Orlando welcomes Wizards to Magic Kingdom

Basketball Betting Lines

04/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeast Division-champion Orlando Magic will continue a three-game homestand Wednesday versus the Washington Wizards at Amway Arena.

The Magic clinched their third consecutive Southeast title after the Atlanta Hawks suffered a 109-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday. Orlando has also locked up the second seed in the Eastern Conference and opened its current residency with a 107-92 victory versus the Memphis Grizzlies behind 26 points from Vince Carter.

Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson each added 18 points for the Magic, who have four in a row at home and 15 of their last 18 games overall to improve to 31-7 in central Florida. J.J. Redick tallied 15 points and Dwight Howard ended with eight and 11 boards in a winning cause.

"It's a nice little thing," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of Orlando becoming the only team to beat every other team in the league this season. "I think there's something to be said for having gone out on the court and proving that you can do what everybody thinks they can do. We've literally done it. We've beaten everybody in this league. Not easy to do."

Van Gundy's bunch will close out the homestand versus New York on Friday.

The Wizards have won two straight and three of four contests since an awful 16-game losing streak, and will kick off a quick road trip Wednesday against Orlando and Boston. They are 10-28 away from DC in 2009-10.

Washington is coming off Tuesday's 112-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors, as JaVale McGee set new career-highs with 25 points and 15 rebounds off the bench, and Nick Young added a season-high 29 points in a winning effort.

"I feel comfortable coming off the bench," McGee said. "I just feel like you need bench points more than you need starters points. So, it's just easy for me to come off the bench right now."

Shaun Livingston tied a career-high in points with 21, while Andray Blatche also had 21 points in the win.

Washington surprisingly leads the season series with Orlando by a 2-1 count, but the Magic are 12-6 in the past 18 meetings. The Wizards have dropped six of nine and 12 of their last 16 games at Amway Arena.

Blackjakc Basketball Betting News

<< Bosh-less Raptors host Celtics
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors lost more than just the game last night in Cleveland and may be without All-Star center Chris Bosh for some time. Tonight they'll try to regroup at home versus the Boston Celtics. Bosh suffered a fractu

<< Navratilova diagnosed with breast cancer
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Navratilova revealed her condition Wednesday on "Good Morning America," saying she was diagnosed in February during a routine mamm

<< Bruins' Seidenberg sidelined after surgery
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg underwent surgery on Tuesday to have a lacerated tendon repaired in his left forearm. The Bruins made the announcement Wednesday and said Seidenberg will

<< Ellis lifts A's to 10th-inning win over Seattle
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Ellis singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting Oakland to a 2-1 win over Seattle in the second installment of a season-opening four-game series. One night

<< Cabrera, Young lead Padres over D'Backs
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everth Cabrera drove in four runs, and Chris Young pitched six scoreless innings of one-hit ball, as the San Diego Padres defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-3, at Chase Field. Young (1-0) was stellar w

Hawks try and cure road woes in Auburn Hills vs. Pistons >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks have been stumbling as the visitor lately and will try to stop a five-game road losing streak tonight against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Atlanta continued to struggle on enemy terr

Scorching Heat host lowly Sixers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Miami Heat are back at home and back in the playoffs, and will try to extend their season-high winning streak to nine games when the Philadelphia 76ers pay a visit to south Florida tonight. The Heat are headed

Thunder host Nuggets in key Northwest matchup >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The battle for Northwest Division bragging rights has turned into a three-team race, with two of the favorites scheduled to battle it out tonight in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder will play host to the Denver Nuggets at the

Forse, Greisen and Swanson earn weekly honors >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee wide receiver/defensive back NATE FORSE, Milwaukee quarterback CHRIS GREISEN and Arizona defensive back RILEY SWANSON have been named the JLS Ironman, Russell Athletic Offensive Player and Riddell Defensiv

Davis hopes to give Brewers series win over Rockies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Brewers' offense set the pace last night in the club's first victory of the young season. Now an old friend will try to help them to their first series win over the Rockies in three seasons. Doug Davis returns to the

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.

MySportsbook.com is one of the most efficient and professional online sportsbook today. While some sportsbooks only excel during the busiest seasons, MySportsbook is an excellent choice for the player who wants year-round quality. From their baseball true dime line to their interactive wagering, MySportsbook makes sure their clients would miss them if they went elsewhere.

Players won’t find any novelties at this sportsbook. The site is clean and simple and most importantly, fast. Customer Service handles matters in an expedient manner and accounting does everything possible to assure players that they have full control of their funds. The online banking center is open 24/7 in which time Neteller payouts are processed.

Management’s background and understanding of sports gambling has helped make them pioneers in the online betting market. MySportsbook was the first betting site to offer sports wagering in the best form. Interactive wagering was first offered in 1997. Players who don’t stop wagering when the game begins consider this sportsbook a true asset.

Players who are looking for outstanding value, extensive wagering options and inexpensive payouts will appreciate what MySportsbook.com offers. Those who are looking for perks and high bonuses would be best suited in a sportsbook geared towards the regular player.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs.