Donovan staying at Florida
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
04/05/2007 - Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida men's basketball coach Billy Donovan will apparently remain just that, after much speculation that he might be tempted to leave the program he has built into a national power to take over at SEC rival Kentucky.
A university official would not comment on reports from various media outlets that indicate Donovan's decision to stay, but a press conference with the coach and some of the players was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Donovan has guided the Gators to back-to-back national championships, becoming the first program to accomplish the feat since Duke in 1991 and '92. Rumors during the last two weekends of the NCAA Tournament said Kentucky was waiting for Florida's season to end to offer Donovan its head coaching vacancy.
The Kentucky program has a storied history and has been the premier basketball school in the SEC, but Florida has clearly eclipsed Kentucky in the latter category thanks to Donovan.
A former Kentucky assistant under Rick Pitino from 1989 through '94, Donovan has spent the last 11 years at Florida after two seasons as the head coach at Marshall.
The Gators have amassed a record of 261-103 under Donovan, including a mark of 33-5 this past season. Florida has made nine straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the Final Four three times during his tenure.
Kentucky is trying to fill its opening created when Tubby Smith left after 10 seasons to take the job at Minnesota. Smith guided the Wildcats to a record of 263-83, including 22-12 this past season, and won a national championship in his first year with the program.
Despite NCAA Tournament appearances in each of Smith's 10 seasons, the school had not advanced to the Final Four since the magical run in his first year. The Wildcats were bounced in the second round of the tournament in each of the last two years and Smith's job was rumored to be in jeopardy before he decided to make the move to Minnesota.
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American James Blake will take to the court against Tommy Robredo in Friday's opening singles rubber in the Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal between the United States and Spain in Winston- Salem.
<< Woosnam withdraws from Masters
Augusta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Woosnam, the 1991 winner at Augusta
National Golf Club, withdrew from the Masters on Thursday due to a back
injury.
Woosnam, who captained Europe to victory at last year's Ryder Cup,
<< Arenas sidelined with knee injury
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas
suffered a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee and will undergo surgery to
repair the injury.
Arenas was hurt during Wednesday's game against Charlotte and
<< '07 Preview: Time for Adu to prove he's for Real
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teenager Freddie Adu has been a part of
the hype machine before. When he joined Major League Soccer's D.C. United as a
14-year-old, the American was touted as the next big thing in American soccer.
To be m
<< Isles face Leafs in crucial battle for playoff survival
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will continue their postseason push
tonight, when they head to Long Island to battle the New York Islanders at
Nassau Coliseum.
The Leafs have 89 points and trail Montreal by just one point fo
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gail Goestenkors was introduced Thursday as the new women's basketball coach at Texas. Goestenkors announced her decision to leave Duke on Tuesday and will replace the legendary Jody Conradt as the third
Arena Football Preview - Week Six >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Here are this week's Arena Football League
match-ups for Week Six.
THURSDAY, APRIL 5
COLUMBUS DESTROYERS (2-2) AT DALLAS DESPERADOS (5-0), 8:30 P.M. ET
DESTROYERS: Looking to defeat two undefeated teams i
Palmer excels in new role >>
Augusta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arnold Palmer has not made a start at the
Masters since 2004. He has not made a cut since 1983, where he tied for 36th
place.
He has donned the green jacket four times, although the last one came in 196
Mickelson struggling early at Masters >>
Augusta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Phil Mickelson will have a
hard time successfully repeating if he can not rebound from a disastrous front
nine Thursday at the Masters.
During the opening round of the 2007 season's f
Buehrle leaves game with injured arm >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle left the
team's game against Cleveland in the top of the second inning with an apparent
left arm injury.
The game was deadlocked at one when the Indians' Ryan Garko r
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.