08/18/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Look out Kyle Busch. Here comes Carl Edwards, who turned his championship quest up a notch with a victory in Sunday's 3M Performance 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Edwards held off Busch, the current points leader, in a two-lap shootout to the finish to claim his fifth Sprint Cup victory of the season. He performed his signature back-flip off his car not once, but twice, in Michigan this past weekend as he also won Saturday's Nationwide Series race.
Edwards became just the second driver to score a weekend sweep at Michigan. Mark Martin won the Cup and Nationwide race there in August 1993. Edwards also joined Busch as the only drivers to record weekend sweeps at a track this season. Busch won both NASCAR races at Chicagoland last month.
While Busch has clinched the top seed in the "Chase for the Sprint Cup," which begins September 14th at New Hampshire, Edwards is expected to secure the second position in the "Chase" standings this Saturday at Bristol, where he is the defending winner of the night race. Busch leads the standings with 80 bonus points for his eight wins. Despite five victories, Edwards has 40 bonus points since he was deducted 10 points for a rules infraction after winning at Las Vegas earlier this year.
Edwards has hit a peak, winning two of the last three Sprint Cup races, and it couldn't have come at better time as three races remain before the "Chase" starts. Two weeks ago, he capitalized on a late-race pit strategy to win at Pocono. Edwards had just enough fuel remaining to beat Tony Stewart to the finish line.
He has also gained momentum in the Nationwide Series after his victory in the Carfax 250 at Michigan. The defending series champion moved to within 113 points of leader Clint Bowyer, and has plenty of time to catch Bowyer for the Nationwide points lead as 10 races remain in the season.
No driver has ever won both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide titles in the same year, and Edwards would love to become the first to accomplish the feat.
Last year, Edwards scored four victories and 21 top-10 finishes en route to his first Nationwide championship, which he captured the title by an impressive 618-point margin of victory. If he wins his second-straight series title, he would join Sam Ard (1983-84), Larry Pearson (1986-87), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (1998-99) and Martin Truex, Jr. (2004-05) as the only drivers to do so.
Edwards made his Cup debut on August 22nd, 2004 at Michigan. In his first full-year of competition in 2005, he qualified for the "Chase" and ended the season third in the standings, just 35 points behind champion Stewart.
He also made the "Chase" in 2007, but finished the year ninth in points.
Clearly, Busch and Edwards will head into this year's "Chase" as the two front-runners for the title.
However, don't count out two-time defending Cup champion and current third- place occupant Jimmie Johnson, who has two wins so far this year. Johnson, who is attempting to match Cale Yarborough's record three titles in a row from 1976-78, could end up the third seed.
Judging from his winning performance at Michigan, it's likely we'll see more backward somersaults from Edwards before the 2008 season concludes. How many more back-flips this year will tell the tale whether Edwards has won one or both championships.
<< Isner reaches second round in New Haven
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Towering American John Isner was among the
Day-2 first-round winners at the $708,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final U.S.
Open tune-up.
The 6-foot-9 Isner got past Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-4 on the hard
<< Wigginton and Santana named NL co-players of the week
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros third baseman Ty Wigginton and
New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana were named National League Co-Players of
the Week for the period ending August 17.
Wigginton led the National League with
<< Schnyder wins Pilot Pen opener
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder posted an
opening-round win Monday at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final U.S.
Open tune-up.
The fifth-seeded Schnyder snuck past American wild card Jill Craybas 6-4, 7
<< Pirate rally halts Mets' six-game winning streak
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Pearce and Jack Wilson got to the
Mets' bullpen in the eighth, combining to knock in three runs in the inning to
lift the Pirates to a 5-2 win over New York in the finale of a four-game set
in Pitt
This Week in Golf - August 21st through August 24th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - THE BARCLAYS, Ridgewood Country
Club, Paramus, New Jersey - The FedEx Cup Playoffs start this week at
Ridgewood Country Club, former host of the 1935 Ryder Cup, the 1990 U.S.
Senior Open and the 20
Orton named Bears' starting quarterback >>
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears announced Monday that
Kyle Orton will line up under center in the team's season opener September 7
in Indianapolis.
Orton, a fourth-round draft pick in 2005 from Purdue, had been b
Texans sign RB Shipp >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Texans announced Monday that they
have signed running back Marcel Shipp.
Shipp, an eight-year veteran, was released by Arizona earlier this month.
Signed as an undrafted rookie free agent b
Pirates place Mientkiewicz on bereavement list >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates placed first
baseman Doug Mientkiewicz on the bereavement list following Monday's win
against the New York Mets.
Mientkiewicz left the team to be with his wife, who unde
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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your baseball sportsbook needs.
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