Brown signs bill to help get NFL stadium in LA
Football Betting Lines
09/28/2011 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill Tuesday to help Los Angeles get a new NFL stadium by way of avoiding long court battles.
"It's time for big thinking and big projects that put Californians back to work," Brown said. "Projects like Farmers Field can create thousands of jobs during a tough economic time, so it is imperative for the state to cut the red tape that could delay projects like this for years. These bills strike the right balance between protecting our environment and kick-starting jobs and investment in California."
Bill SB 292, sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), would expedite a judicial review of the project and establish ground-breaking environmental protections. Lawsuits over the project directed at Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) would go directly to the California Court of Appeal instead of Superior Court.
The 72,000-seat stadium, which would cost $1.2 billion and be called Farmers Field, would be located in the downtown section of the city at the current site of the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. A key component is that the West Hall would be demolished and a new Hall constructed immediately adjacent to the South Hall.
"I'm pleased the Governor has signed the legislation to move the Farmers Field and Convention Center Project forward in a way consistent with California's environmental laws," said Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles). "This project will create 23,000 jobs for our economy while building the most environmentally advanced stadium in the United States. This stadium will be a source of pride for every Californian."
It's the latest step in the process to get a football team back in Los Angeles, the only major-market city in the United States not to host a National Football League team.
The problem for Phil Anschutz, the billionaire owner of AEG, is getting either an expansion team to Los Angeles or getting a current club to move to the city. Right now, the NFL has 32 teams.
Both the Rams and Raiders departed southern California prior to the 1995 season -- the Rams for St. Louis and the Raiders back to Oakland. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which opened in 1923, played host to both teams.
The Rams came from Cleveland to LA in 1946 and called the Coliseum home until moving to Anaheim for the 1980 season. The Raiders moved in during their original relocation from Oakland following the 1981 campaign and stayed through 1994.
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Stubbs executed a go-ahead squeeze bunt as the Cincinnati Reds edged the New York Mets, 5-4, in 13 innings. Juan Francisco slapped a one-out triple in the right-center field gap off of Dale Thayer (
<< Cardinals tie wild card with victory over Astros
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cardinals improbably control their own
postseason fate after coming back and destroying the Astros, 13-6, in the
penultimate game of the regular season.
St. Louis trailed wild card-leading Atlant
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Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Prince Fielder hit three home runs for the
first time in his career, including the tie-breaking two-run blast in the
seventh, to power the Brewers to a 6-4 victory over the Pirates.
Fielder had a pa
<< Braves fall back into wild card tie with loss to Phils
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta's once healthy wild card lead is no
more, as the Braves were dumped by the record-setting Phillies, 7-1, and the
Cardinals came back and beat the Astros later Tuesday night.
The Cardinals traile
<< Tigers power past Indians again
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young had three hits, including a homer
and knocked in three, as the Tigers used another big offensive showing to down
Cleveland, 9-6, at Comerica Park.
Detroit had 18 hits in a 14-0 win on Monday.
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts, searching for stability at a position that has been stable for well over a decade, have reportedly brought back quarterback Dan Orlovsky. Orlovsky was re-signed late Tuesd
USC's Barkley reprimanded for comment >>
Walnut Creek, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southern California junior quarterback
Matt Barkley has been reprimanded by the Pac-12 for public comments about an
opposing student-athlete prior to last Saturday's game against Arizona State.
Barkl
Cahill strong on mound as A's blank Mariners >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Cahill tossed seven scoreless innings on
Tuesday, leading the Oakland Athletics to a 7-0 thrashing of the Seattle
Mariners at Safeco Field.
Cahill (12-14) scattered four hits while striking out s
Napoli homers twice as Rangers pound Angels >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Napoli went deep twice against his
former team, and Adrian Beltre homered for a fourth straight contest in a
10-3 Texas win over the Angels.
Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz also homered for the
Soriano powers Cubs past Padres >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alfonso Soriano's three-run home run powered
the Cubs to a 6-2 victory over the Padres in the second contest of a three-
game series.
The hit made a winner of Matt Garza (10-10), who tossed seven
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.