Leafs-Oilers not what it used to be

Hockey Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There was a time when the Edmonton Oilers playing the Toronto Maple Leafs on a Saturday night was a glittering affair.

In the 1980s, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Co. would come in to Maple Leaf Gardens and dismantle the Leafs, as they did most other teams, but it was OK because it was a chance for fans to see the Brantford-born Gretz and his fast- skatin', high-scorin' teammates up close.

There was a buzz in the air, scalpers were giddy with the outrageous premiums they received for even their lousiest ducats, and transplanted Albertans living in Toronto could rejoice as their team stuck it to the self-absorbed, big-city Leaf lovers.

These days, not so much.

Only the truly puck pious - and there are many in Leafs (Abomi-)Nation - could get excited about Saturday's matchup pitting the NHL's 29th-place team (Leafs) against the 30th-place team (Oilers). Only the Boston Bruins, who hold Toronto's first-round pick in each of the next two entry drafts, could muster excitement for this clunker.

That said, the storyline was Pat Quinn coaching his first game for another NHL team in Toronto since the Leafs fired him following the 2005-06 season. Not surprisingly, the barrel-chested Irishman was featured in a welcome-back video during the first period. It was a nice touch, but the Leafs will likely do a welcome-back video for Jamal Mayers and Matt Stajan, too, so there you go. And don't rule out a Pavel Kubina bobblehead at some point.

CROSS-CANADA CHECK-UP

MONTREAL CANADIENS: The Montreal Canadiens are hot. The Habs have won 10 of their last 14 games and eight of those victories have been backstopped by Jaroslav Halak. Nothing like a goaltending controversy to send the always-rabid Montreal hockey media into a full, salivating frenzy. Will Halak stay? Will he go? Will Carey Price be traded? Who knows? Who cares? As long as the Canadiens keep winning, fans will love them - win or tie.

OTTAWA SENATORS: From mid-January to the Olympic break, the Sens won an amazing 14 of 16 games, which made my good friend Brett very, very happy. You see, he is a lifelong Sens fan, and I'm not sure he's ever fully recovered from the 2007 Stanley Cup final and Ottawa's less-than-stellar performance in a five- game series loss. Since the Olympic break ended, however, the Sens have lost five of six. In those six games, Ottawa has scored eight goals. The team has scored more than one goal in only one of those six games since the medals were presented. Jonathan Cheechoo, after scoring 56 goals in 2005-06, had five in 61 games this season before being dispatched to AHL Binghamton on the eve of the Olympics. In 13 games with the Baby Sens, Cheech has four goals and four assists.

CALGARY FLAMES: The Flaming C's have won five of six games as bronze-medal- winning goalie Miikka Kiprusoff continues his mule-like workload with apparently few negative effects. The Flames are now one point behind Detroit for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS: Anyone else wondering if there is just a wee bit of awkwardness between Canucks teammates and Olympians Roberto Luongo (Canada) and Ryan Kesler (USA)? And is teammate Pavol Demitra (Slovakia) looking at Kesler and saying, "If it weren't for that ridiculous save Louie made in the dying seconds of the semi-final, it coulda been me in the gold-medal game"? The Canucks have won eight of their last 12 games and are tied with the surprising Phoenix Coyotes for third in the West. More importantly, the Canucks survived a 14-game, month-and-a-half road trip because of the Olympics. They welcomed fans back Saturday with a convincing 5-1 drubbing of the Ottawa Senators in their first home match since January 27.

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Stephen Knight is a Toronto-based writer who has written about hockey since 1994.

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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.