07/04/2008 - Saskatoon, SK (Golf Betting) - Graham DeLeat carded a six-under 66 Friday to move into a tie for the lead after two rounds of the Saskatchewan Open.
He completed 36 holes at 13-under-par 131 and was joined atop the leaderboard by Ryan Carter (68), first-round leader Dale Vallely (69) and Ron Grube (68).
Anthony Rodriguez, Wil Collins and JC Deacon are tied for fifth at minus-11.
DeLaet made the turn at nine-under after three birdies and a bogey on the front nine. After he dropped another shot on the par-four 12th, DeLaet birdied five of the last six holes to soar into a share of the lead.
Carter played the back nine first on Friday. He birdied two of his first four holes before carding six straight pars around the turn at Dakota Dunes Golf Links.
He birdied the second, but gave that shot back with a bogey on the third. Carter dropped in back-to-back birdies from the sixth to finish at 13-under.
Vallely parred six straight from the 10th to open his round. He birdied 16 and 18, but dropped a shot with a bogey on 17. On the front nine, Vallely bogeyed the first, but carded three birdies from there for his share of the lead.
Grube, who is making his professional debut, picked up four birdies on the front nine before running into trouble on the back nine. He tripped to a bogey on 11 and faltered to a double-bogey at 12. Grube carded three birdies down the stretch to get in at minus-13.
Jim Lemon, George Bradford, Barrett Jarosch, James Love, Josh Geary, John Lieber and Clay Ogden are tied for eighth place 10-under-par 134.
The cut line fell at five-under-par 139 with 64 players moving on to the weekend.
<< Cust homers, Blanton dazzles as A's top ChiSox
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jack Cust slammed a two-run homer and Joe
Blanton pitched seven solid innings in Oakland's 7-1 victory over the Chicago
White Sox in the second of a four-game series.
Blanton (5-11) allowed just one ru
<< Calvillo's big first half paces Als over Bombers
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Calvillo threw for 372 yards and four
touchdowns as the Montreal Alouettes held off a second-half charge from
the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to notch a 38-24 win at Molson Stadium.
Calvillo finishe
<< Newcastle signs Taylor to new contract
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor
has finally ended speculation about his future by signing a new three-year deal
with Kevin Keegan's side.
The 22-year-old had only 12 months remaining on his p
<< Ozaki fires 63 for early lead in New York
Endicott, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Ozaki fired a nine-under 63 Friday to grab
a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open.
Ozaki, who is winless on the Champions Tour, missed the course record at En-
Joie G
Grant: Scolari faces impossible job at Chelsea >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Chelsea boss Avram Grant has warned
successor Luiz Felipe Scolari that he is embarking on an impossible job at
Stamford Bridge.
Scolari was confirmed as the replacement for the sacked Grant
Villa coach O'Neill won't budge on Barry >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin O'Neill again warned Liverpool
that Gareth Barry will not be leaving Aston Villa unless they match the value
of the wantaway midfielder.
The Villa boss has now rejected three bids from t
Atletico Madrid signs French striker Pongolle >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atletico Madrid has signed former Recreativo
striker Florent Sinama Pongolle, a French striker.
Pongolle, 23, had more than 20 goals in two seasons for Recreativo. He played
at Liverpool from 2003-06. No
Reds complete signing of Swiss fullback Degen >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool has completed the signing of
Switzerland fullback Philipp Degen on a free transfer.
Degen, 25, had agreed to join the Reds from Borussia Dortmund prior to the
start of the recently comp
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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