Dodgers hold on to beat Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/25/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney drove in two runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the second of a three-game series.

Andre Ethier hit a solo home run while Matt Kemp drove in one for the Dodgers, who have won three of their last four. Hiroki Kuroda (9-11) went seven innings in the win as he was charged with four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.

"It was a good game, we played well and we were spirited," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We just need to keep playing well and get on a winning streak."

The big news for Los Angeles came before the game as the Los Angeles Times reported that the team placed outfielder Manny Ramirez on waivers. He is in the final season of a two-year contract with a salary of $20 million this season. He went 2-for-2 in the game with two doubles, two walks, an RBI and a run scored.

Corey Hart, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee each drove in a run for the Brewers, who have dropped three straight. Randy Wolf (10-10) went five innings in the start and was charged with four runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

"We went out there and lost a two-run lead," said Milwaukee manager Ken Macha. "Loney got a hold of a good pitch and they have a great bullpen there that just shut us down."

The Dodgers drew first blood when Ethier hit a one-out, solo homer to right- center in the third.

The Brewers, though, surged ahead in the fourth. Rickie Weeks led off with a single and came home when Hart followed with a double. Braun's two-bagger scored Hart and a sacrifice fly from McGehee later in the inning made it a 3-1 game.

Los Angeles answered with three of its own in the fifth to go back in front. With men on first and third and one out, Kemp scored Ryan Theriot with a sacrifice fly. Casey Blake followed with a double and Loney's single to left plated both baserunners for a 4-3 lead.

The Dodgers made it a 5-3 game in the sixth as Ramirez's double scored Theriot, who had reached base on a double earlier in the frame.

Milwaukee got the run back in the bottom of the inning, though, as Fielder's single to left scored Weeks, who led off with a single and stole second before heading to third on a groundout from Braun.

Kuroda put the Brewers down in order in the seventh while Jonathan Broxton did the same in the eighth.

Ronald Belisario, George Sherrill and Octavio Dotel each retired a batter in the ninth, with Dotel getting his 22nd save of the season.

Game Notes

Kuroda had been 0-3 in his previous five starts and improved to 2-0 in three games against Milwaukee...Los Angeles has taken three of five from Milwaukee this season...Wolf had won his previous three starts and fell to 3-3 in 10 encounters with Los Angeles.

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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.