Avs' Liles tallies a pair to beat Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

10/19/2006 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John-Michael Liles scored two goals to guide the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre.

Peter Budaj made 27 saves for the Avalanche, who won for the first time in their last three games and improved to 2-2-2 on the season.

"It felt good to get another start," said Budaj. "The defense played great in front of me and helped me out."

Ian Laperriere and Tyler Arnason each picked up two assists in the Colorado victory.

Bates Battaglia tallied the lone goal for the Leafs, who have lost two of their last three games.

Andrew Raycroft allowed four goals on 26 shots in the loss as Toronto fell to 3-2-2 on the young season.

"I think this was our worst game we have played yet," said Toronto's Alex Steen.

With 4:02 remaining in the second stanza and the game tied, Colorado scored to take a 2-1 lead. Arnason centered the puck to the low slot where Liles backhanded the disc past a sliding Raycroft, who attempted to poke check the puck away from Liles.

Liles' second tally of the game provided Toronto with a two-goal lead 6:22 into the final frame. Marek Svatos chipped the puck into the Leafs zone and from the left circle, Liles' wrister beat Raycroft on the short side to make it 3-1.

Midway through the third, Toronto had a chance to score as Darcy Tucker deflected a shot from the point off the crossbar.

The Avalanche put the game away after Milan Hejduk took a pass from Wojtek Wolski on a 2-on-1 rush and one-timed the feed past Raycroft to make it 4-1 with 2:56 remaining in the contest.

Battaglia gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead scoring just 2:22 after the opening faceoff. Battaglia knocked down a clearing attempt by a Colorado defenseman in the right circle and quickly fired the puck over the right shoulder of Budaj.

The Avalanche tied the contest at 1-1 after Brett McLean's first goal of the season at the 9:37 mark of the first period. Raycroft made two saves in close before McLean pounced on a rebound at the right side of the crease and tapped the disc into the net.

Game Notes

Liles' goals were his first of the campaign...Laperriere and Arnason each have four assists on the campaign...Wolski's assist was his first career helper...Toronto has been outscored 9-2 in the third period this season...The Avalanche will visit Ottawa on Thursday while Toronto will visit Columbus on Friday.

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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.

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.