08/27/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Andy Roddick along with last year's runner-up Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Russian star Nikolay Davydenko were easy first-round winners Wednesday at the U.S. Open.
Third-seeded Djokovic won his seventh match in his last eight tries in New York with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 two-hour victory over Wimbledon quarterfinalist Arnaud Clement of France.
Djokovic, who captured the Australian Open back in January, gave way to Roger Federer in last year's U.S. Open finale.
The 21-year-old Djokovic injured his left ankle while leading Clement 2-1 in the third set and had it wrapped by a trainer, but he ultimately seemed unfazed by the problem en route to the second round.
Roddick maintained good health as he breezed past France's Fabrice Santoro in the late match 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. The soon-to-be 26-year-old former world No. 1, who titled here in 2003, used his blistering serve -- which included 15 aces -- to subdue his 35-year-old opponent.
The fifth-seeded Davydenko, meanwhile, drubbed Israeli Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Davydenko, who played in the semifinals here in each of the previous two years, will meet capable Argentine Agustin Calleri in the second round.
Eighteenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro reached the round of 64 with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Canada's Frank Dancevic, while 19th-seeded Frenchman Jo- Wilfried Tsonga came from behind to best Spain's Santiago Ventura 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in his first match since May, and 26th-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov snuck past Argentine Eduardo Schwank 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). The oft-injured Tsonga was the Aussie Open runner-up to Djokovic and had been sidelined with a knee injury the past three months.
Former U.S. Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri eased into the second round with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory over fellow unseeded American Amer Delic, while former world No. 1 Carlos Moya of Spain held off Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. The former French Open champion Moya, who reached the quarterfinals in Flushing last year, will meet Tsonga in an intriguing second-rounder here.
No. 28 seed Radek Stepanek, of the Czech Republic, rolled with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 decision against Italian Potito Starace.
Additional Day-3 wins came for American wild card Sam Warburg, Romanian Victor Hanescu and Calleri, who whipped American Austin Krajicek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; Marin Cilic, the 30-seed, outlasted Julien Benneteau 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-2. The Croatian titled in New Haven last week; Robert Kendrick gutted out a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 win against France's Nicolas Mahut; Aussie Chris Guccione sent down Jesse Levine with an intense 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6) victory.
In addition, Thomas Johansson, who was the 2002 Australian Open champion, fell to Ernests Gulbis. The Latvian Gulbis dispatched his Swedish opponent in a straight-set 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory to gain the second round.
The U.S. Open marks the fourth and final major of the year.
<< Indians win 10th straight to sweep Tigers
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelly Shoppach and Shin-Soo Choo each hit
a two-run homer to lead Cleveland to its 10th straight victory, as the Indians
edged the Tigers, 9-7, in the finale of a three-game set.
Grady Sizemore ended wit
<< Oswalt strong again as Astros top Reds
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Oswalt continued his mastery of the Reds
with seven strong innings to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-1 win over
Cincinnati at Minute Maid Park.
Oswalt (12-9) allowed one run on five hits with
<< Pedroia helps BoSox slam Yanks
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Bay finished 2-for-4 with four RBI and
Dustin Pedroia added a grand slam as Boston routed the New York Yankees,
11-3, in the middle contest of a three-game set from Yankee Stadium.
Jacoby Ellsbu
<< Delgado leads Mets past Phils, back into first place
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Delgado hit a pair of home runs
and drove in three, as the New York Mets rallied to beat Philadelphia, 6-3,
and leapfrog the Phillies to retake the lead in the NL East.
In the first game o
Angels' Kendrick leaves game early >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim second baseman
Howie Kendrick left Wednesday's game against the Oakland Athletics in the
fourth inning with an injured leg.
Kendrick was running to second base on Mark
Angels' Kendrick and Aybar leave game early >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim second baseman
Howie Kendrick and shortstop Erick Aybar both left Wednesday's 6-5 loss to
the Oakland Athletics with hamstring injuries.
Kendrick was running to second ba
Angels recall Willits from disabled list >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim activated
outfielder Reggie Willits from the 15-day disabled list prior to Wednesday's
6-5 loss to the Oakland Athletics.
Willits pinch-hit for Mike Napoli in the ninth t
Brown, Davis help A's hold off Angels >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emil Brown hit a two-run homer and finished
with three runs driven in, while Rajai Davis scored twice and notched his
first career four-hit game, as the Oakland Athletics edged the Los Angeles
Angels
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.
MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.
(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977. Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.
Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer. In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season.
MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season. Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite. After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.
Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions. They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.
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