Cubs recall P Berg, option Stevens

Baseball Betting Lines

07/05/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs called up right-hander Justin Berg from Triple-A Iowa and sent right-handed pitcher Jeff Stevens to the same club on Monday.

Berg, 26, made the Cubs opening day roster out of spring training and pitched to a 6.43 earned run average without recording a record in 14 relief outings this season before getting shipped to Iowa on May 21.

Stevens also does not have a decision in 17 appearances out of the Chicago bullpen in 2010 and has registered a 5.71 ERA.

Mysportsbooj Baseball Betting News

<< South Florida extends hoops coach Heath
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of South Florida has extended the contract of men's basketball coach Stan Heath through the 2014-15 season. Heath has guided the Bulls to a record of 41-51 in three seasons, which included

<< Saborio earns another MLS Player of the Week award
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 14 of the 2010 MLS season on Monday. Saborio tallied two goals in Salt Lake's 5-0 win over the

<< Martino finished as Paraguay manager
Asuncion, Paraguay (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerardo Martino said on Monday that he is leaving his post as manager of Paraguay after his team lost 1-0 to Spain in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup on Saturday. Martino announced that his

<< Nicu joins Freiburg
Freiburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bundesliga side Freiburg have completed the signing of Hertha Berlin midfielder Maximilian Nicu ahead of the new season. The Romania international has signed a two-year contract and joins fel

<< Harvick's season resurgence continues with Daytona win
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - What a difference a year has made for Kevin Harvick. One year ago, Harvick was far from making the championship Chase, as he sat 26th in points. Now, he's atop the standings with two wins so far t

No. 1s ran tables at wacky '10 Wimbledon >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In one of the wackiest Wimbledon tournaments ever staged, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams came out on the top when all the smoke cleared at the storied All England Club. Oddly enough, one constant through

Molson to become next Canadiens president, CEO >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Board of Directors of CH Group, which owns the Montreal Canadiens, have announced that Geoff Molson will become the next president and chief executive officer of the team. Pierre Boivin, the current pre

Bruins sign two >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins announced the signings of defenseman Nathan McIver to a two-year contract and goaltender Nolan Schaefer to a one-year contract on Monday. McIver, 25, had a goal and four assists with 10

Former Brewers OF Jenkins set to retire >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Geoff Jenkins has decided to retire, the club announced Monday. The official announcement is scheduled to take place at a press conference at Miller Park on Friday.

Dent exits Newport >>
Newport, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Taylor Dent was an opening- round loser Monday at the grass-court Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. The eighth-seeded Dent was ousted by Japan's Go Soeda 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Day 1 at the Internati

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Sheets

NFL Office Pool Sheets

MySportsbook.com is considered one of the finest online sportsbook according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is offering a free printable NFL football office pool sheets. Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury. Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your nfl football pool sheets needs.

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.