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05/26/2010 - Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box, the probable Belmont Stakes favorite, is being trained for the Test of Champions at Saratoga Race Course by Nick Zito. The colt will be one of two horses that the Hall of Fame trainer will run in the final jewel of racing's Triple Crown.
Owned by Robert LaPenta, Ice Box will be joined by Richard Pell's Fly Down in the 1 1/2-mile race on Saturday, June 5. Fly Down is coming off a victory in the Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park on May 8.
On Wednesday Ice Box galloped almost two miles on the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course. The Florida Derby champ will likely have a breeze Thursday morning.
Fly Down worked four-furlongs last Saturday in 49 2/5 seconds. Zito plans to bring both colts to Belmont Park next Wednesday.
"Right now, everything is positive and we want to keep it that way," Zito said. "I'm going to stay here, take care of the horses, and go from there."
Ice Box is the winner of three of eight career starts with $906,535. Fly Down has earned $182,070 in five starts and three lifetime wins.
Make Music for Me, fourth in the Kentucky Derby, has been galloping at Belmont Park for trainer Alexis Barba.
Owned by Peter and Ellen Johnson, Make Music for Me has nine career starts with one win and two second-place finishes. The colt has earned $362,260.
Preakness runner-up First Dude also took a gallop around Belmont Park on Wednesday morning. First Dude is trained by Dale Romans for owner Donald Dizney.
"He's doing great," said exercise rider Tammy Fox, who is overseeing First Dudes preparations for the Belmont Stakes. "He's getting over the track fine; he's just floating right over it. He's such a big horse with a long stride, and you don't feel like he's doing anything. He's real easy on himself."
First Dude has one win in seven career starts for $352,160. He was fifth in the Florida Derby and third in the Blue Grass Stakes.
Also expected to start in the 142nd Belmont Stakes are Game On Dude, Stately Victor, Drosselmeyer, Stay Put, Uptowncharlybrown, and Spangled Star.
<< Stanley Cup Finals Preview - Chicago vs. Philadelphia
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been nearly a half-century since the Chicago
Blackhawks have claimed Lord Stanley's Cup as their own, but four more wins
could finally bring another parade.
Since last winning it all in 1961, the Blackhawks have lost
<< Pellegrini axed by Real Madrid
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid announced on Wednesday that the
club has fired manager Manuel Pellegrini, which could pave the way for Jose
Mourinho to take over at the Bernabeu.
Pellegrini's job status has been in questi
<< Shanahan not worried about Moss situation
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan
said Wednesday that he feels "very good" about the situation involving wide
receiver Santana Moss and his link to a Canadian doctor charged with unlawful
distrib
<< Birmingham snaps up Zigic
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Birmingham have completed the signing
of Serbia striker Nikola Zigic from Spanish side Valencia.
Zigic has joined the Blues on a four-year contract after the two clubs agreed
to an undisclosed fee be
Royals earn split with Rangers >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Billy Butler went 2-for-4 with a solo
homer, and Luke Hochevar tossed eight strong innings, as the Kansas City
Royals earned a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers in the finale of a brief two-
game se
Great Alaska Shootout announces 2010 field >>
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -Arizona State and St. Johns will be on the basketball court for the 2010 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.Steve Cobb, athletic director for tournament host Alaska-Anchorage, says the Thanksgiving week field also will inclu
Jury awards $1.25M in lawsuit against Tubby Smith >>
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -A jury in Minneapolis has awarded an assistant coach nearly $1.25 million in his lawsuit against Minnesota basketball coach Tubby Smith over an aborted hiring.Jimmy Williams was an assistant at Oklahoma State when Smith called him
Tentative agreement reached on new CBA in CFL >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Canadian Football League Player Relations
Committee and Canadian Football League Players' Association have reached a
tentative agreement on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement.
The agre
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.
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