Els moves ahead at rainy CA Championship

Golf Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ernie Els fired a six-under 66 on Friday to move in front after the second round of the WGC-CA Championship at a rainy TPC Blue Monster at Doral.

Els, a three-time major winner, finished 36 holes at 10-under 134 and is one stroke clear of Robert Allenby, whose second-round 67 included an ace, an eagle, six birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey.

Much like Thursday, heavy winds were the story. Officials moved Friday's tee times up in anticipation of forecasted storms, and they almost got the round in without a major incident.

Almost.

The skies opened and with six groups still on the course, play was stopped.

It wasn't until almost 2 1/2 hours later that golf resumed with everyone completing round two.

"I'm just pleased we got it done," said Els after his round and during the delay. "The weather is changing a lot. We played the last three holes very fast to get done."

Els began on the 10th tee Friday and immediately broke into red figures. His second at the par-five hole landed in a bunker, but he got up and down for a birdie.

After three straight pars, Els hit a poor drive left into a bunker, but hammered a seven-iron from 180 yards to four feet to set up a birdie. That started a great run for the South African. He birdied his next two holes for three in a row and was eight-under for the championship.

Els, who bogeyed the par-four Blue Monster 18th on Thursday to fall out of the lead, parred his last two on the front side to leave the back nine unscathed.

At the par-five opening hole, Els reached the green in two with a seven-iron and two-putted from 25 feet for another birdie. He parred his next six in a row, but had to battle a change in winds.

"Stood on the fourth tee and the wind was blowing out of the south before I played my shot and went total opposite way, came out of the normal and the temperature dropped," said Els. "Very, very strange. I think the only other time I had that happen was in Scotland when the tide changed. I think it was at St. Andrews. Other than that, I've never seen that happen."

Els' final birdie of the round came at the par-five eighth. He laid up with a nine-iron, then hit a sand-wedge to 10 feet. The Big Easy rolled home the birdie putt to take his first second-round lead on tour since his victory at the 2008 Honda Classic.

"Putted quite nicely and managed my game quite well," said Els, who won at Doral in 2002 when it was a regular tour stop. "It's in the books, and we were pretty lucky to get done. I mean, we ran the last two holes just to get it in the house. But looking forward to the weekend."

Els beat the weather, but he's been battling his game lately. He started the PGA Tour year with four straight top-20 finishes, but last week at the Honda Classic, tied for 67th.

"I didn't have it last week, so I worked really hard," said Els. "I feel really good mentally this year. I feel a little bit more fresh than I have been. I feel like I'm up for it a little bit more this year. I'm a bit more excited about my whole game."

While Els had a steady, bogey-free round on Friday, Allenby's was nothing like that.

He also started on 10 with a birdie, then holed a "perfect" five-wood for an ace at the 13th.

"Saw it all the way," he joked.

Allenby birdied 14, but double-bogeyed No. 16. The Aussie birdied 17 and reached the par-five first green in two with a seven-iron and drained an 18- foot eagle putt.

Over his next seven holes, Allenby recorded three birdies and two bogeys. He was tied for the lead with Els, but three-putted the ninth green for a bogey to fall into second.

"The conditions were pretty tough, and they weren't so bad probably for the first sort of three hours, but then that cool front, that change sort of came through and everything sort of changed," said Allenby. "The whole golf course changed."

First-round leader Charl Schwartzel finished off his final hole after the delay and had a two-under 70. He is tied for third place with Bill Haas, who shot a six-under 66, at seven-under 137.

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington (68) and Soren Hansen (69) share fifth at minus-six.

Vijay Singh (71), Yuta Ikeda (68), Mike Weir (66), Tim Clark (69), John Senden (70) and J.B. Holmes (70) are tied for seventh at five-under 139.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson carded a three-under 69 and is part of a group tied for 13th at minus-four.

NOTES: In addition to the long weather delay, there was a 13-minute lightning stoppage earlier in the second round...While tee times were moved up on Friday to try and beat the rain, the forecast calls for sun on Saturday, so players will be in pairs off just the first tee...Last week's Honda Classic winner Camilo Villegas posted a four-under 68 Friday and is tied for 13th at four- under par.

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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.