Wwnewyorkjets Football Betting News

<< Buffalo inks F Ellis to one-year deal
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres signed unrestricted free agent forward Matt Ellis to a one-year contract on Thursday. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound left winger set career highs in goals (7), assists (5), and points (12) i

<< Mariners option Vargas, select Shelton
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners on Thursday optioned left-handed pitcher Jason Vargas to Triple-A Tacoma and selected infielder Chris Shelton from Tacoma. "With the All-Star break beginning Monday, we will no

<< Mets place OF Martinez on DL
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets' injury problems continued on Thursday as the team put rookie outfielder Fernando Martinez on the 15-day disabled list. The 20-year-old Martinez, who was put on the DL with inflammation in

<< Flyers prospect JVR working hard to prove he belongs
Voorhees, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers prospect James van Riemsdyk gave up the final two years of his college eligibility earlier this year for the chance most 20-year-olds can only dream of - to go pro, playing the spo

Shoppach hits grand slam as Indians edge White Sox >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelly Shoppach hit a grand slam and finished with a career-high five runs driven in as the Cleveland Indians outslugged the Chicago White Sox, 10-8, in the finale of a three-game set from U.S. Cellular Field.

A's to retire Rickey Henderson's 24 >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics will retire Rickey Henderson's No.24 jersey in a pre-game ceremony on August 1, the team announced Thursday. Henderson was elected to the Hall of Fame in January and will

Two months later...Nats beat Astros >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took over two months to finish, but the Washington Nationals finally beat the Houston Astros. Nyjer Morgan scored the winning run on Miguel Tejada's high throw to first base in the bottom of the 11t

Reifers' 61 good for Gretzky Classic lead >>
Clarksburg, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Reifers fired an 11-under-par 61 on Thursday to take the first-round lead of the Wayne Gretzky Classic. Play is split over the par-72 layout at Raven Golf Club and the par-71 Georgian Bay C

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.