Alouettes play host to slumping Lions

Football Betting Lines

09/01/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes find out what life without one of the top offensive stars in the league is like this week as the team hosts the British Columbia Lions at McGill Stadium on Friday night.

The Alouettes have been enjoying some time off since defeating Winnipeg back on August 19 by a score of 39-17, but quarterback Anthony Calvillo still doesn't feel that he is up to the task of leading his team on the field and will be sitting this one out due to a sternum injury and bruised ribs that caused him discomfort the last time he attempted to practice and prepare. With Calvillo, the two-time reigning CFL Offensive Player of the Year, taking a break it is up to Chris Leak to handle the action on offense for the squad.

Leak looked solid when he subbed for Calvillo in the last game, stepping in during the third quarter and completing 10-of-15 passes for 99 yards as the Als maintained their lead in the Eastern Division with a record of 6-2. Receiver S.J. Green caught a pair of Calvillo TD passes in the decision and running back Brandon Whitaker, who was taking the place of an injured Avon Cobourne, added a team-best 74 yards and a couple of majors of his own.

As for the Lions, their season continues to spiral out of control. Since posting a 25-10 win over Edmonton in the season opener, the team has dropped seven in a row and now rests at the bottom of the division standings as a result. Last week the team had an offensive explosion that included a season- high 35 points versus Calgary, the only problem being that the squad also gave up 48 points in a game that saw the highest-scoring first half so far this season in the CFL.

Lions signal-caller Casey Printers returned to action after missing the last four games due to injury but was mostly ineffective for much of the game before tossing his first and only touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to Emmanuel Arceneaux. Printers, who hit on 10-of-26 passes for 191 yards, did score a major himself early in the meeting on the ground, but BC still lost its seventh in a row.

In one of the scarier moments this season, play between the Lions and Stampeders was halted for several minutes at the 5:18 mark of the third after BC wideout Darius Passmore collided with signage on the sidelines, requiring him to be immobilized and wheeled off on a stretcher after suffering a cut to his neck and was taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution.

Printers should be getting the start again this week for the Lions, but one never knows which signal-caller will be actually finishing the game for the squad. Back in 2005, Printers did have a huge game against the Als with 357 yards and four TD passes, but in his other appearances he has a total of just four majors and five INTs, so the odds are not exactly on his side. It should come as no surprise that the BC passing attack is one of the weakest in the league at this stage, completing just 56.2 percent of its pass attempts for a meager five touchdowns and 10 picks, leading to a league-low 69.3 efficiency rating through eight games.

Thanks to Calvillo, the Montreal passing attack is again tops in the league with a rating of 109.6, having rolled out 18 TDs and just four interceptions, but this weekend the offense for the Als will have a different look with Leak at the helm, starting the first CFL game of his career. One of the significant differences between Calvillo and Leak is the ability of the latter to actually break out of the pocket and make something happen with his feet. Chances are the coaches won't want Leak to take too many liberties in that department since they are already a QB short, but that still has to play a part in the preparations by the Lions going into Friday night.

Whitaker, who was named the Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts filling in for Cobourne, has shown that he can play a significant role in the offense when called upon, so perhaps the Als will be asking him to again shoulder a portion of the load while key components of the offense try to get healthy. Montreal, which is a perfect 3-0 this season when playing in games decided by 20 points or more, is actually second from the bottom in terms of rushing yards at this stage with just 751, averaging only 5.5 yards per attempt which is ahead of only Hamilton and that shows just how important Calvillo and the quarterback position is to this group.

This is the second meeting of the season between these two teams, the first taking place in British Columbia in the middle of July with the Als slipping by with a 16-12 victory. The win was the first for Montreal in the province in the last 10 years. Damon Duval was the star of the show for the Als as he registered all but two of his team's points.

With the win Montreal has now taken two in a row and three of the last four encounters with the Lions in regular season action. In terms of the all-time regular-season series, BC still clings to a 31-29-1 advantage dating back to 1954.

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.

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.