Dolphins sign RB Messam

Football Betting Lines

02/15/2012 - Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins signed running back Jerome Messam on Wednesday.

The Toronto, Ontario native, spent the last two years playing in the Canadian Football League, where he recorded just 93 yards on 23 carries in his rookie season in 2010 before breaking out last year for the Edmonton Eskimos.

Messam recorded 1,057 yards and six touchdowns on 195 carries in 2011, ranking him third in the league and earning him the CFL's top Canadian Player award. He also added 27 receptions for 248 yards.

Mysportsbiik Football Betting News

<< Argonauts keep LB Pottinger
Mississauga, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Argonauts re-signed free agent linebacker Jason Pottinger on Wednesday, keeping him with the club through the 2013 season. "We are happy to be able to keep Jason in his hometown of Toron

<< Georgia DB Commings suspended 2 games
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Georgia cornerback Sanders Commings has been suspended two games, the university announced on Wednesday. The suspension stems from the senior's arrest for domestic violence on January 21. He will miss th

<< Long-time Astros broadcaster Hamilton to retire after 2012
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milo Hamilton, who has been the voice of the Houston Astros since 1985, announced on Wednesday that he intends to retire following the upcoming season. Hamilton will close the books on a career which s

<< Sam Houston State to play Baylor, Texas A&M
Huntsville, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sam Houston State won't take the easy way as it tries to return to the FCS national championship game. The Bearkats, who finished 14-1 as the national runner-up this past season, will make trips to two in-st

<< Calhoun to miss at least three more games
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Connecticut men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun will miss at least three more games as he receives treatment for spinal stenosis, the school announced Wednesday. Calhoun was

No. 18 Indiana takes care of Northwestern >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds, as 18th-ranked Indiana avoided a fourth consecutive loss to visiting Northwestern with a 71-66 victory at Assembly Hall. Victor Oladipo and Ch

Cooley takes over, lifts Irish past Rutgers >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jack Cooley scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half, helping No. 23 Notre Dame pull away from Rutgers in a 71-53 decision at the Joyce Center. Cooley also pulled down 18 rebounds to record his thi

Magic drain 15 3s in rout of 76ers >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Orlando Magic live and die by the three- pointer, they not only lived on Wednesday night, they thrived. Ryan Anderson scored 27 points on 7-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc and Orlando drained 15 t

Ducks stay hot, down Penguins >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teemu Selanne scored a tiebreaking goal in the third period and Jonas Hiller turned away 25 Penguins shots, backstopping the Anaheim Ducks to a 2-1 victory, their first in Pittsburgh in more than a decade.

Lin, Knicks rout Kings for 7th straight win >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Lin had the ball in the air before Landry Fields even made his move. Taking off from outside the paint, Fields caught the pass two-handed near the right baseline and finished off a thunderous alley-oop

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.