Borini's brace powers Roma past Inter

Soccer Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A goal in each half from Fabio Borini helped Roma to a comfortable 4-0 win over Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Juan put Roma in front after 13 minutes when he headed home Francesco Totti's corner kick, while Borini added a second goal shortly before the break after being set up by Miralem Pjanic.

The lead was stretched to 3-0 early in the second half when Juan's long ball was tracked down by Borini, who got into the penalty area and slotted his shot past goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

The visitors had no answer for Roma's attack and the hosts grabbed a fourth goal in the final minutes as Bojan Krkic beat three defenders before firing his shot past Cesar to cap the emphatic win.

Roma remains in sixth with the victory but closes to within two points of Inter, which has claimed just one point from its last three matches following a seven-game winning streak.

AC Milan 0, Napoli 0

Milan, Italy - AC Milan was held to a 0-0 draw at the San Siro by Napoli on Sunday in a match that saw Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off midway through the second half.

The result leaves the Rossoneri one point back of leaders Juventus, which also finished in a 0-0 draw on Sunday against Siena. Napoli is now winless in its last five games and stays in seventh place in Serie A.

Chances were at a premium on Sunday and Milan had the best one in the 51st minute when Robinho was played in on goal by Ibrahimovic but failed to beat goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis.

The Napoli 'keeper did well to deny Ibrahimovic in the 63rd minute and the Swede soon received his marching orders for slapping Napoli's Salvatore Aronica.

Despite being up a man Napoli was unable to find the net and the club's winless streak was extended for another week.

Genoa 3, Lazio 2

Genoa, Italy - Bosko Jankovic netted two goals and Genoa held off a late charge from Lazio to secure a 3-2 win at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium on Sunday.

Rodrigo Palacio tallied the opener in the 10th minute and Jankovic doubled the lead midway through the first half with his first goal of the match.

Jankovic added to Lazio's misery when he scored in the opening seconds after the break to make it 3-0.

But Lazio pulled a goal back in the 54th minute from the penalty spot courtesy of Cristian Ledesma before the capital side was reduced to 10 men with Mobido Diakite being sent off eight minutes from time.

A goal from Alvaro Gonzalez in the 90th minute made it a one-goal game, but there wasn't enough time left for Lazio to muster a third goal, snapping a run of three wins in four games for the visitors.

Parma 2, Chievo 1

Verona, Italy - Parma moved further away from the relegation zone on Sunday after Siqueira Luciano's own goal handed the club a 2-1 win at Chievo.

Sebastian Giovinco's ninth goal of the season just after halftime gave Parma the lead, but his opener was canceled out four minutes later by Cyril Thereau.

Parma pressed hard for a second goal and was rewarded with a bit of good fortune in the 69th minute when Giovinco's shot took a deflection off of Luciano and found its way inside the right post.

The visitors move 10 points clear of the drop zone with the win and ahead of Chievo on goal difference.

Fiorentina 3, Udinese 2

Florence, Italy - Udinese failed to close the gap on the top two teams in Serie A on Sunday after sustaining a 3-2 defeat at Fiorentina.

Juventus and AC Milan were both held to 0-0 draws on Sunday, meaning that Udinese could close to within a point of the top spot with a win.

And things started well for the visitors who took the lead inside 15 minutes with a goal from Antonio Di Natale.

However, things turned around in the 39th minute when Stevan Jovetic converted a penalty kick to level the match at halftime before Mattia Cassani tallied his first goal of the season to put the Viola in front.

Jovetic then netted another goal from the penalty spot six minutes from time before Gabriel Torje pulled one back in the 89th for Udinese, which sits four points back of leaders Juventus.

Fiorentina is in the midst of its best run of the season having claimed 10 points from its last five games.

Juventus 0, Siena 0

Turin, Italy - Juventus remained on top of Serie A on Sunday despite being held to a 0-0 draw by a stubborn Siena team.

A 0-0 draw by AC Milan with Napoli keeps Juve one point clear at the top of the league. Siena moves three points above the drop zone with Sunday's result.

Juventus dominated possession but failed to generate many decent scoring chances, and it was Siena that nearly stole all three points in the final minutes of the match.

A shot from Pablo Gonzalez was saved by Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, but the rebound was left for Alessandro Gazzi, who fired over the net from close range.

Lecce 0, Bologna 0

Lecce, Italy - Lecce and Bologna battled to a 0-0 draw at the Via del Mare on Sunday as both sides continue their relegation struggle.

Bologna entered the day five points above the drop zone and unbeaten in its last four games, while Lecce had collected seven points from its last four games to greatly improve its chances of survival.

However, neither side was able to pick up three valuable points, although Lecce had the best chance eight minutes after halftime.

Luis Muriel rounded Bologna goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet, but fired his shot over the empty net, while Lecce's chances were greatly reduced in the 74th minute when Morris Carrozzieri was sent off.

Novara 0, Cagliari 0

Novara, Italy - Novara snapped a five-game losing streak on Sunday but still had to settle for a 0-0 draw at home against Cagliari, which does little to enhance its chances of survival.

Novara remains on the bottom of the league and seven points from safety with the result, although it took some good goalkeeping from Cagliari's Michael Agazzi to keep them out.

Novara had two good chances to claim all three points but both times Agazzi was up to the task as he first denied a powerful shot from Santiago Garcia before making a stop on Simone Pesce at full stretch.

Palermo 2, Atalanta 1

Palermo, Italy - Palermo's unbeaten streak reached four games on Sunday as the club recorded a 2-1 win over 10-man Atalanta at the Renzo Barbera.

The match took a major turn in the 25th minute when Atalanta goalkeeper Andrea Consigli was sent off for bringing down Palermo striker Fabrizio Miccoli inside the penalty area.

Miccoli picked himself up and converted the spot kick before Igor Budan made it 2-0 early in the second half.

Maximiliano Moralez pulled a goal back for Atalanta in the 56th minute, but didn't have enough left for an equalizer, which leaves the visitors with four losses from their last five games.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

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.