05/09/2008 - Glasgow, Scotland (Soccer Betting) - Rangers will attempt to capture its first European title in 36 years on Wednesday when they meet Zenit in the UEFA Cup final, but Walter Smith's men must first take care of their business in the league with a home game against Dundee United on Saturday.
Rangers will be extremely busy in the next few weeks with four league games, a UEFA Cup final, and League Cup final to play in a span of less than three weeks.
With so many games to play and a team that is still facing a number of injury issues, Rangers must concentrate on each game and not get caught looking ahead.
We've not been thinking ahead to other fixtures before games recently and we won't do that this weekend," Smith told the club's website. "Some of our players have had a little bit of strain placed on them with the number of matches they have had to play but that is just the way it is."
Dundee has not won in its last five league games, but the team is only one point behind third-place Motherwell, giving Dundee hope of grabbing a spot in the UEFA Cup. Manager Craig Levein's men have a tough finish to the season, however, as they will play Rangers and then Celtic in their final two games.
A win on Saturday would move Rangers to within one point of Celtic ahead of the Hoops match with Hibernian on Sunday.
Motherwell looks to keep third place with a win against Aberdeen, while Inverness visits Falkirk, Hearts hosts Kilmarnock and Gretna invades St Mirren.
<< Federer falls; Djokovic, Roddick reach Rome semis
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer
suffered a quarterfinal setback Friday at the hands of gritty Czech Radek
Stepanek at the $3.5 million Italian Masters. Meanwhile, Australian Open
champion Novak Djo
<< City in line for UEFA Cup spot
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City could secure a surprise
route into European football next season after UEFA revealed England have
finished top of the fair play standings.
One Premier League club will now be han
<< Bayern's Gorlitz will remain on loan to Karlsruher
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich defender Andreas Gorlitz will
remain on loan with Karlsruher next season, the clubs announced Friday.
Gorlitz, 26, went out on loan to promoted Karlsruher this season. The deal was
extended un
<< Federer falls; Roddick reaches Rome semis
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer
suffered a quarterfinal setback Friday at the hands of gritty Czech Radek
Stepanek at the $3.5 million Italian Masters. Meanwhile, former top-ranked
star Andy Roddic
A's reliever Foulke activated off DL >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics activated reliever Keith
Foulke from the 15-day disabled list on Friday.
He had been on the DL since April 19, retroactive to April 11, with neck
stiffness.
In seven games this
Shakeup could soon be in store in San Diego >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Citizens of San Diego may be renowned for their laid-back
and easy-going approach to life, but the patience of the hometown Padres'
brass has got to be wearing thin with the way the team has performed over the
past three week
Red Bulls, Galaxy clash in East, West battle >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of Major League Soccer's biggest
markets will clash when the New York Red Bulls travel to California to take on
the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center.
Both teams are trying
Bayern leads race for AC Milan's Gattuso >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich is reportedly leading the
race to sign AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.
The Italy international would team up with compatriot Luca Toni at the Allianz
Arena if the transfer goes throug
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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.
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 sportsbook 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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