08/20/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Zach Jackson makes his second appearance in a Cleveland uniform tonight when the Indians take on the visiting Kansas City Royals in the second of three midweek games at Progressive Field.
Jackson, a supplemental 2004 draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays, initially reached the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006 and made seven starts before beginning this season with the Brewers as a reliever.
He came to the Indians as part of the deal that sent ace CC Sabathia to Milwaukee shortly before the trade deadline.
He debuted with Cleveland on Aug. 14 against Baltimore, getting a no-decision after allowing eight hits and three runs in five innings of the Indians' 11-6 loss.
The 25-year-old native of Latrobe, Pa. has never faced the Royals.
Meanwhile, second-year Kansas City right-hander Gil Meche can extend an eight- start unbeaten streak.
He fell to 6-9 with a 5-2 loss to Baltimore on July 2, but has since gone 4-0 with four no-decisions while his earned run average has dropped from 4.74 to 4.13.
Meche won four straight starts between July 19 and Aug. 4 and has since put together consecutive no-decisions, allowing 11 hits and five runs in 12 1/3 innings.
Meche is 3-7 in 15 career starts against the Indians with a 5.53 ERA in 81 1/3 innings.
He's 5-5 in 13 road starts this season with a 3.65 ERA.
On Tuesday, Grady Sizemore hit a three-run homer, while Ryan Garko and Shin- Soo Choo chipped in solo shots as the Indians turned away the Royals, 9-4.
Anthony Reyes (2-1), in his third start since being acquired from the Cardinals, threw the minimum five innings to get the win, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks for the Indians, who have won three of four.
Luke Hochevar (6-12) dropped his fifth straight decision, yielding four runs on seven hits in five innings. The first overall pick in the 2006 draft left the game with rib cage tightness on his right side and is listed as day-to- day.
Mike Aviles had two hits, a walk and scored twice, while Jose Guillen knocked in a pair for Kansas City, which has dropped six of seven. Miguel Olivo was 3- for-4 in a losing effort.
Cleveland has won five of its nine matchups with the Royals this season.
<< Cards' Isringhausen shut down with elbow tendonitis
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason
Isringhausen has been shut down indefinitely after an MRI exam Tuesday
revealed tendonitis in his right elbow and a partial tendon tear in his flexor
group.
<< Stewart, Hawpe power Rockies past Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Stewart hit a three-run homer and
finished with a career-high five RBI while Brad Hawpe continued his recent
strong offensive play with a two-run homer, as the Colorado Rockies defeated
the Lo
<< Arizona edges San Diego to take NL West lead
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer in his home
debut and Conor Jackson chipped in two RBI, as Arizona held off San Diego for
a 7-6 victory, in the opener of a three-game set.
Chris Snyder, Chris Burke and M
<< Nolasco's near no-no allow Marlins to spear Giants
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Nolasco was dominant, fanning 11 in
a two-hit shutout as the Marlins cruised to a 6-0 win over the San Francisco
Giants in the opener of a three-game set.
Nolasco (12-7) walked one in his first
Pirates wrap up short set in St. Louis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Todd Wellemeyer goes for an eighth start
without a loss tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals host the Pittsburgh
Pirates in the second and final game of an abbreviated two-game set at Busch
Stadium.
Wellemeye
Hewitt pulls out of U.S. Open >>
Sydney, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Lleyton Hewitt will skip
the U.S. Open after undergoing hip surgery.
The former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam titlist was the 2001 U.S.
Open champ and runner-up in 2004.
"Sur
Tigers shoot for another sweep of Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers will try to complete their second
consecutive three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers, as the two teams conclude
their set tonight in Arlington.
Detroit has won all five of its meetings with Te
Liriano leads Twins in finale vs. Oakland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francisco Liriano is not the same pitcher who faced the
Athletics in April. Back to his old form, Liriano will try to lead the
Minnesota Twins to a victory against Oakland this afternoon in the rubber
match o
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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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