Thunder GM Presti agrees to extension
Basketball Betting Lines
07/22/2010 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti has agreed to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.
Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed. Presti, 33, was named general manager in 2007, when the team was still located in Seattle, after serving as assistant general manager for the San Antonio Spurs.
"I am extremely humbled to have the opportunity to continue our work here with the Thunder," Presti said. "Oklahoma City is home for me. We have a committed group of players, excellent coaches led by Scott Brooks, and a support staff in both basketball and business, that is integral to the vision of our organization and I am grateful for their partnership."
Through draft choices, such as Kevin Durant in 2007 and Russell Westbrook in 2008, as well as key acquisitions, Presti has constructed a young and promising roster.
The maneuvering paid dividends this past season, when the Thunder went 50-32 under Brooks -- a 27-win improvement from 2008-09. Oklahoma City made the franchise's first playoff appearance in five years and lost its first-round series to the eventual NBA-champion Lakers.
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs have signed tight end Tony Moeaki, the club's third-round pick in the 2010 draft. Moeaki played in 48 games at Iowa, starting 15, and caught 76 passes for 953 yards with 11 touch
<< Blue Jackets re-sign Clitsome
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed
defenseman Grant Clitsome to a one-year contract.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Clitsome appeared in 11 games for the Blue Jackets last season
<< Pistons' Monroe has foot surgery
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pistons rookie forward/center Greg
Monroe underwent successful surgery on his right foot Thursday.
The out-patient procedure was performed by Dr. Arthur Manoli at St. Joseph
Mercy Hospital in P
<< Sum greater than parts at Stephen F. Austin
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Head coach J.C. Harper attributes Stephen
F. Austin's turnaround over the past few seasons to a belief in the system he
established.
"We had a plan, stayed on task with the plan, and haven't gotten off of
<< Bills put TE Klopfenstein on IR
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Bills tight end Joe Klopfenstein
was placed on the injured reserve list Thursday.
Klopfenstein's exact injury is unknown. An injury settlement with the four-
year veteran remains a possibility
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have reinstated pitcher Kevin Millwood from the 15-day disabled list, and he will start Thursday's game against Minnesota. Millwood landed on the DL on July 6 with a strained right
Public gets chance to see Rachel Alexandra on Friday >>
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thoroughbred racing fans should be able to
get an up-close look Friday afternoon at 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel
Alexandra at Monmouth Park. The four-year-old filly will be in the track's
paddock
Canada's squad armed and ready >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As Canada prepares to host the 2010 IBAF
World Junior Baseball Championship in Thunder Bay, Ont., beginning Friday,
here's a closer look at its final 20-player roster.
It all starts behind the plate.
Can
Brewers activate Gallardo for Thursday start >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Brewers have activated right-hander
Yovani Gallardo from the 15-day disabled list to make Thursday's start versus
Pittsburgh.
Gallardo suffered a strained left rib cage muscle against the Cardi
Roenick, Hatcher brothers head 2010 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame class >>
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Roenick headlines a list of
five members that make up the United States Hockey Hall of Fame Class of
2010.
The class, which also includes Derian Hatcher, Kevin Hatcher, Art Berglund an
SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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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.
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