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NBA Basketball Betting

Cardinals hang on to edge Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2008 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Glaus collected a game-high four hits and finished with an RBI and a run scored to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Florida Marlins, 6-4, in the third game of a four-game set at Dolphin Stadium.

Jason LaRue knocked in the go-ahead runs with a double in the seventh and Skip Schumaker posted three hits for the Cardinals, who won for just the third time in seven games.

Mike Jacobs drove in two runs on a pair of hits for the Marlins, who have come up on the losing end in 13 of the last 18 times they played the Cardinals in South Beach.

Braden Looper (11-9) earned the win against his former team in seven innings of work. The righty only allowed one earned run, two total, on five hits and one walk, while striking out five.

"The couple mistakes I made today didn't cost me," Looper said. "In my last couple games [against the Marlins] I made a few and it seems like they hit a homer every time, where today I made a few mistakes and got away with them."

Renyel Pinto (2-4) suffered the loss as the second Florida pitcher of the night. In only two-third of an inning, Pinto was tagged for two runs on two hits.

The game was even at two, but the Cardinals tallied two runs in the seventh for their first lead of the game and they stayed in front the rest of the way. Schumaker and Albert Pujols led off with back-to-back singles and then moved to second and third, respectively, on a deep fly ball hit by Ryan Ludwick. Then with two outs, Justin Miller handed Glaus an intentional walk and LaRue made him pay with a two-run double to center that plated Schumaker and Pujols, while Glaus was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

In the eighth, the Cardinals pushed their edge to 5-2 on an RBI single to left by Schumaker. Adam Kennedy came around on the one-out hit after he smacked a base hit and moved into scoring position on a single by Cesar Izturis.

The Marlins almost drew even in the bottom of the frame but came up one short at 5-4. Pinch-hitter Wes Helms blooped in a lead-off single and jogged to second when the next batter, Hanley Ramirez, was hit with a 2-2 pitch. After a fly out, Helms ran through a stop sign to score on a single to left by Jorge Cantu. Jacobs then brought in Ramirez with a double to right to make it a one- run game. Dan Uggla drew a walk to load the bases with one out, but Chris Perez got Josh Willingham to ground into a double play to end the threat.

The Cards added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI double by Glaus that plated Felipe Lopez, who reached with a triple.

Perez recorded his third save of the year, a five-out one in which he only allowed two walks, while also striking out two.

Ricky Nolasco walked away with a no-decision for Florida after he surrendered two runs on 10 hits in six innings.

"I tried to keep us close," Nolasco said. "I had a lot of base-runners on base. I just tried to limit the damage and make pitches. Just battled. Tried to do my job right there."

The Marlins opened up the scoring right away with a run in the first thanks to an error by Glaus. Ramirez led off and reached first when Glaus could not handle a ball hit to third. Ramirez eventually got to second with two outs on a Cantu groundout, and the shortstop raced home via a base hit to left by Jacobs.

St. Louis knotted the game at one in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to left hit by Kennedy. Glaus crossed the plate after he led off with a single, moved to second on a LaRue groundout and trotted to third on a single by Looper.

In the fifth, the Marlins grabbed a 2-1 edge after they loaded the bases with one out on three straight singles by John Baker, Alfredo Amezaga and Nolasco. Baker then came around on the fourth consecutive base hit of the inning by Ramirez.

But once again, the Cardinals would draw even in the sixth when Rick Ankiel scored on Kennedy's sac fly to left.

Game Notes

The Cardinals pounded out 18 hits...St. Louis has seven errors in its last four games...The Marlins have gone a season-high four games without an error.


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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.

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.

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