Colorado rocks Hamels, Phils in home opener

Baseball Betting Lines

04/10/2009 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Atkins' first hit of the season -- a two-run homer -- highlighted a five-run third inning, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-3, in the home opener at Coors Field.

Ryan Spilborghs was 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored for Colorado, which took two of three in Arizona to begin the 2009 campaign. Clint Barmes had two hits and scored three times, while Todd Helton drove in three.

Jason Marquis (1-0), who was picked up from the Cubs in the offseason, continued his success at Coors Field, allowing two runs and five hits with two walks and as many strikeouts over seven solid innings. The veteran right- hander is now 4-0 in five starts in the Mile High City. Marquis also helped his cause at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a double and a run batted in.

Coming off a stellar postseason a year ago in which he emerged as an elite pitcher, punctuated by capturing MVP honors in both the NLCS and World Series, Cole Hamels struggled in his season debut for Philadelphia. The lefty was slated to start on Opening Day, but elbow issues during spring training delayed his start.

Hamels (0-1) was hit hard by Colorado, yielding seven runs on 11 hits with a walk and one strikeout in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss.

Jayson Werth went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a homer and three runs scored for the Phillies, who are off to a 1-3 start. Pedro Feliz knocked in the other two runs.

The Phillies jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Werth led off with a double and later scored on a Feliz sacrifice fly.

Colorado then put up a crooked number in the third. Barmes doubled to lead off the frame and raced home after Marquis' grounder found a hole on the left side of the diamond. One out later, Spilborghs lined a double to right and Helton's ground out plated Marquis before Atkins stepped in and homered to left field. Brad Hawpe then hit a ground-rule double and Troy Tulowitzki followed with an RBI triple.

Philadelphia got a run back in the top of the fourth, as Werth, once again, smacked a double to begin the inning and scored following a pair of groundouts, the second one from Feliz.

The Rockies plated two more runs in the bottom half. Barmes had a leadoff single, advanced to second on a sac bunt, took third on a ground out and waltzed home on a double by Spilborghs. Helton then slapped a base hit past a diving Ryan Howard at first for a 7-2 lead.

Colorado added three more runs in the eighth off Chad Durbin on bloop singles by Dexter Fowler and Spilborghs and a sac fly from Helton.

Werth went deep to open the ninth inning.

Game Notes

Marquis became the first Rockies starter to earn a win in the home opener since Shawn Chacon in 2003...Colorado is 10-7 all-time in home openers... The Rockies have hit at least one home run in each of their first four games of the season...Philadelphia won all five of its matchups with Colorado last season after being swept (0-3) in the 2007 NLDS...Howard was hitless in four at-bats and grounded into three double plays...J.A. Happ tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames for the Phillies.

Wdogpile Baseball Betting News

<< Pettitte has strong outing as Yanks top Royals
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Pettitte scattered three hits and one run through seven innings, as the New York Yankees topped Kansas City, 4-1, in the opener of a three-game set. Pettitte (1-0) held his foes in check with six

<< Driver charged with murder in Adenhart's death
Fullerton, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrew Thomas Gallo is facing three felony murder counts in the drunken driving accident that killed Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart, The Orange County District Attorney announced the 22-yea

<< Norman misses cut after a 77
Augusta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The crowd surrounding Augusta National's familiar 18th green applauded Greg Norman. He applauded them right back. If the tournament hasn't always been kind to The Shark, at least the gallery has. No

<< Serena Williams withdraws from Family Circle Cup
Charleston, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams has pulled out of the Family Circle Cup due to a left leg injury. The top-ranked player in the world hurt her leg at the Sony Ericsson Open, which she lost in the final to Victoria

<< Hall out as Cincy women's coach
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J. Kelley Hall, who had served as the head coach of Cincinnati's women's basketball team for the last two seasons, will not return next year, the school revealed on Friday. Hall put together a 26-33 m

Pirates/Reds postponed >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday's game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park was postponed because of rain. A makeup date has not been announced. Pittsburgh's Jeff Karstens and Cincinnati

Weeks leads Brewers' ninth-inning comeback over Cubs >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rickie Weeks doubled home the tying run in the ninth, took third on a ball in the dirt and scored the winning run on an infield hit with a head-first slide just ahead of the tag to give Milwaukee a thrilling 4-3

Gilroy wins 2009 Hobey Baker Award >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Executive Committee announced Friday that Boston University senior defenseman Matt Gilroy was named the 29th winner of college hockey's most prestigious individ

Mickelson bounces back with a 68 >>
Augusta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After struggling to a one-over 73 on Thursday, Phil Mickelson bounced back with a four-under 68 Friday to move into share of 11th at three-under-par 141 after two rounds of the Masters. Mickelson was well o

Hawks F Marvin Williams returns to lineup >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks forward Marvin Williams returned to the lineup in Friday's game with the Indiana Pacers at Philips Arena after missing the last 16 with a lower back injury. The former North Carolina product is

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.