Kaleta scores in OT to help Sabres snap road skid

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick Kaleta scored the game-winner 2:22 into overtime, as the Buffalo Sabres edged the New York Rangers, 2-1, at Madison Square Garden.

With the overtime period halfway over, Kaleta charged down the right side of the ice and fired a shot on net. Kaleta collected the rebound behind the net and was able to jam the disc past Henrik Lundqvist, who had his pads stacked against the post.

Adam Mair scored in regulation for the Sabres, who snapped an eight-game road skid. Ryan Miller made 35 saves for Buffalo, which won away from home for the first time since January 18.

Brandon Dubinsky lit the lamp for the Rangers, who have dropped three in a row following a three-game win streak.

The goaltenders dominated the first two periods of play. Miller stopped 16 and six shots in the first and second frames, respectively, while Lundqvist made 12 and nine saves over the first two stanzas.

Buffalo got on the board at the 14:03 mark of the third. Derek Roy slid a pass from behind the net to Mair, whose snap shot beat Lundqvist.

A Jochen Hecht slashing penalty put the Rangers on the power play a few minutes later. Dubinsky capitalized for New York by chipping in a rebound off a Michael Del Zotto shot with 1:23 left to deadlock the game.

Neither team scored the rest of the way to send the tilt into overtime.

Game Notes

The Sabres lead the season series with the Rangers, 2-1...Buffalo's eight-game road skid matched the longest road losing streak in the franchise's 39 seasons of existence, an 0-5-3 stretch during the 2007-08 campaign.

Wwwthriveonline Hockey Betting News

<< Leighton strong in Flyers' win over Leafs
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Leighton made 27 saves to help the Philadelphia Flyers take a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Wachovia Center. Danny Briere, Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter each had a goal for the Flyers,

<< West Virginia advances to Big East semis with win over DePaul
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liz Repella had 16 points to help seventh- ranked West Virginia to a 47-41 win over DePaul in the Big East quarterfinals. Sarah Miles had nine points and five assists while Asya Bussie added nine poin

<< Pistons rally vs. Rockets, snap six-game skid with OT win
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tayshaun Price provided a season-high 29 points and 10 rebounds and spearheaded a late comeback in regulation, and the Detroit Pistons edged the Houston Rockets in overtime, 110-107, at the Palace at Aubu

<< Field and Eskendereya top second Kentucky Derby Future Wager
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The mutuel field and Fountain of Youth champ Eskendereya came up as the top two selections at the close of betting of the second Kentucky Derby Future Wager of 2010. The third and final Future Wager takes p

<< Legace, Hurricanes blank Thrashers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Legace stopped 27 shots to pick up his first shutout of the season, as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-0, in a Southeast Division showdown at Philips Arena. Jussi Jokinen h

Canadiens-Ducks Sum >>
Montreal 0 1 2 0-4Anaheim 3 0 0 0-3Montreal won shootout 2-1First Period-1, Anaheim, Perry 23 (Getzlaf, Ward), 8:54. 2, Anaheim, Visnovsky 11, 12:54 (pp). 3, Anaheim, Niedermayer 8 (Getzlaf, Wisniewski), 19:07.Second Period-4, Montreal, Pleka

Wizards-Celtics, Box >>
WASHINGTON (83)Thornton 10-17 3-5 24, Blatche 10-20 3-3 23, McGee 2-3 9-10 13, Foye 3-14 3-3 9, Miller 3-7 2-3 8, Singleton 2-3 0-0 4, Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Boykins 1-2 0-0 2, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Oberto 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-68 20-24 83.BOSTON (86)Pierce 6-

Lady Vols down Kentucky for SEC title >>
Duluth, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shekinna Stricklen poured in 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, as fourth-ranked Tennessee defeated Kentucky in the SEC title game. Kelly Cain added 11 points for the Lady Vols (30-2), who completed thei

Chappell out as coach at Central Arkansas >>
Conway, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Central Arkansas fired head men's basketball coach Rand Chappell and his staff on Sunday. The move came a day after the Bears completed their season with a mark of 9-21 overall, including 3

Deslauriers, Oilers blank Devils >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season to help the Edmonton Oilers take a 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils at Rexall Place. Gilbert Brule and Marc Pouliot each had a

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.