White Sox put home streak on line against Mariners
Baseball Betting Lines
07/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox shoot for their ninth straight home win this evening, when they continue their four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field,
After a 4-6 road trip, Chicago returned to the Windy City for the start of a seven-game homestand and got a terrific pitching performance from John Danks. The left-hander tossed eight innings of one-run ball and Juan Pierre went 3- for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, leading the White Sox to a 6-1 win.
Danks (11-7) scattered six hits and a walk to win his fourth consecutive start.
"He has a huge heart. Every time he's out there he fights every pitch," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of Danks. "Even when he doesn't have the best stuff, he fights."
Paul Konerko added a solo home run and Alexi Ramirez had three hits, scored a run and drove in another in the victory, Chicago's sixth in seven games against the Mariners this season.
Seattle's Felix Hernandez (7-7) was touched for four runs on nine hits and three walks over seven frames, the ninth straight outing the right-handed ace has lasted at least that long for the Mariners, who were looking for their first three-game winning streak this month.
"My sinker was pretty good, but the strikeout pitch was not," said Hernandez, who finished with a season-low tying three punchouts.
Getting the call for the White Sox tonight will be right-hander Gavin Floyd, who is 5-8 with a 3.87 earned run average. Floyd did not get a decision on Wednesday against the Mariners, but was terrific in scattering five hits over seven scoreless innings of his team's 2-1 loss.
Since getting hammered for six runs in just 2 2/3 innings by the Texas Rangers on June 2, Floyd has surrendered one earned run or less in eight of his last nine starts, but is just 3-2 in that stretch.
Floyd is 1-4 lifetime against the Mariners with a 6.25 ERA in 10 games, eight of which have been starts.
Seattle, meanwhile, will counter with left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith, who is 1-9 with a 6.26 ERA on the year. Rowland Smith did not get a decision on Thursday against Boston, as he surrendered five runs and eight hits in six innings of an 8-6 loss.
The Mariners are just 3-15 in Rowland-Smith's 18 starts and have dropped all five of his July outings.
Rowland-Smith is 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in three games (two starts) against the White Sox.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edinson Volquez aims to start another Cincinnati win streak when the Reds visit Miller Park tonight for the second test of a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. Cincinnati had beaten the Brewers six straight times
<< Cubs' Lilly to make possible showcase start against Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Slumping lefty Ted Lilly faces a team against which he's
had career-long success tonight, when the Chicago Cubs meet the Houston Astros
in the second test of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park.
In Monday's opener, Rya
<< Resurgent Phils to begin home set with Diamondbacks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies are starting to play like the
team that won back-to-back National League titles. Tonight they shoot for a
sixth straight win when they open a three-game series against the Arizona
Diamondbacks at Cit
<< Mets return home to face Wainwright following disastrous trip
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a disastrous road trip, the New York Mets return home
in the hopes of finding their offense. Too bad they have St. Louis ace Adam
Wainwright waiting for them.
Wainwright will look to extend his scoreless innings stre
<< Dodgers hope to gain some ground in San Diego
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After stumbling out of the gate to begin the second half,
the Dodgers have finally started to turn things around. It's a good thing,
because the National League West-leading Padres have had no such troubles
since the All-Star
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Johnson could put himself into the record books when the Florida Marlins continue their four-game series with the San Francisco Giants this evening at AT&T Park. Johnson has gone 13 straight starts without allowin
Lackey returns to Anaheim as Red Sox take on Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey returns to Anaheim for the first time since
leaving for Boston as a free agent when the Red Sox continue their three-game
set against the Angels this evening.
Lackey, who was 49-32 with a 3.72 earned run averag
A-Rod continues quest for 600 vs. Indians >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees used the long ball to come through
with a win over the Cleveland Indians last night, but none came off the bat of
Alex Rodriguez.
With their star slugger still stuck on 599 career home runs, the Yankee
Braves get another look at Strasburg >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nationals' Stephen Strasburg hasn't faced many
hiccups since reaching the majors, but the 22-year-old phenom wasn't at the
top of his game when he first faced the Braves.
Strasburg will look for better results tonigh
Reeling Rockies return home to battle Bucs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly-skidding Colorado Rockies welcome another
struggling National League team to Coors Field tonight, when they open a
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Colorado, which has lost six straight g
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.