Lakers finish Grammy Road Trip in Toronto

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a bad case of Linsanity safely in the rearview mirror the Los Angeles Lakers will get back to business and finish their annual Grammy Road Trip north of the border against the Toronto Raptors.

The Lakers served as nothing more than a speed bump for Jeremy Lin on Friday as the Harvard product's coming out party continued when he dropped in a career-high 38 points with seven assists and four rebounds, as the Knicks downed Los Angeles, 92-85, at Madison Square Garden.

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points and pulled down 10 boards for the Lakers, but it was not enough for LA to avoid its third loss in four games and its first setback in 10 games against New York.

Pau Gasol added 16 points and 10 rebounds while Andrew Bynum struggled against the Knicks' Tyson Chandler, netting just three points.

"You have got to give [Lin] credit. He played a terrific ball game and he was the difference in the ball game," Lakers head coach Mike Brown said. "I don't ever remember anybody getting to the rim for that many layups against us."

LA is 2-3 on its current trek and just 4-10 overall as the visitor on the season.

The Raptors, meanwhile, snapped a three-game skid and improved to 1-1 on a seven-game homestand, topping Boston on Friday, 86-74, behind DeMar DeRozan's 21 points at Air Canada Centre.

It was a modicum of revenge for Toronto, which was routed by the Celtics 100-64 back on Feb. 1

"It was a message," said DeRozan. "The last time we played these guys we got embarrassed. We knew we had to come out and play with pride. It just shows we can beat any team in the league when we play like that."

Jose Calderon and Amir Johnson each contributed their sixth double-double of the season for the Raptors. Calderon netted 17 points and dished out 14 assists in the victory, while Johnson put up 12 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

Toronto, which is 4-7 at ACC and will also host New York, San Antonio, Charlotte and Detroit on its residency, continues to play without injured star Andrea Bargnani, who is sidelined with a strained left calf. Guard Jerryd Bayless also is doubtful for Sunday's game with a sprained left ankle.

The Lakers have won three straight and seven of eight overall vs. the Dinos.

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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.