Busch holds off Martin for Bristol season sweep

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/22/2009 - Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Busch did not have the dominant car of the night, but he saved his best for last to win Saturday's Sharpie 500 and record a season sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch, who won the spring race at Bristol earlier this year, grabbed the lead with 68 laps to go and then held off Mark Martin in several late-race restarts, including the final one for a four-lap shootout, to claim his fourth victory of the season and the 16th of his Sprint Cup Series career.

Martin furiously challenged Busch after the final restart, but ended up finishing one car length behind. He had dominated most of the race by leading 240 of 500 laps.

Marcos Ambrose finished third, while Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

With the victory, Busch moved up two positions to 13th in points and trails 12th-place Matt Kenseth by 34 points with two races to go before the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship begins. Martin also climbed two spots to 10th in points.

Roolingstone Autoracing Betting News

<< Redskins clip Steelers
Landover, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former standout Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel directed the Redskins to a pair of comeback scoring drives in the second half, as Washington edged the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-13. The rookie receiv

<< Lucky Jim captures Breeders Crown Trot Final
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odds-on favorite Lucky Jim, driven by Andy Miller, held off Arch Madness down the stretch to win Saturday's $600,000 Breeders Crown Trot at The Meadowlands. A total of four Breeders Crown races for old

<< Dementieva to battle Sharapova in all-Russian final in Toronto
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova and fourth- seeded Elena Dementieva will meet in Sunday's all-Russian title match after each won their respective semifinal matches on Saturday at the $2 million Rogers

<< Twins hold off Royals
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Kubel drove in three runs as the Minnesota Twins held on for an 8-7 win over the Kansas City Royals in the middle installment of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. Michael Cuddyer hit

<< Valbuena's HR in the 11th lifts Indians over M's
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Valbuena's two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the 11th was the difference, as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Seattle Mariners, 4-3, in the second of three games at Progressive Field. Valbuena

Cutler shines in Bears' win over Giants >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Cutler was impressive in his Soldier Field debut, as the Chicago Bears made short work of the depleted New York Giants, 17-3, in Week 2 preseason action. Cutler went 8-for-13 for 121 yards and a touc

Bucs hold off Jags for one-point win >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke McCown was 6-for-9 for 51 yards with a pair of touchdowns, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers edged the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-23, in preseason action. Byron Leftwich, playing in Jacksonville for

Rodgers leads Packers past Bills >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Rodgers turned in a crisp early performance, completing 8-of-9 passes for a pair of touchdowns as Green Bay rode a strong first half to defeat Buffalo, 31-21, in preseason action from Lambeau

Suzuki's single in 9th leads A's past Tigers >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Suzuki's ninth-inning single in front of a diving Ryan Raburn in left field scored Adam Kennedy and gave Oakland a 3-2 victory over the Tigers. Andrew Bailey (6-3) hurled a perfect ninth inning to pi

Cameron, Lopez lead Brewers past Nats >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Cameron and Felipe Lopez each collected four hits, as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Washington Nationals, 11-9, in the second matchup of a four-game series. Cameron clubbed a tw

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.