Strange one clear in New Zealand
Golf Betting Lines
11/30/2006 - Whangaparaoa, New Zealand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Strange birdied the 18th hole Thursday to shoot four-under-par 67. He stands one clear of a crowded leaderboard after the first round of the New Zealand Open at Gulf Harbour Country Club.
Jarrod Moseley posted a three-under-par 68 and is tied for second place with Greg Chalmers and Kim Felton. Chalmers and Felton each bogeyed their final hole to shoot 68. There are nine player one stroke further back.
The players had to battle the elements in the opening round. There was heavy rain and wind early in the day. As the day went on, conditions dried up, but the wind kept blowing and temperatures fell.
Strange, who teed off in the afternoon, opened with a birdie on the first, but parred each of his next nine holes. He moved to minus-two with a birdie on the par-five 11th.
The Australian grabbed a share of the lead at three-under with a birdie on the par-three 15th. Strange gave that stroke right back with a bogey on 16.
Strange bounced right back to birdie 17 to regain a share of the lead. He closed by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to end one clear of the field.
"I had a birdie chance on 17 and had one on 18 and I knocked them in," Strange said. "When I had a realistic birdie chance, I holed the putt."
Moseley started on the back nine and got off the flying start. He eagled the par-five 11th, and followed with birdies on the next two holes to get to minus-four.
The 34-year-old tripped to a bogey on 14 and cruised around the turn with five pars in a row. Moseley got back to minus-four with a birdie on two. He was the only player to reach five-under for the round after a birdie on five. Moseley stumbled to a double-bogey at the sixth to slide back to three-under.
Chalmers traded a birdie for a bogey from the third. He collected birdies on six and eight, but made the turn at one-under after a bogey on the ninth.
The 33-year-old Chalmers flew up the leaderboard with three birdies in a four- hole span from the 10th. He could not get up and down for par from short of the green at the last to finish one back.
"I'm not a water rat. I don't seem to play well in the rain. I was pleased that I could hang in there and hit some good shots," admitted Chalmers. "It's a lot easier to do that in bad weather when the putts are going in."
Felton parred eight of the first nine hole, with a lone birdie at the fifth. Around the turn, Felton birdied three straight from the 10th to get to minus- four. He tripped to a bogey on 18 though.
"We were coming in and 16, 17 and 18 were all into the wind," Felton said. "I held on all day until the last. It would have been a nice bogey-free round, but the last hole got me."
Craig Parry shot two-under-par 69. He shares fifth place with Stephen Scahill, Peter Senior, Simon Wakefield, Marcus Fraser, Lee S. James, Nick Dougherty, Michael Long and Mark Purser.
Damien McGrane and David Bransdon are among 15 players one stroke further back at minus-one.
Former U.S. Open champion and New Zealand-native Michael Campbell is part of a large group tie for 29th at even-par 71.
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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.