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07/12/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, The Old Course at St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland - The season's third major championship is on deck and it's being contested at the home of golf, The Old Course at St. Andrews.
All of the greats have won there, like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. In fact, the younger of those two stars has hoisted the claret jug the last two times St. Andrews hosted the Open Championship in 2000 and 2005.
Woods' game is in tatters at the moment. (Tatters for him anyway.) Phil Mickelson, the Masters champion, can overtake Woods for the No. 1 spot in the world rankings, but Mickelson's British Open record is spotty at best.
Last year, the world missed out on probably the greatest golf story in history. Tom Watson, then 59, held the lead on the 18th hole Sunday in his quest for a sixth Open title. He bogeyed the hole, appeared to run out of gas and lost a playoff to Stewart Cink.
The year before that, it was 50-year-old Greg Norman who had the lead on Sunday. Unfortunately, the two-time British Open winner didn't have it down the stretch and Padraig Harrington blew by him.
Several Europeans not named Harrington come into this week with some momentum. Ten of the top-20 ranked players in the world come from Europe, including Harrington.
He's the one of two European major winners of the group. Will it be a Westwood or a Poulter or a Rose or a McIlroy to break through? Rose has two wins in a little over a month, so he makes sense.
U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell had a decent showing at the Scottish Open over the weekend. He could try to win majors at St. Andrews and Pebble Beach in the same year, much like Tiger in 2000.
What about world No. 4 Steve Stricker? His impressive victory at the John Deere Classic on Sunday would put him in good shape to make a run at that first major victory.
Perhaps the most famous hole in golf, the Road Hole, 17th at St. Andrews has been lengthened by almost 40 yards. The hole will now play at 490 yards come Thursday.
ESPN and ABC have the coverage all week, including 4:00 a.m. (et) start times on Thursday and Friday. Coverage starts at 7 a.m. on Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday.
Next week on the PGA Tour is the Canadian Open, which was won last year by Nathan Green. The European Tour features the Scandinavian Masters, which was captured by Ricardo Gonzalez.
PGA TOUR
RENO-TAHOE OPEN, Montreux Golf & Country Club, Reno, Nevada - The Biggest Little City in the world hosts the PGA Tour stop for those not qualified for the British Open.
The field is about as good as can be expected with a nice mix of young players trying to get that first win, or veterans trying to reclaim some youthful magic.
Last year, John Rollins mixed three bogeys, a double-bogey, an eagle and three birdies in an even-par round of 72 on Sunday to get his third PGA Tour victory.
Rollins won by three over Jeff Quinney and Martin Laird. Rollins didn't make it into the British Open field, so he'll be back on Thursday to defend his title.
The 2009 event was staged opposite the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and was played the first week of August. The now defunct U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee played opposite the Open Championship.
The Golf Channel has the broadcast all week.
Next week is the Canadian Open.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
CHIQUITA CLASSIC, TPC River's Bend, Cincinnati, Ohio - This is a new event on the Nationwide Tour this year, per an announcement in early March of this year.
The TPC River's Bend was designed by Arnold Palmer and opened in 2001.
The Golf Channel broadcasts all four rounds.
Next week the Nationwide Tour stays in Ohio for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational at The OSU Golf Club. Derek Lamely won the title last year.
CANADIAN TOUR
THE PLAYERS CUP, Pine Ridge Golf Club, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - One of two major Canadian Tour major championships, the Players Cup, takes center stage this week.
Well, after one of the four big major championships.
For the third consecutive year, Pine Ridge Golf Club is host. The winner of this championship gets a first-place check for $48,000 and a spot in next week's Canadian Open on the PGA Tour.
Graham DeLaet shot a 69 on Sunday and came from behind to win for the second time on the Canadian Tour in 2009. He won the ATB Financial Classic earlier in the year.
DeLaet won't be on hand to defend his title. He reached the PGA Tour through Q School and is scheduled to compete at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
There is no television for this tournament.
The Canadian Open is technically on the Canadian Tour schedule, but the next tournament is the Jane Rogers Championship on Aug. 9. Ryan Yip visited the winner's circle last year.
UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION
U.S. AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP, Bryan Park Golf & Conference Center, Greensboro, North Carolina - One of golf's oldest amateur tournaments starts on Monday.
There's two days of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday. That determines the low 64 players and then it's match play. The first round is Wednesday, followed by the second and third rounds on Thursday, the quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday and the 36-hole final on Saturday.
Brad Benjamin won last year's title, but is not back to defend.
Ryan Moore, former Masters champion Trevor Immelman and reigning Players Champion Tim Clark highlight a group of former winners.
Next week there are two USGA events, the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Girls' Junior.
<< NL Notebook: Better late then never for Reds' Rhodes
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Forget the moonball he served up to Ryan
<< AL Notebook: Cano finally starting to 'get it' with Yankees
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It wasn't long ago that there were some people inside the
New York Yankees organization who wanted to deal Robinson Cano.
Some felt he was too lazy in the field. Others didn't like his approach at the
plate. His harshest c
<< ESPN's Berman honored with Pete Rozelle Award
Canton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - ESPN host Chris Berman has been recognized as
the 2010 recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Radio-
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The award recognizes long-time exceptional contributions t
<< Henry to New York exactly what MLS needs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In one of the worst-kept secrets in soccer, French striker
Thierry Henry will be announced as Red Bull New York's second designated
player at a press conference on Thursday at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.
What
Montana's Wilson to play after murder acquittal >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Wilson plans to rejoin the University of
Montana football team after the NCAA granted him another year of athletic
eligibility following his acquittal on murder charges.
Wilson was tried in Southern Cali
Blackhawks to match San Jose's offer sheet for D Hjalmarsson >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite noted salary cap problems, the Chicago
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The Sharks signed the 2
Canada well-represented at 2010 MLB All-Star Game >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays will send three of
their starting nine to the 81st MLB All-Star Game, after hitting a major-league
leading 136 home runs in the first half.
Toronto's All-Star representatives of Verno
Cavs owner defends stance on LeBron >>
CLEVELAND (AP) -Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert says he ``strongly'' disagrees with Jesse Jackson's criticism of his recent comments about LeBron James.Following James' announcement last week, Gilbert fired off an incendiary letter to Cleveland's fans,
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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