02/08/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Mariners lefty Cliff Lee underwent surgery last Friday to remove a bone spur in his left foot.
Lee, who was acquired from Philadelphia in December, is not expected to be ready for workouts when Mariners pitchers and catchers report to spring training on Feb. 18. He's expected to resume normal baseball activities in no more than three weeks.
Lee didn't disappoint in his short time in Philadelphia, going 7-4 in 12 starts down the stretch with a 3.39 ERA, and carrying the National League champions in the postseason with a 4-0 record and 1.56 ERA in five starts.
The 31-year-old lefty had an incredible 2008 season in Cleveland, where he went 22-3 with a league-best 2.54 ERA in 31 starts to win the AL Cy Young Award that year.
<< Butler at the top of the Horizon again
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Howard went 12-of-14 from the free
throw line in a 20-point effort, and 18th-ranked Butler used a big second half
to down Loyola-Chicago, 62-47, and clinch a share of the Horizon League title.
Will
<< Danica, have at it and have a good time
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR officials originally set the theme
for this year's Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway last month when
they told Sprint Cup Series drivers, "boys, have at it and have a good time."
Officials s
<< Cardinals avoid arbitration with Schumaker
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals avoided salary
arbitration with Skip Schumaker, agreeing to terms with the second baseman on
a two-year contract.
The 30-year-old Schumaker became the first Cardinal since
<< Montanes eases into second round at Brasil Open
Costa do Sauipe, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Albert Montanes was a
first-round winner at the $500,000 Brasil Open on Monday.
The Spaniard needed just under 1 1/2 hours to dispose of German Simon Greul
6-2, 7-6 (7-2) on the red
Richards caps Flyers' comeback win over Devils >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Richards tallied the game-deciding
power-play goal late in the third period, as Philadelphia recovered from a
two-goal deficit to top New Jersey, 3-2, at Wachovia Center.
James van Riemsdyk a
Duke uses balanced attack to dismantle UNC >>
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keturah Jackson and Bridgette Mitchell each
scored 12 points in a balanced attack for eighth-ranked Duke, which crushed
18th-ranked North Carolina, 79-51 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Krystal Thomas added
No. 25 Pitt breezes past Robert Morris >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ashton Gibbs scored a game-high 20 points,
and 25th-ranked Pittsburgh crushed non-conference foe Robert Morris, 77-53, at
Petersen Events Center.
Jermaine Dixon added 18 points for the Panthers (18-6), w
Bryant sidelined for second straight game >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard Kobe
Bryant missed Monday's game against San Antonio due to a sprained left ankle.
It's the second straight game Bryant has sat out. He was also absent on
Satur
MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.
Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.
Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
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