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07/21/2007 - Edmonton, AB Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time Champ Car Series champion Sebastien Bourdais won Friday's provisional qualifying session for the Rexall Grand Prix Edmonton on the Rexall Speedway. The No.1 Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver circled the 1.973-mile, 14-turn, temporary course in 58.709 seconds (120.983 m.p.h.).
The provisional pole win earned Bourdais one championship point and a guaranteed position on the front row.
Simon Pagenaud was second quickest at 58.974 seconds. Graham Rahal (59.112), Bruno Junqueira (59.127) and Will Power (59.155) completed the top-five.
Tristan Gommendy crashed with nine minutes left in the session, in turn seven, and the incident ended the session. He was taken from the track in an ambulance.
Rookie Robert Doornbos leads the series with 164 points and the former Minardi F1 driver has looked solid all season long.
Doornbos has one win (Mont Tremblant), six top-six finishes and only once (Long Beach) has he finished outside the top-10.
Behind Doornbos is Will Power (162) and three-time Champ Car Series champion Sebastien Bourdais (162). Power won the last time the series was on the track two weeks ago in Toronto when he was able to navigate the slippery streets of the Toronto course better than anyone else.
"I'm very happy for the team," said Power. "This is exactly what we needed points-wise, and also for Sebastien not to finish, that really helps us in the championship."
Behind the top-three drivers is Justin Wilson (138), who is attempting to bridge the gap and join the chase. Over the last four weeks he has cut the margin from 36 points to just 23.
The second qualifying session is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. (et) with the race scheduled to drop the green flag at 3 p.m.
<< Colorado hopes for Rapid improvement in K.C.
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Wizards won for the first
time in seven games last week, and will try to continue their winning ways on
Sunday when the club hosts the struggling Colorado Rapids at Arrowhead
Stadium
<< TFC aiming to end road trip on winning note at Crew
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC concludes its six-game road trip on
Sunday with a visit to Crew Stadium to take on the Columbus Crew.
The Canadian side is 1-1-3 on its current trip, including a 0-0 draw last time
out against the
<< Conference USA - Title game rematch?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two years ago, Conference USA won just
11% (two of 19) of its games vs. BCS schools, but finished 12-9 ATS. Last
season was an improved campaign with a 19% winning percentage against BCS
teams with five win
<< Red Bulls to be without Angel versus United
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York enters the second
game of a five-game homestand Sunday when it hosts D.C. United in a Major
League Soccer fixture.
It will be the second meeting between the Eastern Conferenc
Bucks sign Voskuhl >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks signed center Jake
Voskuhl to a one-year contract Friday.
A seven-year NBA veteran, Voskuhl, 29, played the last two seasons with the
Charlotte Bobcats, averaging 4.8 points a
Rockets bring back Francis >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Francis, who played his first five NBA
seasons in Houston, officially returned Friday when he agreed to a deal with
the Rockets.
Francis was sent to Portland from the New York Knicks along with Chann
Ogilvie leads U.S. Bank Championship >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Ogilvie fired a seven-under 63 Friday to
take the lead after two rounds of the U.S. Bank Championship, the PGA Tour
event playing opposite the British Open.
Ogilvie was at 10-under 130, heading to th
It was the Butler, with a bat at Comerica: Royals thump Tigers >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Billy Butler went 4-for-5 with four RBI as the
Kansas City Royals pounded the Detroit Tigers, 10-2, in the opener of a three-
game series at Comerica Park.
Mark Grudzielanek also had four hits and scored four
There is little doubt that the NFL is where the sportsbooks see the most action and also make the most loot. The NFL possesses betting friendly attributes that are unlike any of the other major sports. First off, there are relatively few teams to keep track of in comparison to college football betting or college basketball. And second, these teams play only once a week which makes staying on top of the results much easier than it is in the daily leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
These dynamics, along with the sheer excitement of watching and wagering on football, brings more square action to the table than any of the other sports. Almost every Tom, Dick and Harry in America is an NFL expert in their own mind and that is precisely what the oddsmakers prey upon.
Understanding who bets the games is just as important as understanding which teams are playing the games. The market at times will dictate price, which in the betting world means the oddsmakers cater to the public rather than reality.
Knowing the market inside and out is the basis of our NFL handicapping model. That is, our approach to NFL handicapping is of the contrarian or value seeking variety. We will at times place a higher premium on public sentiment than on the fundamentals. This strategy dictates playing dogs and/or lesser competent teams, or teams the public wants nothing to do with. Or better yet, fading the teams the oddsmakers want you to bet on.
Along these same lines, we carry a similar notion that the first week of the NFL season presents one of the ripest opportunities for the astute gambler. This conflicts with conventional wisdom and/or handicapping lore, as most would say it is better to watch a few games and assess each team before jumping in with both feet. That’s all fine and dandy, but there are some interesting trends to exploit in Week 1 and we’d be remiss to ignore them. Let us quickly explain.
Gone are the days of dynasties, where the same core players stay intact and dominate the league year after year. Free agency and player movements can completely transform teams from one season to the next. In today’s parity-driven NFL, poor teams typically don’t stay poor for all that long and excellent teams must constantly reinvent themselves to stay on top.
The temptation might be to assume prior year results are the best indicator of who is going to cover in Week 1. To Joe Public, playoff teams from the prior season, home teams, favorites, and so one, look even more enticing than usual since there is no current season performance to judge them against. But the question begs: are the oddsmakers setting a trap?
To find the answer, we culled five years worth of Week 1 NFL data. As always, all of our analysis is done from an ATS perspective. The purpose here is to share the most important angles we unearthed and try to explain the logic behind them. So strap on your helmet, throw on your shoulder pads, and follow our lead as we expose some rare holes in the oddsmakers’ line of defense.
Home vs. Away Teams
Over the past five seasons, NFL home teams in Week 1 are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). This of course implies that roadies are a 58 percent winning proposition during this time. The public at large has a tendency to overvalue home teams and this is especially true in Week 1 when there is no current season data to make predictions from. Consequently, the oddsmakers almost surely shade the home teams, by and large making road teams the choice for the value player.
Conclusion: Look long and hard at road teams first when handicapping the opening week.
Price ranges
Favorites are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent) in the opening week over the past five NFL seasons (Coincidentally, home teams hold the same ATS record as noted above). This means that underdogs bark at a 58 percent clip. Mid-range favorites performed the worst among our specified price ranges. In particular, favorites priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 are only 8-15 ATS (35 percent) during this time.
The same basic pattern holds true when looking at home favorites (road favorites gravitate towards a 50 percent mean). Home favorites indeed are just 21-32-3 ATS (40 percent) in the first week of NFL action since 1999. Again, mid-range favorites are similarly the poorest performers when we look at home teams. Consider that home teams priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 have stumbled to a 6-13 ATS (32 percent) mark in Week 1 games the past five seasons.
Conclusion: Like home teams, favorites and particularly mid-range favorites are generally overvalued in Week 1.
Playoff teams
It might surprise you to learn that playoff teams from the prior year versus non-playoff teams from the prior year are a mere 16-23-3 (41 percent) ATS in NFL Week 1 games over the past five seasons. Home teams which made the playoffs versus teams which did not make the playoffs from the prior season drop to a meager 7-14-1 ATS (33 percent) during this time.
Why are playoff teams, and in particular those at home, such bad bets the past five openers? Just as the case with home teams and with favorites, oddsmakers intentionally overprice playoff teams in the opening week to compensate for the public’s propensity to over bet them.
This theory holds true just looking at straight-up records from the past season as well. That is, home teams with winning records from the prior season vs. road teams with losing records from the prior season are just 8-13 ATS in Week 1 NFL games since 1999.
Conclusion: Playoff teams from the prior year and in particular, home playoff teams, are overvalued in Week 1 NFL games.
Scoring defense and scoring offense
Do good defenses and for that matter good offenses from the prior season fare better against the number the following year in Week 1 games? Well, sort of. Generally speaking, teams with a solid offense or defense from the prior season tend to do well in the opening week so long as they are on the road. As a host, however, the best offenses and best defenses from the prior year tend to be overvalued in Week 1.
Consider that the top five scoring defenses (i.e. points allowed) from the prior season are a nice 8-4 ATS (66 percent) on the road in NFL openers the past five seasons. Meanwhile, the top five scoring defenses from the prior season are just 3-8-2 ATS (27 percent) as a host in Week 1 during the same time period.
There is no discernable advantage or disadvantage for teams with a top five scoring offense (i.e. points scored) in Week 1 games. However, when we look at scoring offenses from the bottom up (isolating the five worst offenses from the prior season), the results are rather interesting. In particular, teams ranked in the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are 9-4-1 ATS (69 percent) when on the road in Week 1.
The logic is simply that the public perception is a poor scoring offensive unit from the year prior will have little chance of winning on the road in Week 1. In turn, the oddsmakers compensate for this perception and these poor offensive teams from the year prior carry extra line value on the Week 1 trail.
Conclusion: Teams with top-ranked defenses from the previous season are good bets when playing on the road, but poor bets when playing at home. Also, teams ranked among the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are generally a good value in their Week 1 openers, provided they are playing on the road.
Scoring margin
An exceedingly straightforward way of measuring scoring offense and scoring defense together as a whole is to look at a team's “margin." Margin is simply scoring offense minus scoring defense, which is a fairly clear-cut measure of how a team does on both sides of the ball. Typically, the higher the margin, the better the team.
In this regard, it might seem counterintuitive that teams carrying the higher margin from the prior season in week one matchups are merely 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). Furthermore, road teams with the higher margin are 14-20-6 ATS (41 percent), while home teams with the higher margin are 17-22-1 ATS (44 percent). Once again, these results line up with the theory that better teams from the prior year are overvalued come opening day of the following season.
Conclusion: “Better” teams, which often boast a higher margin than their opponent, are overvalued the following season in NFL openers.
In sum
Oddsmakers cater NFL betting lines to match public perception and also to bait the public into poor bets. The temptation to use the prior year’s success as a buy sign for how a team will perform against the spread in Week 1 of the following season is an enormous trap.
The fact is, isolating road teams, road dogs, non-playoff teams vs. playoff teams, teams with a losing record or low margin vs. playoff teams or ones with a high margin from the previous year is where the line value resides. Quite simply, taking the road less traveled is your surest path to NFL betting profits.
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The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
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