12/03/2008 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yao Ming scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Houston Rockets to a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center.
Rafer Alston added 21 points, seven assists and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who have won seven of 10. Ron Artest contributed a 19-point effort, while Carl Landry posted 12 points and eight rebounds in the win.
Zach Randolph had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who have lost six of seven. Al Thornton added 24 points and nine boards, while Marcus Camby posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Baron Davis scored 13 points and dished out nine assists in the loss.
Clinging to a one-point lead after three quarters, Houston began the fourth on a 6-0 run to take a seven-point advantage. Steve Novak made it a four-point game on a jumper for LA with 7 1/2 minutes left, but the Rockets surged to an eight-point advantage behind Artest's layup and two free throws.
Yao's jumper from close range gave Houston a 97-89 lead with 3:06 left, and Landry followed with a couple free throws with 1:27 to go, increasing the lead to 10. The Rockets were able to hold on from there.
Yao scored 10 points in the first quarter, and the Rockets held a 27-19 advantage after the opening period.
Jason Hart's free throw pulled the Clippers to within four at 43-39, but the Rockets extended their lead to seven before halftime, 53-46.
Houston went up by as many as 15 on Yao's jumper with 10 minutes left in the third, but the Clippers climbed back into it. LA started with a 9-0 run after giving up the jumper to make it 61-55.
Davis got the Clips to within one headed into the fourth, hitting a three- pointer with just four seconds left to make it 77-76.
Game Notes
LA rookie Eric Gordon provided 10 points...Yao was 12-of-13 from the free throw line...Houston leads the season series, 2-0...Seven of the Clippers' next nine games are on the road.
<< Ming fuels Rockets past Clippers
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yao Ming scored 24 points and grabbed 10
rebounds, leading the Houston Rockets to a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles
Clippers at Toyota Center.
Rafer Alston added 21 points, seven assists and ei
<< No. 15 Wake Forest routs Indiana
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Johnson scored 21 points and
grabbed five rebounds, leading the 15th-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons to an
83-58 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Johnson shot
<< Smith returns for Hawks
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, who had
missed the previous 12 games due to a high left ankle sprain, returned to
action by starting Wednesday's 105-95 win against Memphis.
Smith played just 11 min
<< Backstrom, power play fuel Wild win over Blues
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a career-worst performance in his
last outing, Niklas Backstrom turned aside all 22 shots he faced to record his
third shutout of the season, as the Minnesota Wild blanked the St. Louis
Blues,
BC Lions release Clermont >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The British Columbia Lions released slotback
Jason Clermont Wednesday night.
A first-round draft pick by the Lions in 2002, Clermont has 428 career catches
for 5,917 yards, placing him sixth on the club'
Cards pick up Greene from Padres >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have reportedly
acquired shortstop Khalil Greene from the San Diego Padres.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that two minor league relievers will be
heading the other way i
Spurs battle Nuggets at Pepsi Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs arrive in the Rocky Mountains
Thursday to take on the streaking Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.
The Spurs dropped their second straight game on Tuesday in San Antonio when
Detroit's Al
Suns attempt to end skid in Dallas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns will try to stop a season-high three-game
losing streak tonight when they pay a visit to the Dallas Mavericks at
American Airlines Center.
The Suns dropped their third in a row after Wednesday'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 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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