UNLV holds off San Diego State

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Hawkins forced a turnover with one second remaining and UNLV preserved a 13-point second-half edge as they held off San Diego State, 65-63, at Thomas & Mack Center.

Mike Moser led the way with 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for the Runnin' Rebels (22-4, 6-2 Mountain West). Oscar Bellfield added 15 points and six assists and Brice Massamba contributed 12 points for UNLV, which remained undefeated at home (13-0).

Chase Tapley dropped a game-high 22 points for SDSU (20-4, 6-2). Jamaal Franklin added 15 and eight rebounds for the Aztecs, who had a six-game winning streak against UNLV snapped.

SDSU took its first lead of the second half, 63-62, on Tapley's three-pointer with 1:25 to go but Moser picked off a pass on the Aztec's next possession and dished it out to Anthony Marshall for a fastbreak layup and a one-point Rebel lead they would not relinquish.

Wwsportsbooks NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Thunder Moccasin strikes in Hutcheson Stakes
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odds-on favorite Thunder Moccasin had a successful three-year-old debut Saturday in the $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The colt covered the seven-furlongs in 1:24.16 on a track listed

<< No. 7 Kansas dominates Oklahoma State
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Robinson had 26 points and 14 rebounds, helping the seventh-ranked Kansas Jayhawks dominate the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 81-66. Jeff Withey also had a double-double with 18 points and 19 boa

<< Lekic, Osasuna sink Barcelona
Navarra, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona's title ambitions took a massive hit on Saturday as Dejan Lekic scored a first-half brace to help Osasuna stun the defending champions, 3-2, at the Estadio El Sadar. Lekic provided an early b

<< Marquette handles Cincinnati
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder each scored 23 points, as the 18th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles dominated the Cincinnati Bearcats, 95-78. Jamil Wilson and Vander Blue added 15 and 14 points

<< Wojta powers Green Bay past Wright State
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Julie Wojta may only be six feet tall, but she stood head and shoulders above Wright State on Saturday. The undersized forward scored 30 points, pulled down 20 rebounds, blocked four shots and added eight

Tennessee knocks off No. 8 Florida >>
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trae Golden had 17 points to go with seven assists as the Tennessee Volunteers earned their first true road win of the season with a 75-70 triumph over No. 8 Florida. Jeronne Maymon recorded a double-

Morgan's late heroics lift U.S. past New Zealand >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Morgan scored twice in the final minutes to cap a 2-1 comeback win for the U.S. women's national team against New Zealand in a friendly on Saturday. The Americans dominated play in the first half but were

Hymn Book captures Donn Handicap >>
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hymn Book, making his 2012 debut, outfought Mission Impazible down the stretch to win Saturday's $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. The six-year-old gelding covered the 1 1/8- miles i

Plumlees dominate as Duke routs Maryland >>
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miles Plumlee scored 13 points and pulled down a career-high 22 rebounds as No. 10 Duke defeated ACC-rival Maryland, 73-55, at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday. Plumlee became the first Duke player to gra

Montana's Gregorak elevated to defensive coordinator >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Montana assistant football coach Ty Gregorak was promoted to defensive coordinator, Grizzlies third-year head coach Robin Pflugrad announced Saturday. Gregorak, 33, rejoined the Montana program

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.

Football Betting Lines

The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.

Bet NFL Sports Lines

Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.

Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.

A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.

Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.

Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.

And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.

2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win

Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1

Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1

Donald Brown (IND) 5/1

Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1

Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1

Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1

Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1

Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1

Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1

Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1

Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1

Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1

Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1

Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1

Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1

Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1

Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1

LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1

Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2

Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1

Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1

Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1

Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1

Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1

Jason Smith (STL) 40/1

Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1

Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1

Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1

Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2

Pat White (MIA) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 9/1

Betting Line

To visit this sports betting site go to BettingExpress.com for all your football betting lines needs.

For sports betting with credit cards site go to BettingExpress.com as well.