Thompson, 16, cruises to win in Dubai
Golf Betting Lines
12/17/2011 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixteen-year-old American Lexi Thompson closed with a five-under 67 Saturday to win the Dubai Ladies Masters by four strokes.
Thompson finished at 15-under-par 273 for her second professional title. She was the second-youngest winner in Ladies European Tour history behind Amy Yang. Yang, who won as an amateur in 2006, was four months younger than Thompson at the time of her victory.
The young American carded back-to-back birdies from the second before dropping a shot on the par-three seventh. Thompson, who fell behind Lee-Ann Pace with that bogey, atoned for that mistake with a birdie on No. 9, and she made it two in a row with another birdie on the 10th.
Thompson posted two straight birdies for the third time in her round, at 13 and 14. She faltered to a bogey on No. 17, but closed the tournament in style with her fourth birdie in four days at the par-five 18th.
"It feels amazing. I feel really honored that they invited me back," said Thompson, who tied for 22nd last year. "I've been working on my game really hard and it's paid off. I'm going to continue working hard and just trying to improve every tournament."
Pace had two birdies and an eagle in the first six holes to jump to 12-under. She played the last 12 holes in one-over par for a three-under 69. She ended alone in second at minus-11.
Sophie Gustafson managed a one-under 71 to take third at 10-under-par 278. Becky Morgan (70), Stacy Lee Bregman (70) and Pernilla Lindberg (71) shared fourth place at nine-under-par 279.
Michelle Wie (72) tied for 12th at minus-five.
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes acquired Honduran international midfielder Marvin Chavez from FC Dallas on Friday night in exchange for allocation money. Chavez, 28, spent the last three seasons with Dalla
<< Celtics' Green to undergo heart surgery
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics forward Jeff Green is scheduled
to undergo heart surgery January 9 after a team physical detected an aortic
aneurysm.
The Celtics said Saturday that surgery "should completely repair"
<< Rangers edge Inverness to stay unbeaten at home
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Bocanegra and Kyle Lafferty scored
as Rangers downed Inverness, 2-1, on Saturday at Ibrox to remain undefeated at
home in the Scottish Premier League.
Bocanegra handed Rangers the lead 10 minutes i
<< No. 2 Ohio State heads south to take on South Carolina
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes hit the
road for just the second time this season, as they take on the South Carolina
Gamecocks in non-conference action at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia this
afternoon.
<< Bears try to clip wings of 11th-ranked Golden Eagles
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 11th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles put
their unbeaten record on the line this afternoon in Milwaukee, as they welcome
the Northern Colorado Bears to the Bradley Center for non-conference action.
The Gold
Williamsburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - William & Mary will travel to the University of Maryland as part of a difficult road schedule in 2012. In addition to opening the season at Maryland (Sept. 1) and playing at Penn (Oct. 6), the Tribe wi
New Hampshire to visit Minnesota in 2012 >>
Durham, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Hampshire football will visit Minnesota and
play five home games as part of its 2012 schedule.
The Wildcats will open the season on Thursday, Aug. 30 at Holy Cross before
traveling to Minnesota on Sept. 8. U
Ohio State's Sullinger leaves game with foot injury >>
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger left
Saturday's game against South Carolina with a left foot injury.
Sullinger, the preseason All-Big Ten Player of the Year, was kicked in the
foot early in the s
Phillies re-sign Rollins >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phillies have come to an agreement on
a contract with shortstop Jimmy Rollins.
According to multiple reports, Rollins agreed to a three-year contract with a
vesting option for a fourth year. Comcast
No. 16 Georgetown uses strong second half to down American >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Markel Starks scored a career-high 18 points
and Henry Sims added 17, as 16th-ranked Georgetown pulled away in the second
half to earn an 81-55 victory over American at the Verizon Center.
Hollis Thompson
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.