Brewers try to make it three straight wins in opener with Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Dave Bush can push Milwaukee's win streak to three tonight when the Brewers host the visiting Chicago Cubs in the initial test of a three-game set between National League Central Division foes at Miller Park.

The Brewers, mired in fourth place in the division, finished a home series with second-place St. Louis on Wednesday with an 8-1 triumph - finishing the three game set with two straight after dropping Monday's opener.

Ryan Braun homered and drove in a total of four runs to back Chris Capuano's solid performance on the mound.

Capuano (3-3) gave up one run on four hits over seven innings for the Brewers, who have won three of four overall. Casey McGehee had two RBI for the victors.

Bush, a 30-year-old Pittsburgh native, has alternated wins and losses over his last four decisions, most recently defeating the Pirates, 8-4, in an Aug. 29 start in Milwaukee.

He took a no-decision in his latest start on Sept. 4 at Philadelphia, allowing six hits and three runs over six innings of a game Milwaukee lost, 5-4.

The former second-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays (2002) is just 2-9 lifetime against the Cubs in 19 appearances - 18 starts - and has faced them three times in 2010 with a loss and two no-decisions.

In the three games this season, Bush has pitched 15 2/3 innings while surrendering 23 hits and 13 earned runs.

He is 4-6 in 15 starts in Milwaukee this season.

For the Cubs, fiery Venezuelan righty Carlos Zambrano can extend his personal win streak to five.

A newsmaker in 2010 due both to injury and clubhouse unrest, Zambrano has gone 4-0 with a pair of no-decisions in six starts since returning to the Chicago rotation on Aug. 9.

He allowed two runs in a Sept. 4 start against the New York Mets and one run in each in three consecutive starts against Pittsburgh, Washington and San Diego between Aug. 19-30.

His last loss came June 25 against the Chicago White Sox.

Zambrano pitched an inning of scoreless relief against the Brewers in a 15-3 Cubs win on Aug. 4 and is 11-8 lifetime against them in 30 games - 27 starts.

He is 4-4 on the road this season with a 5.90 earned run average in 50 1/3 innings.

On Wednesday in Chicago, Brett Myers struck out eight in seven shutout innings to continue his dominance of the Cubs and lead the Astros to a 4-0 win in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Randy Wells (6-13) gave up four runs in six innings to take the loss for the Cubs, who went 5-4 on their homestand.

The Cubs are 7-5 this season against the Brewers.

Sprotsillustrated Baseball Betting News

<< CFL Western Division: BC bursts out of major slump
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wally Buono's Lions team put together a vintage BC performance when they trounced the Alouettes in Montreal by a 38-17 count in Week 10. The beat-down came out of nowhere, as the Lions entered the game on a se

<< Tigers welcome Orioles to Comerica Park
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Detroit Tigers can boost an already impressive home record tonight when they begin a three-game weekend series with the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park. Detroit, a distant third in the American League's C

<< Aging Senators and Gonchar a good fit
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators have made the playoffs in 12 of the last 13 seasons and that's an impressive statistic. But for a city that hasn't won a Stanley Cup since 1927, it's only the first step. Playing in the post

<< Mawae calling it a career
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time NFL center Kevin Mawae will reportedly announce his retirement. The Tennessean said Mawae, an eight-time Pro Bowl selection, has scheduled a press conference for Friday afternoon to make i

<< Elon QB Riddle on verge of SoCon record
Elon, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elon senior quarterback Scott Riddle will become the Southern Conference's all-time leader in passing yardage if he throws for 79 yards against Division II Shaw on Saturday. Riddle, the active passing leader at th

Bucks sign second-round pick Gallon >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks have signed forward Tiny Gallon, who was selected in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft. Gallon played one season at Oklahoma before he was chosen with the 47th overall pick i

Marlins pay a visit to Nationals Park >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot lefty John Lannan can make it three straight wins and six in seven starts tonight when the Washington Nationals host the Florida Marlins in game one of three between the National League East Division foes at Nationals

Yankees visit Rangers in possible playoff preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a possible playoff preview, the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers will start up an intriguing three-game series between division leaders this evening at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. If the current American League sta

CFL Eastern Division: Tiger-Cats on a roll >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamilton began the year meekly, but has now won four straight to finally get over .500 on the season. Two of those wins came against the Toronto Argonauts, who have slipped in the standings and are now playing

Reds hope to get on track at home versus Pirates >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If a return home isn't enough to fix the Cincinnati Reds, then perhaps a visit from the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates will do the trick. Tonight, the Reds will try to stop a five-game losing streak when they begin a three-game se

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.