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06/17/2010 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche on Thursday dealt forward T.J. Hensick to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Julian Talbot.
Hensick, 24, began the 2009-10 season with the Avalanche, but was a regular healthy scratch, appearing in just seven games, before he was demoted to Lake Erie of the American Hockey League. He registered 20 goals and 50 assists in 58 games for the Monsters.
Colorado's third-round pick (88th overall) in 2005, Hensick has 11 goals and 35 points in 99 career NHL games.
Talbot, 25, played 76 games for the Blues' AHL affiliate last season, the Peoria Rivermen, scoring 17 goals and collecting 15 assists. Originally signed by St. Louis as an undrafted free agent, Talbot has yet to appear in an NHL game.
The Avalanche also re-signed forwards Kevin Porter and Philippe Dupuis and defenseman Ray Macias to one-year contracts.
Porter, 24, who came over from Phoenix on March 3 in the trade that also landed Peter Mueller and sent Wojtek Wolski to the Coyotes, had two goals and one assist in 16 games with Colorado.
The former Hobey Baker Award winner has seven goals and 13 points in 54 career games with Phoenix and Colorado.
<< Cubs rally late to take series with A's
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kosuke Fukudome's single in the bottom of the
ninth inning scored Geovany Soto to give the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 win over the
Oakland Athletics in the rubber match of a three-game interleague series at
Wrigley
<< Mickelson five back of early leaders
Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Mickelson failed to make a birdie
Thursday while starting the U.S. Open with a four-over 75 that left him five
shots back of the early first-round leaders.
Pebble Beach yielded few good scores
<< Pirates extend manager Russell, GM Huntington
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday
officially announced contract extensions for manager John Russell and general
manager Neal Huntington.
The deals were agreed to before the start of the season
<< Swiss defender Senderos could miss rest of Cup
Durban, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Switzerland's Philippe Senderos could
miss the remainder of the FIFA World Cup with an ankle injury suffered in the
country's 1-0 win over Spain on Wednesday.
Senderos played just 36 minutes, joinin
Browns release K Suisham, seven others >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns released eight players
Thursday, including kicker Shaun Suisham.
Suisham was inked in May to compete with long-standing kicker Phil Dawson for
the starting job.
The team also relea
Coyotes re-sign Aucoin to two-year contract >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes have re-signed defenseman
Adrian Aucoin to a two-year contract.
The 36-year-old Aucoin registered eight goals and 20 assists while appearing
in all 82 games last season, his first in th
Phil Jackson resists thoughts of coaching future >>
LOS ANGELES (AP) -Phil Jackson's mind was focused on Game 7 of the NBA finals, not on his future with the Los Angeles Lakers.He's in the final year of his contract, with no word about a possible extension.``I've resisted thinking about that and talk
Smith goes low, Daly in the hunt at Fort Smith >>
Fort Smith, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nathan J. Smith fired a nine-under 61 on
Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Forth Smith Classic at
Hardscrabble Country Club.
John Daly, a two-time major winner and former member o
NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.
Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.
There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.
Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.
The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
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.
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