Motherwell stays hot courtesy of Higdon
Soccer Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - Motherwell, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Higdon's hat trick helped Motherwell to a 4-3 win over Hibernian at Fir Park Stadium on Wednesday to help the home side close the gap on second-place Rangers.
Isaiah Osbourne tallied the lone goal for either side in the first half when he beat Motherwell goalkeeper Darren Randolph from six yards.
But the match opened up after the break and Motherwell was back on level terms in the 47th minute when Higdon scored from the penalty spot after goalkeeper Graham Stack fouled Henrik Ojamaa inside the area.
Omar Daley set up Motherwell's second goal when he picked out Jamie Murphy inside the box for a goal from six yards, only for Matthew Doherty to answer back a few minutes later and level the match.
Higdon's second goal came after a pass from Murphy in the 70th minute and he completed his hat trick from the penalty spot five minutes later.
Ivan Sproule pulled a goal back five minutes from time but it wasn't enough to prevent Hibs from dropping its fourth game in the last five.
Motherwell moves to within three points of second-place Rangers with its fourth victory in five matches.
Celtic 2, Dunfermline 0
Glasgow, Scotland - Celtic moved 20 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League on Wednesday after recording a 2-0 win over Dunfermline at Parkhead.
Charlie Mulgrew scored on a great strike from 30 yards midway through the first half to put the hosts ahead, and the Hoops continued to pile on the pressure before finding a second goal in the 76th minute.
Gary Hooper's low cross was stabbed home at the back post by James Forrest, clinching Celtic's 16th straight win in SPL play and leaving Dunfermline on the bottom of the league having claimed just two points from its last six games.
Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Basel continued its impressive Champions League campaign on Wednesday, leaving it late to shock Bayern Munich with a 1-0 victory at St. Jakob-Park. In a back-and-forth match where both sides traded sc
<< Sauter vs. younger Dillon for truck title?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date:
Friday, February 24. Race: NextEra Energy Resources 250. Site: Daytona
International Speedway. Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et).
Laps: 100. Miles:
<< Stenhouse Jr. ready to get Nationwide title defense underway
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday,
February 25. Race: DRIVE4COPD 300. Site: Daytona International Speedway.
Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 1:15 p.m. (et). Laps: 120.
Miles: 300. 2011 Winner: To
<< Pack 'em in for the Daytona 500
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday,
February 26. Race: Daytona 500. Site: Daytona International Speedway. Track:
2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 500. 2011
Winner: Trevor
<< Gatorade Duels: Who's in and who's not in the Daytona 500?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Thursday,
February 23. Race: Gatorade Duel twin-qualifying races. Site: Daytona
International Speedway. Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 2:00 p.m. (et).
Laps: 60 (each ra
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Ksenia Pervak and third-seeded Lucie Hradecka were second-round losers Wednesday at the $220,000 Memphis International tennis event. Italian Alberta Brianti erased Kazakhstan's Pervak
Chivas acquires Mexican striker Romero >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA announced Wednesday that it has
acquired Mexican striker Cesar Romero. Per league and club policy, terms of
the deal were not released.
Romero, 22, most recently played for Murcielagos FC d
Pats release two players >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots released
offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger and defensive lineman Mike Wright on
Wednesday.
Wright, who originally joined New England as rookie free agent o
Bills restructure McGee's contract >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills on Wednesday
restructured the contract of cornerback Terrence McGee.
McGee, who was due $3.6 million next season, is coming off patella tendon
surgery. He suffered the
UConn coach Calhoun to have surgery >>
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun
will miss at least two more games after having surgery to help alleviate the
spinal stenosis that forced him to take a medical leave of absence.
Calhoun will u
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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.