Mighty Caps host sliding Stars

Hockey Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals were struggling heading into the Olympic break but the NHL's point leaders seemed to regain their swagger last week.

The Caps will shoot for a fourth straight victory tonight, when they host the Dallas Stars at Verizon Center.

Washington set a franchise record with 14 straight wins from January 13- February 7, but then lost its last three tests before the Winter Games. Since the league returned to action last week, however, Washington has been a perfect 3-0.

Washington has also won a club-record 13 straight on home ice and has a superb 25-3-3 record as the host this season. The Capitals' last loss in DC came December 28 against Carolina.

The Capitals lead the Eastern Conference and the NHL with 96 points. They are also 30-points ahead of Atlanta for first place in the Southeast Division.

Washington is coming off Saturday's victory in a defensive battle against the visiting New York Rangers. Jose Theodore stopped all 30 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season, leading the Capitals to the 2-0 win at Verizon Center.

Eric Fehr and Eric Belanger lit the lamp for the Capitals.

"You need to win games 2-0, 2-1, when you're in the playoffs," said Theodore. "We played really well. We never panicked and never gave them much, especially in the third."

Washington failed to score at least three goals for the first time since January 2, a streak of 23 consecutive games. It was two off the Caps' franchise record of 25 straight games scoring at least three times, originally set from December 22, 1984-February 14, 1985.

Capitals superstar winger Alex Ovechkin also failed to register a point for the third time in his last four games. He is still leading the NHL with 90 points, but has just one assist in his last four outings.

The Stars, meanwhile, have lost three straight games and that slide is not helping the club's playoff chances. Dallas, which missed the postseason last year, is currently six points out of playoff berth in the West.

Dallas was dealt a decisive loss Saturday in Pittsburgh as Sidney Crosby lit the lamp twice and collected an assist to lift the Penguins to the 6-3 win at Mellon Arena.

Loui Eriksson, Mike Ribeiro and Brandon Segal each had a goal for Dallas. Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen, making his first start since being acquired from Atlanta in February and first start overall since last April 11, stopped 28 shots in defeat. Lehtonen missed most of the 2009-10 campaign while recovering from offseason back surgery.

Marty Turco could get the start tonight as the Stars try to ease Lehtonen back into the regular grind of an NHL season.

Tonight marks the middle test of a three-game road trip for the Stars, who are just 10-16-7 as the guest this year. Dallas will cap the swing Wednesday in Buffalo.

The Caps and Stars are meeting for the only time this season. Washington notched an overtime win in Dallas last season. That snapped a three-game losing streak in the series for the Capitals.

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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.