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09/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jenrry Mejia makes his first major league start this afternoon, when the New York Mets continue their three-game series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The 20-year-old right-hander made the Mets with a terrific spring and was used in relief before being sent to Double-A in late June to stretch him out to become a starter. He was 0-2 with a 3.25 earned run average in 30 appearances with the big-league team.
"It helped me," Mejia said of his time in the bullpen with the Mets. "Now I know I can pitch here."
Mejia excelled at Double-A Binghamton after being sent down, going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA in six starts. In his first Triple-A start for Buffalo, Mejia gave up a run in eight innings on Monday.
He faced the Cubs twice earlier in the season, tossing two scoreless innings.
The Cubs drew first blood in this series on Friday, as Blake DeWitt's three- run homer in the sixth provided the difference in Chicago's 7-6 victory.
DeWitt hit his fourth home run in just 30 games with Chicago since a midseason trade with the Dodgers, and the Cubs improved to 7-3 under interim manager Mike Quade. Alfonso Soriano also hit a three-run shot in the victory, while Xavier Nady went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Chicago's Randy Wells allowed four runs, eight hits and four walks in the start, and James Russell (1-1) earned the win for retiring the only batter he faced. Carlos Marmol ended up with his 26th save of the season.
David Wright hit a solo homer among three hits and drove in three runs for the Mets, while Luis Hernandez hit his first home run with the team. That still wasn't enough to prevent New York from falling for the fourth time in five games.
Mets starter R.A. Dickey (9-6) squandered an opportunity to set a new career- high in wins after giving up a season-worst seven runs on eight hits and a walk in six frames.
Today Chicago will hand the ball to volatile righty Carlos Zambrano, who has won his last three decisions. Zambrano won his second straight start Monday against Pittsburgh, which managed just an unearned run and four hits in 5 1/3 frames off him.
The three-time All-Star is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in five starts since returning to the rotation following anger management classes.
Zambrano lost to the Mets earlier in the year and is 4-3 lifetime against them with a 3.63 ERA in 11 games, 10 of which have been starts
The Mets won three of four meetings with the Cubs in a series held in New York back in April.
<< Scorching Yanks seek eight straight win in test with Jays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The New York Yankees have solved just about all their
problems during a seven-game winning streak that matches the team's longest of
the season. The defending world champions will now turn their attention
towards getting Jav
<< Georgia holds A.J. Green out of opener
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -Georgia star receiver A.J. Green is being held out of the Bulldogs' opening game against Louisiana-Lafayette.Georgia spokesman Claude Felton says Green will miss Saturday's game for the No. 23 Bulldogs pending a ruling from the NCA
<< Sisk keeps lead at Mylan Classic
Canonsburg, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geoffrey Sisk remained atop the leaderboard
Saturday when the second round of the rain-delayed Mylan Classic was
completed.
Sisk played the final three holes of his round and finished off a four
<< Tuberville's Texas Tech to debut vs. improving SMU
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -June Jones knows the order is a tall one for his improving SMU squad.The Mustangs will open the season Sunday in Lubbock as the first opponent for new Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville, who vowed when he took over in January not
Twins, Rangers continue high-stakes series of division leaders >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- Target Field has been able to provide the Minnesota Twins
with a distinct advantage in its first year of existence, something the
current American League Central leaders would like to have during the first
round of the playo
Marquee mound matchup on tap in Angels-A's tilt >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- This afternoon's showdown between the Los Angeles Angels
of Anaheim and Oakland Athletics may have little effect on the American League
playoff race, but fans attending the Coliseum today should be treated to a
top-notch pit
Cards seek to gain further ground on first-place Reds >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Wainwright tries once again to become the National
League's first 18-game winner when the St. Louis Cardinals continue their
three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds today at Busch Stadium.
Like his team, Wainwri
Rockies try to pin ninth straight loss on reeling Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres try to avoid a ninth straight loss
this afternoon, when they play the middle test of their three-game series with
the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park.
San Diego's slide continued in the opener of this s
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.
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.
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