War Pass and Cool Coal Man post Gulfstream wins
Horseracing Betting Lines
02/24/2008 - Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eclipse Award winner War Pass and Cool Coal Man, both trained by Nick Zito, registered victories Sunday at Gulfstream Park.
War Pass, the 2007 champion two-year-old male, defeated four rivals in an allowance race in his 2008 debut. Cool Coal Man captured the $350,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes which leads to the March 29 Florida Derby.
Both colts are owned by Robert LaPenta with War Pass perfect in five career starts and Cool Coal Man winning both races this year.
War Pass set the pace in the one-mile race. Jockey Cornelio Velasquez never had to use his whip on the Breeders' Cup Juvenile champ. War Pass drew off to win by 7 1/2 lengths over Web Gem. Chadwell finished third with Jet Run fading to last. Ultimate Authority was scratched from the race.
War Pass covered the mile in 1:36.38 on a fast track.
Sent off at odds of 1-20, War Pass returned the minimum $2.10 and $2.10. Web Gem paid $2.20. There was no show wagering.
Cool Coal Man, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, settled into fourth behind pacesetter Golden Spikes, Make the Point and Elysium Fields. Around the turn for home Cool Coal Man made a bold move on the outside hooking up with Elysium Fields on the lead.
Coming off the turn, Cool Coal Man began to edge away from Elysium Fields in the 1 1/8 mile race. Late down the stretch jockey Eibar Coa was able to rally Elysium Fields to draw within a half-length at the finish.
"I was concerned about the '9 horse' [Elysium Fields]," said Desormeaux. "It's hard to sustain that kind of speed for a long time, but when we were galloping out after the wire he moved out again once he felt the other horse come up to him. My horse was very handy and attentive to my needs. I think we went faster than what the clock said. But time is irrelevant, we won."
Court Vision finished third followed by Z Humor, Golden Spikes, Halo Najib, Kentucky Bear, Anak Nakal, Adriano, Ready Set, Make the Point and 7-2 favorite Monba. The highly regarded Anak Nakal is also trained by Zito.
The time for the 62nd Fountain of Youth Stakes was 1:51.85.
Cool Coal Man paid $16.60, $8.40 and $6.00. Elysium Fields returned $8.00 and $4.40, and the favorite Court Vision paid $3.40 to show.
"I had confidence going in with the post that Kent would get a good position with him," Zito said about Cool Coal Man. "He's run two great races here. With the slow pace, my other horse (Anak Nakal) really had no chance. He needs pace up front. I can't say where or what race he'll (Cool Coal Man) will run in, possibly the Florida Derby. He's not a big horse. He'd need to have a good 30 days from now. We'll see."
War Pass picked up $36,000 with Sunday's allowance win and has now earned more than $1.4 million.
Cool Coal Man has four wins in seven career starts. The Fountain of Youth victory was worth $210,000 to bring his bankroll to better than $300,000. In his first stakes race last year Cool Coal Man was seventh to Anak Nakal in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche activated captain Joe Sakic from the injured reserve list on Sunday. The center underwent hernia surgery on December 28 and has missed a total of 38 games due to the ailment,
<< Sharks top Penguins in shootout
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Cheechoo scored his 18th goal of
the season and Jeremy Roenick posted the deciding tally in a shootout as the
San Jose Sharks took down the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1, at Mellon Arena.
After Pit
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11th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers past the Ohio State Buckeyes, 58-53, at Value
City Arena.
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<< Chargers ink LB Smith
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Chargers signed veteran
linebacker Derek Smith to a two-year contract Sunday.
The 33-year-old Smith was released on Tuesday by the San Francisco 49ers,
where he spent the previous seven
<< Gay coasts to win at Mayakoba Golf Classic
Playa del Carmen, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After going 292 career starts
without a win, Brian Gay needed just a one-under 69 Sunday to pick up tour
victory No. 1 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
Gay completed the tournament at 16-und
Maui, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fuzzy Zoeller and Peter Jacobsen parred the first playoff hole Sunday to win the Champions Skins Game. That par gave the duo six skins and $320,000. "It's a crazy game and things were just falling our way," jok
Roddick wins at San Jose >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Roddick defeated Radek Stepanek to win
the championship match and take the crown at the $436,000 SAP Open on Sunday
The top-seeded Roddick had 13 aces to help him best Stepanek, from the Czech
Republ
Vikings' McKinnie arrested >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie
was arrested early Sunday after a fight outside a Miami nightclub, according
to the Miami Herald.
The newspaper reported that McKinnie, 28, was involved in a la
Celtics come back to top Blazers, snap three-game skid >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce scored 30 points as Boston rallied
from an early 16-point deficit to beat Portland, 112-102, and snap a season-
long three-game losing streak.
Pierce added seven rebounds and five assists for the
Raptors crush Knicks >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrea Bargnani had 25 points, seven rebounds
and five assists as the Toronto Raptors dominated the New York Knicks, 115-92,
at Air Canada Centre.
Chris Bosh donated 17 points and five boards and Anthony Park
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.