Coyotes try to continue point streak in Edmonton

Hockey Betting Lines

12/22/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will try to notch at least one point in a seventh straight game, as they visit the Edmonton Oilers tonight at Rexall Place.

The Coyotes, who have missed the postseason in each of the last five seasons, are on their best run since winning a season-high three straight games from November 8-12. They have won two straight for a sixth time this season and are 4-0-2 over their last six games to move within three points of second-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division.

Ilya Bryzgalov has a 1.79 goals against average over Phoenix's six-game point streak and is coming off his first shutout of the season. He stopped all 33 shots faced in Saturday's 2-0 win over Columbus, the sixth blanking of his career.

Steven Reinprecht and Mikkel Boedker lit the lamp for the Coyotes, who are also 5-0-1 in their last six games at home. Phoenix, though, begins a three- game road trip tonight and have dropped three of its last four as the visitor. The Coyotes are 5-9-2 overall as the road team this year.

Shane Doan and Ken Klee assists added assists in Saturday's win. Doan, who leads the Coyotes in goals (14), assists (16) and points (30), has three goals and seven helpers over his last 11 games. He has 42 points in 42 career meetings with the Oilers, posting 10 goals and 32 assists.

Bryzgalov, meanwhile, is just 1-3-0 with a 4.19 GAA lifetime versus Edmonton.

The Coyotes will visit an Oilers squad that is in the midst of playing 12 of 15 at home. They are 1-2-1 in the first four as the host in that stretch, also losing a road game in Vancouver in that span. Edmonton, 4-5-3 as the host this year, will play in Vancouver again on Friday before hosting its next two games to close out 2008.

The Oilers notched a point last time out despite losing for the fourth time in five games, as they dropped a 3-2 shootout decision against the visiting Ducks.

Jonas Hiller tied an Anaheim record with 51 saves and denied all three Oilers in the shootout. The Ducks' Chris Perry, meanwhile, scored on Dwayne Roloson in the extra session to seal it for Anaheim.

Erik Cole and Kyle Brodziak each tallied a third-period goal for Edmonton, while Roloson stopped 34-of-36 shots. Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner all failed to score in the shootout.

Roloson is 9-8-0 with two ties and a 2.55 GAA lifetime against Phoenix.

The Oilers swept their four-game series with the Coyotes last year and have won five of six and eight of the last 10 in the series. That includes wins in two straight and four of five at home.

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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.