Bolton's Cahill could miss remainder of season

Soccer Betting Lines

02/08/2010 - Bolton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bolton central defender Gary Cahill is set to miss the rest of the season due to a blot clot in his arm.

The 24-year-old, who is on the fringes of the England senior squad, missed the weekend draw with Fulham and has now been ruled out for several months.

Manager Owen Coyle confirmed: "Gary suffered a pain in his arm and it became severely swollen on the day of the game.

"There was no way he could play, so we took him straight off to the hospital. It turns out he had a blood clot in his arm, so he is going to be out for a number of months."

"It is a severe blow for the boy but our main concern is his welfare. We have to make sure Gary is fit and well.

"He will miss the next few months, it might be for the rest of the season, we will hear from the specialist later."

(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)

Narketwatch Soccer Betting News

<< Coyotes hope to rebound against visiting Oilers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After stumbling in their last trip to the ice, the Phoenix Coyotes will be seeking a bounce-back performance when they return to Jobing.com Arena tonight to take on an Edmonton Oilers squad trying to avoid setting a franchise

<< Streaking Kings try to continue mastery of rival Ducks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings will be aiming to extend a franchise- record winning streak tonight. If recent history is any indication, the Anaheim Ducks may not be posing much of a problem towards achieving that feat. The Kings s

<< Devils, Flyers ready to renew rivalry
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Kovalchuk will seek his first goal in a New Jersey Devils uniform when his new team visits the rival Philadelphia Flyers tonight at Wachovia Center for the opener of a home-and-home series between Atlantic Division foes.

<< Avs resume homestand with visit from Blues
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to forge a tie atop the Northwest Division standings tonight, when they welcome the St. Louis Blues for a battle at Pepsi Center. The Avalanche have 70 points and are two behind idle Vancouv

<< Giguere seeks to continue hot streak as Leafs host Sharks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The new-look Toronto Maple Leafs will test themselves tonight against the top team in the Western Conference, as they host the San Jose Sharks at Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs ended January on a six-game losing streak

Stoke's Fuller arrested >>
Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City have confirmed that striker Ricardo Fuller was arrested on suspicion of assault following an incident at a nightclub. The 30-year-old Jamaica international was detained in

Wigan releases Edman from contract >>
Wigan, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wigan have released defender Erik Edman from his contract. Edman, 31, was out of contract at the DW Stadium at the end of the current season but the two parties have reached a mutual agreement to term

Dikgacoi faces six weeks out with ankle injury >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has revealed that midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi will be absent for six weeks with ankle ligament damage. The South Africa international limped out of Saturday's draw with Bolton

City waits on Bellamy injury news >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City are waiting to discover how long Craig Bellamy faces on the sidelines after the striker suffered a knee injury during the 2-1 defeat at Hull City. The 30-year-old Wales internation

Kostner to remain at Wolfsburg through season >>
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caretaker manager Lorenz-Gunter Kostner will remain in charge at German champions Wolfsburg until the end of the season. Kostner took charge of the Wolves a couple of weeks ago when Armin Veh

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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.