BYU downs UTEP to win 11th straight

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/09/2010 - El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Haws had 20 points and 11 rebounds, as 25th-ranked BYU downed UTEP, 83-77, at Don Haskins Center.

Jonathan Tavernari had 19 points and six rebounds, while Brandon Davies added 14 points for the Cougars (16-1), who have won 11 straight.

Jeremy Williams and Derrick Caracter each had 17 points, while Christian Polk added 16 points for the Miners (10-4), who have dropped two of their last three.

BYU started the second half with a 12-2 run and held a 49-36 lead after Haws drained a three-ball just over three minutes in.

The Miners, though, cut away at their deficit and kept the game close, as a Randy Culpepper three-pointer followed by a Williams free throw cut BYU's lead to 64-62 with just over six minutes to play.

However, Davies scored the next six points, and his layup with 4 1/2 minutes to play gave BYU a 70-62 lead.

The Cougars extended the lead to 10 points, but Culpepper hit two free throws and Williams completed a three-point play to make it a 76-71 game with 1 1/2 minutes left.

Arnett Moultrie later hit a three-pointer to get UTEP to within three points, 77-74, with 36 seconds to play, but that was as close as the team got, as BYU hit its free throws over the final moments to hang on for the win.

Trailing by seven points, 26-19, late in the first half, the Cougars got four straight points from Davies, and, after Caracter put in a layup, a basket and a three-pointer from Tavernari to tie the game at 28-all with under three minutes to play.

A three-pointer from Tavernari followed by two free throws a bit later from Michael Loyd Jr. helped BYU take a 37-32 lead into the break.

Game Notes

BYU plays at Air Force on Wednesday...UTEP plays at Houston on Wednesday...BYU owns a 40-25 mark against UTEP...BYU shot a blistering 54.9 percent, while UTEP made 36.2 percent of its shots.

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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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