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02/04/2012 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves to record his third shutout of the season, as the Washington Capitals snapped a four-game road skid with a 3-0 victory over Montreal.
Dennis Wideman, Matt Hendricks and Alexander Semin supplied the goals in Washington's first road triumph since its last visit to the Bell Centre on January 18. That contest also ended 3-0. In fact, Saturday marked the third consecutive time Montreal had been shut out by the Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin was back in the lineup for Washington after serving a three-game suspension for an illegal hit on Pittsburgh's Zbynek Michalek prior to the All-Star break.
Peter Budaj stopped 20 shots for the Canadiens, who have dropped three in a row.
After a clean faceoff win by Brooks Laich, Wideman let go a shot from the right point that floated past Budaj at the 8:10 mark of the first period.
Laich played a key role in the second Washington goal. He came out from behind the net with possession of the puck and tried to stuff it in at the right post. A scramble ensued and Hendricks wound up firing the puck over a prone netminder at 6:11 of the third.
The Capitals then were awarded their second penalty shot of the game when Semin was tripped on a breakaway. Budaj denied Troy Brouwer midway through the second period, but he had no chance at gloving Semin's slap shot from the high slot at 11:57.
Game Notes
Washington has won four straight as the guest against the Canadiens and improved to 5-0-1 in its last six trips to Montreal...Vokoun posted his 47th career shutout...The Capitals avoided tying their season-worst five-game road skid from November 15-December 5.
<< Ohio State tops Wisconsin to remain atop Big Ten
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Sullinger had 24 points and 10 rebounds,
as No. 3 Ohio State edged No. 19 Wisconsin, 58-52, in a matchup of Big Ten
elites.
The Buckeyes (20-3, 8-2 Big Ten) entered Saturday just a half game ahead
<< U.S. takes a 2-0 lead over Belarus at Fed Cup
Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans Christina McHale and Serena
Williams were both winners on Saturday to give the U.S. a 2-0 advantage over
Belarus in a Fed Cup World Group II matchup.
This is the first-ever Fed Cup meetin
<< Capitals shutout Canadiens on road
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves to record his third
shutout of the season, as the Washington Capitals snapped a four-game road
skid with a 3-0 victory over Montreal.
Dennis Wideman, Matt Hendricks and Alexan
<< Youzhny to face Lacko for Zagreb crown
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Youzhny and Lukas Lacko were
semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Zagreb Indoors
tennis tournament.
The third-seeded Youzhny eased into the title match with a 6-3
Parcells, 3 WRs not among HOF inductees >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Parcells, who won two Super Bowls as
a head coach, and all three wide receivers up for consideration failed to make
the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Curtis Martin, Dermontti Dawson, Chris Do
No.4 Stanford cruises against Arizona >>
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joslyn Tinkle led the way for No. 4 Stanford
with 22 points and 11 rebounds, as it demolished Arizona 91-51 at McKale
Center on Saturday.
All five starters scored in double figures including Chiney Og
Tello, Messi lead Barcelona past Real Sociedad >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cristian Tello and Lionel Messi scored a
goal apiece as Barcelona edged Real Sociedad, 2-1, at Camp Nou on Saturday to
keep pace with Real Madrid in the chase for the La Liga title.
Tello put Barcelona
Wyoming upsets No. 11 UNLV >>
Laramie, WY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leonard Washington and Francisco Cruz netted 16
points apiece as Wyoming upset No. 11 UNLV, 68-66, on Saturday.
Luke Martinez added 15 points and Adam Waddell contributed 14 for Wyoming
(18-5, 4-3 Mountain
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.
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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