Canucks try for 10th straight home win vs. Stars

Hockey Betting Lines

03/17/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will be shooting for a franchise record for consecutive home victories when the scorching club welcomes the Dallas Stars to GM Place this evening.

Vancouver has ripped off nine straight wins on home ice following Sunday's 4-2 decision over Colorado, matching the team's longest such streak since a nine- game run from November 6-December 9, 1992. Ironically, the Canucks had lost nine in a row at home prior to this current tear.

The Canucks have done plenty of winning on the road as well in recent weeks. Since ending the month of January on an eight-game losing streak, Vancouver has produced an outstanding 13-3-1 overall mark and now stands just two points in back of Chicago for fourth place in the Western Conference.

Vancouver jumped out to a 3-0 lead against the Avalanche on first-period goals from Kyle Wellwood, Alex Burrows and Taylor Pyatt, while Alexander Edler put the finishing touches on the team's latest win with a late power-play score.

Ryan Kesler racked up three assists to help the Canucks snap a string of eight straight losses to Colorado.

The Stars also appear to have hit their stride after a poor lengthy stretch. After losing eight times in a 10-game span from February 21-March 10, Dallas won both tests of a brief two-game homestand heading into tonight's clash.

Dallas began the brief residency with a 3-2 triumph over Carolina on Thursday, then came through with a much-needed overtime win over Minnesota two nights later. Nicklas Grossman scored the game-winning goal midway through the extra period in a 3-2 victory that kept the Stars among the top eight teams in the West.

Steve Ott had both regulation goals for Dallas and Loui Eriksson assisted on all three of the Stars' tallies. Mike Ribeiro had a pair of helpers on the night and now has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) during a seven-game scoring streak.

Dallas is currently holding down the West's eighth and final playoff spot with 74 points, one better than ninth-place Edmonton, as it enters a crucial road trip against three of the conference's top teams. Following tonight's showdown, the Stars visit Northwest Division leader Calgary before taking on Pacific front-runner San Jose on Saturday.

The Stars have gotten the better of the Canucks as of late, with Dallas winning four of the last five matchups in the series and taking both previous encounters between the teams this season. That includes a 3-2 shootout decision in Vancouver on January 4.

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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.