07/06/2008 - (Baseball Betting) - The Colorado Rockies will try to extend their season high winning streak to six games and sweep the Florida Marlins in the process, as both ballclubs conclude a four-game series at Coors Field.
Colorado has won five in a row and the first three tests of this set, including Saturday's 12-6 pummeling of the Marlins. Matt Holliday homered and knocked in four runs a day after an 18-run performance. Brad Hawpe added a three-run homer for the Rockies.
Chris Iannetta belted a two-run homer, while Joe Koshansky registered his first career home run in a winning cause. The Rockies, who are surprisingly six games off the lead in the NL West, have clubbed 10 home runs over the last two games, with Iannetta and Holliday homering in both contests.
Rox starter Jorge De La Rosa gave up three runs on six hits in five-plus innings to pick up the win.
Toeing the rubber for Colorado on Sunday will be Aaron Cook. Cook has been the ace of the staff so far this season and will try to match the stellar performance from his last outing. Cook posted his first career shutout by tossing a five-hitter against San Diego on Tuesday.
Cook ended a two-start slide with the gem and improved to 11-5 with a 3.37 ERA in 18 starts this season. The right-hander, who is 5-2 in eight home starts this season, owns a 1-1 mark and a 4.72 ERA in three career games (two starts) against the Marlins.
Florida has lost every game so far in this series and four of five overall. In Saturday's 12-6 defeat, Cody Ross went 3-for-5 with a home run and four runs batted in for the Marlins. Matt Treanor and Robert Andino each knocked in a run, as the Marlins remained 3 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for the top spot in the NL East division.
Marlins starter Ryan Tucker was saddled with the loss after being reached for eight runs on seven hits in four innings of work.
Mark Hendrickson gets the nod for the Fish on Sunday. He is 7-7 with a 6.12 ERA in 18 starts this season, but has lost two straight outings and is 0-5 through the previous seven trips to the mound.
He last pitched on Tuesday at Washington, allowing six runs and 10 hits in six innings of a 9-6 loss. In eight career games against Colorado, the tall left-hander is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in eight appearances (one start).
Colorado is facing the Marlins for the first time this season.
<< Volquez leads Reds vs. Nationals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals will wrap up a
four-game series this afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds have won the first three tests of this series, including Saturday's
3-2 victory. Jerry Ha
<< Dodgers take on Giants in finale by the bay
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers will try to stay within striking
distance of the top spot in the NL West division today, when they conclude a
three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.
Los Angeles h
<< Phillies get another crack at Mets in South Philly
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies will try to rebound from last
night's loss when they resume a four-game set Sunday with the NL East-rival
New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies had their four-game winning st
<< Rain again delays men's final at Wimbledon
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The rain has returned to the All England
Club and the men's Wimbledon final is being delayed in the third set.
Rafael Nadal is trying to dethrone five-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer and
has a lead of
Phillies sign closer Lidge to three-year extension >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies announced on
Sunday they have agreed to terms with closer Brad Lidge on a contract
extension through 2011.
Lidge will get $37.5 million over the next three years wit
Angels, Jays wrap up set in Anaheim >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League West-leading LA Angels of Anaheim are
set to play the rubber match of a three-game weekend set against the Toronto
Blue Jays.
On Saturday, Alex Rios went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs, and Vernon
Lee leads Tribe in finale at Minnesota >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have lost seven consecutive games,
and they will attempt to avoid a weekend sweep at the hands of the red-hot
Minnesota Twins today at the Metrodome.
At this point, it would be surprising i
A's wrap up set with White Sox in Windy City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics conclude a
four-game series this afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.
In Saturday's game, Nick Swisher, Brian Anderson and Alexi Ramirez each
homered to back a terrific
Sportsbooks that take credit cards are not always easy to come by....Everything from credit card companies denying gambling transactions to the fear of chargebacks by customers has slowed down sportsbook credit card transactions by a high percentage.
There are however still sportsbooks that take credit cards.
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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.
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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