03/04/2007 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odds-on favorite Lava Man registered his second consecutive victory in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday. The gelding joins John Henry and Milwaukee Brew as the only horses to win the Big Cap in back to back runnings.
Lava Man, sent off as the 3-5 favorite, raced in third most of time as Ball Four set the pace. Spring At Last was second as the field moved up the backstretch.
Entering the far turn Lava Man, under Corey Nakatani, drew along side Ball Four and Spring At Last from outside. The defending champ took the lead at the top of the stretch in the 1 1/4 mile race.
Lava Man held sway over his seven rivals as he hit the wire, 3/4's of a length in first place. Molengao rallied for second and Boboman got up for third.
The time for the 71st Santa Anita Handicap was 2:02.11
Lava Man returned $3.20, $2.60 and $2.10. Molengao paid $4.40 and $3.20, and Boboman paid $4.20 for show.
Completing the order of finish was Sunshine Millions Classic winner McCann's Mojave, Spring At Last, Ball Four, El Roblar and Awesome Gem. Arson Squad was a scratch.
Bred in California, Lava Man has proven unbeatable in the Golden State. All of his seven victories in 2006 came in his home state and he began this year with a win in the Sunshine Millions Turf at Santa Anita. He now has a chance to duplicate last year's accomplishment of winning the Big Cap, the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic.
Lava Man is owned by STD Racing and Jason Wood, and earned $600,000 with Saturday's victory. Trained by Doug O'Neill, he has 16 wins in 37 career starts for more than $4.6 million.
"He is just a tremendous animal," Nakatani said. "Doug ONeill and his team have him spot on every time he runs. I think he will move forward off of this race because he did get a little tired at the end and the weight didn't do him any good."
Lava Man was seventh in the Breeders' Cup Classic last year behind Horse of the Year Invasor.
"This horse will just do whatever you need him to do," continued Nakatani. "Unfortunately, he didn't like the track at Churchill Downs in the Breeders' Cup. Hopefully, this year at Monmouth Park it will be a different story."
Earlier in the day. O'Neill and Nakatani teamed up to win the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis stakes for three-year-olds. Great Hunter came from off the pace to win the 1 1/16 mile race by 1 1/4 lengths over Sam P.
The colt was third in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile and is one of the early favorites for the Kentucky Derby.
"We just wanted a good performance and something to build on," said O'Neill, "and he ran better than we expected. Pauls (owner J. Paul Reddam) a huge advocate of synthetic tracks, so we might take him to Keeneland for the Blue Grass."
The win was worth $120,000. The Pennsylvania-bred has earned $750,000 with three wins in eight career starts. Saturday's race was Great Hunter's 2007 debut.
<< Ducks dominate Beavers
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bryce Taylor scored 22 points as No. 17 Oregon
routed arch-rival Oregon State, 70-49, at McArthur Court.
Aaron Brooks added 18 points for the Ducks (23-7, 11-7 Pac 10), who have won
three games in a row.
<< Davidson captures Southern title over College of Charleston
Charleston, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry poured in 29 points and
grabbed eight rebounds as Davidson held off College of Charleston, 72-65, to
capture the Southern Conference Tournament title.
Boris Meno posted 14 points and
<< Evansville's Merfeld resigns
Evansville, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Evansville announced on
Saturday that head men's basketball coach Steve Merfeld has resigned.
In five seasons as head coach for the Purple Aces, Merfeld compiled a record
of 54-91.
<< Saints give Stinchcomb two-year extension
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have come to terms
on a two-year contract extension with starting right tackle Jon Stinchcomb.
Entering his fifth season in the NFL, Stinchcomb started every game for the
Saints
No. 2 Lady Vols fall to LSU in SEC semifinals >>
Duluth, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sylvia Fowles scored 19 points and grabbed 20
rebounds -- her 19th straight double-double -- as No. 11 LSU upset second-
ranked Tennessee, 63-54, in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference
Tournam
Unseeded Loit captures Acapulco title >>
Acapulco, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Frenchwoman Emilie Loit defeated fifth-
seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta to capture her third career title, winning
the $180,000 Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament.
The unseeded Loit ousted Penne
Miller shines as Sabres stop Leafs >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Miller turned aside 26 shots, as the
Buffalo Sabres topped the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1, at Air Canada Centre.
Toni Lydman, Drew Stafford, and Nathan Paetsch scored for Buffalo, which has
won nine
Knicks down Hawks in OT >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephon Marbury scored 38 points and dished
out nine assists to lead the New York Knicks over the Atlanta Hawks, 104-100,
in overtime at Philips Arena.
Steve Francis added a season-high 26 points for N
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 sportsbook 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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