Wi leads by 3 at Pebble Beach; Tiger falls six back
Golf Betting Lines
02/10/2012 - Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlie Wi carded a three-under 69 on Friday at Pebble Beach to take a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Wi, who was one of three first-round leaders, finished 36 holes at 12-under- par 130. Having played Monterey Peninsula and Pebble Beach in the first two rounds, Wi will move to Spyglass Hill for round three.
With the pro-am format, the entire field rotates through the three courses for the first three days, then will shift to Pebble Beach for the final round.
Two-time winner Dustin Johnson, who shared the first-round lead with Wi and Danny Lee, managed an even-par 72 at Spyglass to fall into second place at minus-nine.
Vijay Singh, the 2004 champion, posted his second straight four-under 68 on Friday to move into a tie for third place at minus-eight. He was joined there by Padraig Harrington (66), Lee (73), Brian Gay (65) and Brendon Todd (69).
Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner of this event, shot five-under 65 at Monterey and headlines a group of nine players tied for eighth at minus-seven.
Tiger Woods, who is playing this event for the first time since 2002, managed a two-under 68 at Monterey to finish two rounds at minus-six. He is tied for 17th with Ryan Moore, Ricky Barnes and Richard H. Lee.
Woods got off to a quick start with a birdie on the first. However, he gave that stroke back with a bogey on the par-four fourth. Woods two-putted for birdie on the par-five sixth and followed with an 18-foot birdie effort on the seventh.
After four straight pars around the turn, Woods stuffed his third shot within two feet at the 12th. He kicked that in for birdie to move to seven-under, where he was five behind Wi.
Woods saved par from eight feet out on the 15th, but was unable to save par on 16. He parred the last two holes to finish at six-under.
"It was decent. I drove it good again today, unfortunately I just didn't make enough birdies," Woods said in a televised interview. "I was hitting the ball in the wrong spots, leaving myself sliders. I had to leave myself in better spots and didn't."
Wi started on the back nine Friday and stumbled to a bogey on the 12th. He quickly erased that error with a hole-out eagle on the par-four 13th. Wi moved to 11-under with a birdie on the 15th.
At the 17th, Wi faltered to another bogey, but atoned for that mistake with a birdie at 18 to claim a share of the lead.
Around the turn, Wi parred the first three holes before taking a one-shot lead over Johnson with a birdie on the fourth. Wi dropped another shot on the fifth when he failed to get up and down.
The 40-year-old Wi again bounced back with a two-putt birdie on the par-five sixth to move two clear of Johnson and Ken Duke, who bogeyed three straight holes after getting to minus-10.
Wi rolled in a five-footer for birdie on the eighth, but faltered to a closing bogey on the par-four ninth.
"I was very fortunate to make a two on 13 today. It got me off to a good start," Wi said. "The conditions were really tough with the greens being pretty firm, which we're not used to here at Pebble. The last four or five holes the fog rolled in and they played pretty long."
Johnson started with four straight pars from the 10th at Spyglass. After a birdie on 14, he bogeyed the 15th. Johnson converted birdie efforts on 17 and 18 to make the turn at 11-under.
The 2009 and 2010 champion dropped strokes on three and five. Johnson came back with a birdie on the seventh, but ended his round with another bogey on the ninth.
NOTES: Wi is winless on the PGA Tour, but does have four second-place finishes...Steve Elkington and Sunghoon Kang both withdrew on Friday...The cut will be made after the third round and will likely fall at one- or two-under par.
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets placed defensemen Brett Lebda and Marc Methot on injured reserve Friday. Lebda was signed by Columbus on January 19, and has picked up one goal in five games since. M
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Champions Tour,
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that sophomore forward Trevor Wiseman has been reinstated to the team.
Wiseman was suspended indefinitely by the team on Monday and missed the
Rainbow Warr
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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.
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.