Crew aiming to get back in win column at Colorado

Soccer Betting Lines

06/04/2010 - Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew take their first two- game winless streak of the 2010 Major League Soccer season into Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night where they will take on the Colorado Rapids.

The Crew (6-1-3) are coming off a 2-2 draw in a mid-week clash at San Jose, and are hoping for a positive road result just three days later after showing positive signs following a lackluster effort at home against the Los Angeles Galaxy on May 29, a 2-0 loss.

"We have the mentality [that] we should win every game, but we'll look back on it and say [that] a point on the road isn't a bad result," Crew midfielder Robbie Rogers told mlssoccer.com. "I wondered how the guys would react to the first loss of the season. I thought everyone did a really good job."

The crew actually felt they should have come away with the full points against the 'Quakes.

"We thought we should have gotten three [points] out of the game," Crew attacker Eddie Gaven told mlssoccer.com. "We played well enough to get them, but at the same time we'll take one point on the road."

The Rapids (5-3-1) are coming off a 1-0 decision over Seattle Sounders FC at home on May 29.

The Rapids find themselves in a decent position in the standing even though they are in the bottom third in goal scoring, something that can be attributed to strong defense lay so far this season. But for the Rocky Mountain club to take the next step, it is going to have to find a way to score more goals soon.

"We're going in the right direction," Rapids forward Conor Casey said after he scored the only goal in the Seattle game.

Coach Gary Smith is also optimistic after his club's most recent fixture.

"There was a lot of discipline and determination but we could have been out of sight in those first 10 minutes," he said. "There is a long way to go but we got another home result on the back of a very good away win."

For the Rapids to be successful on Saturday night, they are going to have to find a way to win without defender Kosuke Kimura, midfielder Ciaran O'Brien and forward Ross Schunk, who are all out with injuries. Defender Julien Baudet and midfielder Jamie Smith are expected to be available with knocks.

The Crew will be without defenders Frankie Hejduk and Danny O'Rourke because of injuries as well.

Casinoonlinewagering Soccer Betting News

<< Cleveland recalls P Herrmann, designates P Wright
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have recalled right- handed pitcher Frank Herrmann from Triple-A Columbus. Herrmann was 3-0 with a 0.31 earned run average and a pair of saves in 19 relief outings for the Clippe

<< Armour leads Principal Charity Classic
West Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Armour III fired an eight-under- par 63 on Friday to take the first-round lead of the Principal Charity Classic. That score matched the course record at Glen Oaks Country Club, which was original

<< Chivas USA signs defender Zotinca
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA signed defender Alex Zotinca, a veteran who previously played with the club in 2007-2008, the Major League Soccer club announced on Friday. "Alex is an experienced, versatile player, and ov

<< World Cup: Breaking down Group A
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thierry Henry emerged 12 years ago in the World Cup for France and, although the veteran is likely to come off the bench this summer, his role in his fourth World Cup shows the strength of the team. Franc

<< World Cup: Breaking down Group B
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the world's best player in Lionel Messi and the legendary Diego Maradona prowling the sidelines, Argentina will undoubtedly be one of the most watched teams in the tournament. On paper they are t

Dallas, San Jose hope to enter break on good note >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coach Schellas Hyndman has struggled to produce wins for FC Dallas this season but, even with two wins after 10 matches, still has the club in good shape entering its final game before the World Cup break. Dall

Kyle Busch claims pole at Pocono >>
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Busch will start on the pole for Sunday's Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 after topping the qualifying charts at Pocono Raceway. Busch, who will make his 200th career Sprint Cup Series start th

After statement win, Revs head to Seattle >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution snapped a seven game winless streak in their last Major League Soccer fixture, and they are hoping it is something to build on against the Seattle Sounders FC in their next one. "Thi

Red Stars sign Washington, Weber >>
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Red Stars signed midfielder Nikki Washington and defender Elise Weber on Friday. Washington and Weber were available following the dissolution of Saint Louis Athletica last week. Chicago

Oakland's Anderson lands back on DL >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics placed left-hander Brett Anderson on the 15-day disabled list for the second time this season Friday. Anderson was previously on the DL from April 25 to May 28 with left elbow inflam

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.

MySportsbook features easy-to-use online betting software that’s the most reliable in the industry. If you’re looking to bet underdogs, then this Sportsbook is the place - we have the best betting lines in the business. MySportsbook is your one-stop shop for all your betting needs - sports betting, poker, casino, and horse betting . MySportsbook offers every bet type with lightning fast settlement of wagers. Take advantage of free statistical analysis - including against-the-spread and straight-up trends - in MySportsbook’s game previews section. With MySportsbook there are unlimited free deposits and payouts - and no transaction fees!

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.