12/02/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off yet another milestone, Mike Modano will try to lead the Dallas Stars to consecutive wins for the first time this season, as they visit the Calgary Flames tonight at Pengrowth Saddledome.
Dallas has yet to put together a winning streak this year, one of the main reasons it finds itself last in the Pacific Division with 20 points. The Stars had lost four of five before Sunday's 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Modano notched the game-winning goal late in regulation and coupled with his earlier assist, became the 31st player in NHL history to reach the 1,300-point plateau. He is already the highest-scoring American-born player in league history after passing Phil Housley on the list last season.
Brad Richards finished with two assists, including one on Modano's tally, to give him a goal and five assists over his last four games. Loui Eriksson also had a helper to stretch his points streak to five games (3 goals, 4 assists).
Sean Avery, Toby Petersen and Mike Ribeiro also scored for Dallas, which begins a two-game road trip tonight and is 5-7-1 as the visiting team this year. Marty Turco made 25 saves to get the win.
The Stars have earned a point in 17 of their last 21 games versus the Flames, going 12-4-2 with three ties in that span. Dallas and Calgary split the four- game season series a year ago, with both of the Stars' wins coming at the Saddledome.
Modano has 24 goals, 36 assists and 60 points in his career versus the Flames, while Turco is 12-6-1 with a pair of ties and a 1.84 goals against average against them.
The Flames are on a roll as of late though. They have won five of their last six and are coming off a home-and-home sweep of first-place Vancouver that has moved them to within a point of the Canucks in the Northwest Division.
After a 4-3 win in Vancouver on Thursday, Calgary posted a 3-1 home win against the Canucks to complete the set. David Moss and Matthew Lombardi both scored third-period goals in the win, also Calgary's third in a row.
Daymond Langkow netted the other goal, while Miikka Kiprusoff earned the win by stopping 17-of-18 shots. Dion Phaneuf notched an assist in his third straight game, and Jarome Iginla also had a helper to run his points streak to six games (2g, 6a).
After allowing four power-play goals in a loss to San Jose on November 13, Calgary hasn't allowed a marker while short-handed in six straight games, going 15-for-15 on the penalty kill over that timeframe.
Dallas, meanwhile, is just 2-for-26 on the power play over its last five games.
The Flames have won five of their last six at home and are 9-3-1 at Pengrowth Saddledome this year. They begin a four-game road trip on Friday in St. Louis.
Kiprusoff is 4-8-2 with a 2.49 GAA in his career versus Dallas.
<< Lightning recall Szczechura, Smolenak
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled center Paul
Szczechura and left wing Radek Smolenak from Norfolk of the American Hockey
League.
Szczechura, 23, leads Norfolk in scoring this season, racking up 11 goals
<< Mavs host Clippers in Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Dallas Mavericks kick off a seven-game
homestand Tuesday when they welcome the woeful Los Angeles Clippers to
American Airlines Center.
The Mavs won for the sixth time in seven games Satu
<< 76ers wrap up home-and-home set in Chicago
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The scuffling Philadelphia 76ers will try and right the
ship in the back end of a home-and-home set with the Chicago Bulls in the
Windy City on Tuesday.
Rookie star Derrick Rose scored 18 points, dished out a care
<< Nuggets welcome Raptors to Pepsi Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Northwest Division-leading Denver Nuggets continue a
three-game homestand Tuesday when they welcome the Toronto Raptors into the
Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets, who are tied with Portland atop the Northwest, won the
Lightning aim to turn the page versus Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to put a tumultuous month
of November behind them when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at the
Wachovia Center in the first December outing for both clubs.
The Lightning went just
Wilson returns to San Jose as Leafs visit Sharks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto head coach Ron Wilson makes his return to San Jose
tonight, as the Maple Leafs visit the Sharks at HP Pavilion.
Wilson took over as head coach of San Jose during the 2002-03 season and then
helped engineer a quick
Ovechkin, Caps try to find offense versus Panthers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will try to
rebound from a rare shutout when they welcome the Florida Panthers for
tonight's Southeast Division matchup at Verizon Center.
The Capitals, who are averaging a solid 3
United's Ronaldo named Europe's best >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cristiano Ronaldo was crowned European
Footballer of the Year on Tuesday after winning the 2008 Ballon d'Or.
The 23-year-old Portugal winger won the prestigious accolade after leading
Manchester
Sportsbooks that take credit cards are not always easy to come by....Everything from credit card companies denying gambling transactions to the fear of chargebacks by customers has slowed down sportsbook credit card transactions by a high percentage.
There are however still sportsbooks that take credit cards.
When using your credit card it is highly recommended that you try either: MySportsbook.com or Sportsbooks.com. Both sportsbooks have a high rate of accepting credit cards and will save you the time and hassle of looking around the web to make a credit card transaction.
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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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