08/21/2008 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rams running back Steven Jackson arrived in St. Louis on Thursday morning, ending his lengthy holdout as his agent and the club iron out the details on a new contract.
The club's web site, citing team sources, said that Jackson's new deal is believed to be for seven years. It is unclear if the Rams will make Jackson pay the $408,132 in fines he owes after missing 27 days of practice, including all of training camp at Concordia University.
Jackson has missed both preseason games and will likely miss Saturday's exhibition against Baltimore, regardless of whether the contract is finalized.
The 25-year-old is entering his fifth season in the league, all spent in St. Louis. He rushed for 1,002 yards on 237 carries with five scores and had 38 catches for 271 yards and a touchdown in 12 games of an injury-plagued 2007 campaign.
The Oregon State product earned a spot in the Pro Bowl in 2006 after rushing for 1,528 yards with 13 touchdowns and adding 806 yards on 90 receptions with three more scores.
<< A's open four-game series in Seattle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The good news for Oakland is that the last time it won a
series, it was facing Seattle, its opponent tonight in the opener of a four-
game series at Safeco Field.
The bad news is that four-game series took place from
<< ATP chairman to step down
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Executive chairman and president of the ATP
Etienne de Villiers announced on Thursday that he will not renew his contract
at the end of this 2008 season.
Executive chairman since June 2005, de Villier
<< Twins kick off lengthy road trip in Anaheim
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's bad enough that Minnesota is leaving the Twin Cities
for its longest road trip in almost 40 years. The cherry on top is that the
Twins open the trek against the best team in baseball.
Minnesota heads out west t
<< Ponson, Halladay highlight Yanks/Jays finale
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sidney Ponson has fared very well against the Blue Jays in
Toronto over the course of his career. Roy Halladay, meanwhile, can beat the
New York Yankees anywhere. Those two hurlers square off tonight in the rubber
match o
Steelers sign linebacker Farrior >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers signed linebacker
James Farrior to a five-year contract on Thursday. Financial terms of the deal
were not disclosed.
A 12-year veteran that signed with Pittsburgh in 2002, he has
Boro's Hoyte hopes for chance with England >>
Middlesbrough, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Middlesbrough signing Justin
Hoyte believes his move away from Arsenal will boost his international chances.
The $6 million signing believes his switch from being a peripheral figure with
t
Valencia sends Navarro back to Mallorca >>
Mallorca, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mallorca has re-signed Valencia defender
David Navarro on loan for a second season.
The 28-year-old spent the entire last campaign on loan at ONO Estadi where he
made 18 La Liga appearances.
Navarr
Around FCS: Year Of Change For Great West >>
Philadelphia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It hasn't taken long for the Great West
Conference to establish itself as one of the top leagues in FCS. But while the
GFC has experienced more than its share of success on the field in six years,
off the field
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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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