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07/19/2010 - Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul-Henri Mathieu, who was defeated in the final of last year's event, was upset by qualifier Pere Riba on the first day of play at the 2010 Hamburg Open.
Mathieu won the first set handily, 6-1, but then was outplayed by the Spaniard, who won the next two sets, 6-0, 6-3.
The Frenchman struggled with his serve, landing only 47 percent of his first serves, while Riba landed 68 percent of his.
Italian Simone Bolelli, another qualifier, knocked off Germany's Simon Greul, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) to advance to the second round behind nine aces. Greul, a native of Stuttgart, had advanced to the quarterfinals in last year's event.
Florent Serra of France defeated Kazakhstan's Evgeny Korolev, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 to advance to the second round and a meeting with top seed and defending champion Nikolay Davydenko.
Also on Monday, Florian Mayer of Germany bested Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, 6-4, 6-1; Italy's Potito Starace got by German Bjor Phau, 7-5, 6-0; Jan Hajek turned back another German, Andreas Beck, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 and Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev was able to beat yet another German, Mischa Zverev, 7-5, 6-1.
France's Jeremy Chardy knocked off Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-1; Fabio Fognini of Italy squeezed past Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; Jarkko Nieminen of Finland edged Belgium's Christophe Rochus, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) while Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina toppled Christophe's brother Olivier Rochus, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan stopped Czechoslovakia's Lukas Rosol, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
<< Rangers' Molina earns AL weekly honor
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers catcher Bengie Molina has been
named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending July 18.
Molina, who will turn 36 on Tuesday, joined the Rangers in a July 1 trade from
the Sa
<< Howard takes home NL weekly honors
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan
Howard has been named the National League Player of the Week for the
period ending July 18.
Howard batted .400 and blasted four home runs over an abbre
<< Sherritt, Reynolds among preseason Big Sky honorees
Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eastern Washington's J.C. Sherritt, the 2009 Buck
Buchanan Award runner-up, has been named the 2010 Big Sky Conference preseason
defensive player of the year. Montana's Chase Reynolds has been named the
preseason o
<< General Quarters suffers ankle injury
Arlington Heights, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fan favorite General Quarters came
out of Saturday's Arlington Handicap with an injured ankle. The four-year-old
colt finished sixth as the 5-2 second choice in the 11 horse field in the
Arlingt
Florida, NCAA looking into possible violations >>
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Florida has reportedly
informed the NCAA of a possible rules violation involving former football
player Maurkice Pouncey that could wind up costing the Gators their win in the
Sugar B
Heat bring back F James Jones >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat made it official on Monday by re-
signing forward James Jones.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but The Miami Herald previously
reported that Jones' deal was for the veteran mini
This Week in Golf - July 19th through July 25th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CANADIAN OPEN, St. George's Golf & Country
Club, Toronto, Ontario - From one national championship to another, the PGA
Tour moves north of the border this week for the Canadian Open.
Despite its
Pitt suspends DE Sheard indefinitely >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh senior starting defensive end
Jabaal Sheard has been suspended indefinitely from team activities after being
charged with multiple offenses for his part in a fight early Sunday morning.
The P
Oddsmakers have released the odds for the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry has been made the opening favorite.
Seattle took Curry with the fourth overall pick in April's NFL draft and plan on inserting him into its starting lineup right away. The Hawks traded linebacker Julian Peterson in the offseason, so Curry is expected to have a significant role in Seattle's defense next year and that's one of the primary reasons he is the favorite to win the NFL ROY Award.
Oddsmakers from online sportsbook MySportsbook.com have made Curry a 5/1 favorite to win this year's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Given that he was the best defensive prospect in this year's draft and how he'll have plenty of opportunities to make plays in '09, Curry offers a ton of value at 5/1.
Another thing working for Curry is the position he plays. A linebacker has won the defensive ROY award six straight times and eight of the last nine years. Jerod Mayo, Patrick Willis, DeMeco Ryans, Shawne Merriman, Jonathan Vilma, Terrell Suggs, Kendrell Bell and Brian Urlacher were the most recent linebackers to take home the award.
Following Curry at 5/1 are Tyson Jackson (Chiefs) at 7/1, James Laurinaitas (Rams) at 8/1, Brian Orakpo (Redskins) at 10/1, Rey Maualuga (Bengals) at 10/1 and Jerry Peria (Falcons) at 10/1.
All the players mentioned above are expected to start for their respective teams, but Jackson and Peria are going to have a tough time being recognized on a national level given they're both defensive linemen. D-linemen rarely put up the numbers that it takes to win an individual award like the ROY.
A couple of players with some value are Clay Matthews (Packers) at 12/1 and Larry English (Chargers) at 15/1. Matthews is expected to start at outside linebacker in Green Bay's new 3-4 defense and could rack up a ton of tackles. English, who was an impressive player at Northern Illinois, is expected to be a situational pass rusher for the Chargers and could rack up a ton of sacks.
For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, see below. And for complete odds for the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, click the link provided.
2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award
Robert Ayers (DEN) 12/1
Ron Brace (NE) 25/1
Everette Brown (CAR) 16/1
Darius Butler (NE) 40/1
Patrick Chung (NE) 30/1
Aaron Curry (SEA) 5/1
Brian Cushing (HOU) 12/1
Vontae Davis (MIA) 30/1
Louis Delmas (DET) 30/1
Larry English (SD) 15/1
Evander Hood (PIT) 25/1
Tyson Jackson (KC) 7/1
Malcolm Jenkins (NO) 25/1
Paul Kruger (BAL) 50/1
James Laurinaitas (STL) 8/1
Sen'Derrick Marks (TEN) 20/1
Clay Matthews (GB) 12/1
Aaron Maybin (BUF) 15/1
Rey Maualuga (CIN) 10/1
Roy Miller (TB) 20/1
Michael Mitchell (OAK) 45/1
Fili Moala (IND) 30/1
Brian Orakpo (WAS) 10/1
Jerry Peria (ATL) 10/1
B J Raji (GB) 7/1
Clint Sintim (NYG) 35/1
Alphonso Smith (DEN) 40/1
David Verkune (CLE) 20/1
Jason Williams (DAL) 30/1
Field (Any Other Player) 6/1
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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.
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