Iles in front at Players Cup
Golf Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Bridgeport, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bradley Iles of New Zealand fired a seven- under-par 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Nationwide Tour Players Cup.
Canadian Brad Fritsch posted a six-under 66 at Pete Dye Golf Club and is alone in second place, followed by Ron Whittaker, Steve Wheatcroft and Brian Stuard in a tie for third at minus-five.
They are all looking up at Iles, who lost a playoff only two weeks ago at the Knoxville Open.
Iles began on the 10th tee Thursday and quickly went into red figures with a birdie at No. 10. His next birdie came at the par-five 14th, then he closed his opening nine with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18.
Things didn't go so well on the second nine for Iles. He bogeyed the first hole to fall back to three-under par for the championship.
That was the final miscue for Iles.
He birdied the third and fourth holes to move into a group tied for the lead at minus-five. Iles birdied the par-five sixth to keep pace with Fritsch atop the leaderboard.
Iles birdied the par-four eighth to grab sole possession of the first-round lead. This is a place he believes he should be, thanks to more toughness.
"My coach, my manager, several players all told me I had the shots and I had the talent but I wasn't aggressive enough," Iles said. "I didn't have enough mongrel in me."
Brad Elder, Andrew Johnson, Brendan Steele and Tom Scherrer share sixth place at four-under 68.
Roger Tambellini, Tjaart van der Walt, Jon Mills, Chris Anderson, Jim Herman, Jin Park, Scott Gardiner, Fabian Gomez, Bob May, Esteban Toledo, Jeff Gove, David Peoples, Jonas Blixt, Jose Teater and John Kimbell are knotted in 10th at minus-three.
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ichiro Suzuki finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored as Seattle downed San Diego, 9-3, in the rubber match of a three-game interleague set from Safeco Field. Mike S
<< Clippers take Griffin with top pick
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers selected Oklahoma
standout forward Blake Griffin as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-10 Griffin was coming off a spectacular sophomore season as he
led the Sooners i
<< Fedorov returning home to Russia
Magnitogorsk, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergei Fedorov has decided to leave
the NHL after 18 seasons.
Due to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, the Washington center has
signed a two-year contract with Russian club Metallur
<< A-Rod ties Mr. October for 11th place all-time
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez hit his 563rd career home run
in the first inning of Thursday's game against the Atlanta Braves and in the
process tied former Yankee great Reggie Jackson for 11th place on the all-time
home ru
<< Perry's 61 good for Travelers lead
Cromwell, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenny Perry had chance at the magical 59 on
Thursday, but settled for a nine-under 61 and the first-round lead of the
Travelers Championship.
Perry needed to go two-under over his last three holes t
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Canadian Football League on Thursday announced its final roster cutdowns before the start of the regular season. Below is a list of players released, sorted by team and position: The B
Gal leads suspended Wegmans LPGA >>
Rochester, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sandra Gal fired an eight-under 64 and held a
one-shot lead Thursday when the rain-delayed first round of the Wegmans LPGA
was suspended due to darkness.
Jiyai Shin stood alone in second place at seven-un
Ramirez slams Marlins past Orioles >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and
five total runs batted in, as the Florida Marlins completed a three-game sweep
of Baltimore with an 11-3 victory.
Rookie Sean West (3-2) tossed six shutout inni
Smoltz struggles in Red Sox debut as Nationals cruise to win >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Willie Harris and Josh Bard each finished
with three hits and drove in a pair of runs as Washington spoiled the Red Sox
debut of John Smoltz with a 9-3 thrashing in the finale of a three-game
interle
Votto helps Reds down Jays >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joey Votto went 4-for-5 with a double, homer
and three runs batted in as the Cincinnati Reds edged the Toronto Blue Jays,
7-5, in the finale of a three-game interleague series at Rogers Centre.
Jay Bruce
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.