Bolts F St. Louis wins Lady Byng Trophy

Hockey Betting Lines

06/23/2010 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis was awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, which is given to the player who best exhibits sportsmanship and excellence on the ice.

St. Louis snapped the four-year stranglehold that Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk held on the honor. He became the first Bolts player to take home the award since Brad Richards did so in 2004.

The Vermont product ended his 11th NHL season with 29 goals and 94 points, but only accumulated 12 minutes in penalties.

Richards, now with the Dallas Stars, along with Datsyuk, were the other two finalists.

Wsuperbowl Hockey Betting News

<< Doan wins King Clancy Trophy
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan won the 2010 King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which honors a player deemed to best exemplify leadership qualities both on and off the ice. Doan posted 18 goals and

<< Caps goaltender Theodore awarded Masterton Trophy
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Capitals goaltender Jose Theodore took home the 2009-10 Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Theodore finished last season with a 30-7-7 record, 2.81

<< Miller takes home Vezina Trophy
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller took home the silver for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender in 2009-10. Miller, a Michigan State product, finished last season with a 41-18-8 record with

<< Coyotes' Tippett wins Jack Adams Award
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix Coyotes bench boss Dave Tippett won the 2010 Jack Adams Award, which is given annually to the NHL head coach judged to have contributed the most to his team's success. Tippett guided the Coyot

<< Ovechkin takes home Ted Lindsay Award
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin took home the Ted Lindsay Award as the best player in the NHL as voted by members of the NHL players association. Ovechkin, 24, finished his fifth

Jutanugarn wins first-round match at Women's Public Links >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stroke-play medalist Ariya Jutanugarn and Kimberly Kim, last year's runner-up, both won their first-round matches Wednesday at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. Jutanugarn, the to

Blackhawks' Keith takes home Norris Trophy >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith won the 2010 Norris Trophy, which is given to the defenseman voted to display the best all-around talent in the NHL. Keith, a five-year veteran, finished last

Sexual assault accusation against Mets' Santana thrown out >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana released a statement Wednesday, confirming he was cleared in a sexual battery case from last October. A document dated January 19, 2010 from the sheriff's office in Le

Sedin wins Hart Trophy as league MVP >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vancouver Canucks forward Henrik Sedin took home hockey's top honor, the Hart Memorial Trophy, as the player judged to be the most valuable to his team for the 2009-10 season. Sedin, part of a tandem with

Crosby named winner of Messier Award >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was selected as the 2010 winner of the Mark Messier Leadership Award. The award recognizes an individual as a superior leader in hockey and as a contributing

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.