Blues begin key homestand against reeling Stars

Hockey Betting Lines

03/10/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the St. Louis Blues are to get back into the playoff picture on their upcoming homestand, they are going to have to earn it. The team begins that key residency tonight versus the Dallas Stars at Scottrade Center.

The Blues are 13th in the Western Conference with 66 points and trail three teams -- including the Stars -- by four points for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference.

St. Louis is 16-12-5 at home this year and 5-3-2 in its last 10 as the host. However, this current stand is no walk in the park. Following tonight's test versus the Stars, the Blues host San Jose on Thursday before getting a visit from Detroit two days later. The Sharks and Red Wings are currently tied for the most points in the conference, while St. Louis' homestand ends on Sunday against a Minnesota team that is currently just one point out of a playoff spot.

The Blues have had little trouble with the Stars this year, however. St. Louis has won both of its matchups with Dallas by a 9-2 margin, including a 6-1 home win back on October 16. St. Louis has won six of its last nine overall versus Dallas and five of the last six in the series played in the Gateway City.

The Blues return to Scottrade Center after having a four-game road winning streak end with Saturday's 5-3 loss in Florida. David Backes scored twice and Brad Boyes once for St. Louis, which lost for the fourth time in its last 10 games overall (6-3-1).

Backes and Boyes each have four points over their last two games. Backes has three goals and an assist in that span, with Boyes notching two goals and a pair of assists.

The Stars, who are tied with Edmonton and Nashville in the conference standings, hit the road tonight after Sunday's 3-1 loss to Montreal marked the club's sixth straight setback at home. Dallas is 14-14-4 as the guest this season and has won three of four and six of its last nine as the away team.

Dallas fell on Sunday despite 10 power-play opportunities. The Stars capitalized just once, getting a goal out of Loui Eriksson for his fourth tally in the last three games. He also has five goals and two helpers over a five-game point streak.

Mike Ribeiro added an assist for a fourth consecutive contest and has also scored twice in that span. Marty Turco made just 16 saves for Dallas, which has have lost seven of its last nine overall.

Turco has been in net for both games versus St. Louis this year, allowing eight goals, and is now 9-6-1 with a tie and 2.17 goals against average in 18 career outings versus the Blues.

Fabian Brunnstrom and Jere Lehtinen are both questionable for Dallas for tonight's game. Lehtinen has missed the last three games due to an upper-body injury, while Brunnstrom suffered a shoulder injury against Montreal.

Wnorthernlight Hockey Betting News

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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.