Avs beat slumping Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Jones scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche took down the slumping Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, at Pepsi Center.

Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal for the Avalanche, who snapped a five-game slide. Jean-Sebastien Giguere gave up two goals on 31 shots.

"Honestly, when we play teams like Chicago and Vancouver, we seem to respect them more," said Colorado center Paul Stastny, who had two assists in the game. "We move the puck quicker, we may give up a few more transitions, but we also get more chances. And when Giguere plays like he did tonight, we are fine."

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are on a season-high six-game losing streak as the team managed goals from just Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane. Ray Emery was tagged for four goals on 28 shots.

"Every mistake we make is being capitalized on," said Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith. "We have to get in a better position to turn things around. Everything we seem to do seems to be harder. We have to start outworking the other teams."

With the score tied in the third, Colorado grabbed the lead on Landeskog's 12th of the year. Stastny brought the puck in down the left side and from the boards he left a drop pass for Landeskog, who let fly with a shot from the top of the left circle that beat Emery to the glove side for a 3-2 lead just 38 seconds in.

Jones then gave Colorado some insurance with 8:18 to play in the game as his wrister from the right circle on the fly beat Emery cleanly.

Quincey scored into the empty net with 2:02 left to seal the win.

After a scoreless first period, Chicago took a 1-0 lead just 31 seconds into the second when Seabrook found a loose puck at the left circle and blasted it into the net.

Colorado tied it three minutes later on a 2-on-1 break as Ryan O'Reilly faked the shot from the left circle before sliding the puck down low where Mueller redirected it into the net.

Jones gave the Avs a 2-1 lead just 35 seconds later when he snapped the puck home on a wrister from the slot off a feed from Milan Hejduk.

Kane, though, tied the game at the 6:14 mark of the second when he got the puck from Patrick Sharp at the right circle and sent a heavy backhand on net that blew by Giguere.

Game Notes

Colorado won three of four from Chicago in the series this season...Colorado hosts Carolina on Friday...Chicago, which is on its longest losing skid since an 0-6-1 slide from Dec. 30-Jan. 11 during the 2007-08 season, continues its nine-game road trek in San Jose on Friday...Chicago didn't take a single penalty in the game, but did go 0-for-3 on the power play.

Mypokerface Hockey Betting News

<< Aves beat slumping Blackhawks
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Jones scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche took down the slumping Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, at Pepsi Center. Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal for the Avalanch

<< No. 3 Ohio State holds on, beats Purdue
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - William Buford netted a game-high 29 points and added seven rebounds as No. 3 Ohio State fought off a resilient Purdue team, 87-84, on Tuesday. The teams exchanged the lead 16 times, but a jumper by

<< Canadiens top Penguins in shootout
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Plekanec scored in the eighth round of the shootout to help the Montreal Canadiens take a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Bell Centre. In the eighth round, Plekanec beat Marc-Andre Fleury to t

<< Jets edge Maple Leafs
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bryan Little scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period, and the Winnipeg Jets hung on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1, on Tuesday. Chris Thorburn also lit the lamp for the Jets, w

<< Edler lifts Canucks over Preds in shootout
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexander Edler scored in the sixth round of a shootout Tuesday night, lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators. Edler challenged Pekka Rinne from the left side, skating de

Rangers lock up SS Andrus with 3-year deal >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers agreed to a three-year, $14.5 million contract with shortstop Elvis Andrus on Tuesday night, according to MLB.com. The deal, which is pending a physical, would make him a free agent af

Ellis' 48 not enough, Durant lifts Thunder over Warriors >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant scored 33 points and made the go- ahead jumper with 14.2 seconds remaining, as the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder snuck past Monta Ellis and the Golden State Warriors, 119-116. Durant also

Zvonareva, Kirilenko advance at Pattaya Open >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion Vera Zvonareva and fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko were second-round winners Wednesday at the $220,000 Pattaya Open tennis tournament. The top-seeded Zvonareva moved on with

Western Illinois offensive coordinator resigns >>
Macomb, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Western Illinois is seeking an offensive coordinator following the resignation of Doug Ruse on Tuesday. He held the position over the the last two years, including the Leathernecks' 2010 FCS playoff season. "

Sabres open homestand against Bruins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Buffalo Sabres will try to open a four-game homestand on a positive note when they host the Boston Bruins this evening at First Niagara Center. The Bruins, meanwhile, will try to record consecutive wins for the

Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .

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.