Slumping Devils attempt to rebound against hard-luck Oilers

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils conclude a string of four consecutive road games with tonight's matchup with an Edmonton Oilers team that'll be gunning for a rare winning streak.

New Jersey has gone just 1-2-0 thus far on the stretch, which began with a 5-2 defeat at Carolina on February 13 before the NHL ceased operations for the Winter Olympics. The Devils came out strong in their first outing after the break and delivered a 4-3 decision over Pacific Division leader San Jose on Tuesday, but had a shakier showing in a 5-3 loss at Calgary on Friday.

The Flames erased an early 1-0 deficit by scoring three times in the second period, then tacked on two more goals to begin the third to build a commanding 5-1 lead. All five tallies came against Martin Brodeur, with the legendary New Jersey netminder managing just 20 saves on 25 shots for the night.

"It's a game that we knew how (Calgary) would play," Devils head coach Jacques Lemaire said. "This is their game. It's a hard-working team, and you have to work harder. That's all."

Zach Parise accounted for two of the Devils' goals, with both coming off feeds from Travis Zajac, who extended his point streak to six games (3 goals, 6 assists) with the two helpers.

The loss was the ninth in the past 13 games (4-7-2) for New Jersey, which has fallen out of first place in the Atlantic Division with that poor stretch. The Devils enter today's play trailing Pittsburgh by three points for the division's top spot and own a two-point edge on Ottawa for the fourth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

New Jersey figures to have a chance to get back into the win column this evening, considering the Oilers have the NHL's worst record at 20-38-6 and have dropped 20 of their last 24 games. Edmonton does enter tonight's tilt on a rare high note, though, after besting Minnesota in a shootout Friday at Rexall Place.

Mike Comrie scored the Oilers' lone regulation goal against the Wild, then gave his club a hard-fought 2-1 win by pushing a backhander past Minnesota's Nicklas Backstrom in the sixth round of the shootout.

"When you're battling hard and not getting the wins it's frustrating and they add up and for us," Comrie said afterward. "I think what we have to do is to continue to work hard. I don't think anybody is happy with the way the season has gone, and this organization is continuing to try and change the culture back to the pride of being an Edmonton Oiler."

Jeff Deslauriers also turned in a sharp performance in Saturday's win, with the Edmonton netminder stopping 28-of-29 shots prior to the shootout and thwarting four of the six Minnesota skaters in the deciding phase.

Since stringing together four straight wins from December 3-11, the Oilers have gone a woeful 5-25-2 and have recorded back-to-back victories just once during that brutal stretch, a pair of home triumphs over Carolina and Philadelphia from February 1-3.

Edmonton did come through with a 2-1 road win over the Devils last season, snapping a three-game losing streak in this series. New Jersey has gone unbeaten in its last six stops at Rexall Place, however, amassing five victories and a tie during that span.

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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.

Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.