Half Into Hokies End

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

Kansas comes in with a 16-3 overall record after extending its winning streak on Saturday. The Jayhawks will be protecting their 16-game home winning streak and their perfect 6-0 league record. Head coach Bill Self led his team to its ninth straight win on Saturday as it took down Texas, 69-66. The Jayhawks shot 44.6 percent from the field, but made just 14-of-23 from the charity stripe in the win over the Longhorns. Kansas played well at the defensive end, as it held Texas to 34.4 percent shooting. The Jayhawks' six turnovers was its lowest total since entering Big 12 play. Kansas's +16.0 average scoring margin is the second best in the Big 12.

 

Kansas has an array of weapons at the offensive end. Thomas Robinson is the team's top scorer (17.7 ppg) and the Big 12's top rebounder (12.1 rpg). The junior forward recorded his Big-12 leading 13th double-double of the season in the team's win over Baylor before finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds against Texas. Tyshawn Taylor has been a big factor to the Jayhawks' success as well. Taylor has been absolutely on fire lately as he has averaged 26 ppg and 5.3 apg in his last three outings. Travis Releford and Elijah Johnson are both helping the cause with scoring averages above nine points per game.

 

Kris Joseph posted 17 points to lead the Orange (21-1, 8-1 Big East), while Scoop Jardine added 13 points and six assists. They played their second consecutive game without rebounding and shot-blocking center Fab Melo, who was not with Syracuse for the road trip for unreleased reasons.

 

Cashmere Wright scored 17 points to lead the Bearcats (15-6, 5-3), who were coming off Saturday's overtime loss at West Virginia. Yancy Gates had 16 points and 10 boards.

 

Meighan Simmons scored 13 points to pace Tennessee (14-5), while leading scorer Shekinna Stricklen was held to five points on 2-of-10 shooting.

 

The Volunteers had won the first 20 meetings before falling to the Irish in the Dayton Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament last season. They had never lost in eight trips to South Bend, but that streak ended abruptly on Monday.

 

Diggins' three-pointer four minutes later made it a 21-point game at 47-26, and the Irish never took their foot off the pedal.

 

Tennessee made just two field goals over the final seven minutes. It was the second worst loss in the program's storied history.

 

Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stefanie Yderstrom scored a game-high 22 points and No. 10 Miami-Florida dominated Virginia Tech, 79-48, on Monday. Shenise Johnson, who was honored before the game for scoring her 2,000th career point, had 18 points and six steals for Miami (17-3, 6-1 ACC).

Wwwbetbarn66 NCAA Basketball Betting Blog

<< League Play Leaves Week Down League

<< Kelly Helps Alum With Person

<< Penn State Leads Coach For O'brien

<< Last Horse Adds Tampa Bay Derby At NBC

<< Era Sparks New From Rbi

Tour Acquires Watson Against Events >>

Bowen Joins Players Over Rotation >>

Game Beats Numbers In Overtime >>

Points Sparks Hollins From Win >>

James Adds Augustin At Layup >>

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.

Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.