05/09/2008 - Santa Clara, CA (Soccer Betting) - When asked how the Columbus Crew, who have won four straight and five of six, could continue their early-season success, forward Alejandro Moreno had a simple answer.
"Well," Moreno said, "we keep doing the things that we're doing."
What exactly does that mean? Luckily, Moreno had an answer for that too.
"We don't get away from our script. We're a team that has to be organized," he said. "We're a team that has to battle and take advantage of the opportunities that we create and be solid defensively."
"As long as we do that, we're going to give ourselves a chance in every game."
Columbus will try to extend its winning streak to five games Saturday night at the San Jose Earthquakes. The Crew need a win to move back into first place in the Eastern Conference.
Columbus has scored at least two goals in four of its five wins and has posted two shutouts. Three of the Crew's wins during their current undefeated run are by one goal.
"It's great to be 5-1," Crew coach Sigi Schmid said.
What does Columbus have left to prove? Well, the Crew need to play as good on the road as they have at home. Columbus is 4-0 at Crew Stadium but dropped one of its two road games against Red Bull New York, 2-0, on April 5.
The Crew can erase all doubt about how dangerous they are at Buckshaw Stadium.
San Jose, which returned to league this season after a two-year absence, isn't playing great, but has allowed just five goals in five matches. In two matches at home, the Earthquakes have allowed only one goal but are 0-1-1.
"The shutouts are always great, the defense is great," San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon said. "We just need the forwards to get some goals."
San Jose hasn't scored in four of its five games. The Earthquakes scored both of their goals this season in a 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids. San Jose tied FC Dallas, 0-0, last week.
"Take out not scoring and it was a terrific performance by us," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said after last week's game. "We did everything right but score and I do not want the guys to start to get anxious because that will come.
"It was a great performance by us and I think that if we perform like that we are going to win a lot of games.
"It was disappointing because I thought the guys worked hard and should have gotten something out of it. We should have won the game to be honest, but we will look forward to ... Columbus."
"It's a long season, so we can't panic or anything like that. It's too early for that," San Jose midfielder Ramiro Corrales.
Columbus has two players - Moreno and Robbie Rogers - with more goals than San Jose and another one - Adam Moffat - with as many goals this season. Moffat is out this week with a meniscus tear in his right knee.
<< Reds place Mercker on DL
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds placed relief pitcher
Kent Mercker on the 15-day disabled list on Friday, retroactive to May 6,
with lower back pain.
The 40-year-old left-hander has a 3.86 earned run average
<< Phillies continue western swing in San Francisco
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling San Francisco Giants will open a 10-game
homestand this evening, when they welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to AT&T
Park for the first of three straight games.
San Francisco has lost four in a
<< A pair of aces to highlight Padres-Rockies opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A solid pitching matchup is on tap tonight at Petco Park,
where Jake Peavy will lead the San Diego Padres against Aaron Cook and the NL
West-rival Colorado Rockies.
Peavy is 4-1 with a 2.22 earned run average in seven
<< Reeling Brewers return home to face Central-leading Cards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers are back at home after a lengthy road
trip, and they will try to stop a six-game slide tonight in the first of four
straight games versus the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
Milwaukee went 2-7 o
Golf Tidbits: Inkster's major streak to end >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There have been significant winning
streaks in golf over the years, and there have also been plenty of players who
have stressed family over golf. Occasionally the two intersect.
Consider the case of Juli
Wolfsburg, Stuttgart highlight key Bundesliga games >>
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath described
Saturday's Bundesliga match against Stuttgart as a "final."
Wolfsburg has climbed from 11th at the halfway point of the season to seventh
- only Bayern Munich an
Cubs activate Eyre >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs activated pitcher Scott Eyre
from the 15-day disabled list and optioned left-handed pitcher Sean Marshall
to Triple-A Iowa on Friday.
Eyre, 35, has missed the first 34 games this seas
Houston looks for first win vs. first place Rapids >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The back-to-back defending Major League Soccer
Cup champion Houston Dynamo will be gunning for their first win of the 2008
season on Saturday night when they host the Colorado Rapids.
The struggling Dynam
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.
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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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