49ers aim for record fifth Big West title against top-seeded Gauchos

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long Beach State tries to raise its total of Big West Conference Tournament titles to a record five, as the 49ers clash with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the championship round of the 35th-annual event at Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

LBSU, the third seed in this year's tourney, is currently tied with Pacific for the most tournament crowns with four, the most recent of those coming in 2007 with a 94-83 victory over Cal Poly. This time around LBSU had to work through the quarterfinals with a 79-69 victory over the sixth-seeded Mustangs and then take a 68-61 win versus second-seeded Pacific on Friday night.

As for the top-seeded Gauchos, a team that is well below .500 in this tournament over the years and has just a single crown (2002) to show for its efforts, they jumped right into the semifinals last night and used the opportunity to dismiss fourth-seeded UC Davis in a 76-62 decision that wasn't quite as close as the final score may have indicated.

The teams split the two regular season meetings, with each winning at home. While Long Beach State was able to log a lopsided 67-47 rout in its building back in the middle of January, the Gauchos were lucky to come away with their 64-62 win at the Thunderdome a month later. Due to the split, Long Beach State now owns a slim 53-52 advantage in the all-time series.

Casper Ware lit up the scoreboard for a career-high 22 points, shooting 6- of-16 from the field and 10-of-11 at the free-throw line, in the win over Pacific last night. Also scoring in double figures for the victors were Larry Anderson and Stephan Gilling with 14 and 12 points, respectively, as the squad shot an impressive 7-of-15 behind the three-point line, compared to just 5- of-22 out on the perimeter for the Tigers. Although he failed to reach double figures, T.J. Robinson is still the top scorer for the program with his 15.4 ppg overall this season and 14.9 ppg versus Big West foes, accounting for 10.1 rpg on the season as well. Anderson, who is just a 23.7 percent shooter behind the three-point line, is responsible for 11.8 ppg and Ware is now up to 11.7 ppg on the campaign, even though he too has had his share of issues shooting the ball from the floor at a meager 36.8 percent accuracy.

UC Davis was completely overwhelmed last night as the Aggies made just a single field goal through the first 12 minutes of the contest and trailed by a 16-4 score with barely seven and a half minutes remaining in the first half. The UCSB defense eased up in the second half, but the offense for the Gauchos knocked down 63.6 percent form the floor in order to keep plenty of distance between themselves and the opposition. James Powell tallied 22 points off the bench, James Nunnally 17 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, followed by Orlando Johnson with 14 points. Averaging more than 31 minutes per game, Johnson leads the squad in scoring with his 17.9 ppg and is also second on the unit in rebounding (5.4 rpg) and assists (63) over 28 appearances. Nunnally chips in with 14.9 ppg and while he also leads the unit with his 5.7 rpg, he's found time and opportunity to make good on 45.7 percent of his three-point tries as well.

Mysportsbooks NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Utah State and New Mexico State battle for WAC supremacy
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Utah State tries to make it back-to- back Western Athletic Conference Tournament titles tonight as the squad clashes with the New Mexico State Aggies in the 27th-annual event at the Lawlor Events Center in

<< Tigers and Golden Lions collide for SWAC crown
Bossier City, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game will take place this evening at the CenturyTel Center, when the second-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions battle the fifth-seeded Texas S

<< Spiders attempt to snare Musketeers in A-10 semifinals
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-seeded and 24th-ranked Xavier Musketeers do battle with the third-seeded Richmond Spiders in the semifinal round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament today at Boardwalk Hall. The winner of this game will

<< Pac-10 title up for grabs in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pac-10 Tournament title is up for grabs this evening, as the top-seeded California Golden Bears face off against the third-seeded Washington Huskies in the finals at the Staples Center. California, whic

<< Rebels and Aztecs seek MWC crown in Sin City
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shooting for their third championship in the last four years and the fourth overall, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels are into the title game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament today and will face the San Diego S

Lumberjacks look to cut down Bearkats in Southland title game >>
Katy, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With an NCAA Tournament bid on the line, the top- seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats will battle the second-seeded Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game at the Merrell

Maple Leafs host Oilers in matchup of last place clubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle between the bottom two teams in the NHL is on tap tonight in Toronto, pitting the Maple Leafs against the Edmonton Oilers at Air Canada Centre. Despite having won two straight and three of their last four, the Map

Rockets kick off homestand vs. Nets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The chances of the Houston Rockets making the playoffs seem to fade by the day. Tonight they'll have to get past the woeful New Jersey Nets at the Toyota Center in the opener of a four-game homestand and hope for some help ar

Berkman sidelined 2-4 weeks after knee surgery >>
Kissimmee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros first baseman Lance Berkman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Saturday morning. The Astros said the procedure involved removing loose cartilage debris from the knee. There w

Bobcats sign Larry Hughes >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats have signed guard Larry Hughes. Hughes appeared in 31 games for the Knicks this season, then was dealt to Sacramento at the trading deadline and subsequently waived without playin

MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.


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.