First-place Braves resume series with Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With rookie sensation Jason Heyward back in the outfield for the Atlanta Braves, things may get a bit easier for the current National League East leaders. Tonight Heyward and the Braves will resume a four-game series versus the Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field.

Heyward had been hampered by an injured left thumb and saw action last night for the first time since June 26. In the 2-1 triumph over the Brewers, Heyward went 0-for-4 at the plate, but made two key defensive plays in the field. He even collided with the right-field wall while chasing down a fly ball hit by Casey McGehee in the fourth inning.

"I didn't feel dizzy," Heyward said on the team's site. "It happened so quick that I couldn't even tell you what happened. I took a minute to catch my breath."

Martin Prado and Chipper Jones both homered, while Brian McCann and Troy Glaus ended with two hits apiece for Atlanta, which is five games ahead of New York and 5 1/2 games in front of Philadelphia in the division standings. Jair Jurrjens earned the win by holding Milwaukee to a run over 6 2/3 innings before Peter Moylan, Jonny Venters and closer Billy Wagner prevented any more damage. Wagner fanned two batters in the ninth for his 21st save.

Tommy Hanson gets the nod for the Braves Friday and he is 8-5 with a 4.13 earned run average in 18 starts this season. Hanson did not record a decision the last time out in a 4-2 victory against the Mets on July 9, as he delivered 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts.

Hanson, a right-hander, will try to beat Milwaukee for the second time this season after throwing eight shutout innings and striking out eight in an 8-2 win over the Brewers on May 10 at Miller Park. He is 1-1 with a 3.43 earned run average in three career starts against Milwaukee.

The Braves, winners in five of their last six games, will also host San Diego on the current homestand.

Milwaukee entered the All-Star break fresh off a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates and had its winning streak cut short with Thursday's close loss. Dave Bush was the tough-luck loser, as he yielded a pair of runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings.

"I felt good about the way I threw," Bush said. "Both pitches (for home runs) were mistakes, probably not the only two mistakes, but the two I got hurt on. Besides that, I was happy with the way I threw the ball."

Corey Hart accounted for the only offense with a homer and finished with a team-best two hits for Milwaukee, which lost for the sixth time in nine tries.

The Brewers will also visit the Pirates for four games following their lengthy set in Atlanta. Taking the ball for Milwaukee on Friday will be Randy Wolf, who is 6-8 with a 4.56 earned run average in 19 starts this season. Wolf did not record a decision in Sunday's 6-5 win over the Buccos, as he was reached for four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Wolf, who is 4-4 in nine road starts in 2010, has faced Atlanta plenty of times from his days with the Philadelphia Phillies, but hasn't fared so well. In 27 career appearances, 25 of which have been starts, the southpaw is 4-12 with a 5.31 ERA against the Braves.

The Braves have won five straight and seven of their last eight versus the Brewers, including a three-game sweep at Milwaukee from May 10-12.

Gamblingh Baseball Betting News

<< Reds, Rockies get second half started in Cincinnati
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two potential National League playoff teams square off tonight when the Cincinnati Reds host the Colorado Rockies in the opening contest of a three-game weekend series at Great American Ball Park. The Reds enter the season

<< Tigers, Scherzer open set with Indians
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Scherzer goes after his fifth straight winning decision this evening when the Detroit Tigers start the second half of their season in the first test of a four-game set against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field.

<< Closing birdie saves Mickelson
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the wind picking up, the cut line will likely climb through Friday afternoon, and possibly into Saturday morning, at the British Open. Phil Mickelson birdied the 18th hole Friday to post

<< Redick stays in Orlando
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Magic have matched the Chicago Bulls' offer sheet for J.J. Redick, meaning the shooting guard will remain in Orlando for the foreseeable future. The Bulls had given Redick, a restricted free agent, a r

<< Line of Scrimmage: NFL GameChangers '10: Running Backs
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In addition to being three people who have never been in my kitchen, former NFL running backs Troy Hambrick, Greg Hill, and Neal Anderson all share another important commonality - they all followed legends.

Cardinals turn to Garcia versus Dodgers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals hope that rookie starter Jaime Garcia can duplicate what Chris Carpenter did last night when he takes the ball Friday in the second portion of a four-game series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch

Padres aim to extend division lead in matchup vs. last-place D-Backs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The best team in the National League West, the San Diego Padres, will begin the second half of the season Friday against the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series at Petco Park. San Diego is

Cubs hope to build off big win in second test with Phils >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs know they have a long and difficult road ahead of them if they are to get back into contention in the National League Central. More games like Thursday's second-half opener should make that journey smoother.

Yankees to host Rays in emotional series opener >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees will take the field this evening with heavy hearts as they start the second half of their season with the first of a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Tonight's contest will

Astros visit Pirates in battle of Central doormats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the have-nots in the National League's Central Division get together tonight when the fifth-place Houston Astros visit the sixth-place Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a three-game weekend series at PNC Park. Th

It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.

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.