07/13/2010 -
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva could be on
his way to Italy after Palermo made an offer for the Brazilian.
The Serie A side are reported to have tabled a bid in the region of six
million euros for the 23-year-old midfielder.
Palermo claim the offer is less than what has been reported but are hopeful of
luring the player to Italy.
"We made a first offer to Liverpool for Lucas," confirmed sporting director
Walter Sabatini.
"But I deny that we have offered six million euros. That is too much."
Lucas has made over 100 first-team appearances for the Reds but divides
opinion among supporters.
He was brought to Anfield by former manager Rafael Benitez from Gremio in
2007, but his performances last season, when the Reds finished a disappointing
seventh in the final Premier League table, were regularly criticized.
New manager Roy Hodgson could decide to cash in on the four-times capped
international after being told he must raise funds before he can buy new
players this summer.
<< Clippers sign Willie Warren
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers have signed guard
Willie Warren, the team's second-round pick in the 2010 draft.
Warren, the 54th overall selection, played two seasons at Oklahoma before
entering the draft
<< This Week in Auto Racing July 16 - 18
Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Sprint Cup Series takes a break this
weekend, the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series compete at Gateway
International Raceway near St. Louis. The IZOD IndyCar Series runs on the
streets
<< Robredo wins Bastad opener
Bastad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion Tommy Robredo highlighted
Tuesday's first-round winners at the Swedish Open.
The fifth-seeded Robredo topped Poland's Michal Przysiezny 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 on
the red clay at Bastad Tennis St
<< Winnipeg's Pierce highlights CFL Players of the Week
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce,
Saskatchewan defensive end Brent Hawkins, Toronto kick returner Chad Owens and
Montreal safety Etienne Boulay were selected as the CFL's top performers for
Week 2
<< Stern advice for James, Gilbert and Jesse
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took the death of a true sports legend,
Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, to finally knock LeBron James and
the NBA from the top of every sportscast across the country.
Conventional wisdom sa
Leverkusen signs striker Jorgensen >>
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayer Leverkusen has completed the
signing of striker Nicolai Jorgensen from Danish side AB.
The 19-year-old has earned himself a five-year deal with the Bundesliga club
after impressing on a
Kohlschreiber exits Stuttgart >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded German favorite Philipp
Kohlschreiber was an opening-round upset victim Tuesday at the Mercedes Cup
tennis event.
German Florian Mayer upended his compatriot Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2 on
Agent: Ilgauskas to sign with Miami Heat >>
MIAMI (AP) -Zydrunas Ilgauskas is following LeBron James to the Miami Heat.Agent Herb Rudoy says the veteran center expects to sign a two-year contract later this week. The terms have not been finalized, but Rudoy says ``we've agreed to agree.''Rudo
Columbus hosts struggling K.C. in mid-week MLS fixture >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew return home when they host
the Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer action at Crew Stadium on
Wednesday.
The Eastern Conference leading Crew (8-2-4) are coming off a scoreless d
Nationwide Series begins second-half of season at Gateway >>
Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, July
17. Race: Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. Site: Gateway International
Raceway. Track: 1.25-mile oval. Start time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles:
250. 2009 wi
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.
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.”
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