Maple Leafs host Oilers in matchup of last place clubs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle between the bottom two teams in the NHL is on tap tonight in Toronto, pitting the Maple Leafs against the Edmonton Oilers at Air Canada Centre.

Despite having won two straight and three of their last four, the Maple Leafs are still last in the Eastern Conference with just 56 points on the year. Edmonton -- bottom feeders in the Western Conference -- is the only club lower than Toronto with 49 points.

In addition to winning its last two games, Toronto has recorded at least a point in four of its last five outings, going 3-1-1 over that stretch.

The Maple Leafs have also won their last two games by 4-3 scores in overtime, beating visiting Boston on Tuesday and edging Tampa Bay two days later in another home tilt.

Phil Kessel scored 3:33 into overtime to give Toronto its latest victory against the Lightning on Thursday. Kessel, who leads the Leafs with 23 goals this year, picked up the first OT game-winner of his career.

Viktor Stalberg had a pair of goals, while Tyler Bozak also found the net for the Maple Leafs. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 30 saves for Toronto.

"Young guys are stepping up here at the end of the year," Kessel said. "We're playing for each other, working hard out there."

Tonight marks the end of a three-game homestand for the Maple Leafs, who are 13-14-5 as the host this year. Toronto will play its next two games on the road against the New York Islanders and Ottawa.

Edmonton is 2-1-1 in its last four games and is coming off Thursday's shootout loss in Montreal. That setback kicked off a four-game road trip for the Oilers, who have a dismal 8-21-3 record as the guest.

Andrei Kostitsyn scored in the fifth round of the shootout, lifting the Canadiens to the 5-4 victory at Bell Centre.

Kostitsyn's was the only score of the shootout and came when he beat Devan Dubnyk with a forehand shot low to the left side. Sam Gagner was then wild on a backhand attempt to seal the victory for Montreal.

Gagner, Shawn Horcoff, Robert Nilsson and Andrew Cogliano had the goals for the Oilers. Dubnyk made 22 saves.

"We played a great hockey game, we had a lot of jump," Dubnyk said. "Everyone worked so hard. It's a test for me every time I'm out there. In the shootout, I was really comfortable. I felt good tonight even though they had the one goal which beat us."

The Oilers defeated Toronto, 3-1, in Edmonton on December 30, but the Maple Leafs have still won five of eight overall in the series. Edmonton has dropped eight of its last 10 contests in Toronto.

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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. 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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