Boyd among three leaders in Scotland

Golf Betting Lines

08/27/2010 - Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five days after losing a playoff, England's Gary Boyd shot a four-under 68 to earn a share of the second-round lead Friday at the Johnnie Walker Championship.

France's Julien Guerrier fired a 67 and Englishman David Lynn had a 68 to join Boyd at nine-under 135.

They shared a two-shot lead over three players on the 7,300-yard PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel.

Boyd was involved in a three-way playoff at last week's Czech Open, losing it when Sweden's Peter Hanson birdied the second extra hole.

But he has bounced back nicely with rounds of 67 and 68 and heads into the weekend in good position to make a charge for his first career win.

"Last week didn't really surprise me. I was doing so well. I started to hole a few more putts and I tried to take that into this week," said Boyd, who had two birdies and an eagle at the 16th hole -- the second time he eagled the hole in as many days.

Trailing the co-leaders by two strokes at seven-under 137 were England's Mark Foster (67), South Africa's George Coetzee (68) and Stephen Gallacher (70), who was the top Scotsman on the board.

Nine players were knotted another shot further back at six-under 138, including Italian brothers Edoardo (68) and Francesco (70) Molinari, Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Hanson (69).

Francesco Molinari has already made the European Ryder Cup team, while his brother hopes to play his way onto captain Colin Montgomerie's side.

At the moment, Jimenez and Hanson hold the last two spots on the team, which will be finalized after Sunday's final round.

England's Simon Dyson, who is also at six-under, is trying to squeeze his way onto the team with a good showing this week.

"If I play the best 36 holes of my life I'll play in the best tournament of my life," said Dyson.

Lynn, the 36-year-old European Tour veteran, captured his only victory at the 2004 KLM Open. He is sharing the 36-hole lead with a pair of tour rookies, hoping to turn around a disappointing season.

"(I've) been staying patient all year, hoping my fortunes are going to change," said Lynn, who had seven birdies and three bogeys Friday. "A couple of good rounds ... sets me up nicely for the weekend."

Guerrier, coming off a tie for fourth place at the Czech Open, collected seven birdies and two bogeys Friday.

NOTES: Defending champion Peter Hedblom posted a 70 and was four shots off the lead...The cut line fell at one-under 143 with 66 players moving on to the weekend. Among the players who missed the cut was Robert Karlsson.

Wwcdnow Golf Betting News

<< Rays sign OF Hawpe to minor league deal
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays agreed to terms with outfielder Brad Hawpe on a minor league contract Friday and assigned him to Single-A Charlotte. The 31-year-old was given his release by the Colorado Rock

<< Boyd leads 3-way tie for lead in Scotland
Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five days after losing a playoff, England's Gary Boyd shot a four-under 68 to earn a share of the second-round lead Friday at the Johnnie Walker Championship. France's Julien Guerrier fired a 67

<< Knicks agree to terms with Patrick Ewing Jr.
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks on Friday agreed to terms with forward Patrick Ewing Jr. Details of the contract were not released, per club policy. The 26-year-old Ewing was originally drafted by Sacramento in the

<< Houston hopes to start win streak at Colorado
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston manager Dominic Kinnear summed up the Dynamo's 4-3 win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night perfectly when he said, "Thank goodness for Brian Ching." Ching scored a hat trick, including a spec

<< Lyon could unveil new signing Gourcuff
Lorient, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lyon manager Claude Puel has yet to determine whether or not he will hand a start to the club's new signing, midfielder Yoann Gourcuff, on Saturday at Lorient. Gourcuff joined Lyon this past

Dons aim to continue perfect start >>
Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aberdeen enters the weekend on top of the Scottish Premier League table with two wins from its first two games, and the Dons will look to make it three wins from three matches on Saturday when they ho

Stakhovsky lands in New Haven finale >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ninth-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky was an easy semifinal winner Friday at the $750,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up. The Ukrainian Stakhovsky handled 12th-seeded Dutchman Thiemo D

Report: Manny awarded to White Sox through waiver claim >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have reportedly been awarded Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez through a waiver claim, MLB.com has confirmed. There is still the matter of either finalizing a trade with Los Angeles

TFC aims to start new home streak vs. RSL >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake travels to take on Toronto FC in Major League Soccer action at BMO Field on Saturday night. RSL, which has just one league loss in its last 16, will be facing a Toronto side that is coming off

Fire's Ljungberg set for first trip to Seattle >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddie Ljungberg will return to Seattle on Saturday for first time since being the first designated player ever traded in Major League Soccer, as his new club Chicago visits Qwest Field. Ljungberg joined S

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.