19th-ranked Cardinals battle Blazers at Freedom Hall

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

12/27/2008 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked Louisville Cardinals will play host to former Conference USA rival UAB this afternoon at Freedom Hall.

UAB has won its last three games to improve to 8-3 overall. The Blazers are fresh off a 76-43 romp over Florida Atlantic on Monday, and all three of their losses thus far have come by 10 or fewer points. The most impressive victory came over a strong Arizona squad by one point back in mid-November.

Louisville dropped a 70-64 decision to Minnesota last Saturday, and that setback halted a five-game win streak. The Cardinals have played a rather weak schedule thus far as the best win on their resume' came against an Ole Miss squad decimated by injury. Clearly, Rick Pitino's club will face plenty of challenges when the Big East Conference slate begins.

Louisville owns an 11-4 series lead over UAB, and the teams last met in 2005 when both were members of C-USA.

UAB, which is generating 75.1 ppg, is limiting opponents to 67.5 ppg on 40.2 percent shooting from the floor. There are three players on the roster averaging double figures in scoring, and considering that the fourth-leading scorer on the team is netting only 6.5 ppg, the importance of the standout trio can not be overlooked. Robert Vaden currently paces UAB with 19.4 ppg, and Paul Delaney III adds 16.8 ppg. As for Lawrence Kinnard, he provides 16.6 ppg to go with 9.1 rpg. In the blowout victory over Florida Atlantic, the Blazers limited the Owls to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor. Delaney III showed his all-around ability in posting 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Vaden netted 12 points, while Kinnard and Crawford pitched in 10 points. Kinnard also pulled down 12 rebounds for the Blazers.

Louisville connected on only 37.7 percent of its field goal attempts in the loss to Minnesota last weekend. The Cardinals finished with 16 turnovers and shot a disappointing 20-of-33 from the foul line. Terrence Williams scored a team-high 17 points in defeat, and the versatile forward also had six rebounds and five assists. Earl Clark pitched in with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Jerry Smith added 12 points. Samuels is just a freshman, but he is scoring 15.0 ppg on 54.8 percent shooting from the floor. Clark provides 13.6 ppg and 9.3 rpg, and Williams adds 10.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg. The rebounding ability of those three players makes Louisville tough to beat. The Cardinals are grabbing 6.8 rpg more than the opposition while outscoring foes by 18.9 ppg on average.

Betarn66 NCAA Basketball Betting News

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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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MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

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