Vokoun, Panthers blank Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

01/23/2010 - Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Vokoun made 39 saves for his second shutout in four games, as the Florida Panthers took a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Vokoun has been hot of late, as he entered the contest having allowed two goals or fewer in five consecutive starts. That included a 27-save performance in Florida's 1-0 win over Atlanta on Monday. Saturday's was his sixth shutout of the season.

Cory Stillman scored for the Panthers, who snapped a two-game slide. Kenndal McArdle netted his first career goal in the victory.

Jonas Gustavsson stopped 20 shots for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped three in a row.

Vokoun made 15 saves in a scoreless first period, as Gustavsson stopped seven shots.

The Panthers, though, took advantage of a power play early in the second period to get on the board. Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle was called for tripping at 4:22, and just 14 seconds into the man advantage, Stillman scored.

Dennis Seidenberg's point shot bounced off the end boards out front to the left of the net, and Stillman put it in for a 1-0 lead. Vokoun kept the Panthers ahead, making 14 saves in the middle frame.

McArdle, a first-round pick by the Panthers in the 2005 draft, then provided Florida some insurance past the midway point of the third. A turnover in the neutral zone gave Florida numbers on the attack, and Gregory Campbell dished from the left side of the ice to the right circle. McArdle fired a wrister past Gustavsson for a 2-0 edge with 6:55 still to play.

Vokoun stopped 10 shots in the final period to secure the victory.

Game Notes

McArdle, who debuted last season, had two assists in 19 games entering Saturday's contest...Toronto still leads the season series, 2-1...The Maple Leafs ended a five-game road trip 1-3-1...Toronto's Phil Kessel had a seven- game points streak snapped...Florida had scored just twice in its last three games combined.

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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.