Temple F Allen declares for NBA Draft

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

04/23/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Temple Owls forward Lavoy Allen announced Friday his intentions to skip his senior season of college basketball and enter the 2010 NBA Draft.

Allen will not hire an agent, giving him the opportunity to withdraw from the draft by the May 8 deadline.

"Lavoy informed me of his intentions to declare for this year's NBA Draft, and we will support him as we gather additional information through evaluations," said Temple head coach Fran Dunphy.

Allen averaged a double-double this season, putting up 11.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the Owls, who won their third consecutive Atlantic-10 Tournament this season.

Wwwgamblecom NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Mets' Maine leaves game
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets pitcher John Maine departed Friday's game against Atlanta with muscle spasms and pain in his left elbow. He is listed as day-to-day. Maine got through 3 2/3 innings, allowing just a ru

<< Northern Arizona's Jones declares for NBA Draft
Flagstaff, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Northern Arizona guard Cameron Jones declared his intentions to forego his senior season of eligibility and enter the NBA Draft. Jones, a junior, will not hire an agent and has until May 8 to withdraw fr

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Jerry Hughes wouldn't dare start spinning on his first full day as a Colt.By the season opener, he might not have a choice.The Colts introduced their newest defensive end Friday, and Hughes wasted no time in comparing himself to I

<< Hearn keeps lead at South Georgia Classic
Valdosta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Hearn shot a three-under 69 to remain on top Friday after two rounds of the Nationwide Tour's South Georgia Classic. Hearn, who carried a three-stroke lead into the round, finished 36 holes on the Ki

<< Clausen lands in Carolina
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Clausen waited longer than anticipated to hear his name announced during the 2010 NFL Draft, as the Notre Dame quarterback was taken with the 48th overall pick by the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers, who

Marlins/Rockies washed out in first MLB postponement of 2010 >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday's game between the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies was postponed, resulting in the first rainout in the majors this season. The contest will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday, sta

Clausen lands in Carolina; McCoy falls to Browns in third round >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Clausen waited longer than anticipated to hear his name announced during the 2010 NFL Draft, as the Notre Dame quarterback was taken with the 48th overall pick by the Carolina Panthers. The Pan

Halak, Habs send series with Caps back to Montreal >>
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Dunn helps Atilano win debut as Nats down Dodgers >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn backed Luis Atilano's successful MLB debut with two home runs and three RBI, as the Washington Nationals downed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, in the opener of a three-game series. The 24-year-ol

Grube among three co-leaders in Mexico >>
Nayarit, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Rob Grube shot a six-under 66 to remain tied for the lead Friday after the second round of the Riviera Nayarit Classic. Grube, who shared the first-round lead with Argentina's Sebastian Saave

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.

NFL Football Office Pools : NFL Football Contests

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Schedules

Welcome to our free football office pool page. 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.

Football Pickem Pools: Your basic office pool format, where you pick the winner of each game, either against the spread or straight up. Spice up your pool by using confidence ranks, key picks, and other options. Pick 5 pools available. You can print NFL Football Office Pools here. Custom ranks available. Custom point spreads. Use Pro and/or College games, even D1AA games can be included. Many many other options.

Football Survivor Pools: Also known as Knockout, Suicide, Eliminator, Survival and Loser pools. Pick one team each week. If they win you advance to the next round. If they lose, you're out. The catch: You can only pick a team once. Many options like Pick a Team Only [Once,Twice,Unlimited], [1,2,3,4,5] Strikes and You're Out, Double Picks, Bye Weeks, Alias Entries and more. Very easy to set up and manage.

Football Share Pools: Pick college and/or pro football game winners using Vegas odds in our own unique Share Pool format. Accumulate points by picking pointspread and over/under winners. Risk as many points as you want on any game. The person with the most points (shares) at the end wins. Perfect for the Playoffs and Bowl Seasons.

Fantasy Football Pools: Fantasy football pool managers love our easy to use interface and custom settings. Points and head to head leagues, custom points, offline drafts, live scoring, waiver wire, trades and more. Live customer service by email or phone. $50 flat fee.

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.