Broncos ink DL Vickerson, cut Smith
Football Betting Lines
09/07/2010 -
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos bolstered their defensive
line on Tuesday by agreeing to terms with Keith Vickerson to a contract.
Details were not released per team policy.
The 6-foot-5, 321-pound defensive lineman was recently released by Seattle
after the Seahawks acquired him from Tennessee in the offseason.
Vickerson, a five-year veteran, was originally taken in the seventh round of
the 2005 NFL Draft out of Michigan State by Miami. He played with the Dolphins
for two seasons before moving on to the Titans where he played three more.
In 24 career games -- two starts -- Vickerson has amassed 1 1/2 sacks, 75
tackles, four passes defensed and one fumble recovery.
Denver also announced that defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith has been released.
<< Hendrick taking different approach to Chase this year
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Team owner Rick Hendrick arguably had his
best season in NASCAR's premier series in 2009, with Jimmie Johnson, Mark
Martin and Jeff Gordon finishing 1-2-3, respectively, in points. That same
scenario won't be un
<< Nets waive F May
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have requested
waivers on forward Sean May less than a month after signing him.
May had signed with New Jersey on August 9 and suffered a stress fracture in
his left foot las
<< A's bring up Hermida
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics on Tuesday selected the
contract of outfielder Jeremy Hermida from Triple-A Sacramento.
The A's signed Hermida last week after he was released by the Boston Red Sox,
and was promptly
<< Cubs' Silva activated from DL to make Tuesday start
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs activated right-hander
Carlos Silva from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday, in time to make his
first start in over a month.
The Cubs announced on Saturday that Silva, who hadn't
<< Wild F Sheppard out indefinitely
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Wild center James Sheppard will be
out indefinitely after suffering a fractured left patella.
The Wild announced Tuesday that the 22-year-old sustained the injury during
non-hockey related activ
Rockies recall Escalona among numerous roster moves >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies on Tuesday recalled right-
handed pitcher Edgmer Escalona from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
The 23-year-old Escalona will look to make his debut in the majors. The
Venezuelan native
Nats recall Maya for highly-anticipated debut >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals recalled pitcher
Yunesky Maya from Triple-A Syracuse among a quartet of moves on Tuesday prior
to their game with the New York Mets.
Maya, a right-hander, is slated to make
Alouettes QB Calvillo expected to sit vs. Ticats >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony
Calvillo will likely not play in his club's next game with the Hamilton Tiger-
Cats on Saturday.
TSN of Canada and CFL.ca both reported on Tuesday that while
Chicago's Boquete wins WPS Player of the Week >>
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Red Stars attacker Veronica Boquete
was named Women's Professional Soccer Player of the Week for Week 21 on
Tuesday.
Boquete led the Red Stars to wins in their final two games of the 2010 sea
Youzhny reaches Open quarters; Querrey ousted in five sets >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny
was a fourth-round winner Tuesday at the 2010 U.S. Open, while Sam Querrey,
the final American in the field, was beaten in five sets by Switzerland's
Stanislas Wawrinka
Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “
What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?
There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).
Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
How the Opening Line Is Made
The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.
Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.
A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)
The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.
For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."
“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
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