Boston College, Notre Dame to meet in final

Chockey Betting Lines

04/11/2008 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Calle Ridderwall scored the game-winner 5:44 into overtime, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish advanced to the first championship game in the program's 40-year history with a 5-4 win over the Michigan Wolverines in the Frozen Four.

In the extra session, Ridderwall collected a rebound in the slot, transfered the puck from the backhand to the forehand and snapped a shot that beat Bryan Hogan on the stick side.

Ridderwall finished with two goals, while Ryan Thang registered a goal and an assist for the Fighting Irish, who will battle Boston College in Saturday's title game. The Eagles defeated North Dakota 6-1 earlier on Thursday. Notre Dame is the only number four seed to reach the championship game.

Jordan Pearce made 29 saves to earn the victory.

Chad Kolarik scored twice for the Wolverines, who entered the tournament as the top seed. Carl Hagelin and Matt Rust each posted a goal and an assist, while Aaron Palushaj finished with three assists.

Billy Sauer allowed three goals on nine shots in the first period before he was lifted at the start of the second in favor of Hogan, who made 18 saves the rest of the way.

Kolarik notched a power-play at the 2:16 mark of the third, tying the score at three. Kevin Deeth restored the lead for Notre Dame at 11:30, but Hagelin drew the Wolverines even with 5:21 to play in regulation. From below the goal line, Hagelin threw a backhander that worked its way between the left skate of Pearce and the near post.

Ridderwall and Mark Van Guilder scored goals 42 seconds apart in the first period. Ridderwall found the back of the net at the five-minute mark when he snapped a shot from the high slot that beat Sauer on the blocker side. Shortly after the opening tally, Van Guilder fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle that squeezed between the left arm and body of Sauer.

Thang's short-handed marker gave the Fighting Irish a 3-0 lead with 35 seconds to play before the first intermission.

The Wolervines responded with two goals in a 15 second span in the middle stanza. After Kolarik put Michigan on the board at 8:48, Rust ripped a shot from the high slot over the glove of Pearce to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Wwwworldwidegamble Chockey Betting News

<< Nabokov's shutout leads Sharks over Flames; series tied 1-1
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves to pick up his sixth career playoff shutout, as the San Jose Sharks blanked the Calgary Flames, 2-0, to even their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series

<< Davis has successful surgery
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Doug Davis underwent what the club described as successful surgery for thyroid cancer on Thursday. "The surgery that was completed this evening by Dr. Bob Evani was

<< Buck lifts A's over Jays in 12 innings
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Buck drove in all three Oakland runs, including the game-winning, two-RBI double in the 12th inning, as the Athletics continued to thrive in international territory and outlasted the Toronto

<< Inglese resigns as Boston College's women's basketball coach
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston College women's basketball coach Cathy Inglese resigned Thursday. "I am forever grateful for the rich and rewarding opportunity that Boston College has afforded me for the past 15 years

<< Pettitte strong as Yankees snap Royals' win streak
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Melky Cabrera all homered, and Andy Pettitte pitched into the seventh inning as the New York Yankees salvaged the finale of a three-game series by besting Kansas City, 6

Turco, Stars blank Ducks in series opener >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marty Turco stopped all 23 shots he faced for the fourth shutout of his playoff career and four different Dallas players scored on the power play, as the Stars defeated the Anaheim Ducks, 4-0, in the opener

Correia dazzles Cards >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Correia befuddled Cardinals batters over 7 2/3 scoreless frames, as the San Francisco Giants downed the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1, at AT&T Park. Correia (1-1) mixed a sharp breaking ball wit

Western Illinois names new men's basketball coach >>
Macomb, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Western Illinois will introduce Jim Molinari as its new head men's basketball coach at a Friday morning press conference. The 14-year Division I head coaching veteran brings 28 years coaching experienc

Martin won't coach Panthers, will remain GM >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers will have a new head coach for the 2008-09 season, and that coach will be selected by the man who vacated the position late Thursday, according to a published report. The Miami Her

Lakers crush Clippers in Battle of Los Angeles >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Walton scored 18 points as the Lakers routed the Clippers, 106-78, at the Staples Center. Kobe Bryant added 16 points for the Lakers, who finished a perfect 4-0 against the Clippers this season and

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.