Woods leads Harrington by one at Dunlop Phoenix

Golf Betting Lines

11/17/2006 - Miyazaki, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time defending champion Tiger Woods fired a five-under 65 Friday to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Dunlop Phoenix.

Woods completed 36 holes at eight-under-par 132. He leads 2006 European Tour Order of Merit winner Padraig Harrington by one shot.

Harrington posted a 66 to move to seven-under-par 133, where he is alone in second place. Ian Poulter used a six-under 64 to climb into third place at minus-six.

First-round leader Shingo Katayama managed just an even-par 70 and is alone in fourth at five-under-par 135. Justin Rose moved back into contention after struggling to a three-over 73 in round one. He responded with a seven-under 63 Friday to climb into fifth at minus-four.

Woods got his round going with a birdie on the first. He gave that shot back with a bogey on the par-three third at Phoenix Country Club.

The world's No. 1 player responded with an eagle on the fourth to get to minus-five. Woods converted a birdie try on the eighth.

Around the turn, Woods birdied the 11th and 13th to move to eight-under. He tripped to a bogey on the 16th, but atoned for that error with a two-putt birdie at the par-five closing hole.

Harrington was steady over his opening nine with seven pars and two birdies. On the back nine, he faltered to a bogey on the 11th.

The Irishman recovered that lost stroke with a birdie on No. 13. Harrington collected birdies at 16 and 18 to finish within one stroke of Woods' lead.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (72), Scott Laycock (68) and Satoru Hirota (71) share sixth place at two-under-par 138. Nine players including -- Keiichiro Fukabori and Toshi Izawa -- are tied for ninth place at minus-one.

Gamblingh Golf Betting News

<< Bergeron lifts Bruins over Maple Leafs
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrice Bergeron scored 34 seconds into overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Banknorth Garden. Marco Sturm fluttered a snap shot from the right point

<< Neitzel lifts Spartans over Longhorns
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Neitzel's finger-roll with 2.4 seconds left propelled the Michigan State Spartans to a 63-61 upset over the 19th- ranked Texas Longhorns in the semifinal round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic

<< Jokinen's hat trick lifts Panthers over Habs
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olli Jokinen tallied a hat trick on a season- high eight shots to lead the Florida Panthers over Montreal, 5-1, at the BankAtlantic Center. Jokinen scored twice in the second period and added his fin

<< Duke destroys UNC-Greensboro
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Henderson scored 12 points on 6-for-11 shooting, as the 11th-ranked Duke Blue Devils downed the UNC-Greensboro Spartans, 75-48, at Cameron Indoor Stadium for a non-conference clash. David McClu

<< Clinch, Yellow Jackets down Panthers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lewis Clinch scored 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting as the 23rd-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets trounced cross-town rival Georgia State, 103-74, at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Thaddeus Young posted

Lara alone atop Hong Kong Open leaderboard >>
Fanling, Hong Kong (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Manuel Lara posted a four-under 66 Friday to grab the outright lead after two rounds of the Hong Kong Open. Lara, who shared the lead with Jyoti Randhawa after the first round, completed 36 holes

Mets agree to terms with Easley >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets have reportedly signed infielder Damion Easley to a one-year contract. Newsday said that the deal is worth $850,000 and an official announcement is expected on Friday. Easley hit .23

Nadal sets up Masters Cup showdown with Federer >>
Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a rematch of this year's Wimbledon and French Open title bouts, Rafael Nadal will encounter Roger Federer in Saturday's Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai semifinals after Nadal edged out Russian Nikolay Davy

Blackhawks battle Ducks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks will try to get back on the winning track when they visit the Anaheim Ducks tonight at the Honda Center. The Blackhawks had won back-to-back games before losing at Phoenix on Thursday. Ladislav Nagy

Report: Former Michigan coach Schembechler dies >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former University of Michigan head football coach Bo Schembechler has died after collapsing during the taping of a television show. According to WXYZ-TV in Detroit, Schembechler was preparing for th

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.

Since the late 1990's, MySportsbook.com has been an online sportsbook / poker room / casino that focuses on quality.. MySportsbook caters to the experienced sports fan who values reliability and accuracy, with great attention to detail. MySportsbook's success over the past 3 years has made them the envy of the sports gambling industry. There are hundreds of sites appearing all over the Internet claiming to be the next best sportsbook online, each one is trying to use the same marketing techniques as MySportsbook originated.

If you want to try the most stylish and reliable type of online sportsbook, go with MySportsbook. Most online sportsbooks give you live odds and plenty of games and events to bet on, at MySportsbook they'll give you that and more. While perfection may be a lofty goal, MySportsbook attempts to achieve that goal. All sorts of ways to bet on football, football betting, Super Bowl betting lines.

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