Kings Helps Flyers At Bruins

Hockey Betting Lines

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers are now literally on the road to the Winter Classic. The Flyers look to recover from a blowout loss on Saturday with their first victory at Colorado in seven years as they take on the Avalanche, who try to win a sixth straight home game this evening.

 

Ilya Bryzgalov allowed five goals on 20 shots before getting lifted in favor of Sergei Bobrovsky, who ended with 16 saves.

 

"It was a tough day for us, and it was not typical of the way we have been playing or executing," said Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette.

 

Though Philadelphia took the lone meeting with the Avalanche last year 4-2 at home, it has lost its last four at Colorado since a win there on Dec. 27, 2004. The Avs have won six of the last eight encounters overall.

 

"It felt good," Johnson said about his game-winning goal. "It feels good the get back on the board and help the team win."

 

Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 25 saves as the Avalanche won for only the second time in six games.

 

Sutter, who signed a multi-year contract, is still working on immigration issues, but is expected to be behind the bench when the Kings play their next home game Thursday against Anaheim. Sutter has been an NHL head coach for 11 seasons in Chicago, San Jose and Calgary, leading his clubs to 10 playoff appearances, including a Stanley Cup Final berth in 2004 with the Flames.

 

"I hope it doesn't take a game like this to open some eyes," Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "We got to wake up eventually. There is only so much time left in the season."

 

The Kings are making the final stop on a four-game road trip tonight and are 6-5-3 as the guest this season.

 

LA defenseman Willie Mitchell could return tonight after missing the last three games with a groin injury. Forward Mike Richards (head) has joined the team on its trip, but he is still out indefinitely.

 

Tyler Bozak had a goal and two assists, while Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel also scored for Toronto, which got 31 saves from Jonas Gustavsson.

Narketwatch Hockey Betting Blog

<< Red Wings Wings Name Highlight For Games

<< Sports Network Adds Chargers In Yards

<< Time From Teams Ravens

<< Home In Half Lille

<< Percent Shooting Gets Field Goal Efficiency Into Points

Favor Leaves Thomas For Jets >>

First Team First-team Edge Disable In East >>

Free-throw Line Points Smash Salvage Over Tigers >>

Last Time Gets Percent Into Home >>

Points In Week Wisconsin >>

Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your baseball sportsbook needs.

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.