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02/08/2012 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The defending champion British Columbia Lions inked defensive back Korey Banks to a contract extension on Wednesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Over the past number of years, Korey has been a central figure in our defense and on our team," said vice president of football operations and GM Wally Buono. "Having him under contract is a big part of our foundation moving forward and this is a very important extension."
Banks earned a West Division All-Star mention after recording 43 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception last season.
Now entering his ninth CFL season, the former 2004 pick of the Ottawa Renegades has totaled 346 tackles, 34 interceptions, 21 sacks and 11 forced fumbles with two defensive touchdowns.
<< Thigh injury sidelines Inter's Samuel
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan defender Walter Samuel could miss
the next two weeks after picking up a thigh injury in Sunday's 4-0 defeat to
Roma.
The former Argentina international was replaced at halftime of the loss an
<< Providence picked to host 2013 AHL All-Star Classic
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American Hockey League selected
Providence, Rhode Island, as the host for the 2013 All-Star Classic on
Wednesday.
"The American Hockey League is excited to be returning to one of its fo
<< Delaware State will play Cincinnati in 2012
Dover, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Visits to the University of Cincinnati and the
University of Delaware help highlight Delaware State's 2012 football schedule.
The Hornets are coming off a 3-8 season in Kermit Blount's first year as head
coach.
<< Rocchi to miss three weeks with thigh injury
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lazio striker Tommaso Rocchi is expected to
miss the next three weeks due to a thigh injury.
Rocchi sustained the problem in Sunday's 3-2 defeat at Genoa and will miss
Serie A games with Cesena, Palerm
No problem: Houston lands 2013 NBA All-Star Game >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2013 All-Star Game will be held in Houston,
the NBA officially revealed on Wednesday.
The game itself will be played at the Toyota Center on Sunday, February 17
with All-Star festivities starting two da
Padres take a flyer on Jeff Suppan >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres on Wednesday signed
veteran hurler Jeff Suppan to a minor league contract with an invitation to
spring training.
Last season, the 37-year-old right-hander went 11-8 with a 4.7
Good weather means increases at Oaklawn >>
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not one day of racing has been missed at
Oaklawn Park in 2012 allowing the track to increase daily purses. The track
announced Wednesday that overnight purses are going up $5,000 a day starting
this we
Super Bowl underdogs cash in again >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Betting the underdog in the Super Bowl is
never a sure thing as evidenced by Green Bay's win and cover as the favorite
in the 2011 contest. However, with the Giants victory as 2.5-point underdogs
last S
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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.
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