Indianapolis.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel cited a source as saying Lemon will get the nod
ahead of Joey
<< Fernandez tagged as head coach of struggling Real Betis
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spanish La Liga club Real Betis announced
Wednesday that it will appoint Luis Fernandez as head coach.
According to the club's website, the 47-year-old former France international
will be announced to
<< Jackson, Kampmann and Gould earn NFC's weekly awards
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson,
Green Bay Packers defensive end Aaron Kampmann and Chicago kicker Robbie Gould
have been selected as the NFC's top players for Week 16 of the season.
Jackson ear
Wolves' numbers keep coming up >>
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Numerologists would have a field day with
the 2006-07 Chicago Wolves, who continue to put up offensive numbers rarely
seen during the American Hockey Leagues 71-year history.
Chicago wrote another headline
Grizzlies are locked in the cellar >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies three-year playoff run is in
serious jeopardy. They are a league-worst 6-23 and are six games behind the
fourth place New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in the Northwest Division.
The Griz
Thornton leads West All-Star balloting >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton leads all
Western Conference players in fan balloting for the NHL All-Star Game.
Thornton has received 614,753 votes and has a lead of more than 70,000 votes
on Anaheim d
Stars' Morrow out indefinitely >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow will be out
of action indefinitely following successful surgery Tuesday night to repair
severed tendons in his right wrist, general manager Doug Armstrong said on
Wednesd
Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts 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 sportsbook 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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