11/21/2008 - St. Thomas, VI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freshman guard Kemba Walker came off the bench to pour in 23 points, pacing second-ranked Connecticut to a hard-fought 89-81 win over La Salle in the opening round of the Paradise Jam.
Jeff Adrien tallied 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Huskies (3-0), who will face 17th-ranked Miami-Florida on Sunday. The Hurricanes toppled Southern Miss, 70-60, earlier Friday.
Jerome Dyson scored 17 and A.J. Price chipped in 12 points for UConn, which shot 54.7 percent from the field.
Rodney Green scored 25 to pace the Explorers (1-2), who will take on Southern Miss Saturday. Yves Mekongo Mbala and Ruben Guillandeaux scored 13, and Vernon Goodridge had 12 in defeat.
The Explorers were behind by six points at the half, but closed the gap to 56-55 following a Green three-ball with nearly 13 minutes remaining. UConn scored the next six points, but La Salle came back again, pulling within 62-61 following a Green layup with 8 1/2 minutes to go.
The Huskies pulled away again with the ensuing eight points, capped by a three-pointer from Price. La Salle couldn't get closer than five after that juncture.
La Salle had the upperhand early by racing to a 13-6 lead, capped by a Goodridge layup.
Dyson's layup had UConn ahead 29-27 with 7 1/2 minutes remaining in the half, and the Huskies were in front, 46-40, at the intermission.
Game Notes
This was the first meeting between the schools...La Salle finished at 50 percent from the floor.
<< Young, Panthers overpower Akron
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sam Young scored 26 points and grabbed six
rebounds to lead sixth-ranked Pittsburgh to an 86-67 win over Akron in the
Legends Classic at the Petersen Events Center.
Levance Fields finished with 19 p
<< Skins' Portis to be game-time decision
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis
was limited in practice on Friday, and is listed as questionable for
Sunday's matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.
The seventh-year pro has been dealing
<< Boozer sits out in San Antonio
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer missed
Friday's game against the San Antonio Spurs with a strained left quad tendon.
Boozer left Wednesday's win over Milwaukee in the fourth quarter while going
up f
<< Collins leads No. 17 Miami past Southern Miss
St. Thomas, VI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwayne Collins scored 14 points and grabbed
nine rebounds to lead the 17th-ranked Miami Hurricanes to a 70-60 win over
Southern Miss in the Paradise Jam opener.
Jack McClinton and Lance Hurdle added 13
Rockets conjure up win with fourth-quarter rally over Wizards >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tracy McGrady scored 14 of his team-high 20
points in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets woke up from a lackluster
start to upend the lowly Washington Wizards, 103-91.
Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks
Smith helps Duke top Michigan in MSG title game >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nolan Smith scored 16 points and Kyle Singler
added 15 points and eight rebounds as 10th-ranked Duke topped Michigan, 71-56,
in the title game of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Gerald H
Lewis has the Magic in OT win over Pacers >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rashard Lewis scored 23 points, including
the final seven for Orlando in overtime, as the Magic edged the Indiana
Pacers, 100-98, for their fifth straight victory.
Lewis finished 9-of-12 from th
Hansbrough starts against UCSB >>
Santa Barbara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina senior forward Tyler
Hansbrough, who missed the first two games of the season, started Friday night
when the top-ranked Tar Heels battled UC-Santa Barbara.
Hansbrough missed the firs
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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