"Nik is a highly-skilled player who, at 25-years-old, we feel will be a good
fit to our core of forwards," said general manager Paul Holmgren. "Prior to
playing last season in Russia, Nik ranked as one of the top young point-
producers in the NHL. We are pleased to add him to our team."
Originally taken fourth overall by Columbus in the 2003 draft, Zherdev has 99
goals and 140 assists in 365 career NHL games.
<< Ducks send D Eminger to Rangers
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks have acquired forwards Aaron
Voros and Ryan Hillier from the New York Rangers in exchange for nomadic
defenseman Steve Eminger.
Voros registered three goals and four assists in 41 game
<< Rain stops U.S. Women's Open
Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heavy rainfall and lightning in the area forced
the suspension of Friday's second-round play at the U.S. Women's Open at
Oakmont.
Sophie Gustafson birdied the first hole, her only hole on Friday, to move in
fr
<< Raiders ink two from draft class
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Raiders have signed offensive
linemen Jared Veldheer and Bruce Campbell, two members of the team's 2010
draft class.
Veldheer, taken 69th overall in the third round, started 46 games
<< Bucs ink G Vincent
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers added some depth to the
offensive line position on Friday by signing veteran guard Keydrick Vincent to
a two-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The 32-year-old spent
<< Crew square off with Dynamo at Robertson Stadium
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew
travel to Houston to take on the Dynamo in Major League Soccer action on
Saturday night.
The Crew have just two losses this season thanks in large part to
Tyrus Thomas returning to Bobcats >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats have reportedly reached
an agreement to bring back power forward Tyrus Thomas.
The Charlotte Observer confirmed that a deal has been agreed to in principle
between the two sides whic
James signing with Miami deflates MSG stock >>
NEW YORK (AP) - Now that LeBron James has decided to play basketball in Miami, shares of Madison Square Garden Inc., owner of the New York Knicks, have gone south as well.Madison Square Garden shares had risen as much as 11 percent this month as a n
Mets demote Igarashi, recall Evans >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets have optioned right-handed
reliever Ryota Igarashi to Single-A St. Lucie and recalled utility man Nick
Evans from Double-A Binghamton.
Igarashi was 0-1 with a 7.91 earned run average in
Rangers reportedly land Lee; PC scheduled >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers are holding a press
conference at 6 pm (et) to make a major announcement.
According to multiple sources, including Evan Grant, who covers the team for
the Dallas Morning News, the
Rangers emerge as winner of Lee sweepstakes >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have acquired highly
sought-after pitcher Cliff Lee, along with pitcher Mark Lowe and cash
considerations, from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for first baseman Justin
Smoak and three minor
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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