Report: Calhoun expected to receive extension on Friday
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
05/07/2010 - Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut is reportedly set to give men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun a contract extension through the 2013-14 season.
According to the Hartford Courant, UConn will hold a press conference on Friday morning to announce the move. The report cites a source as saying the extension is worth $13 million over five years and is retroactive to the 2009-10 season.
If those figures are correct, Calhoun will receive a significant raise on the $1.6 million he earned in the final year of his current contract that was slated to expire in June.
The 67-year-old, who guided the Huskies to a pair of national titles in 1999 and 2004, experienced health problems during an up-and-down 2009-10 campaign and left the team for seven games.
A three-game winning streak shortly after Calhoun's return gave the Huskies hope for a possible at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, but those dreams were dashed with a four-game losing streak to end the season, including an embarrassing 75-53 loss to St. John's in the first round of Big East tourney.
UConn ended the season 18-16, including a lowly 7-11 mark in conference play. They lost to Virginia Tech in the second round of the NIT.
In his 24 years with the program, the Huskies have gone 575-221. He also coached 14 seasons at Northeastern, compiling a record of 248-137.
In 2009, Calhoun became the seventh Division I coach in NCAA history to reach 800 career wins.
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero clubbed back-to-back home runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting Texas to a 13-12 win over Kansas City in the opener of a four-game series
<< Bergesen, Wigginton help Orioles blank Twins
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Bergesen pitched 6 2/3 scoreless
frames, and Ty Wigginton's two-run homer accounted for all the scoring, as the
Baltimore Orioles opened up a four-game set at Target Field with a 2-0 win
over th
<< Martinez knocks in four as BoSox sweep Angels
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victor Martinez went 2-for-4 with a two-run
homer and four runs batted in, leading the Red Sox in an 11-6 slugfest win
over the Angels to sweep a four-game series at Fenway Park.
Dustin Pedroia added
<< Magic pull away late, down Hawks in Eastern Conference semifinals
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard scored 29 points and pulled down
17 rebounds, and the Magic pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 112-98 win
over Atlanta in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Although the
<< Eveland pitches Jays to win over White Sox
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dana Eveland hurled seven shutout frames and
Fred Lewis drove home the run support necessary, as Toronto blanked the White
Sox, 2-0, in the opener of a four-game set at U.S. Cellular Field.
Eveland (3-1) ou
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Franzen notched a natural hat trick in a fabulous first period, sparking the Detroit Red Wings to a resounding 7-1 win over San Jose to stay alive after four games of their Western Conference semifin
Rays move to 12-1 on road, sweep Mariners >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Niemann hurled seven scoreless innings and
Carl Crawford clubbed a two-run homer, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated Seattle,
8-0, to complete a three-game sweep at Safeco Field.
Crawford finished 3-for-5 and
Mr. Clutch: Ethier's ninth-inning slam helps Dodgers avoid sweep >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Ethier belted a game-ending grand
slam with one out in the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers topped
Milwaukee, 7-3, to avert a three-game sweep.
Jonathan Broxton (2-0) blew the save o
Wizards' Arenas out of halfway house for gun count >>
GREAT FALLS, Va. (AP) -Gilbert Arenas has arrived home from the halfway house where he lived for nearly a month as part of his sentence for bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room.Arenas left the work-release facility in the Maryland s
UNC's Wear brothers to transfer >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina's basketball program took
a hit for next season with the announcement that sophomore forward brothers
David and Travis Wear are transferring.
"Their father called me last night and asked f
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.