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02/19/2012 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drill, ridden by Martin Garcia, held off American Act to win Sunday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes for three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park. The colt covered the seven-furlongs in 1:21.28 on a fast track.
The six-horse field was reduced to four with the scratches of Smoking G and Captain Obvious. Creative Cause was the 1-2 favorite, American Act was 3-1 with Drill at 7-2 and Let's Get Crackin was 11-1.
American Act, ridden by Martin Pedroza, took the lead from the start with Drill running second followed by Let's Get Crackin and Creative Cause.
On the turn for home Drill drew even with American Act as Creative Cause went three wide to take over third. Coming out of the turn it looked like the favorite was going to join the top two runners on the lead.
Creative Cause could not sustain his move as Drill took the lead from American Act. In the last 100 yards American Act fought back to join Drill on the lead, but Drill was able get his nose to the wire first. Creative Cause finished third and Let's Get Crackin was fourth.
"I don't know what made the difference today," Garcia said. "I guess he just wanted to run. He's a really good horse so I don't know what happened in his last races, but he put everything together today. The finish was close but I was confident I got the win."
Trained by Bob Baffert, Drill was making his second start of the year, coming off a fifth-place result as the 8-5 favorite in last month's San Pedro at Santa Anita. After winning in his second career start, the colt captured the Del Mar Futurity. He was 10th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and again failed as the favorite in the Delta Downs Jackpot two weeks later. In December he was a disappointing ninth in the CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park.
Drill, owned by Pegram, Watson and Weitman, earned $90,000 with his third win in nine career starts. The son of Lawyer Ron has total earnings of $339,710.
Baffert won last year's San Vicente with The Factor.
Even though Creative Cause, third in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, failed as the odds-on favorite, trainer Mike Harrington was not disappointed.
"We got what we wanted out of the race. He's a route horse, not a seven- furlong horse," Harrington said. "We hope he moves forward off of this. Did you see him gallop out? He'll definitely move forward."
Drill returned $9.60 and $5.00, and American Act paid $4.00. There was not show wagering.
<< Harper takes over full time at Western Kentucky
Bowling Green, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Harper has shed his interim tag as
Western Kentucky's head men's basketball coach after just 11 games, the school
announced Sunday.
Harper has guided the Hilltoppers to a 4-7 record after taking
<< Tomko inks minor league deal with Reds
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds have signed pitcher
Brett Tomko to a minor league contract, the team announced Sunday.
A 14-year major league veteran, Tomko began his career with the Reds in 1997,
amassing a 29-26
<< Schalke GK Unnerstall suffers shoulder injury
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Schalke goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall
suffered a shoulder injury Sunday, and the Bundesliga club will likely have to
turn to Timo Hildebrand in upcoming matches.
Unnerstall, who was filling in for in
<< Valencia's Banega run over by his own car
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valencia midfielder Ever Banega fractured
his tibia and perone bones Sunday when his own car rolled over his foot at a
gas station and is expected to be out six months, the La Liga club said.
The 23-yea
Raonic defends title in San Jose >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milos Raonic successfully defended his 2011
SAP Open title with a straight-set win over Denis Istomin in Sunday's finale.
The third-seeded Canadian fired seven aces and never offered a break
oppor
Rivers, Curry lead Duke over Boston College >>
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Duke's starting backcourt of Austin
Rivers and Seth Curry combined to score 34 points as No. 5 Duke routed Boston
College, 75-50.
Curry netted 18 while Rivers scored 16 to go with seven rebounds f
Mr. Bowling returns for Risen Star Stakes >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lecomte Stakes winner Mr. Bowling heads a
field of 11 three-year-olds for Saturday's $300,000 Risen Star Stakes at
Fair Grounds Race Course. The 1 1/6-mile race is a prelude to the $1 million
Louisia
Larsson advances in Memphis >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded Swede Johanna Larsson needed two
hours, 14 minutes, but she escaped her opening-round match at the $220,000
Memphis International tennis event on Sunday.
Larsson outlasted qualifier Irena
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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There is little doubt that the NFL is where the sportsbooks see the most action and also make the most loot. The NFL possesses betting friendly attributes that are unlike any of the other major sports. First off, there are relatively few teams to keep track of in comparison to college football betting or college basketball. And second, these teams play only once a week which makes staying on top of the results much easier than it is in the daily leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
These dynamics, along with the sheer excitement of watching and wagering on football, brings more square action to the table than any of the other sports. Almost every Tom, Dick and Harry in America is an NFL expert in their own mind and that is precisely what the oddsmakers prey upon.
Understanding who bets the games is just as important as understanding which teams are playing the games. The market at times will dictate price, which in the betting world means the oddsmakers cater to the public rather than reality.
Knowing the market inside and out is the basis of our NFL handicapping model. That is, our approach to NFL handicapping is of the contrarian or value seeking variety. We will at times place a higher premium on public sentiment than on the fundamentals. This strategy dictates playing dogs and/or lesser competent teams, or teams the public wants nothing to do with. Or better yet, fading the teams the oddsmakers want you to bet on.
Along these same lines, we carry a similar notion that the first week of the NFL season presents one of the ripest opportunities for the astute gambler. This conflicts with conventional wisdom and/or handicapping lore, as most would say it is better to watch a few games and assess each team before jumping in with both feet. That’s all fine and dandy, but there are some interesting trends to exploit in Week 1 and we’d be remiss to ignore them. Let us quickly explain.
Gone are the days of dynasties, where the same core players stay intact and dominate the league year after year. Free agency and player movements can completely transform teams from one season to the next. In today’s parity-driven NFL, poor teams typically don’t stay poor for all that long and excellent teams must constantly reinvent themselves to stay on top.
The temptation might be to assume prior year results are the best indicator of who is going to cover in Week 1. To Joe Public, playoff teams from the prior season, home teams, favorites, and so one, look even more enticing than usual since there is no current season performance to judge them against. But the question begs: are the oddsmakers setting a trap?
To find the answer, we culled five years worth of Week 1 NFL data. As always, all of our analysis is done from an ATS perspective. The purpose here is to share the most important angles we unearthed and try to explain the logic behind them. So strap on your helmet, throw on your shoulder pads, and follow our lead as we expose some rare holes in the oddsmakers’ line of defense.
Home vs. Away Teams
Over the past five seasons, NFL home teams in Week 1 are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). This of course implies that roadies are a 58 percent winning proposition during this time. The public at large has a tendency to overvalue home teams and this is especially true in Week 1 when there is no current season data to make predictions from. Consequently, the oddsmakers almost surely shade the home teams, by and large making road teams the choice for the value player.
Conclusion: Look long and hard at road teams first when handicapping the opening week.
Price ranges
Favorites are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent) in the opening week over the past five NFL seasons (Coincidentally, home teams hold the same ATS record as noted above). This means that underdogs bark at a 58 percent clip. Mid-range favorites performed the worst among our specified price ranges. In particular, favorites priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 are only 8-15 ATS (35 percent) during this time.
The same basic pattern holds true when looking at home favorites (road favorites gravitate towards a 50 percent mean). Home favorites indeed are just 21-32-3 ATS (40 percent) in the first week of NFL action since 1999. Again, mid-range favorites are similarly the poorest performers when we look at home teams. Consider that home teams priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 have stumbled to a 6-13 ATS (32 percent) mark in Week 1 games the past five seasons.
Conclusion: Like home teams, favorites and particularly mid-range favorites are generally overvalued in Week 1.
Playoff teams
It might surprise you to learn that playoff teams from the prior year versus non-playoff teams from the prior year are a mere 16-23-3 (41 percent) ATS in NFL Week 1 games over the past five seasons. Home teams which made the playoffs versus teams which did not make the playoffs from the prior season drop to a meager 7-14-1 ATS (33 percent) during this time.
Why are playoff teams, and in particular those at home, such bad bets the past five openers? Just as the case with home teams and with favorites, oddsmakers intentionally overprice playoff teams in the opening week to compensate for the public’s propensity to over bet them.
This theory holds true just looking at straight-up records from the past season as well. That is, home teams with winning records from the prior season vs. road teams with losing records from the prior season are just 8-13 ATS in Week 1 NFL games since 1999.
Conclusion: Playoff teams from the prior year and in particular, home playoff teams, are overvalued in Week 1 NFL games.
Scoring defense and scoring offense
Do good defenses and for that matter good offenses from the prior season fare better against the number the following year in Week 1 games? Well, sort of. Generally speaking, teams with a solid offense or defense from the prior season tend to do well in the opening week so long as they are on the road. As a host, however, the best offenses and best defenses from the prior year tend to be overvalued in Week 1.
Consider that the top five scoring defenses (i.e. points allowed) from the prior season are a nice 8-4 ATS (66 percent) on the road in NFL openers the past five seasons. Meanwhile, the top five scoring defenses from the prior season are just 3-8-2 ATS (27 percent) as a host in Week 1 during the same time period.
There is no discernable advantage or disadvantage for teams with a top five scoring offense (i.e. points scored) in Week 1 games. However, when we look at scoring offenses from the bottom up (isolating the five worst offenses from the prior season), the results are rather interesting. In particular, teams ranked in the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are 9-4-1 ATS (69 percent) when on the road in Week 1.
The logic is simply that the public perception is a poor scoring offensive unit from the year prior will have little chance of winning on the road in Week 1. In turn, the oddsmakers compensate for this perception and these poor offensive teams from the year prior carry extra line value on the Week 1 trail.
Conclusion: Teams with top-ranked defenses from the previous season are good bets when playing on the road, but poor bets when playing at home. Also, teams ranked among the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are generally a good value in their Week 1 openers, provided they are playing on the road.
Scoring margin
An exceedingly straightforward way of measuring scoring offense and scoring defense together as a whole is to look at a team's “margin." Margin is simply scoring offense minus scoring defense, which is a fairly clear-cut measure of how a team does on both sides of the ball. Typically, the higher the margin, the better the team.
In this regard, it might seem counterintuitive that teams carrying the higher margin from the prior season in week one matchups are merely 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). Furthermore, road teams with the higher margin are 14-20-6 ATS (41 percent), while home teams with the higher margin are 17-22-1 ATS (44 percent). Once again, these results line up with the theory that better teams from the prior year are overvalued come opening day of the following season.
Conclusion: “Better” teams, which often boast a higher margin than their opponent, are overvalued the following season in NFL openers.
In sum
Oddsmakers cater NFL betting lines to match public perception and also to bait the public into poor bets. The temptation to use the prior year’s success as a buy sign for how a team will perform against the spread in Week 1 of the following season is an enormous trap.
The fact is, isolating road teams, road dogs, non-playoff teams vs. playoff teams, teams with a losing record or low margin vs. playoff teams or ones with a high margin from the previous year is where the line value resides. Quite simply, taking the road less traveled is your surest path to NFL betting profits.
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