Breeders' Cup expands to 11 races

Horseracing Betting Lines

01/08/2007 - Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Breeders' Cup has expanded its race card for this year's World Thoroughbred Championships at Monmouth Park in New Jersey and will feature 11 races with a two-day format.

The addition of three new races was given the go ahead last week by the Breeders' Cup Board of Directors and is still subject to approval by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and other New Jersey regulators.

Instead of just eight races on Saturday, October 27, this year's Breeders' Cup format will also include three races on Friday, October 26.

The three new races will be the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile for three- year-olds and up; the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint for fillies and mares at three-years-old and upward; and the $1 million Juvenile Turf for two-year-old colts, geldings and fillies.

"Today's announcement, along with other previously announced changes over the course of the last year, provides the framework for unprecedented growth of the Breeders' Cup," said Breeders' Cup board chairman Bill Farish. "There will be more races, more purse money and more nominator participation than at any time in the event's history, all designed to attract the best horses from around the world to compete in the Breeders' Cup World Championships."

Other changes that went into effect during the past year included the increase of total purse money from $14 million to $20 million, new nomination rules and a challenge format that allowed winners of certain races to gain automatic berths in the Breeders' Cup.

The Breeders' Cup, thoroughbred racing's richest event, has been held each year since 1984.

Wwwmybookie Horseracing Betting News

<< Conference Bowl Records
Conference W L Pct.Big East 5 0 1.000Mountain West 3 1 .750Western Athletic 3 1 .750Southeastern 5 3 .625Atlantic Coast 4 4 .500Pac-10 3 3 .500Sun B

<< Sizzling Suns rout Warriors
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shawn Marion dominated inside play with 24 points and 17 rebounds, as Phoenix continued its amazing run with a 128-105 rout of the Golden State Warriors. Leandro Barbosa tallied 26 points and James Jo

<< Canucks overcome Panthers in shootout
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Green scored the game-winner in the sixth round of the shootout as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Florida Panthers, 4-3, at General Motors Place. In the sixth round, Green skated in on n

<< Russell ready to make NFL leap
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who led LSU to a Sugar Bowl win this past week, will reportedly announce his intentions to skip his senior season and make himself eligible for the NFL draft. The New Orlea

<< Eagles CB Sheppard dislocates elbow
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowl cornerback Lito Sheppard suffered a dislocated right elbow in Sunday's 23-20 NFC wild card win over the New York Giants. Sheppard suffered the injury during a run by N

Wolf Pack on the hunt against the Broncos >>
Reno. NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 21st-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack has been the dominant team in the Western Athletic Conference in recent years, and the club welcomes the Boise State Broncos to Reno tonight for a league tilt. Boise St

Nuggets continue homestand against Bucks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling Denver Nuggets continue their homestand against the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at the Pepsi Center. Denver, which plays the second of a four-game homestand, has lost five in a row and is 2-6 with newly-acquire

Bulls, Rockets clash at United Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets meet for the second and final time this season, as the teams battle tonight at the United Center. On November 16th, All-Star Tracy McGrady posted 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Ro

Clippers visit the Hornets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams with losing streaks meet tonight, as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets host the Los Angeles Clippers tonight at the Ford Center. The Hornets have lost four in a row and play the finale of a four-game

Kings, Oilers battle in LA >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings will try for their first three-game winning streak of the season tonight, when they welcome the Edmonton Oilers to Staples Center. The Kings have earned victories over Columbus and Detroit to win cons

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.