08/17/2008 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers signed defensive end Orpheus Roye to a one-year contract Sunday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Florida State product spent his first four seasons with the Steelers after the team drafted him in the sixth round of the 1996 NFL Draft. The six-foot- four, 330-pound Roye signed with Cleveland in 2000 and spent seven seasons with the team before being released earlier this year.
Roye has 360 tackles and 18 1/2 sacks over his 11 NFL seasons.
<< Funk cruises to first major title at Tradition
Bend, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fred Funk had six birdies in the first 15 holes,
then dropped three shots over the final three holes Sunday as he won his first
major championship title by three shots at The Tradition, the Champions Tour's
fourth ma
<< Rams G Setterstrom suffers sprained left knee
Mequon, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams guard Mark Setterstrom injured
his left knee in a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers on Saturday
and could miss the rest of the season.
Setterstrom, a seventh-round pick of the
<< Brewers' Weeks leaves game early
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie
Weeks left Sunday's 7-5 loss to the Dodgers in the sixth inning with a
sprained left thumb.
Weeks said the injury occurred as he struck out in the f
<< Red Bulls overcome adversity to shut down TFC, 2-0
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC
entered their Major League Soccer fixture on Sunday deadlocked at the bottom
of the Eastern Conference table.
But New York (7-6-7) now has new life this se
Rams G Setterstrom, T Gorin lost for the season >>
Mequon, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams guard Mark Setterstrom injured
his left knee in a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers on Saturday
and will miss the rest of the season with a fractured patella.
Setterstrom, a sev
Hamels makes it happen as Phils edge Pads >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cole Hamels got his first win in a month
and a half to help the Philadelphia Phillies take a 2-1 win in the conclusion
of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Hamels (10-8) g
McCown, Bucs beat Pats >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke McCown went 7-for-10 with 79 yards and a
touchdown as the Tamp Bay Buccaneers downed the New England Patriots, 27-10,
in preseason action.
Earnest Graham had a one-yard touchdown run while Michael
Rays hold off Rangers >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Kazmir was convincing on the mound,
while B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena both homered to lead the Tampa Bay Rays in a
7-4 victory over the Texas Rangers in the finale of a three-game set.
Kazmir (9-6)
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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