Miller, Sabres blank Bruins

Hockey Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Miller made 36 saves to record his third shutout of the season and 25th of his career as the Buffalo Sabres thumped the Boston Bruins, 6-0, at First Niagara Center.

Jason Pominville netted a pair of goals and Tyler Ennis finished with a goal and an assist. Christian Ehrhoff, Patrick Kaleta and Drew Stafford all scored for the Sabres, who have won three of their last four games. Ville Leino and Andrej Sekera added two helpers apiece in the victory.

Tuukka Rask was tagged for three goals on 10 shots before getting yanked in favor of Tim Thomas, who didn't fare much better, giving up three goals on 19 shots for the Bruins. They have lost three of four.

Buffalo started its offensive onslaught at 6:23 of the first period with a little luck when Ehrhoff wristed a shot on goal from the left point that deflected off the stick of Bruins' forward Gregory Campbell in front and floated past the glove side of Rask.

The Sabres extended their lead to 2-0 at 14:49 of the first frame when Leino accepted a perfect cross-ice pass in the neutral zone and started down the left wing on the attack. Leino gained the blue line with speed, slammed on the breaks at the circle and flung a centering pass right to the tape of Pominville, who backhanded a tap-in past Rask.

Buffalo came out with jump in the second period and quickly extended its lead to 3-0 off a great individual effort by Ennis.

Just 1:52 into the second stanza, Ennis collected the puck in his defensive zone and started up. He blazed through the neutral zone with speed and cut through four Bruins defenders before shifting to his backhand and putting one on net from the right circle that just squeezed through the legs of Rask, sending the netminder to an early shower.

Buffalo got another fortunate break at 18:11 of the second stanza when Kaleta let a shot go from the left circle that deflected off the stick of Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg and fooled Thomas for a 4-0 Sabres lead.

The theme continued in the third period for Buffalo, as it took advantage of a frustrated and sloppy Bruins team at 1:18 of the final frame.

Sekera ripped a shot from the right point that was kicked out by Thomas, but the puck wound up on the stick of Leino on the left wing. Leino then spotted a wide-open Pominville, who stuffed it home from the slot to make it 5-0.

Stafford capped the scoring with a tap-in off a pass from Ennis with 1:02 to play.

Game Notes

Buffalo exacted some revenge after the Bruins had taken the first two games between the teams this season...Rask is 4-4 in 10 career games against the Sabres...Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton participated in his 100th career NHL fight...The game featured 90 total penalty minutes between both teams...Buffalo failed to score on two power-play chances, while the Bruins did not receive any power play opportunities...The Bruins will host the Nashville Predators on Saturday, while the Sabres will welcome the Dallas Stars on Friday.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.


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.