NYRA to receive $25 million loan from state

Horseracing Betting Lines

05/25/2010 - Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Racing Association (NYRA) will receive a loan of $25 million from the State of New York to continue operations beyond Wednesday, June 9. A spokesman for Gov. David Patterson said Tuesday that the loan was approved by the state legislature.

"The Board of Directors of the New York Racing Association, Inc. along with its management and dedicated employees are grateful for the State legislature's approval last evening of a $25 million loan which guarantees world class thoroughbred racing at Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course and Aqueduct Racetrack," NYRA chairman C. Steven Drucker said in a statement.

"We appreciate the dedication and perseverance of Gov. David Paterson," Drucker continued, "Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Conference Leader John Sampson, Senate racing committee Chairman Eric Adams, and Assembly racing and wagering committee Chairman Gary Pretlow, and their respective staff members, which resulted in this legislation."

Notices were sent out last Thursday to NYRA employees that due to financial problems, racing operations and facility closings would begin as soon as June 9.

The NYRA is franchised by the State of New York to operate the three racetracks through 2033.

Jsckpot Horseracing Betting News

<< Boston's Cameron returns from DL
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have activated outfielder Mike Cameron from the 15-day disabled list. He had been sidelined since April 19 because of a lower abdominal strain. The 37-year-old Cameron initia

<< Can favored Blackhawks come through with Cup?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sometimes a team has to be very bad before it can climb to the top of the mountain. Look at the Pittsburgh Penguins. They finished last or next-to-last in the two seasons surrounding the lockout and by 2008

<< Indians and Tigers to make up May 7 rainout on July 17
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers will make up their May 7 rainout at Progressive Field as part of a day/night doubleheader on Saturday, July 17. The rescheduled game will take place at 1:05

<< Pirates place Pearce on DL
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates have placed first baseman Steve Pearce on the 15-day disabled list because of a sprained right ankle. Pearce was hurt during Monday's game against Cincinnati. In 15 games th

<< Canadian MLB Report: Votto powering Reds' hot start
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A strong start to the season from Joey Votto has helped the Cincinnati Reds sit atop the National League Central division standings through the first 45 games of the season. The Reds tied the St. Louis Cardin

Nadal, Roddick advance in France >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former top-ranked stars Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick posted contrasting first-round victories Tuesday at the 2010 French Open. The second-seeded and four-time Roland Garros champion Nadal crushed helpless

Franklin, Michna & Nyenhuis earn weekly honors >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tulsa wide receiver CARLESE FRANKLIN, Chicago quarterback RUSS MICHNA and Tulsa defensive end GABE NYENHUIS have been named the JLS Ironman, Russell Athletic Offensive Player and Riddell Defensive Player of the Week

AL West: The Oakland Pitching Factory >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Year after year, the Oakland Athletics have churned out solid young pitchers from their farm system in assembly-line fashion. This year has been no different, as Oakland's pitching staff ranks third in the American League

Eagles release P Brooks >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles have released punter Durant Brooks. Brooks, the winner of the Ray Guy Award for the nation's top punter in 2007, was signed by Philadelphia in February to compete with incumb

Utley leads NL All-Star balloting >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is the leading vote-getter in National League balloting for this year's All-Star Game, which will be played July 13 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Utley has

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


Sportsbook Betting Lines

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.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

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.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.