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07/04/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Red Mike, ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva, went wire-to-wire to claim victory in Sunday's $1 million Queen's Plate at Woodbine Race Course. The 1 1/4-mile race is the beginning of the Canadian Triple Crown.
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain was in attendance for the 151st Queen's Plate.
A field of 13 Canadian-bred three-year-olds left the starting gate for the top thoroughbred race in the Great White North. Plate Trial runner-up Mobilizer and Woodbine Oaks champ Roan Inish were the 7-2 co-favorites.
Big Red Mike and Hotep were both 5-1 when the gate opened and that's how they ran as the race developed. Big Red Mike set the pace along the inside with Hotep racing second to the outside.
The pair remained in their positions up the backstretch and into the far turn. Making a slight move around the final turn was Mobthewarrior and Roan Irish.
Trained by Nicholas Gonzalez, Big Red Mike still had the lead coming off the turn for home and into the stretch. The chestnut gelding could not be overtaken down the stretch and went on to post a 1 1/4-length win over Hotep with Roan Irish third and Giant's Tomb rallying to finish fourth.
Rounding out the order of finish was Mobthewarrior, Dark Cloud Dancer, Smart Sky, Moment of Majesty, Who We Gunna Call, Mobilizer, Ghost Fleet, Vicar Street and D's Wando.
The time for the Queen's Plate was 2:04.89 on Woodbine's synthetic surface.
The victory was worth $600,000 for owner Terra Racing Stable and gave da Silva his second straight win in the Queen's Plate. Last year he won aboard Eye of the Leopard.
Big Red Mike was coming off a win in the Plate Trial on June 13. In that contest he also set the pace and was able to re-rally for the victory. The gelding has now won three of six career starts for $761,101, all at Woodbine.
"The thing that impressed me the most was when he got engaged, carrying 126 pounds and first time going that far. I was very proud of him that he dug in the way he did. He beat some good horses," said Gonzalez about the Plate Trial win. "The horse is a fighter. He's won on the inside before. He's fought some tough hard races on the outside. He's just that kind of horse where the competition is good for him."
This was the first Queen's Plate win for both the owner and trainer.
Big Red Mike returned $12.00, $6.30 and $4.40. Hotep, the 3-1 morning-line favorite, paid $6.90 and $4.70, and Roan Inish paid $4.30 to show.
The Triple Crown will continue with the Prince of Wales Stakes on Sunday, July 25 at Fort Erie Racetrack and the Breeders' Stakes on Sunday, August 15 back at Woodbine.
<< Bay and Pagan help Mets bounce Nationals
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Bay knocked in four runs, as the New
York Mets used an early surge to beat Washington, 9-5, in the finale of a
four-game set at Nationals Park.
Angel Pagan had three hits and drove in a pair f
<< Longoria sparkles as Rays down Twins
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evan Longoria went 3-for-5 with three runs
batted in and finished a home run shy of the cycle, as the Tampa Bay Rays
downed the Minnesota Twins, 7-4, in the finale of a four-game set at Target
Field.
<< Power dominant in Watkins Glen win
Watkins Glen, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power put on a dominating performance
to win Sunday's IZOD IndyCar Series race, while his teammate, Ryan Briscoe,
finished second to give Team Penske a 1-2 finish at Watkins Glen
Interna
<< Posada leaves Sunday's game
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada left
Sunday's 7-6 victory in 10 innings over Toronto due to a sprained right ring
finger.
Posada apparently suffered the setback when he was hit in the hand by a pitch
Tizdejavu wires Firecracker, Mine That Bird an also-ran >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tizdejavu, ridden by Jesus Castanon, led
every step of the way to win Sunday's $205,625 Firecracker Handicap at
Churchill Downs. The race featured 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird
making
Gwynn's hit lifts Padres over Astros in ninth >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Gwynn singled in the game-winning run
in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift San Diego to a dramatic 3-2 win over
Houston to finish off a four-game set.
Yorvit Torrealba led off the decisive frame
Yankees activate Thames from DL, option Huffman >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Yankees activated outfielder Marcus Thames
from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday, and optioned outfielder Chad Huffman
to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Thames arrived just in time to record the game-
Dodgers top D'Backs on Kemp's homer >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Kemp blasted the game-winning two-run
home run in the eighth inning to carry Los Angeles to a 3-1 comeback win over
Arizona to wrap up a three-game set.
Rafael Furcal doubled and scored twice for
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.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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