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02/03/2012 - Getafe, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - La Liga leading-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid team face Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Saturday, and if history is any indication, the Portuguese superstar could be in line for an influential performance.
Ronaldo has bagged braces in his last two appearances at Getafe, scoring twice in a 4-2 win (Mar. 25, 2010) and a 3-2 win (Jan. 3, 2011) at the Coliseum.
The Portuguese superstar has also picked up four goals in Real Madrid's last two matches at the Bernabeu against Getafe, notching a hat trick in a 4-0 win on May 10 and one goal in a 4-2 win on Sep. 10.
Ronaldo's exceptional form has landed him at the top of the La Liga scoring chart with 24 goals through Real Madrid's 20 games, two better than Barcelona's Lionel Messi.
The scoring chart bears a strong resemblance to the La Liga table with Real Madrid holding down first place at the expense of Barcelona. The Catalans sit second and trail by seven points as the Galacticos set the pace in the Spanish top tier with 52 points.
Real Madrid avoided embarrassment in its last outing. After surrendering the opening goal to last-place Real Zaragoza, Madrid stormed back to claim a 3-1 victory at the Bernabeu.
The leaders will square off against a Getafe team that is unbeaten in its last six La Liga contests. The Coliseum club is coming off of a 2-1 win at Levante its last time out.
Should Real Madrid slip up at the Coliseum, Barcelona will look to capitalize in Saturday's latest kickoff as the Catalans welcome Real Sociedad to Camp Nou.
Barcelona stumbled in its last encounter, falling further behind Real Madrid in the title chase with a 0-0 draw with Villarreal. Real Sociedad has won two of its last three league contests and is coming off of a 5-1 thrashing of Sporting Gijon.
Elsewhere in La Liga on Saturday, Mallorca welcomes Real Betis to the Estadio Son Moix, Levante hosts Racing at the Ciutat de Valencia, and Athletic Bilbao faces Espanyol at San Mames.
Sunday will see third-place Valencia head to the Vicente Calderon where it will compete against seventh-place Atletico Madrid. Valencia has hit a rough patch of late, going without a win in its last four league games, while Atletico is firing on all cylinders with a three-game winning run.
Supplemental action Sunday features Sporting Gijon welcoming Osasuna, Sevilla hosting Villarreal, and Rayo Vallecano heading to Real Zaragoza.
The week's La Liga play wraps up on Monday with Granada hosting Malaga at Los Carmenes.
<< Magic suspend Glen Davis 2 games
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic suspended forward Glen Davis
two games for conduct detrimental to the team, general manager Otis Smith
announced Friday.
Davis, who was acquired during the offseason via a trade with
<< Pats list Gronkowski as questionable
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots tight end Rob
Gronkowski is listed as questionable on the team's injury report for Sunday's
matchup against the New York Giants.
Gronkowski's left ankle has been the main inju
<< PSG tries to remain perfect under Ancelotti
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlo Ancelotti is perfect in four matches in
charge of PSG and the rebuilt French club hosts Evian on Saturday in search of
their sixth in their last seven games overall.
With more than $100 million spent on
<< Youzhny, Baghdatis land in Zagreb final four
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny
and former champion Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus were a pair of quarterfinal
winners Friday at the Zagreb Indoors tennis tournament.
Youzhny needed 2 hours, 42
Pistons' Villanueva to miss at least 'a few weeks' >>
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva
will miss at least a few weeks due to continued soreness and discomfort in his
right ankle, the team announced Friday.
After visiting with multiple foot and an
Dodgers sign P Coffey >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers signed relief
pitcher Todd Coffey to a one-year contract with a club option for 2013 on
Friday.
Coffey, 31, went 5-1 with a 3.62 earned-run average, while limiting oppone
Levin grabs lead at delayed Phoenix Open >>
Scottsdale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spencer Levin was already having a good
round before he drove into the bunker at the par-four 17th hole. He was
leading by several strokes and still had a good chance for birdie.
But he holed th
James, Bryant named NBA Players of the Month >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Heat's LeBron James and the Lakers'
Kobe Bryant have been named the NBA Players of the Month for games played in
December and January.
James led Miami to a 16-5 record during that span, matching
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.
Sportsbooks that take credit cards are not always easy to come by....Everything from credit card companies denying gambling transactions to the fear of chargebacks by customers has slowed down sportsbook credit card transactions by a high percentage.
There are however still sportsbooks that take credit cards.
When using your credit card it is highly recommended that you try either: MySportsbook.com or Sportsbooks.com. Both sportsbooks have a high rate of accepting credit cards and will save you the time and hassle of looking around the web to make a credit card transaction.
Furthermore, Sportsbooks.com is one of the oldest sportsbooks on the web and Sportsbook offers security in that they are the biggest online sportsbook in the world! Publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, they are ROCK SOLID!
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