05/17/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to grab a two-game lead in the Western Conference finals this evening, when they visit the Anaheim Ducks for Game 4 at the Honda Center.
The Red Wings made a statement in Game 3 on Tuesday night as they routed the Ducks to take a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series.
On top of trailing in the series, Anaheim will also be without defenseman Chris Pronger for this evening's tilt, as the Norris Trophy finalist was handed a one-game suspension by the NHL for a blow to the head of Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom in Game 3. Pronger is leading the Ducks with 12 points on three goals and nine assists in the playoffs.
Holmstrom scored twice on Tuesday and Dominik Hasek made 29 saves for his 14th career postseason shutout to lead top-seeded Detroit to the 5-0 triumph in Anaheim.
Holmstrom also added an assist to give him eight points (5 goals, 3 assists) in 12 postseason games this year.
Johan Franzen, Todd Bertuzzi and Valtteri Filppula also scored for Detroit, which rebounded from an overtime loss in Game 2 to pull ahead in this set.
The Red Wings have given up just five goals through the first three games of this series and much of the credit should go to Hasek. The 42-year-old goaltender is 10-5 with a 1.52 goals against average and .935 save percentage in this year's playoffs.
The six-time Vezina and two-time Hart Trophy winner stopped 14 shots in the first period on Tuesday, faced only two shots in the second and made 13 saves in the final stanza for his second shutout of this postseason.
Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom also added two more points to his already impressive playoffs in Game 3 as he posted a pair of assists. Lidstrom has notched two points in each of the three contests against Anaheim and has a team-leading 17 points (4g, 13a) in this postseason.
The Swedish blueliner already has more points in this year's playoffs than he did when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy for Detroit's 2002 Stanley Cup champion team. Lidstrom also holds the team record for points in a postseason by a defenseman as he notched 19 points to help the Red Wings win a Stanley Cup title in 1998.
Meanwhile, the second-seeded Ducks are faced with the tough task of regrouping after Tuesday's debacle.
Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere will especially need to rebound after he was pulled early in the second period of Game 2 in favor of backup Ilya Bryzgalov. Giguere allowed three goals on 13 shots and Bryzgalov stopped 13 shots in relief.
Giguere, the 2003 Conn Smythe recipient, is still having a solid overall playoffs with a 6-3 record, 1.76 goals against average and .931 save percentage.
The Ducks failed to score on four power-play opportunities in Game 3 and have still yet to cash in on the man advantage in this series (0-for-16).
Anaheim is in the West finals for the second straight year and for the third time in the past four seasons. They are trying to make it to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 2003, when they lost in seven games to New Jersey.
This is the fourth time Detroit and the Ducks have met in the playoffs. The Red Wings swept Anaheim in the first round of the 1997 and 1999 playoffs only to watch the Ducks return the favor with a shocking four-game sweep in the 2003 conference quarterfinals.
This series will head back to Detroit on Sunday afternoon for Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena.
<< Spurs surge past short-handed Suns, take 3-2 series lead
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bruce Bowen hit the go-ahead three-pointer with
36.4 seconds left, and the Spurs took advantage of the Amare Stoudemire
suspension to beat the Phoenix Suns, 88-85, in Game 5 of their Western
Confere
<< Lackey, Angels blank Mariners
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey tossed four-hit ball over six
innings and combined with a pair of relievers to lead the LA Angels of Anaheim
to a shutout of the Seattle Mariners, 5-0, in the middle game of a three-game
series
<< Royals rally past A's
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Shealy drove in the deciding run in the
ninth, as the Kansas City Royals rallied for two runs in their final at-bat to
edge the Oakland Athletics, 4-3, in the third matchup of a four-game series at
McAfee
<< Sosa, Easley lead Mets past Cubs
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jorge Sosa allowed one hit over seven-plus
innings and Damion Easley belted a two-run homer to power the New York Mets to
an 8-1 win over the Cubs in the third contest of a four-game series.
The start of
Bulls, Pistons clash in Game 6 at the United Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls try to force a Games 7 against the
Detroit Pistons in their Eastern Conference semifinals series, as the teams
battle tonight at the United Center.
After dropping the first three games of the series, Chi
Twins turn to Santana in hopes of averting sweep by Tribe >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Converted reliever Fausto Carmona looks for a second
straight successful outing against Minnesota when the Cleveland Indians host
the Twins today in the final installment of a three-game series at Jacobs
Field.
Fenway Park the site for two between Red Sox, Tigers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With heavy rains having washed out Wednesday's scheduled
contest, the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers will get together for a
day/night doubleheader at Fenway Park beginning this afternoon.
These current division leaders
Williams agrees to extension with North Carolina >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of North Carolina and men's
head basketball coach Roy Williams agreed to a four-year contract extension on
Thursday.
The new deal will keep Williams in Chapel Hill through the 2014-2015 s
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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.
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