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09/14/2007 - Halmstad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The European team clawed back to earn halves in the last two matches of Friday's fourballs at the Solheim Cup, but still trail the Americans by a point, 4 1/2 - 3 1/2.
Annika Sorenstam and Maria Hjorth won the 18th hole to halve the American pair of Stacy Prammanasudh and Angela Stanford.
The anchor match was the most exciting as Laura Davies made an amazing par to win the 16th hole and lead Trish Johnson to a halve against their much younger American opponents, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.
The European pair, who are each older individually than the combined ages of Pressel and Creamer, were 1-down with three to play.
At the 16th, no one was in good position, least of all Davies. She had to blast out from some trees, over a stream and came up short with her second. That's where she chipped in for a three to square the match, then narrowly missed a 25-foot birdie putt at the 17th.
With daylight waning, all four players found the fairway off the tee at 18. Davies missed left with her approach, while Johnson came up 60 feet short with her's. Pressel also failed to get it to the hole with her second, but left herself 30 feet for birdie.
Creamer hit the longest drive and not coincidentally, the best approach. Her ball stopped 15 feet left of the flag and gave herself a realistic chance at birdie.
Davies pitched to four feet and Johnson had roughly the same distance for par. Pressel blew her birdie try almost five feet past the hole, leaving the outcome in Creamer's hands.
If she made the birdie putt, the Americans would go two points ahead, but her putt never moved toward the hole. Creamer was conceded par, then in act of sportsmanship maybe ahead of their years, the young U.S. duo conceded the par putts to the Europeans to halve the match.
Each side won a match Friday afternoon. Europe's Iben Tinning and Catriona Matthew beat Pat Hurst and Brittany Lincicome, 4 & 2, while Americans Cristie Kerr and Nicole Castrale handled Sophie Gustafson and Gwladys Nocera, 3 & 2.
On a day of crazy weather that saw minute-by-minute shifts of sunlight, downpours, heavy winds and cold temperatures, the Americans won the morning foursomes, 2 1/2 - 1 1/2.
With two of the matches pretty much decided, the conclusion of the difficult day revolved around the two matches that were halved.
Prammanasudh and Stanford headed to the back nine armed with a 2-up lead, but Hjorth chipped in for birdie to win the 10th. The two halved several holes on the back nine, including a pair of long birdie putts that erased easy wins.
At the 13th, Sorenstam nearly holed her seven-iron tee ball, but left herself five feet for birdie. Prammanasudh drained a 20-foot birdie putt first to put the pressure on Sorenstam, who cooly stroked home her birdie effort.
Hjorth spoiled a possible win for the Americans at the 14th. The Swede ran home a 25-foot birdie try and Prammanasudh had to cash in on her five-foot birdie putt. She did and everyone made a mess of the 16th en route to halving the hole with bogeys.
Sorenstam made a par at the last and that left the Americans in some trouble. Stanford found a greenside bunker and blasted her shot over the green into the fringe. Prammanasudh came up short with her second and chipped to 15 feet.
Stanford rolled her long par effort well past the hole, right in the line of Prammanasudh's par saver. Stanford tried to show her partner the path, but neither player threatened the hole with their attempt, giving Europe a halve.
"We just fought really, really hard," said Sorenstam. "We never gave up. We tried as hard as we could. In the end, I thought it was some good golf, despite the conditions."
With that tight match in the books, the focus shifted to the anchor match.
Perhaps the biggest swing came when Pressel missed a two-footer that could have won the 13th and given the American side a 2-up advantage.
Johnson, like she did most of her match, missed a very makable birdie putt at the 14th. She converted from long range for birdie at 15, but Creamer followed her in the hole with a birdie of her own.
Then Davies, who has missed only one session in her 10 Solheim Cups, made one of the best pars in competition history.
<< Report: Ankiel meets with MLB investigators
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel
met with Major League Baseball officials earlier this week to answer questions
about human growth hormone he reportedly was prescribed by Signature Pharmacy
in 2004
<< Gonzalez wins; Baghdatis loses to Ljubicic in China
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Open runner-up Fernando
Gonzalez was among Friday's quarterfinal winners, while defending Beijing
champion Marcos Baghdatis bowed out against fourth-seeded Croatian Ivan
Ljubici
<< Around the CFL: Flutie returns for Hall of Fame induction
Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's Hall of Fame weekend in the CFL, and for
Darren Flutie that means a homecoming of sorts.
Flutie, the younger brother of former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, will be one
of five new members of the Canadia
<< Report: Nellie restructures deal with Warriors
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Don Nelson has reportedly reached a deal to
coach the Golden State Warriors for at least one more season.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Nelson, who led the Warriors to a
stunning first-round
Juventus attempts to continue strong start against Udinese >>
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus has gotten off to a great start in
its return to Serie A this season, winning its first two games and scoring
eight goals in the process. On Sunday, Juventus will try to make it three wins
in thre
Real Madrid aim to keep perfect record against Almeria >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champions Real Madrid are the
only team in Spain to take a perfect 2-0 record into this weekend, and they
will try to extend that mark to three straight against promoted club Almeria
on Satu
Hearts hopes to turn it around vs. first-place Rangers >>
Edinburgh, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heading into the Scottish Premier
League season, many thought that if any team could compete with Celtic and
Rangers, it would be Hearts.
However, through five matches, it appears that Hearts
Looking for a quick buck? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are two weeks in the NFL season
that gamblers can come out ahead of the game with ease. It also doesn't take
any research or number crunching. All one has to do is put his/her bets in and
sit back and
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.
MySportsbook.com is considered one of the finest online sportsbook according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.
MySportsbook is offering a free printable NFL football office pool sheets. Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury. Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.
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