Angels take on Seattle's Vargas in series finale

Baseball Betting Lines

09/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have had plenty of difficulty producing runs as of late, and recent history says the team could be in for a tough time again in tonight's matchup with Jason Vargas and the Seattle Mariners from Safeco Field.

After mustering a mere one run in being swept in three games at home by lowly Baltimore over the weekend, the Angels had a temporary breakout in Monday's 5-3 besting of the Mariners. That mild offensive surge was short-lived, however, as Seattle evened this three-game series with a 3-1 triumph last night behind strong pitching and some clutch late hitting.

The game featured a terrific pitcher's duel between Mariners ace Felix Hernandez and Anaheim's Dan Haren, with neither hurler giving up a run over the first seven innings. The Angels finally broke through in the top of the eighth to grab a 1-0 lead, but Seattle put up a three-spot in its half of the frame to prevail.

The Mariners loaded the bases with one out against Kevin Jepsen (2-4), who took over for Haren to try to protect the one-run edge, before Michael Saunders delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the score. Adam Moore followed with a go-ahead single before Josh Wilson greeted reliever Francisco Rodriguez with a base hit that extended the margin to 3-1.

"We did our job a little later than we would've liked, but a win's a win," said Saunders afterward.

Brandon League (1-1) was credited with the win despite allowing Anaheim's only run in the top of the eighth, when Alberto Callaspo and Howie Kendrick smacked back-to-back doubles to break the scoreless deadlock.

Hernandez yielded just three hits and struck out eight in his seven-inning stint, with Haren scattering eight hits and also fanning eight hitters before leaving after seven frames.

"We had [Hernandez] on the ropes a couple times and couldn't get some early runs, which definitely could've made a difference in that game," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "He made some pitches to get out of jams and got some double play balls."

The Angels' bats have also been silenced pretty well in the team's previous encounters with Vargas this season. The Seattle lefty has posted a 1.71 earned run average in three 2010 starts against the Halos, earning a win in one and a no-decision in the two others.

Vargas hasn't been on top of his game lately, however. After winning three straight starts to begin the month of August, the California native was tagged for seven runs in 6 1/3 innings in a road loss to the New York Yankees on August 21. He struggled again in Friday's home assignment against Minnesota, with the Twins putting up five runs (four earned) in Vargas' six innings of work to pin a second straight defeat on the hurler.

The 27-year-old has still had more good than bad starts at Safeco Field this year, as he brings an impressive 7-3 mark with a 2.48 ERA in 14 home outings into tonight's tilt.

Rookie Trevor Bell gets the call for Anaheim for this evening's rubber match and comes in off an encouraging showing on Friday, albeit in a losing cause. The right-hander held Baltimore to two runs and six hits over a career-best seven innings, but was victimized by his team's sputtering offense in a 3-1 setback.

Bell has pitched primarily out of the bullpen this season and has amassed a 1-4 record with a 5.07 ERA in 23 total appearances. In his five games as a starter, the 23-year-old is 0-3 with a 5.33 ERA.

This will be Bell's sixth career meeting with Seattle, with the first five all coming in relief. He's allowed just one run and four hits while striking out seven Mariners over a combined 7 1/3 innings.

The Angels had taken nine of their last 10 bouts with the Mariners prior to last night's result and are 11-4 against Seattle this season. Anaheim has prevailed in five of the seven games played in Safeco Field between the teams in 2010.

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Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.

American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.