Clippers continue road trip in Charlotte
Basketball Betting Lines
02/11/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers continue their lengthy Grammy Road Trip by visiting the Queen City to take on the hapless Charlotte Bobcats.
Chris Paul buried a game-winning shot with 3.2 seconds remaining on Friday as the Clippers improved to 3-1 on their six-game trek with a thrilling 78-77 win in Philadelphia.
A pair of Lou Williams free throws had Philadelphia up, 77-76, with 18 seconds remaining, but Paul hit a twisting, fadeaway jumper near the foul line that proved to be the difference.
Paul finished with a game-high 24, Blake Griffin added 16 and 11 rebounds and Mo Williams scored 14. Former 76er Reggie Evans didn't score, but impacted the contest with 10 rebounds -- five offensive -- in 19 minutes of action.
"One thing I pride myself on is ball handling," said Paul. "I may not make every shot but I feel like I can get any shot that I want because of ball handling. I've always been undersized, so one thing I know is that I can create my own shot."
Los Angeles will finish its trip in Dallas, and is 6-5 as the guest this season as well as a solid 7-2 against the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte, meanwhile, is a miserable 3-23 on the year and enters tonight's contest having matched a franchise record by dropping 13 in a row.
The Bobcats' most recent loss came on Friday when a Derrick Rose-less Chicago team waltzed into Charlotte and destroyed the Bobcats, 95-64. Derrick Brown was the lone Charlotte player to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with 10 as the team matched it's other 13-game skid from Jan. 11-Feb. 1, 2006.
Kemba Walker scored nine points on 2-of-11 shooting from the floor, while Boris Diaw, Bismack Biyombo and Cory Higgins added eight points apiece.
"I don't know what it was. We just weren't in it," said Charlotte head coach Paul Silas.
Bobcats leading scorer Gerald Henderson remains out with a strained hamstring while point guard D.J. Augustin is expected to miss his 10th consecutive game tonight with an injured toe.
The Clippers, of course, are without veteran guard Chauncey Billups, who is out for the season after suffering a torn left Achillies earlier this week.
LA has won two straight and three of its last four over Charlotte.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets will try to halt a season-high five-game losing streak when they visit the Hoosier State to take on the Indiana Pacers. The Nuggets have hit the skids and hit them hard, dropping four of five during the
<< Panthers shoot for rare win in Jersey
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers hope to reclaim sole possession of
first place in the Southeast Division with a scarce road win against the
Devils this afternoon in New Jersey.
The Panthers have posted a 5-5-4 record over their last
<< Jets activate Stapleton off IR
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Jets have activated center Tim
Stapleton off injured reserve.
Stapleton had been sidelined since January 20 with a lower body injury. He has
appeared in 37 games this season, entering Saturda
<< Thrashers activate Stapleton off IR
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Jets have activated center Tim
Stapleton off injured reserve.
Stapleton had been sidelined since January 20 with a lower body injury. He has
appeared in 37 games this season, entering Saturda
<< Hantuchova to face Kirilenko for Pattaya crown
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Daniela
Hantuchova and Maria Kirilenko were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet
for the title at the Pattaya Open.
The third-seeded Hantuchova eased past Taiwanes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been an offensively-frustrating road trip for the Los Angeles Kings, one they will continue this afternoon against a New York Islanders club that failed to post a point for the first time in six games last time out.
Sixers try to right the ship in Cleveland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers will try to put the brakes on their
first losing streak of the season when they square off with a Cleveland team
that will be minus rookie star Kyrie Irving for a third consecutive game.
The Sixers c
Bruins host Preds in clash between struggling clubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins are trying not to
panic during their recent skids. The two clubs look to get right this
afternoon as the Predators visit the Bruins.
Though Nashville is 14-4-1 over its past 19 gam
Love meets Linsanity at Target Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's time for New York's Jeremy Lin to experience a little
"Love" when the Knicks visit the Timberwolves on Saturday.
"Linsanity" was in full force Friday in Madison Square Garden when Lin
continued his unlikely rise from
Spurs take Rodeo Road Trip to New Jersey >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Antonio will resume its annual Rodeo Road Trip on
Saturday in New Jersey by welcoming back Manu Ginobili to the lineup.
Ginobili, who has missed more than a month with a broken left hand, will
likely come off the bench
Sportsbooks to bet on football
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.