Capitals visit Blackhawks in clash of NHL powerhouses

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Capitals and Blackhawks could very well meet this year in the Stanley Cup Finals, but neither probably feels like a championship- caliber club right now.

Both Washington and Chicago will try to bounce back from disappointing losses this afternoon in a clash of NHL powers at the United Center.

The Capitals lead the league with 99 points, three more than the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks. Washington also owns a 14-point advantage for the top spot in the East, while Chicago comes in three points behind San Jose in the West.

Washington, though, capped a 3-1-1 homestand on Friday with a disappointing loss to Tampa Bay. Tomas Fleischmann and Brooks Laich had the goals for the Capitals, with Fleischmann netting his 20th of the season to surpass his previous career high set last season.

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's leading point scorer with 96, had his third straight two-point game with a pair of assists, while Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves.

"We didn't do the job as forwards and defensemen," said Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau. "We stayed out too long, we got outworked and we didn't play the way we were capable of playing. That's the reason we lost. It had nothing to do with goaltending."

The Capitals suffered their first regulation home loss since Dec. 28, as they had been 14-0-1 in their previous 15 as host. They were also defeated one day after they clinched the Southeast Division without even stepping on the ice.

It is unknown who will get the start in net today as Washington kicks off a four-game road trip. Jose Theodore is 5-6-1 with a 2.58 goals-against average in 12 career starts versus the Blackhawks, while Varlamov has never faced them.

While the Caps feel they were simply outworked on Friday, the Blackhawks return home knowing a late collapse cost them two points. Chicago held a one- goal lead in Philadelphia Saturday afternoon, but saw the Flyers tie the game with just over two minutes left before Philly's Chris Pronger tipped a pass by netminder Cristobal Huet with just 2.1 seconds left in regulation in what ended up being a 3-2 setback.

"Getting out of here without a point -- that's how we should see it," Huet said after making 31 saves. "We lost two points. It's something you have nightmares about."

Kris Versteeg and Marian Hossa tallied for the Blackhawks, who had taken three of four games coming in. Patrick Kane had a nine-game points streak end in the game, a run in which he had totaled four goals and 10 assists.

Antti Niemi is expected to be in goal today for Chicago and he will make his first ever start versus the Capitals.

The Blackhawks had won three straight over the Caps before Washington posted a 4-2 home win over them on Oct. 11 of last season. Chicago blanked the Capitals, 5-0, the last time the teams met at United Center on March 19, 2008.

Footballventure Hockey Betting News

<< Taiwan's Tseng wins Women's Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Taiwan's Yani Tseng fired a flawless seven-under 66 on Sunday to capture the Women's Australian Open. The two-time LPGA Tour winner finished four rounds on the Commonwealth course at nine-under 283

<< Record-setting Ruangkit wins European Seniors event
Nakhonpathom, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thailand's Boonchu Ruangkit fired a seven-under 65 and set multiple records Sunday in winning the Chang Thailand Senior Masters. Ruangkit finished three rounds on the Royal Gems course at 21-und

<< Red Sox prospect Westmoreland to have brain surgery
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland is scheduled to have brain surgery Tuesday after being diagnosed with a cavernous malformation in his brain, the team announced Saturday. Westmoreland, 19

<< UC Santa Barbara drops Long Beach State in Big West final
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orlando Johnson finished with 20 points as UC Santa Barbara pulled out a 69-64 win over Long Beach State in the Big West Conference Tournament final. James Nunnally added 19 points for the top-seeded Gau

<< Nadal, Djokovic move on at BNP Paribas Open
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were both second-round winners Saturday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP World Tour Masters event. Nadal, the reigning titlist and third seed, ea

Predators aim to extend series win streak over Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is a chance that the Predators could visit the Kings in the postseason's opening round depending on how the Western Conference shakes down. Los Angeles would prefer that didn't happen. Currently seeded seventh in the

Avalanche attempt to win season series versus Stars >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to win their first season series with the Dallas Stars in five campaigns as the two clubs meet for the fourth and final time in the regular season this afternoon at American Airlines Center.

Flyers visit Rangers in Atlantic Division battle >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flyers hope that they made a statement with their last- second victory on Saturday against one of the best teams in the NHL. They've already made their impression on the Rangers this season. Philadelphia visits Madison

Maple Leafs try to push win streak to four games versus Islanders >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to stretch their longest winning streak of the season to four games this evening when they visit the New York Islanders in a matchup of the two bottom teams in the Eastern Conference. Toro

Lightning play host to Penguins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Lightning are coming off a big win over the Eastern Conference's top team. They wouldn't mind posting another one versus arguably the East's second-best team. Tampa Bay will try to record just its third win in its last

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.

American Idol Betting Odds: Season 6  

The online gambling websites are in the process of deciphering each American Idol contestant and his or her chances of winning Season 6 to come up with the early American Idol betting lines.

Tim Dalton of MySportsbook.com has been locked away in a soundproof room coming up with all the latest tallies, we are told. "American Idol has become one of the most significant betting events of the year," claims Jack Black of MySportsbook.com.  "Last year, millions were bet during the season across the globe, not just in America.

It's tough early on since we really do not have a glimpse as to how well each of these individuals will perform solo on a week-to-week basis.  It's like Week 1 of the NFL.  Pre-season means nada!

We do know the 24 finalists however.

Sanjaya Malakar is the young man whose sister failed to make it into the Top 24.  He's very low key but - unless he totally flubs - will probably win over the young girlie vote for a few weeks anyway.  He's too young to go all the way, according to Payton O'Brien. 

Brandon Rogers - Who?

Phil Stacy is the military guy who missed his daughter's birth because of the Memphis audition.  He should go a good distance.

Chris Sligh - He's got the humor and in many ways he's the Anti-American Idol much like last year's winner Taylor Hicks was.  And this is why he'll probably get pretty far in this competition.  He's chubby, white with a big curly afro....but more importantly, a great voice!  People love "real", not "real cute" to go all the way. 

"Blake Lewis should go far because of his uniqueness and looks.  He's the boy next store with a twist - he beat boxes.  But on top of this, he's a great singer, and I adore him," Payton O'Brien relayed.

A talented beat-boxer Blake Lewis was a hit during the group sing in Hollywood but Simon explained that this is a singing contest just before he told him he was “in.”

Paul Kim has caught our own roving reporter, Jenny Woo's eyes. 

"I love the fact that there is a Korean American on the show and he is bound to get more Asians tuning into the show," Woo said from her Miami Beach estate.  "There has never been a major presence of Asian-Americans on American Idol in the past.  He's a hottie with a nice voice so that should help to take him far.  Expect heavy betting action from the Asian community."

Sundance Head - He's not perfect, but he's got the personality that will take him through a few weeks, plus he's got the lineage (son of Roy Head - whose 1965 single, "Treat Her Right," hit No. 5 in the charts) 

And the others:

Rudy Cardinas
AJ Tabaldo - the 5th time is the charm
Nicolas Pedro
Chris Richardson
Jared Cotter

The girls

"Melinda Doolittle has one of the best voices," says MySportsbook.com Reporter and an acclaimed dancer in her own right, Destiney Lewis.  "It is great to see a back up singer step out like she has.  The girl needs to gain more confidence but that can also be a positive.  I think she will go far."

Alena Alexander - Those tears (she never seems to stop bawling) should get her far.

"Single mom Lakisha Jones I suspect will be a pretty big favorite entering Week 1 of the competition," says Destiny Williams.  Jones is an excellent singer and down to earth.  "She'll have a wide appeal," echoed O'Brien.

Nicole Trellis - Seems to exert confidence.

Amy Krebs - a powerful singer.

Antonella Barba
Gina Glocksen
Hailey Scanardo
Jordan Sparks
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Sabrina Sloan

MySportsbook.com is offering a 20% signup bonus with an initial deposit (i.e. open your American Idol betting account with $300, receive another $60 in which to bet with). 

Last two contestants will be?

1 Male/1 Female +100 (a $10 bet pays $10 plus your initial $10)

2 Males +170 (a $10 bet pays $17 plus your initial $17)

2 Females +130 (a $10 bet pays $13 plus your initial $10)

MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook accepts Visa Credit Cards and online sportsbook accepts Mastercard Credit Cards for easy American Idol betting lines.