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07/22/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Kaye fired a course-record, eight- under 63 Thursday to grab a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational.
Kaye, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, broke the course record by two strokes on the Scarlet Course at Ohio State University Golf Club.
Scott Brown posted a 65 and is alone in second. D.J. Brigman, Nick Flanagan, Tjaart van der Walt and William McGirt share third place at five-under 66.
Kaye tripped out of the gate with a bogey on the second. He erased that mistake with a birdie on the fourth and came right back with another birdie at the par-three fifth.
The 39-year-old birdied the next par-three, No. 8. Kaye followed that with a hole-out eagle on the par-four ninth, which moved him to minus-four.
"I had a nice number and just tried to smooth an eight-iron 164 yards," Kaye said of his eagle. "The ball had eyes on it when it hit on the green. It went dead left, right in the cup."
Around the turn, Kaye picked up a birdie on the par-five 12th. He dropped in back-to-back birdie efforts from the 15th to move one ahead of Brown.
Kaye closed with a birdie at the last to push his lead to two strokes.
Brown was in the second group out in the morning wave off the first tee. He had a similar start to Kaye as he also bogeyed No. 2. Brown came back with birdies on three and five.
A birdie on the eighth helped Brown make the turn at minus-two. He converted a birdie chance on the 10th, then made eagle on the par-five 12th.
Brown birdied the 15th, then parred the final three holes to head to the clubhouse with the early lead.
"This is a very good golf course," Brown stated. "The greens are soft and it gives you a chance to be a little more aggressive, but you have to take some chances too."
Daniel Summerhays, who became the first amateur to win on the Nationwide Tour when he captured the 2008 crown, opened with a four-under 67. He was joined in seventh place by David McKenzie, Camilo Benedetti, Joe Affrunti, Michael Putnam and Kyle Stanley.
NOTES: Tommy Gainey, who earned his second win of the season last week and took over the top spot on the tour's money list, opened with a one-over 72, which left him tied for 77th...Benedetti aced the par-three eighth...There are 10 amateurs in the field this week with Russell Henley posting the best score, a three-under 68.
<< Trial date hearing in Bonds case to be held Friday
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A hearing has been set for Friday to
determine a trial date in the Barry Bonds perjury case.
Bonds faces several counts of making false statements under oath to a
federal grand jury during
<< Ralston joins Houston as assistant coach
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Ralston was hired as an assistant coach
by the Houston Dynamo on Thursday, just two days after he ended his storied
playing career in Major League Soccer.
Ralston had played in MLS since the league s
<< Cowboys ink first-round pick WR Bryant
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys have agreed to terms with
first-round draft pick wide receiver Dez Bryant.
Terms of the contract were not yet known, although The Dallas Morning News
reports the deal is for five years
<< Phils' Moyer out indefinitely; weekend rotation filled internally
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer
will be out indefinitely after suffering an elbow injury on Tuesday against
the St. Louis Cardinals.
Moyer, 47, is expected to be placed on the disabled
City coach Mancini interested in Donovan >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini
admitted he is interested in United States and Los Angeles Galaxy star Landon
Donovan.
Donovan played 10 games on loan at Everton last season and had two goals i
Delahoussaye leads by two in Canada >>
Etobicoke, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brent Delahoussaye fired an eight-under 62
Thursday to take the lead after the opening round of the Canadian Open.
Delahoussaye's 62 at St. George's Golf & Country Club matched the tournament's
18-hole
Newcastle adds former Everton midfielder Gosling >>
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newly-promoted Newcastle signed former
Everton midfielder Dan Gosling to a four-year contract on Thursday.
Gosling, 20, is the second addition for Newcastle ahead of its return to the
Premier League
Jol turns down Fulham job >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fulham will have to look elsewhere for a
new manager after Martin Jol turned down the chance to return to the Premier
League.
The former Tottenham boss has decided to stay in charge of Ajax af
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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.
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