12/03/2008 - La Quinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major Manning, Craig Kanada and Joey Lamielle each fired rounds of seven-under 65 on Wednesday to share the opening-round lead of the Final Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School.
Mark Brooks, the 1996 PGA Champion, Bryan DeCorso, Jeff Gallagher, Troy Kelly, Steve LeBrun and Jason Dufner are knotted in fourth place after first-round 66s.
Each player competes on the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course and Stadium Course at PGA West three times.
The low-25 scores and ties will earn PGA Tour cards for 2009. The next number of finishers nearest 50 after the Qualifying Tournament graduates will earn fully exempt Nationwide Tour cards for 2009 and the remainder of the field will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status.
Manning, who played college golf at Augusta State, played on the Stadium Course Wednesday and recorded four birdies and a bogey on the front nine.
He birdied his first four holes on the second nine to get to seven-under par for the championship. Manning parred his last five for a share of the lead.
Kanada teed it up on the Nicklaus Course and parred his first hole. He caught fire from there with six consecutive birdies from the second, but dropped a shot at the par-three eighth.
Kanada, who has been a PGA Tour member, mixed three birdies, including one at 18, and a bogey on the back nine for his 65.
Lamielle, who almost gave up the game before playing in this year's U.S. Open, was only two-under par through 10 holes, but an eagle at the par-five 11th vaulted him up the leaderboard.
He closed with three birdies in his last five holes for a share of first.
Oskar Bergman, Matthew Richardson, Brian Stuard, Ted Oh, Jay Williamson, Ryan Hietala, Erick Justesen, Kent Jones and Bob Heintz are knotted in 10th place at five-under 67.
Joe Durant (68), Chris Riley (71), Carlos Franco (71), Tommy Gainey (71), Bob May (72), Notah Begay III (72), Olin Browne (73), John Huston (74) and Jason Gore (74) highlight the field.
<< Rays P Percival undergoes back surgery
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays closer Troy Percival
underwent back surgery this week and is expected to be ready by opening day
for the American League champions.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Watkin
<< Clemson accepts invite to Gator Bowl
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clemson accepted an invitation to the Gator
Bowl on Wednesday, having parlayed a strong end of the season into a New
Year's Day appearance.
The Tigers went 4-1 over the final five games of the season,
<< Vikings sign DT Kennedy
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after defensive tackles Pat
Williams and Kevin Williams were among six players suspended four games for a
violation of the league's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances,
the Min
<< Report: Tuberville era ends at Auburn
Birmingham, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Tuberville will reportedly no longer
be roaming the sideline for the Auburn Tigers football team.
The report, from the Birmingham News on Wednesday, did not indicate whether
the longtime coach w
Cards sign lefty reliever Miller >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals signed left-handed
reliever Trever Miller to a one-year contract on Wednesday. Financial
terms of the deal were not released.
The 35-year-old Miller appeared in 68 games
Nash, Shaq out against Hornets >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns were without two key
components on Wednesday, as neither center Shaquille O'Neal nor point guard
Steve Nash were in uniform against the Hornets.
Nash, who missed a game last w
Avery issues apology for Tuesday's comments >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery issued an
apology Wednesday for derogatory comments made the previous day about
his ex-girlfriends dating other players in the league.
The comments led to an ind
Former Indiana guard Crawford denied waiver request >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NCAA has denied guard Jordan Crawford,
who transferred from Indiana to Xavier, the waiver request to play this
season.
Due to the decision, Crawford will not be eligible to compete at Xavier un
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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.
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