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06/19/2010 - Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power from Team Penske won the pole for Sunday's Iowa Corn Indy 250 IZOD IndyCar Series after beating Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon by the slimmest of margins in qualifying at Iowa Speedway.
Power, currently second in points, recorded a four-lap average of 181.338 m.p.h. around the .875-mile track for his fourth pole of the season, but his first on an oval. He also gave Penske its seventh straight pole.
"It's fantastic," said Power, who claimed his sixth career IndyCar pole. "It's the best place to start the race tomorrow. It's going to be a long day. It's a tight track around here, and there's always a lot of traffic. I just want to have a good result on an oval, and I'm looking for it here."
The Aussie held a sizeable points lead after finishing no worse than fourth, including two victories, in the first four road course races this season. He has finished no better than eighth in the last three oval races -- Kansas, Indianapolis and Texas.
Power was only 0.002 seconds quicker than Dixon, who will start on the outside pole.
"In qualifying, we did very well sitting in P2, and the four-lap average was so close to Will Power," Dixon said. "We barely missed it. We will try to improve even more and hopefully get some points for the championship, but I am very happy with [qualifying]."
Marco Andretti qualified third, followed by Helio Castroneves and current points leader Dario Franchitti, who won this race in 2007 and '09. He missed Iowa in 2008 when he was competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.
Franchitti, the defending series champion, enters the race with just a two- point advantage over Power.
Alex Tagliani, Takuma Sato, Ryan Briscoe, who won two weeks ago at Texas, Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon, the 2008 race winner at Iowa, will start sixth through 10th, respectively.
Milka Duno spun and crashed hard into the turn two wall during her qualifying attempt. Duno was not injured and was cleared by medical officials to compete in Sunday's 250-lap race, which is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. (et).
<< Jin Jeong cruises to British Am title
East Lothian, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Korea's Jin Jeong captured a 5 & 4
win over Scotland's James Byrne in the 36-hole final at the British Amateur
Championship on Saturday.
In the 125-year history of the event, Jeong became th
<< Saints ship OL Brown to Redskins
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have traded left
tackle Jammal Brown to the Washington Redskins in exchange for an undisclosed
pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Brown, who was a restricted free agent, signed his
<< Report: Saints agree to ship OL Brown to Redskins
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have reportedly
agreed to trade left tackle Jammal Brown to the Washington Redskins in
exchange for a conditional draft pick.
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayu
<< Broadaway takes one-shot lead in Arkansas
Fort Smith, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Broadaway carded a five-under 65 on
Saturday to grab a one-stroke lead after 54 holes of the Fort Smith Classic.
Broadaway finished three rounds at Hardscrabble Country Club at 11-under-par
199. H
Pedroia lifts Red Sox over Dodgers >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Pedroia drove in the game-winning run
with a single in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the Boston Red Sox edged
the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4, in the second installment of a three-game
interle
Edwards wins caution-filled Nationwide race at Road America >>
Elkhart, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards finally performed his celebratory
back flip from his car for the first time this NASCAR season after winning
Saturday's inaugural Bucyrus 200 Nationwide Series race at Road America.
Edwards d
Twins rally to win wild slugfest against Phillies >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young drove in the go-ahead run
during a three-run 11th inning, as Minnesota rallied from a pair of five-run
deficits to top Philadelphia, 13-10, in the middle contest of a three-game
interle
Hur leads by one in New Jersey >>
Galloway, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - M.J. Hur fired a seven-under 64 Saturday to
take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
Hur, who collected her lone LPGA Tour win last year, finished 36 holes at 11-
under-par 131
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.
Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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