Ducks try to bounce back in Columbus
Hockey Betting Lines
02/12/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to rebound from a loss tonight, when they play the second test of an eight-game road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
The Ducks became the 19th straight opponent to lose in Detroit after dropping Friday's shootout decision at Joe Louis Arena. Todd Bertuzzi supplied the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout, as the Red Wings posted a 2-1 victory to move within one game of tying the NHL record for most consecutive home wins.
For the Ducks, it marked their fourth straight game with a point (2-0-2). Anaheim needs all the points it can get down the stretch, as the team is currently 11 out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Following an exciting overtime, Bertuzzi skated in on Jonas Hiller very slowly and beat the Anaheim goaltender with a backhander. Joey MacDonald then denied Bobby Ryan to give the extra point to Detroit.
Hiller stopped 23 shots for Anaheim, while enforcer George Parros scored the Ducks' only goal in regulation. The Ducks also failed to score on seven opportunities with the man advantage.
"We think we deserved a better fate," said Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau. "But when you go 0-for-7 on the power play, you make things a lot tougher on yourself."
Anaheim's longest road trip of the season will continue on Tuesday, when it visits Minnesota. The Ducks are just 6-11-7 as the away team this season.
Despite being last in the NHL with just 38 points, Columbus has won three of its last four games and is kicking off a three-game homestand tonight.
The Blue Jackets played Saturday in Minnesota and posted a 3-1 victory over the Wild thanks in part to a two-goal performance from R.J. Umberger.
Columbus defenseman James Wisniewski -- playing in his first game after missing the previous 17 with a broken ankle -- added a goal and an assist. Although Wisniewski's return is good news, the Blue Jackets are still without defensemen Brett Lebda (broken thumb) and Marc Methot (broken jaw) for the time being and veteran blueliner Radek Martinek is out for the rest of the season with a concussion.
Rick Nash finished with two assists for the Blue Jackets, who bounced back from Thursday's home loss to Dallas. Steve Mason was solid in net, stopping 34-of-35 shots.
"Mason was great," Blue Jackets interim head coach Todd Richards said. "It was good to see him get a win and it was a typical R.J. game, getting a goal on the power play when we needed it because we weren't playing very good hockey."
The Blue Jackets are 9-14-3 as the home club this year and will also host St. Louis and Chicago during this residency.
Columbus has won two of the three meetings against the Ducks this year and today's game marks the final encounter of the season between these clubs. Anaheim has taken three of five overall from the Blue Jackets, but Columbus has won two of its last three home tests against the Ducks.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Florida Panthers will try to post their first three-game winning streak since early December when they visit the New York Islanders for today's clash at Nassau Coliseum. Florida, which leads Washington by t
<< U.S. finishes off Davis Cup sweep of host Swiss
Fribourg, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States had already
clinched a victory over host Switzerland in their best-of-five Davis Cup tie
before capping off the weekend on Sunday with two more singles wins in a 5-0
sweep i
<< Lakers finish Grammy Road Trip in Toronto
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a bad case of Linsanity safely in the rearview mirror
the Los Angeles Lakers will get back to business and finish their annual
Grammy Road Trip north of the border against the Toronto Raptors.
The Lakers served as not
<< Jazz start tough stretch in Memphis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memphis continues a five-game homestand Sunday when it
welcomes the struggling Utah Jazz to FedEx Forum.
The Grizzlies improved to 2-1 on the residency Friday when Rudy Gay scored 21
points as Memphis defeated the Indiana
<< Warriors entertain Rockets in Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will shoot for a fourth straight win
tonight in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors.
The Rockets improved to 3-1 on a six-game road trip Thursday in Phoenix when
Luis Scola scored 16 points and wa
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings will try to end a rough road trip on a positive note when they visit the rival Dallas Stars for today's Pacific Division battle at American Airlines Center. The Kings are 1-3-1 so far on a six-game sw
Pens welcome Bolts to Steel City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins tied a season-high for goals in a
game on Saturday and will try to carry some of that offense into tonight's
contest when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins host
Sharks begin epic trek in St. Louis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place San Jose Sharks will make the first stop on
their longest road trip of the season tonight, as they visit the St. Louis
Blues in a Western Conference showdown at Scottrade Center.
The Sharks lead the Pacific
Red Wings shoot for NHL home record vs. Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to tie the NHL record for
consecutive home wins when they shoot for their 20th straight victory at Joe
Louis Arena tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers.
It's fitting that the Red Wings wil
Last-place Novara stuns Inter at San Siro >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Unfortunately for last-place Novara, it does
not play Inter Milan again this season.
Andrea Caracciolo scored in the 56th minute Sunday and Novara won for just the
third time in Serie A this season - and the
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.