Duensing dazzles again as Twins down Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

08/20/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Duensing sparkled on the mound for a second straight start, this time tossing eight innings of one-run ball, as the Twins grabbed a 7-2 win over the Angels at Target Field.

Duensing (7-1), who tossed his first career complete game in a 2-0 win over Oakland last Saturday, gave up seven hits and fanned six batters in the opener of this three-game set. He moved to 9-1 in 15 career starts.

Jason Kubel hit a three-run homer off Dan Haren in the third inning as Minnesota widened its lead to 4 1/2 games over Chicago in the AL Central. The White Sox had their game at Kansas City postponed by rain Friday, causing a doubleheader on Saturday.

The Twins, who have won seven of their last eight overall, have captured 10 of their last 11 at home.

Haren (1-4) was touched for 11 hits and seven runs over seven innings as Los Angeles lost for the fourth time in five games.

Howie Kendrick had three of LA's eight hits and scored on Torii Hunter's double-play grounder in the fourth inning.

It was rough-going for Haren at the start as Denard Span and Orlando Hudson singled. Joe Mauer followed with a sacrifice fly to center.

J.J. Hardy doubled to begin the bottom of the third and two outs later Mauer was given an intentional walk. Kubel followed with a three-run blast to right field.

The Twins padded their lead to 7-1 in the fourth. Jim Thome tripled for the 26th time in his career and Delmon Young singled to center. After Danny Valencia doubled, Hardy lifted a sac fly to left. Hudson singled up the middle later in the frame for another run.

Duensing gave up a one-out double to Peter Bourjos in the eighth, but came back to get Bobby Abreu and Kendrick on ground balls to escape the inning.

Alberto Callaspo doubled off Matt Guerrier in the ninth and scored on a Juan Rivera groundout.

Game Notes

Earlier in the day, the Twins placed infielder Nick Punto on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. The team also recalled infielder Matt Tolbert from Triple-A Rochester...The Angels, who went 0-for-5 with men in scoring position, have lost 18 of their last 24 road games.

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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.