09/29/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With three races now completed in this year's "Chase for the Sprint Cup," all three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers - Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart - are for all intents and purposes done in the championship.
After recording eight victories in the regular season, Busch started the "Chase" at New Hampshire with a 30-point lead. But engine and mechanical problems have plagued him in the last three races, resulting in finishes of 34th (New Hampshire), 43rd (Dover) and 28th (Kansas). He is now last in the 12-driver "Chase" standings, 311 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, who won at Kansas.
The tumble in points has been a huge disappointment for Busch, who was a favorite to win the title when the "Chase" began earlier this month.
Stewart dropped four positions to 11th in the "Chase" after a 40th-place run at Kansas. On Lap 129, he made contact with Brian Vickers and slid through the infield grass. Stewart's crew removed grass and other debris from the front end of his car during his pit stop. He had to pit again later, and fell seven laps behind as his crew repaired a broken splitter caused by the incident. Stewart is 255 points behind Johnson.
Despite dealing with an ill-handling car, Hamlin had the best result among Gibbs' drivers at Kansas with an 11th-place finish. But he also finished 38th last week at Dover, after suffering rear-end issues during the mid-stages of the race. Hamlin is currently 10th in the rankings (-243).
The battle for this year's Sprint Cup Series championship has come down to Johnson, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, who coincidentally finished one-two- three at Kansas. Just 30 points separate the top-three drivers, with Talladega the next stop on the series schedule.
While it comes as a major surprise to see Busch at the bottom of the standings, it's not as much of a shock to notice where Hamlin and Stewart now rank.
Hamlin struggled to make the "Chase" as he fell to 12th in the standings after a 39th-place finish last month at Michigan. He finished third in the final three races of the regular season to secure him the sixth seed in the playoffs. Hamlin has scored one victory for the season, coming in March at Martinsville, VA.
Stewart has yet to win a race this season, but finished a close second to Johnson earlier this month at Richmond. He would like to notch one more victory for team owner Gibbs before he departs at the end of the season to start his own team.
Gibbs has won three Cup championships this decade, two with Stewart (2002 and '05) and one with Bobby Labonte (2000).
During a season in which JGR has dominated the Nationwide series in record fashion, scoring 17 victories so far this year, the team has experienced a setback in Sprint Cup since the "Chase" began.
In the end, Gibbs will have to find a way to rally his troops in preparation for next season.
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OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE
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Zobrist hit .455 down the str
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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